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Fly fishing for Kings?

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JD,

I am going to be in Juneau on the 28th of June 2009. I have been told that I can fish along Fish Creek for salmon. I am a very experienced fly fisherman, but my gear is geared toward trout. What do I need for gear, (flies, waders, etc) and is there anyplace that will rent it for a day? All I want is a king and I have to do it on the cheap. All I want to do, is catch one, take a picture of it and let it go.

Thanks, Scott R.

Scott,

When the kings are in Fish Creek, it’s a bit of a mob scene, particularly around the Pond area, where snagging is legal. In the creek itself, there’s no snagging or bait allowed and that’s where you should go. I’d head above the bridge to seek some peace and quiet.

Anyway, you’re going to need at least an 8-weight rod to wrestle a king out of that creek. Big, bright attractor patterns with chartreuse and hot pink as the main colors work, but honestly, I’ve done best in Alaska on kings with black leeches fished on the swing with short strips.

As far as rental gear goes, I’m not sure about that one. I guess in a pinch if you have a 7-weight you use for larger trout, you could get away with that.

Good luck!

Where do I fish in Juneau?

By 2 Comments

JD, I am heading to Juneau, AK at the end of June and looking for a place to fish but I am not interested in the fly or party boat
scene.

I am a simple man with wants and thought I would look around
for (A) true person that has some experience in the area and
see what I could read, this brings me here.

From my experienceit is easy to get advise from people
selling a service but my experience with those trips and information is considered tainted at best.

If you know a place to fish, a local hole or just a stream,
lake scant of people to drop a line in please know that
I would think kind thought of you and send positive vibes
in your direction.

— Bill A.

Bill, I’ll take all the positive vibes you can send! Here are some of the spots in the Juneau road system you can hit with a rental car. Good luck!

MONTANA CREEK
Close to town and it’s got a nice variety of species, from dollies to cutthroats to most of the salmon.

You can hike into the mouth of the creek via the paved Mendenhall Glacier trail or fish up or downstream of the bridge off Back Loop Road. You can also hit the upper reaches by following Montana Creek Road until it dead-ends in a cul-de-sac. There’s a trailhead at the end of the road that will lead you to the creek.

PETERSON CREEK
Peterson is located at Mile 24.5 on the Glacier Highway and can be accessed near the highway bridge. From the salt to the first falls, there’s about 2 ½ miles of stream to explore, and it harbors a decent steelhead run.

WINDFALL CREEK
Windfall Creek (a bit past Mile 27 on the highway) is a small stream that gives anglers a rare shot in local waters to catch sockeye salmon. The stream has a large run of reds but is subject to tight regulations to ensure the fishery remains viable.

There are a couple of holes were the sockeye stack up by the thousands and you can walk right up to them…just check the regs first.

FISH CREEK
Fish Creek’s a beautiful rushing stream on Douglas Island off North Douglas Highway that gives anglers a shot at king salmon in fresh water. Cutthroat and dollies also venture into Fish Creek and it gets loaded with chums and pinks mid-summer.