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View Full Version : First Trip This Year.....Alaska....



DocSpotty
05-10-2008, 02:13 AM
Well it’s finally time for my first Alaska fishing report of the season. Thought I would get out a couple of Fridays ago as the weather had warmed, the grass was greening up, the trees were budding out……….then this transpired:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/snowporch.jpg

Nothing like 18 inches of snow right before May begins….that’s weird even this far north…somehow I’m trying to reconcile this with global warming….not sure how it fits in, though. Finally got nice again and was able to get up to our early season river about 100 miles north….the Talkeetna. Had to drive by this gosh awful picture (I do it everyday on the way to work):

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/mountain.jpg

The scenery we have to put up with. Then I was greeted by these Talkeetna White-Headed Woodpeckers giving us the evil eye:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/baldies.jpg

(Okay…they are not really woodpeckers.) We got up to the river about 8 in the morn to find it high and a bit off color…..not the best things for early season trout fishing but, hey…we were out of the house. We threw the old raft on the back of a jet boat which ran us about 5 miles up river where we started fishing back down. My friend Mike had been up here a few days ago and caught a few rainbows and dollies but we were not holding out for a phenomenol day this early in the season. The weater was fabulous…..got clear up to 50 degrees….had to take off my thermals and jacket due to overheating, hehe…..so it was just great to be out. Additionally this was my first go round with a recently reconstructed shoulder (in December)…..it held out pretty darn good but is a bit sore tonight. Anyways we fished down the first 4 hours and had only picked up two fish….me a small dolly and Jon this nice little rainbow:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/jonsbow.jpg

The coastal rainbows are spectacularly colored on the Talkeetna…..you’ll never see more spots on a trout. We got on a nice run where we stopped for shore lunch after a couple of missed hits. Up to lunchtime the 3 of us had used 16 different flies, with trailers with very little success…it was getting frustrating. So after inhaling lunch we decided to hit this long run one more time (we had fished it for an hour before lunch with no fish). Being unusually frustrated myself I switched to my old spring “confidence” fly….the old moss colored 4 inch sculpin pattern….the other guys told me the water was too cold for this to work well….water was about 38 degrees….very chilly, plus you had to constantly dodge large ice floes floating down the river. So started at the top of the run again and about 10 casts in this lovely dolly showed up:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/DollySculpin.jpg

The very next cast I hooked and lost another fish…..wow….two in a row I was ecstatic. Next cast…..yes….you guessed it….another dolly varden brought to the net:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/LunchDolly1.jpg

About this time Jon and Mike were sprinting to the raft to switch over to moss colored sculpins…..imagine that. For the next 1 ½ I just hammered the fishes in this run landing a dozen and farming a few more:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/BowRelease-2.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/LunchDolly2.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/LunchBow-3.jpg

About this time Mike picked up a nice dolly and a couple other fish but I seemed to have the magic sculpin:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/MikeJonDolly.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/BowRel2.jpg

Turned out to be a pretty nice trip for early season…..at least we got to go fishing. Saw a couple of otters and beavers were everywhere with there little nervous chewing habits:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/anxiousbeavers.jpg

Wouldn’t take much to get that big old cottonwood to come down. Anyways it was nice getting out….making sure the recently refurbished body parts were in correct working order and having a great time with friends.

Should be more fishing soon……until then everyone have great fishin!!

Brian

seahonk
05-10-2008, 04:13 AM
Very Nice pics and report someday i will get up that way . thanks :thumb:

Greg Madrigal
05-10-2008, 11:40 AM
Whoa, that was a SICK report Brian!!!!!! I have heard of the Talkeetna. I think I tried to fish it when I visited Denali a few years back but it just didn't work out. :( Now I'm really sorry I didn't! I did white water raft the Nenana tho.

You guys slayed them. Thank you for reporting from one of my favorite places on this earth....The Last Frontier. Those were some pretty fish indeed. Love the coloration and spots and especially the perfect condition of the fish-Something we here in so. Ca. aren't so used to on hathchery raised trout.

Those dollys are badazz too! Caught my first one just inches off the rocks in (I think) in Sitka marina. They have some teeth, eh?!

Again, please keep the reports coming. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hope this is a sign of the season to come.

GM<><

SoCalGuy7
05-10-2008, 12:22 PM
Thanks for a great report and pics....:thumb:

SCG7

Frenchie174
05-11-2008, 10:42 PM
Thanks for the report! Those fishes are gorgeous! I'm jealous!

Badfish2
05-11-2008, 11:02 PM
Nice Viagra hat:rofl:

Thanks for the report.. those fish were awesome.

Fisherman57
05-12-2008, 10:19 AM
BEAUTIFUL FISH! BEAUTIFUL SCENERY!
Simply AWESOME!

Thank you for sharing!......



57

Troutman65
05-12-2008, 06:03 PM
Nice report and pics. Thanks for the report. Congrats on your catch.8-)


Troutman65

troutdog
05-13-2008, 10:53 AM
Awesome report and pics, those rainbows are beautiful! Makes me want to make anoher trip out there....thanks for sharing.


TD

Jester
05-13-2008, 07:13 PM
Amazing fish guys. Looks like a real fun trip.

IncredibleHuck
05-13-2008, 08:13 PM
Awesome trip buddy! When I get up there next year maybe we'll fish that river. How far is it from Anchorage?

And once again that cork handle on your flyrod kicks ***.....

steve092
05-15-2008, 05:40 AM
Awesome, just awesome.

Great pictures.

Reelbacklash
05-18-2008, 06:43 PM
That second trout pictured has some insane markings, what a beautiful trout.
excellent pictures and report.

billy b
05-26-2008, 04:13 PM
It' s sick!