Fishing is not always about catching fish!!. The last couple of days I have had some newbies to the Yakutat Lodge. The first day was all floating fly line and yarn flies. I brought along a spinning rod, which one of the guys got two fish on a Blue Fox Spinner. There was only one fish brought in on the fly rod. By the end of the day I has convinced them that the next day we should use the fly rods with monofilament line on the reels. They liked the idea of being able to cast with ease, and also to be able to feel the drift allot better without a bow in the line. When using fly line, if you don't know exactly how to mend properly, you will always have a bow in the line created by the current. To avoid this, you have to mend the fly line above the fly constantly, or the fly line that is in the current will create a bow in the line, and just drag your fly through the water and it takes away from the natural drift you need. Although they could cast just fine, the mending was not there, so there presentation was off just a bit the whole day. Today with the mono on the line, the presentation was much better, and the drift was perfect. Today the hook up ratio was great, but the landing ratio was not. Yesterday they were 3 for 3. Today they were 0 for 13. Big change from one day to the next,   That's fishing!. Water temp has come up finally, and the bite is picking up now. It rained all day today, and the water came up about 6 inches last night. This has caused the fish to become more active, and they have come out from under the alder bushes, making them allot more accessible to fisherman. Here are some pics from yesterday, also there are a couple of pics from a couple of guys who caught a fish upstream from us. The big one is 41" long and weighed about 23 pounds.

The big one

Flymstr;

    Well I don’t know what to say, but the fishing is so slow. I don’t know what is up with the fish this year. Some fish came in, and then water went up, and so did the fish. A week later more came in, the water went up and so did the fish. I have never seen the fishing this slow, this time of year, in this river. I have been pulling my hair out waiting for something to happen, but nothing is happening. I don’t know what to say, except if it doesn’t pick up soon, I think all the guides here are going to go crazy. I have been with some Austrian’s the last couple of days. I have become friends with George Marberger over the last couple of years, and he brought some of his friends here to fish this week, and it has been very slow. There is one pic of a 40″ fish we got today. (Pic #3), so it was not a total bust. The Yakutat Lodge has the best of the best for guides, but we are only averaging around 3 fish per boat each day.  I also had the pleasure of fishing with Frank Amato, (The owner of Salmon, Trout, Steelhead Magazine.), but even with a very good fisherman, as the week before with Pudge and Sandy, the fishing was good, but the catching was real bad. We got just one fish that day, and Frank never even touched one. That’s fishing I guess. So with that said, I haven’t written anything lately, because nothing has happened. Here are some pic’s of some fish from the last 4 or 5 days. The pic’s at the end are fish I have caught this week on the tide in the evening. If your reading this Woobank, I think when you get here the fish will really be showing up. Looking forward to it bud.

They will show soon, They have to!!!

Flymstr;

   Finally the first big push on the lower end in about two weeks. The females are coming in to the system by the truck loads. It was a great night to be on the lower end of the river. Big pods of fish were moving in for the last two hours of the evening, and they were very aggressive. I walked up to the weir tonight, and was going to fish my way out. I hooked up in the first five minutes, but it came unbuttoned. Then I did the worst thing you can do, I got hung up, and tried to use the tip of my rod to get it undone, and snapped my tip off. After that I said “That’s it I am going home”. I started to walk down the trail, when I saw someone in a boat playing a fish. I was going to continue on, but my buddy Matt who was with me said, “Lets take a look and see what’s there”. So after waiting for the boat to move on, we went on down to take a look. When I looked out in the run I saw a good group of fish. So I promptly cut off the remainder of the rod above the second eye, and I was ready to fish again. In the next hour and a half I hooked up with 8 fish, and put two on the bank. I broke three off, because my drag on my fly rod in worn out, and I half to palm all my fish right now. Anyway here the pics from tonight.

I think the fishing is only going to pick up from here on out!!

Flymstr;

       Rain hit again last week, and the water came up quickly. Along with the rising water came the murky water. After it was all said and done, the water rose over a foot, and the clarity of the river went to almost zero. Fishing in these conditions can be a bit more difficult than lower clear water. Or just the opposite, it can make the fishing fantastic. Well the fishing was good in the dirty high water. The river is already dropping back in shape, and the fishing today was a lot tougher. With the water clearing up, and the temperature water dropping from the snow melt, the fish are lethargic, and don't want to bite. Yesterday with the high dirty water, the fishing was good. Here are some pics from yesterday. I had Pudge, a client of Yakutat lodge today and I will put up the pics from today tomorrow.

See ya tomorrow.

