New To Alaksa

[jenkin3]

I am new to this forum. I currently live in South Carolina, but I am moving to a remote area in Prince William Sound at the end of Feb and will be there until November. I know there are great fly fishing opportunities there, but I don't have much experience with salmon. My background with a fly rod is mainly southeastern trout streams throwing small dry flies, nymphs (with indicators), streamers, and egg patterns. I have recently gotten addicted to fly tying. I have looked at the flies that are posted on here, and I have looked up a few others. I done decent amount of reading on what the trends are and when the runs are...but any advice will be greatly appreciated. I have a 5 weight that i mainly use for trout and an 8 weight that i have used in saltwater. I assume the 5 weight would be ok for trout dolly varden and grayling (if i were to venture out to find them) and the 8 weight would be good for most of the salmon species. I have read most of the post on this forum, and havent thought much about leaders and tippet. since i am going to be remote i am thinking i need to get a lot of it before i head out. I would love any advice!

Thanks,

Jimmy

 

[Ard]

Hi Jimmy,

Welcome to the forum and you'll find that there will be plenty of winter left for you when you get here. Where in PWS are you going to live?

Ard

 

[jenkin3]

I will be working with prince william sound aquaculture association. so i will be working at some of the remote hatcheries. im not sure where they are on the sound but there are 4 on the coast and 1 inland. I think i will be moving between them all at some point over the next 10 months. i can get gps coords of the places

 

[Ard]

This sounds very interesting but the area is out of my sphere of familiarity. If you will be on or near rivers where there are hatcheries there will no doubt be large returns of salmon, expertise will not be crucial because after a few weeks you will have caught so many fish you will have it figured out.

As for having your trout fishing background to draw from; I can honestly say that had I not had a thorough understanding of streamer fishing for trout, my transition to salmon fishing would have been very difficult. If you want to stay in touch drop a PM to my mail box and we can continue the discussion about gear and etc. We could also get on Skype to speak about fishing here if you want.

Ard

 

[caseywise]

i worked a summer at the main bay hatchery in pws about 15 years ago and it was quite an experience.
as far as fishing the area, salmon,dv, and rainbows are plentiful but you'll not find grayling in that part of the state.
regarding rod selection, i think a 5 weight and an 8 weight will work fine.
have fun

casey

 

[jenkin3]

By "quite an experience" do you mean good, bad, or just different. I did some research on grayling and pws has a hatchery in paxton, AK i was thinking if i ended up there for a bit i might get into some. I just love being outdoors and catching fish is just a bonus to that! It is going to be an adjustment. I have hiked and fished in 30 degree weather, but in SC the winter fluctuates so much. Like thursday i was hiking in 75 degree weather in jan. but 3 weeks ago it was a high a 40. My main worry is adjusting the the amount of daylight. In my area we consider a pig trout to be anything over 18 inches. I know this is not the case in your neck of the woods.

 

[caseywise]

a great experience

 

[jenkin3]

awesome!! I am really pumped about it!

 

[mcnerney]

Jimmy: Sounds like you are in for quite an adventure, I'm jealous. I've never fished the streams in that area. I've hunted for black bear in some of the remote bays in the area and trolled for silver salmon in the main bay. Bring really good rain gear. As the saying goes, "If you can see the mountain tops its going to rain, if you can't its raining".

 

[jenkin3]

Yeah the rain gear is number one on my list! I just got my assignment I will be working at the wally Noerenberg Hatchery which is located in lake bay which is on the southern end of esther island. I leave to head to cordova on Feb. 25 so it is approaching fast! how is the flying in snowy conditions?

 

[nerka]

Yeah the rain gear is number one on my list! I just got my assignment I will be working at the wally Noerenberg Hatchery which is located in lake bay which is on the southern end of esther island. I leave to head to cordova on Feb. 25 so it is approaching fast! how is the flying in snowy conditions?

Welcome, and you will probably have an awesome time. I think your rod choice is sound for the most part. If you want to chase grayling, a 3wt makes for an awesome time. It is worth noting that the hatchery you are talking about near Paxson is about a 4 or more hour drive from Valdez and you dont need to go that far. There are grayling to be caught in the Glenallen area.

I dont necessarily consider PWS that remote, it has a road connection and ferry service. It is out of the way, but remote here is generally considered fly in only as far as I am concerned.

As for flying in snow conditions, if it is too bad, the pilot wont go. If the pilot will go, jump on board. If you want to know about snow conditions in Cordova check out some of the pictures from thier snow storm a few weeks ago. I think they have had close to 20 feet this winter.

While I am not a PWS expert, I have spent a bit of time there and it is amazingly beautiful. The fishing is better than average and the weather worse than average, when it comes to PWS, if you think you have enough goretex, buy 2 more of each. Seriously, do not skimp on rain gear.

I have never seen or caught one, but apparently there are some streams in the Valdez area that have cuttthroats.

A large caliber revolver is also handy to have around.

 

[jborn]

Watch out -- Experience is what you get when you thought you were getting something else.

all smiles - good luck on your "experience"

jlb

 

[mikel]

While I am not a PWS expert, I have spent a bit of time there and it is amazingly beautiful. The fishing is better than average and the weather worse than average, when it comes to PWS, if you think you have enough goretex, buy 2 more of each. Seriously, do not skimp on rain gear.

After fishing up there the 1st time I wore goretex til it was saturated and then went to a rubber backup...to wear while the goretex dried out...

I'd take a backup 8wt and reel if I could, especially if you'll be there for silvers.

I'm soooo jealous.

-Mike

 

[jenkin3]

Thanks everyone! i have gortex and rubber so i am hoping i am that will be enough lol. I was curious what size leader and tippet i should use on both rods. i was thinking 4x on the 5 wt but idk about the 8 wt.

 

[wfosborn]

I'm a little late to the game here, been out of touch for far too long here.

I'm here in Cordova, I imagine you'll be stopping in here a few times during your stay at the hatcheries. I'd be happy to help out however I can, come find me at Laura's or send me a pm if there's anything I can do for you.

--Will

 

[Ard]

Thanks everyone! i have gortex and rubber so i am hoping i am that will be enough lol. I was curious what size leader and tippet i should use on both rods. i was thinking 4x on the 5 wt but idk about the 8 wt.

jenkin,

For most fishing forget the 'X' ratings and think along the lines of light equals 8 pound test. That's my trout, char and grayling leader. For any salmon fishing I use 15 pound Maxima and have no worries no matter what I hook up with.

Hi Will, long time no chat,

Ard

 

[rapid eddy]

You lucky dog you. PWS? Spent a lot of time on it back several yrs ago. Mainly in Whittier. Only way in is by boat, plane or rail. We did the tunnel portols that you see when headin for Whittier. Fished a stream that came out of a fall and dumped into the bay. Caught fish till i sat my rod down and said i wasn't going to catch anymore. Get ya some Geological Survey maps of the area that you'll be in. You'll find en very useful. What profession are you in if i may ask?
Eddy