Denny
It was very different from your trip! The water was fully a foot higher than your trip, virtually eliminating the shoreline and running up into the bushes. It was also very dark tannin.
We arrived at the spot after an uneventful crossing, heavily overloaded, especially for just two of us. It was almost midnight and the fish were boiling occasionally. We never saw a huge baitfish show like we usually do, but I think the high water was the reason for that.
Despite conditions the fish were there and willing. I rigged a Haymaker and was immediately getting hammered by lake trout. Unfortunately, I learned something the hard way as I could not set the hook in them. The few I caught were hooked all around the head except one hooked in the tongue. Obviously lake trout hit bait from the front end and not the tail.
The fly remains my favorite for rainbows as they are tail nippers and I will be tying a bunch of them with the front hook used and clip the trailer.
So I switched (late, slow, and begrudgingly) to more standard smolt patterns and started hooking up virtually every hit.
It was too dark to take decent pictures and there were wild thunder and lightning shows to the north that moved off to the East and gradually around to the south. We got no rain, but just four miles away at the campground they got over an inch in an hour.
We finally set up the tent and fell asleep at about 4:30AM when the fishing slowed. AT 9:00 it was too hot to stay in the tent. Large fires to the west had filled the air with smoke and the light was constantly changing. Each time I set up to take some decent pictures the quality light left. I kept thinking the light would get good and last, but it never did.
It rained quite a bit in the afternoon and group after group of rafters came through to float the river. They usually stopped just long enough to prove how rude people can be, then left. Several had dogs that were simply out of control...
At one stretch I was the only person fishing for an hour. I stayed on one flat rock fishing a starling and green soft hackle on a fairly crude hook ( I suspect a Mustad 3908 ) in about 16. Casts without a grayling brought to hand were rare. Usually lost fish would be replaced before the fly could come in. The fly was tattered and I decided to see how long it would last. There was no decline in fish over the hour. A few hours later I picked up that rod again and attempted once again to see how long it would remain effective. The fish never stopped hammering it and the count would be ridiculous if I was a counter. There were many that would tip over 16". Fish over 18" were not common, but there were enough to make it more than interesting. Few were less than 10" and 14" was probably a realistic average.
With the high water they were a lot of fun on the 6wts. Also, because of the dark water the fish were incredibly gorgeous with lots of deep purples and blues and the dorsals were spectacular!
Friday evening came and with it a bunch of people showed up and we suddenly felt very crowded. I had been using a traditional spey and there was simply not room to swing it in the only stretch that requires a little reach. Then by midnight the smolt show failed to show and we packed up and left 1:30. We were still catching fish, but it was not the quality experience we hoped for.
We lost the water pump on the outboard three miles from the ramp and had to row across the lake. It was dead quiet except for a few rafts being rowed across the lake to float the river. Their voices could be heard for a long way across the dead calm water and they existed only as shadows when passing. A river boat went zipping past, apparently running sea trials on a GoDevil and the roostertail being thrown was very cool and the mist generated hung in the weird backlight for a long time after he passed. A GoDevil is an outboard with a very long nearly horizontal shaft that churns just under the surface and can be raised and lowered depending on water depth and creates a two-step wake.
We reached the ramp at about 3:30. I did not have to row for even a minute as the young fellow with me said he wanted the exercise! It was a ride I will not forget and despite the blown water pump it was just another quality time in Alaska on the water.
After a brief nap we headed back to Anchorage hoping to stop and fish some of the better places along the way. But it was raining when we passed each of the several places so we just kept heading this way...
I only took a few pictures and have not even looked at them. Will try to get them up when I get a chance.
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