Flymstr;

    Well another successful day on the Situk River. Yesterday and today, I had the pleasure of floating down the river with a couple of clients from the Yakutat Lodge, that I fished last season. The main gentleman (Bud Gore),has been here for the last couple years. Last year he brought up an attorney friend of his (Known only as Allen), from SanFransisco. The first day on the river with them was a total bust, as I wrote in one of the last posts, ("It was the first time I had been skunk on this river"). Well I am happy to say the last two days have turned out much better. Before I show the pictures I just want to say a few things about Steelhead fishing that I think are important.

     Now anybody that knows me, knows I am fly fisherman and that's that. Personally I can't stand fishing with a spinning rod and reel, or with a bait caster, and worst of all, I hate it when people put monofilament line on a fly rod and reel. Although these methods can be more effective in certain conditions, like high water, windy days, or in tight spots where there is no room to fly cast or even roll cast. In most cases when I am fishing on my own, I will fight through what ever mother nature can throw at me, and I will still not give up the fly rod. Many people don't get the concept of fly fishing, and many won't even try. On the other hand most fly fisherman won't give in to any other type of fishing.

     Well in the last couple of days I have learned that when I am on my own, I can stick with the fly rod, and get skunked ,and not really care to much. When I have clients who are fly fisherman, and the conditions are not right for getting these fish to bite with fly line in the water, I had to learn to adapt and figure out what the combination was to trigger strikes. Today was the test of my abilities to overcome the elements and figure out what would work. I stayed up late putting together two fly reels with monofilament ,and also two spinning rods set up with floats and jigs. If you are asking yourself, "Why doesn't he just figure out how to make the fly fishing effective", I will tell you. With the water being low and clear, and with the sun high in the sky, these fish can see the fly line in the air, and when you go to cast, or even lift your line up off the water, the fish spook, and then there gone. There is nothing that can be done to avoid this, and believe me I have tried every thing from roll casting, using clear fly lines, and even putting on a 20 foot leader, (Which is the same as fishing mono). Even with the 20 foot leader, when you lift your rod they see the dang line in on the rod and in the air, and they run. So today I convinced some really hard nose fly fisherman to change tactics and try something new. With the monofilament line on the fly pole, it becomes a chuck and duck type situation. You may have up to 3 or 4 #5 splits shots on the line to get it down to the fish and slow down your drift. So when casting this line, you just strip in the line, hole it behind you and chuck and duck. After trying this methods with moderate results, I then convinced them to put down the fly rods, and pick up the spinning rods with the float and jig setup. The reason I chose to use spinning rods, instead of using fly rods with indicators, or even the float attached to the fly rod, was that the effect of a free float is much easier without the fly reel to have to try to strip line off fast enough to create a nature drift. Float fishing is tricky, and if you are spending time to strip line out, to try and keep up with the drift, then you are constantly pulling on the line and creating drag on the jig. When using a float, the presentation must be flawless to trigger the strike, the float can never wiggle or falter from the nature speed and drift of the current line it is following. Using a spinning reel, or even better a center pin reel, you have the ability to let line out at the same rate as the current. After getting my clients oriented to the way the float works, we stopped to try our luck. It was an instant success, and throughout the remainder of the day, it continued to produce fish. When the shadows showed up on the water we were able to switch back to fly lines and we caught some more fish. So today, My clients and I learned that even hard nosed fly fisherman like us, need to adapt to the conditions, and give in other types of fishing, until conditions favor your style of fishing again. It will make you a better fisherman if you know all the ways to fish for the species you are after. By the way, the reason the float fishing worked so well for is that these fish are sitting up in the water column, and a jig can be set to the exact height that the fish are laying. So in bright sunshine, when they don't want to move, because of the fear of being seen by a predator, a jig can be put right in front of them so they don't even have to think about it. I think if everybody could learn to adapt a little more now and then it could change the world, not just the fishing for the day. Here are some pics from the last 2 days with Bud and Allen.

Thanks to all my readers for the comments. I would like to ask that some of you comment alittle more so I know that you like what you see, just tell me what you think and if you see anything you would like.

Good luck out there!!!!!!

   Flymstr;

Sunny days can have an adverse affect on fishing. When the sun shines down on the water, the fish won't even move an inch. A sunny day will cause Steelhead to go dormant, and because of their fear of being seen by predators, they won't even move to bite. Well because of this, yesterday was the first time I have been down the Situk without ever touching a fish. I couldn't believe it. All day I tried every color, shape, and size of every type of fishing known to man, and still no bites. So today, I had my Yakutat Lodge clients arise at 3:30 am, and we left the lodge at 4. Getting ahead of the sun was the key to success today. I had the privilege of going down the river with the clients from Montana again. Brian Rogers is a client  that came last year for the first time, and this year I was real happy to see them come back. Brian and his Daughter have been having a great time since they arrived on Saturday. They will be here until the end of the week, and I expect I will get allot more pics of nice Steelhead they will land in the coming days. Here are a few from today.

