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 Alaska: It's 20 Degrees Warmer When The Dolly Varden Are Biting!
Posted by KodiakCommando on February 27, 2005
(3096 reads)
It's Friday night in December and colder than a cat's meow. I'm sitting down at the vice tying some silver salmon patterns for the season that is so far away it makes me want a time machine. As I tie I reminisce about last summer when the days were long and the salmon and trout plentiful. This part of the season is different, the days are short and the fly rods are gathering dust. It's enough to bring me to tears. When it seems that a tear is about to form the phone rings. I pick it up and an ecstatic friend blurts out Buskin Lake is open. "Open" I wonder to myself because it is usually frozen this time of year. "You want to go?" he asks. I simply say yes to the obviously rhetorical question.
It''s Now 10 in the morning on Saturday and we have arrived at the trail that wanders through a golf course and takes us to the back of Buskin lake. It's
a short walk and as soon as we arrive at our favorite spot we see 3 Dolly Varden roll on the edge of the ice 50 yards out. At that moment the 20 degree temperature seems like it rose to 30 degrees. We both put on scud patterns and wade out as far as we can very slowly and cast out. For
30 minutes the fish keep on rolling but won''t hit our flies. I wonder to myself "Why am i out here, i must be one of those crazy fly fisherman that sane non fly fisherman don''t understand." The next cast i slow down my strip and almost immediately the fly is slammed and the hook is set. A chrome figure jumps out of the water and takes some line before i reel her in. It''s a nice 18 inch hen that seems like a blessing
to a fly fisherman like me. That blessing is released and the temperature seems to be at 40 degrees. After that we both managed to land and release 20 Dolly's, each one reminding me of the feeling of catching a fish on a fly rod, the feeling I had seemed to forget over the past few months. Some people may say you are crazy for catching these fish that pale in comparison of the mighty salmon of the summer in the dead of winter. In that case check me into mental clinic because I couldn't be happier!
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Re: It's 20 Degrees Warmer When The Dolly's Are Biting!
by jeremy on February 27, 2005 http://www.fliesandfins.com | | i would give up alot for a 20 fish day right about now. i'll take 18 inch dolly varden's all day. do you fly fish for steelhead up in alaska too. i know that alaska has an amazing steelhead fishery. i have spent alot of time in southeast alaska - juneau, ketchikan, sitak, wrangell, st. petersburg, etc... - did some great salmon fishing...can't wait to make it back up that way again. great fish tale - thanks. |
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Re: It's 20 Degrees Warmer When The Dolly's Are Biting!
by mike-c on February 27, 2005 | Nice read! I spent some time in AK about 10 yrs ago - before I discovered Flyfishing. I bet if I had already been a Ff'er, I'd have stayed. Thanks.
Mike |
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