Changing of the seasons in Alaska generally happens fairly quick. September tends to be one of the wettest months of the year in Southcentral. When you get a sunny day, let alone a whole 2 sunny weeks, you take advantage. This trip was especially enticing since an old friend was visiting and looking to put the heat on some rainbows. As an Alaskan born, my friend has fished in the past but has been unable to get much time on the water recently. I was more than willing to help change that.
The trout feeding frenzy that is fall in Alaska rages on through September. My friend has never used a fly rod before so bead fishing would be a great opportunity to try it out. This style of fishing is very simple and the most difficult part tends to be choosing the right bead. Check out this post for more information on bead fishing or here for more “advanced” tips. We struggled early in the float and it was clear we hadn’t found the bead the fish were eating. It turned out we were using a size too large. Once we set up for the smaller size beads, we couldn’t keep the trout out of the net.
Though my friend was still learning how to use a fly rod, he had plenty of experience rowing. We were able to switch off during the float and both of us had lots of action. We even anchored up in a few spots and spent twenty minutes nailing trout and dollies every other cast. Towards the last half of the float, the fishing got real hot. Several doubles were had. A few heifers were in the mix as well.
The sun began to lower in the horizon and we knew the day was coming to a close. We booked it for the take-out and headed to Sackett’s BBQ for some Pork Loin Phillies and a couple pints to finish off the trip. “Not bad,” my friend grinned after taking a drink from his frosty glass. I laughed and nodded in agreement as I continued to stuff my face. It seems we made a returning fisherman of my buddy.