Photo Essay: Jumping Silvers
- This topic has 15 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated Jun 6, 2007 at 5:34 am by
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In an effort to get myself back in the mood for salmon fishing, I thought I’d share some moments from last season when the shutter opened as silvers went airborne.
I’ve gotten a polarizing filter for this season to help correct the glare issues.
Enjoy.
I’m never sure where to put a photo essay on the board, so Zach, feel free to move this to the photography section.
Hi Ian
I am going to Alaska for the first time in September. Will Silvers be available in the Kenai river system and do you have words of advice?
Those photos have me pumped! 🙂
Thanks in advance.Simon
Hey Simon,
I’m not familiar with the run timing on the Kenai, but I’d imagine silvers should be around in good numbers in September. The rainbow/dolly action should be pretty awesome that time of year.
As far as advice goes… bring some really heavy tippet and a lot of flies. I normally set my clients up with a straight 30 lb maxima leader if we’re fishing over clean bottom – more to protect my hands from line cuts and prevent fly loss at release than out of necessity due to fish size. I’ve never seen any evidence to support the claim that silvers are leader shy. You really could catch silvers with your fly tied directly to the fly line if the eye of the hook was big enough. 15 – 20 lb test should be a good compromise to protect your fly line if you’re fishing around snags.
If you’re fishing glacier milk, make sure you tie some super heavy flies along with lightly and normally weighted flies. If the fly’s not running at eye level, they might not see it. And by super heavy I mean – large hourglass eyes and lots of .035 lead wire. I’d rather have to strip fast to keep a fly up in the water column than be forced to slow down stripping to allow flies to run deep. Some people use sink tips, but I’ve found them to be more of a hindrance than a help in 90% of the silver water I fish.
Last thing – be very careful releasing fish on your own, especially if you’re bringing the fish in hot (and you should!). I’ve seen more rods break while fish are being landed than you can imagine. Make sure to strip up line at the end of the fight rather than reeling up. When you grab the leader, you can let the slack out of your rod hand to take the bend out of the rod. Consider yourself warned…
Simon,
I fished the Kenai, the Russian, quartz creek, etc. in the middle of September after I finished up guiding. There were a few silvers around. They were mostly spawned out, but they would occasionally chase a fly. Most of the silvers I saw were up high (near the falls) in the Russian. I also saw quite a few strangler silvers north of Anchorage. Check out Ptarmigan Creek.
Forget about the silvers and chase the thirty inch bows that prowl the waters that you will be fishing.
September is the prime time for rainbow fishing in Alaska. The crowds are mostly gone, and more importantly, the rainbows are gourging themselves on the millions of sockeye eggs prevalent in the rivers.
Feild
Thanks guys!
Don’t know if the next few months can go fast enough! ::)
Big rainbows sound good Field! Thank!Simon
Simon,
Granted it’s the off season, but seeing as you live around the best trout fishery in the world (anyone feel free to debate me on this – I won’t budge), and incredible saltfly, you’ll get no pity from me. What I would do for kiwi citizenship…
Post some NZ trout pictures!
Ian
Just how many of you guys are Alaskan guides anyway?
As far as I know, we’ve got two active and one “retired” on the board.
Simon,
Granted it’s the off season, but seeing as you live around the best trout fishery in the world (anyone feel free to debate me on this – I won’t budge), and incredible saltfly, you’ll get no pity from me. What I would do for kiwi citizenship…
Post some NZ trout pictures!
Ian
Hi Ian
I am going to Alaska for the first time in September. Will Silvers be available in the Kenai river system and do you have words of advice?
Those photos have me pumped! 🙂
Thanks in advance.Simon
Yes, but I’d highly reccomend going to kodiak for silvers as the kenai gets a lot of pressure.
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