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Fly Fishing for Dolly Varden, the “Bluegill of Alaska”

May 21, 2019 By JD Leave a Comment

If you grew up anywhere in the Lower 48, there’s a high probability that your very first fish on a fly was a bluegill.

Their abundance and willingness to take the fly (even a poorly presented one) have made bluegill a favorite of beginning fly – and conventional – anglers for eons.

Of course, there are no bluegill in Alaska – but you do have Dolly Varden which are the perfect beginner fly fishing species.

Dollies in Alaska aren’t lavished with the reverence that the state’s rainbows receive. In fact, they are often considered a nuisance…gasp…even a “trash fish.” But let’s give these guys some credit here! Dollies are sporty little guys and exhibit some of the same attributes that make bluegill such popular fare down south. Most notably:

Where you find one, you usually find a bunch of ‘em — and they love to bite. Plus, they can grow to several pounds! What’s so wrong with that?

So, if you are yearning to give fluff chucking a try, these “bluegill of the North” are a great place to start. Their aggressiveness makes picking a fly pattern easy and you can get away with a dry (floating) line in just about any situation.

Gearing Up

Okay let’s get you outfitted first. I like a 9-foot, 5-weight rod for dolly fishing, but you can go up to a No. 7 or 8 if you are fishing big water with larger fish.

Now, here’s the beauty of it: you don’t need a $700 rod and a reel that cost more than your first car to catch dollies. Something you found for $20 at a flea market is fine when you are just starting out.

Sure, fancy new materials make modern rods much lighter and give them crisper actions…but first things first! Go catch a few fish first and then, if you really get into the sport, consider upgrading your equipment.

As far as line goes, get a floating, weight-forward line that matches the weight of your rod. In other words, a 5-weight line is designed for a 5-weight rod. You can sometimes go up one weight of line to make a rod cast better, but let’s just keep things simple here and stick to the manufacturer’s suggestion ratings.

Next, you’ll need a leader attached to the end of your fly line. The easiest way to go is to purchase a knotless tapered leader. Nine foot is about right and you’ll notice fly leaders will have a tippet rating that has a number followed by X. It’s a bit confusing in the beginning because fly leaders are identified by their diameter in thousands of an inch, not breaking strength.

Remember that a smaller number means heavier line: 0X is 15-pound test while 8X is about 1.5-pound line. For general dolly fishing, something like a 4X (6-pound) or 3X (8-pound) will be fine.

Dolly Tips & Techniques

The easiest way to start hooking dolly varden on the long rod is to tie on a No. 2-8 purple Egg Sucking Leech and head for the water. This fly will catch dollies like crazy…rainbows, grayling, silvers, chums and kings will hit it too so be prepared!

Dollies migrate to stream mouths and lake outlets in the spring to pick off out-migrating salmon fry and that’s where you should try first. Cast slightly down and across the current, give the line an upstream mend (lift) and then start stripping the fly in with you non-rod hand.

Let the bug drift in an arc downstream until it’s immediately downstream of your position and then re-cast.

Strikes “on the swing” like this can be fierce so there won’t be much doubt as to what’s going on when a dolly smacks your offering.

Dolly varden are notorious for eating flies right out of the surface film, but if you feel like maybe you’re not quite getting down enough, try adding a splitshot to your leader 12 to 18 inches above the fly.

As summer salmon start pairing off and dropping eggs, it’s time to start fishing yarn bugs or beads under indicators (otherwise known as bobbers). When dollies get onto the eggs, you can really catch a bunch of them!

The basic rig goes like this: The indicator is set to about twice the water depth and then one or two pegged beads at the business end of the tippet.

The idea here is to try as best you can to match the size and color of the eggs the salmon are releasing. Dollies (and particularly rainbows) can get pretty dialed into a particular look of an egg and ignore anything that doesn’t fit the color and profile they are looking for.

The indicator rig is a bit more of a pain to cast, but it gets easier with time. Toss straight out or slightly upstream and then mend the line upriver by lifting it with the rod tip, to keep any bows out of it.

If you get one section of line that’s getting pushed by the current faster then the rest, it creates excess drag, pulling the entire rig downstream at an unnatural pace.

It takes some practice to get the whole “dead drift” thing down, but that’s the beauty of dollies…you bead could well off the bottom, swinging through the run at Mach 2 and you’re still going to get bit.

Later in the fall, when the salmon die off, flesh flies will be the ticket. Dollies fatten up for the upcoming winter by chowing down on chunks of dead salmon meat so your flies should be whiteish-tan in color to match the washed out meat.

You can fish flesh flies just as you would beads or on the swing.

Filed Under: Fly Fishing Tagged With: alaska, alaska fishing, alaska rainbow trout fly fishing, bluegill, char, dolly varden, egg beads, flesh flies, fly fishing, flyfishing, woolly bugger

Underwater Photos: The Rejection

August 17, 2014 By JD 2 Comments

Sometimes everything can be right…the cast, the drift, the bait…and still the fish don’t get hooked. Here’s an interesting scene I shot on a tributary to the Togiak River in Alaska, where a nice Dolly Varden does a fly-by on roe cluster but doesn’t commit to the bait.

The Dolly Varden makes his  move...

The Dolly Varden makes his move…

But something just isn't right…the close proximity of the camera perhaps?

But something just isn’t right…the close proximity of the camera perhaps?

Even that milky goodness seeping out of the bait wasn't enough for this guy!

Even that milky goodness seeping out of the bait wasn’t enough for this guy! Why do you think he didn’t go all in?

Filed Under: Cool Photos, Underwater Photos/Video Tagged With: alaska, bite, char, dolly garden, roe, togiak river, underwater, underwater camera

Underwater Photos: Dolly Varden attacks a glob of eggs

August 6, 2014 By JD 1 Comment

Okay, more from my Alaska files…Here’s a cluster of roe drifted down a run on the Togiak River loaded with Dolly Varden (some rainbows and jacks were in there too). I always cut the points off the hooks while filming (if a fish got hooked, it caused too much camera shake). This sequence is cool as one dolly rejects the bait and another comes out of the pack to eat it!

He's hot on the scent trail now!

A dolly varden lines up on the scent trail of the bait…

At the last minute, he rejects the bait…perhaps the camera scares him off.

At the last minute, he rejects the bait…perhaps the camera scares him off.

Check this guy out, though…coming out of the pack to attack

Check this guy out, though…coming out of the pack to attack

No turning back now!

No turning back now!

Going in for the kill!

Going in for the kill!

Tastes good!

Tastes good!

Full commitment!

Full commitment!

Filed Under: Cool Photos, Photos and Video, Underwater Photos/Video Tagged With: char, dolly varden, eggs, rainbow trout, roe, togiak river, underwater, underwater fish

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