Fresh water king salmon rods

This may get a little long. I lived in Alaska for 28 years. Lived mostly off game meat, fish, and the garden. The most frustrating thing I encountered was trying to catch king salmon out of the creeks. You see they don't eat in fresh water. So getting them to bite a baited hook is a challenge. I'm not talking about netting, fish wheels, or snagging.

After about twenty years of frustration my late cousin Cliff gave me the secret. He had a cabin on Peter's Creek just south of Denali. He found he could get the kings to come by, pick up a glob of roe that was bumping along the bottom, and careefully put it in a safe space so it could develop. Problem was they were so delicate you couldn't feel them with the regular heavy spinning or bait casting rods. So you continually missed them.

He settled on a fly rod with fast sinking line, a leader made of 20 lb. monafilament, one split shot, a SHARP Gamagatsu hook, and patience. He showed me the trick so I got a nine foot nine weight fiberglass fly rod, a good reel with a drag, neoprene chest waders, and a little portable hook sharpener that looked like a lipstick. The heavy leader is necessary because the fish have teeth. You are bumping the hook along a gravel bottom with a small glob of roe so it needs resharpening every few casts.

Cliff had an eight weight boron/carbon fiber rod. It worked OK until one day it just blew up into little pieces. They do that. The fiberglass rods tend to be tougher.

Where his cabin was the Kings would come through every few hours in a bunch. Biggest one I ever got was about fifty lbs.. Took nearly an hour. In between runs we'd switch to light rods and fish dry flies for grayling.

The long, lightweight fly rod allows you to feel it every time the hook bounces on the bottom. Cliff also had a great fish cleaning station. He'd take two sawhorses into the river and lay a piece of plywood on them. Cut fillets off and just throw any waste into the river.

Jim

I’ve used (as have many) a similar technique only with bait casting gear. Long rod, heavy 24 inch leader to a swivel, above the swivel a number of 3/8th egg sinkers. The number is determined by the current. You have it correct when your presentation rolls or bumps along the bottom, too little and it rolls to fast; to much and it stops.
I was always fond of an articulate fly as bait was forbidden in the streams i frequented. Cast to the far bank upstream and pay attention as it moves down stream, it took a bit but you develop a feel for a bite versus just a momentary stop.
I once caught a very nice 20lb. Steelhead from the Chuit river on the west side of cook inlet using this technique.
Only one local resident would acknowledge my fish as the remainder vehemently denied it was a steel head, of course they didnt want a flock of folks showing up the “catch they’re fish”��

I use an “indicator” float (small styrofoam) attached to the end of my fly line to tell me if I have a strike vs hitting something on the bottom. It also helps you to mend your line as needed to keep you fly/bait drifting naturally in the current. With some practice and use, you greatly increase the amount of fish you catch and it teaches you how important natural drift is in preventing fish from not taking your bait/lure/fly. A little known secret is how fantastic the trout and salmon fishing is here in WNY. The Great Lakes and tributaries are loaded with fish.

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Originally Posted by Alasgun

I’ve used (as have many) a similar technique only with bait casting gear. Long rod, heavy 24 inch leader to a swivel, above the swivel a number of 3/8th egg sinkers. The number is determined by the current. You have it correct when your presentation rolls or bumps along the bottom, too little and it rolls to fast; to much and it stops.
I was always fond of an articulate fly as bait was forbidden in the streams i frequented. Cast to the far bank upstream and pay attention as it moves down stream, it took a bit but you develop a feel for a bite versus just a momentary stop.
I once caught a very nice Steelhead from the Chuit river on the west side of cook inlet using this technique.
Only one local resident would acknowledge my fish as the remainder vehemently denied it was a steel head, of course they didnt want a flock of folks showing up the “catch they’re fish”��

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I lived much of the time I was in Alaska in Wasilla. Got there in the late 60's and left in 1995. Had two different houses there. First was up behind the old airport on Lone Cub drive. The other was out Fairview Loop. Interesting to run into someone else who lives there.

Jim