Kenai River Flyfishing
Professional flyfishing guides for the Kenai River Fred Telleen and Stacy Corbin give these advises on the equipment for your Alaska fishing vacations on the Kenai River.
A 9-10’ 7wt. A good seven is powerful enough to put the pressure on a big silver or sockeye salmon and light enough to enjoy an 18” rainbow. Longer rods from 9’6” to 10’ are great for managing extended dead drifts and for fishing from the drift boat. I do not recommend rods shorter than 9’. But Rods from 5 to 9 all have a place on the river: 5wt-Good for light nymphing and possible dry fly action. 6wt- A fast action 6wt is a great all around trout rod. 7wt-The best all-around rod choice. 8wt-Perfect for targeting sockeye and silver salmon. None too heavy for many of our rainbows. 9wt-Great for putting the heat on a fast running sockeye or silver salmon. For Lower Kenai King Salmon: A powerful 10wt is minimum and an 11 or 12wt is the better choice.
FLY LINES: FLOATING - a good weight forward floating line as the standard choice for covering most circumstances. At least 80% of our trout fishing is done by “nymphing” with an indicator. If you don’t want to use an indicator for nymphing, a floating line is still a better choice. Swinging a sink tip is likely to result in many foul hooked sockeye salmon when they are thick in the river and spawning. Most anglers targeting sockeye will just keep adding weight to their 9’ leader until they get the desired drift. Casting may not be pretty, but no one complains about the results. Silver Salmon are usually targeted in slow and slack water areas where a floating line and weighted fly approach works best. A sinking line will likely foul hook fish by dragging the fly over their backs. SINKING TIP LINES: There are some exceptions, where sinking tip lines may be effective. Sometimes, swinging streamers on mini-tip or sinking-tip lines can provide action early or late in the season. Some anglers prefer using a 300-400 grain sinking tip for sockeye rather than adding heavy weight to their leader. Fishing for Kings (Lower Kenai only) requires a mini-tip for slow water areas and an extra heavy 400-600 grain sinking-tip line for fast currents. FLY REELs: Alaska fishing demands premium reels with a quality disc drag. Stacy and I are proud to be members of the Ross Reels USA Pro Staff. Ross Reels USA For trout, I love the Evolution 3.5. Sockeye and silver salmon are perfect on the Momentum 4. For large Kings, a Momentum 5 is the ticket.
LEADERS:
Simple Trout Leader Formula: 24” of 20-pound mono knotted to 7 feet of 15-pound fluorocarbon with 12-18” of 1X fluorocarbon tippet. A yarn indicator is attached in the middle of the 20-pound section. Split shot are added above the tippet knot. This leader would not turn over a bushy dry fly, but the split shot carries it out. The long belly of fluorocarbon allows the leader to sink quickly with minimal weight. The 20-pound mono is supple enough to allow the fly-line to be mended without moving the indicator. Sockeye Salmon Leader Formula: This is down and dirty. Take 3 feet of 30-pound and join it to 6 feet of 20-pound. The split shot goes above the knot. On the drift, a portion of the floating line is pulled down. This creates a belly in the fly-line that pulls the weight along and forces the leader down. The 6 feet of leader swings in a big arc near the bottom and into the path of upstream bound sockeye. Depending on current speed and depth, the leader length may be adjusted. If you feel you are drifting over the fish, just keep shortening the line until you start hooking-up. While a 20-pound leader may seem heavy to most trout anglers for a 6-10 pound fish, sockeye still manage to break off. Silver Salmon Leaders: Silvers are best fished with a stout tapered leader down to 0X or 10-pound.
TROUT FLIES (Rainbow Trout and Dolly Varden): You could probably fish an entire season with two fly patterns and be very successful on the Upper Kenai. Fred and Stacy suggest these flies for a good arsenal.. STREAMERS (sizes 2-6) NYMPHS (sizes 10-16) DRY FLIES (10-16) EGG PATTERNS FLESH FLIES (sizes 4-12)
SOCKEYE SALMON FLIES (size 2-6 Russian River Hook or heavy salmon/steelhead
style)
SILVER SALMON FLIES (size 2-6) Silvers will take just about anything at times. They can also be very picky. Variety is the key.
KING SALMON FLIES (size 4-2/0)
WADERS: Use breathable waders. I will never
go back to neoprene. If you can afford them, buy Simm's Waders. They are
the best.
JACKET: A good waterproof wading jacket is a must.
LAYERING: When it is not T-shirt weather, I like a thin synthetic shirt followed by a light fleece pull-over. A heavier fleece jacket can be added for really cool days with a wading jacket on top.
GLASSES and HAT: They are an important tool for seeing and safety.
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FLY ROD CHOICES:
Standard
9’ trout or salmon/steelhead-tapered leaders work fine. I
usually take an OX or 1X leader and add more tippet. I might go as light
as 3X or even 4X with a 5wt and small nymph or dry fly, but 0X and 1X tippets
are the norm. Remember that the trout can be large and the currents are strong.
There are also incidental sockeye hook-ups. Even with 0X tippet, a large
trout or a sockeye may take ten or more minutes to land.
TIPPET UPDATE: We now use Gamma "Frog Hair" leaders and tippet
material. The Flourocarbon is excellent as is the regular Frog Hair material.
