Alaska patterns for Kenai Peninsula

Greetings:

Fortunate enough to go to AK this year for the first two weeks in August, and was hoping folks might have an informed opinion about patterns to bring, sizes, and whether or not to weight the flies and if so how heavy. First week is up in Wood Tikchik State Park, and the guides will have that covered, but the 2nd week I'll be kicking around the KP chasing whatever happens to be around, preferably rainbows and dolly varden, and silvers and steelhead if I'm really lucky (sockeye will probably still be around I guess, but not too interested in them).

So, beads will undoubtedly work (is a #6 hook sufficient?), and flesh flies (does one weight these or not?), but what else should I not be without? The biggest quandary I have is what sizes to tie and whether or not the patterns should be weighted and if so how heavy? I'll be doing the Kenai and any of the other streams/rivers on the KP that might be producing at the time. Have done a fair amount of research and it appears bunny leech variants dominant, as well as the egg-sucking leeches anywhere from #2-6, but if someone can offer greater insight I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Huge range of options and way more than a one-finger can type out in an evening! Let's talk a bit over the phone and I will give you some ideas to worry through. Might even be able to meet up for a day and show you some stuff outsiders do not get to see...

Think about using heads of various weights to get the flies down to the right depths and forget about those rod-eating split shot... and tie unweighted flies... especially your flesh flies. Start with tiny flesh flies tied with just a single thin wrap of bunny on a stout hook. Nothing more. then tie some like the "30-incher" which is a monster flesh fly with the articulation line counter-wrapped with the bunny strip. Toss some color in with mostly white bunny and it is killer right below the cleaning tables...

Still be a bead show if you are willing to lower yourself to fishing 'em. ;)

Cannot imagine anybody not thinking extremely highly of red salmon. Of course if you only listen to snaggers you might have a very wrong impression of them...

PM in a minute with contact info.

I have never fished there but I have tied some flies for a friend who asked me to modify a popular design. It proved to be quite good for Silvers. PM me your e-mail address for details.

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Originally Posted by hap

Still be a bead show if you are willing to lower yourself to fishing 'em. ;)

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Please explain for the uneducated.

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Originally Posted by Uncle Jesse

Please explain for the uneducated.

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Once the salmon start spawning the rainbows turn to eggs almost exclusively, until the flesh starts... But they will continue to hit eggs. The standard these days is plastic beads and there are many varieties, custom paint jobs, etc... Yeah, they use fly rods, but it is hardly a fly in my snobbish mind. ;)

Variations on the beads are hot glue, clay, glass, and metal... Fingernail polish is a standard paint and if you see guys hanging out in the fingernail polish aisle at Wal-Mart they may just be painting their bait! Insisting on fly fishing will lower your catch rate significantly.

I thought it might be that. I will plead guilt to trying to make a hot glue egg, but don't think I have ever caught a fish on one. Of course, GA and AK are a little different. If the USAF had not shutdown Dobbins here in the metro area I might have tried to catch a Space Available trip up there.

Thanks, Hap. A lot of good information just in that short note. We will definitely have to talk further.

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Originally Posted by hap

...and if you see guys hanging out in the fingernail polish aisle at Wal-Mart they may just be painting their bait...

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I've done that to some artificial lures. Does that count? ROFL!