I know I said the fish were coming, and then I said they were not coming, because of water height and temperature. Well now they are coming for sure. I spent time in the lodge late last night, talking to some fisherman that were down at the mouth during the tide change. They said at least a couple hundred fish came in the system. So with that info I the clients, from Yakutat Lodge, down to the half way point of the river and started to fish. At first I thought that I had really shot myself in the foot, but after a few non productive holes, we started hitting some real nice spring fish. My clients today were a father daughter team ,that came from Montana. Brian, (The Dad), had come up last year with a friend of his, and had such a great experience that he brought up his Daughter this year. Now Brian started fishing Steelhead about five years ago, and become addicted. He has fished many different rivers, and has become one of my favorite clients of the year. On the other hand his Daughter (Kamy), had never been into a Steelhead, and was looking forward to her first. It didn't take long before she was hooked up. Seconds later it was over. Setting the hook can be a hard thing to right the first time, and the second, third, and fourth, but the fifth fish was a winner. After banking her first she was setting hook like a pro. Through out the day Brian's daughter really let him know who the fisherman was in the family. Hooking 8 to her Dad's 4 really set her apart for the day. I got the chance to take a few pics, and here they are.

See you all tomorrow.

Flymstr;

Just wanted to say sorry for the gap in new posts. I have been on the river everyday and haven’t had time to do anything but sleep. I will write tomorrow night. Tonight I am too tired, but here are some pics from today..

See ya tomorrow!!

Flymstr;

I don't really know if there is anything else other than fishing, but there are people who like other things. Yakutat is known for the Situk river, and it's world famous Steelhead, Salmon, and Halibut fishing. Yakutat Lodge is at the center of all the action, and with the best river and ocean guides available you can't go wrong, but there is more. With a float plane and a plane that lands on the beach at the lodges disposal, you can explore the area around Yakutat. There are several Glaciers surrounding the Yakutat area, with the Hubbard glacier being the focal point of many Glacier enthusiasts. Using the Plane to see the glacier is a great way to get a birds eye view of the top and the front of the Glacier. Another way to see the Glacier in an even grander scale, is to charter one of the four ocean boats at the Lodge (Conveniently called the hooker fleet, for all the fish they hook). Boarding one of the boats in the morning, you take an hour ride out from the harbor, and arrive in disenchantment bay,flowing out of Russell Fiord and at the end of the Hubbard Glacier. This will give you the chance to get up close and personal with the Glacier. You will see and hear the Glacier as it calves and huge chunks of ice fall to the ocean below. The ice causes large swells of water to spread throughout the bay and you can see the seals bobbing up and down on the chunks of ice they use to lay back on and sun bath. You may also choose to drive up the longest road in Yakutat, and end up at the Bridge to nowhere, that spans the Dangerous river that comes out of Harlequin lake. As you cross the bridge you will see large chunks of ice floating down the river, and large ice bergs standing in the lake like enormous statues carved by mother nature herself. The shapes created by the ice is something only described by actually seeing it for yourself. You may also choose to fly up to the head of the Situk River, and fish in Situk Lake itself for Sockeye Salmon that enter in late June through July. There is another Lake (Mountain Lake) further up that gives a person the opportunity to fish for rainbows in the stream between the two lakes. Weather permitting, a person may have the chance to fly up and fish for the Steelhead that head up to that stream to do their spawning. If the ice is off the lake in time, you have the chance to get to them before they make their redds and start spawning. So if you are one of those people that believe that there is something else to do besides fishing, then you may want to come to Yakutat for the Glaciers and the Scenery. Here are some pics that will give you a better idea of what I am describing.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, for the logging post.

Sometimes you just have to cut your way down the river.

Flymstr;

Well today started out with about 6 inches of new snow. When I went to sleep it was clear, and when I woke up I had to shovel out my boat. The falling snow made for a beautifully drift down the river, although the fish were huddled up keeping warm somewhere under the log jams. I took the new manager of the Yakutat Lodge (Dan) and his daughter (Misty), down for a day of fishing before she heads back down south. Well the day started out with Dan hooking up as soon as he put his plug in the water, but it came unbuttoned soon after. After floating about 10 miles we started seeing some nice fresh fish coming up. We hooked up a couple times, but we just couldn't hold onto them. So after some real disappointments, we finally hit some nice fish that we were able to get to the bank. Here are some pics from the snowy weather day.

Good luck out there.

Flymstr;