Upper Kenai..AGAIN! 25+ inch 'bow 10/8/11

Well I had a half day so I hit the Upper Kenai again.  Only fished three hours but the weather was nice and I caught some quality fish!

Started with an 8mm mottled pink bead and landed a whitefish and lost a small rainbow.

Frustrated that I couldn't hook anything on flesh flies, I decided to stick with a flesh fly untilI caught something.  Well what do you know!  They work!!!  Landed two nice rainbows with the biggest going 25+ inches. Keep in mind these are wild resident rainbows and not steelhead or some freaky triploid

I can already tell this flyfishing thing is going to take years to master.  I bet 2/3 of my casts are ineffective with drag and placement.  I have no idea what I am doing or even trying to do.  I seem to fish where others don't.  Not sure if that is a good thing or not.  I see a lot of folks fishing faster water and my casting isn't good enough that I get about a 5 sec drift and I have to cast again.  So I seem to look for the slower moving water wherever I can find it.   

A little longer than my normal videos...apologies in advance!

Nice! good looking fish and the weather looked awesome!

OK, so you've motivated me. I heading out for tomorrow afternoon.  I just bough a Yak  I have been itching to get out yet this year....and I have business in Cooper Landing anyway.   I've never floated the Kenai and I have two questions.  Who do you use for your drop off service? Where did  you find the fish? I won't be able to put in until after 1:00pm.  Thanks in advance and tight lines......

Damn.........

OK, so you've motivated me. I heading out for tomorrow afternoon.  I just bough a Yak  I have been itching to get out yet this year....and I have business in Cooper Landing anyway.   I've never floated the Kenai and I have two questions.  Who do you use for your drop off service? Where did  you find the fish? I won't be able to put in until after 1:00pm.  Thanks in advance and tight lines......

I put in at Sportman's (Russian River Ferry) and take out at Jim's.  If you have never done it, it is a SUPER short float so fish where you can.  Jim's landing will come upon you in a hurry.  Super easy float, very few sweepers and such especially if you stay int he middle of the river while traveling. 

I used Wildman's  in Cooper landing.  25 bucks for that particular shuttle.  Works out well.

I've only fished it a few times so I am no expert.  Also I have been using a 4wt which severely limits where I can fish since I can't cast very far.  I tend to find the fish behind Islands where the two currents come together.  There is usually a shelf on one side that is a little deeper and so the water flows a little slower.  I can also find similar spots where there is a deeper eddy and the current create a seam that is a little slower in moving.  A lot folks swear by the side sloughs but be careful, the last good side slough up from Jim's enters the main river right at Jim's landing so don't miss the landing or you are going through the Canyons!

I get more hits using beads, I get bigger fish when using large articulated flesh flies in the drab colors like white, ginger, and tan.  The beads are the ones that look more like old eggs,  Light washed out pink or even yellowish.  Next time I go out, I plan on using some large articulated leech patterns to see if I can't find a silver or two as well.  Conventional wisdom and the general consensus though for rainbows is to use smaller washed out color flesh flies.

1pm is no problem.  I bet if you just floated the river, you are at Jim's landing in an hour or less.  So you'll get to fish a few hours. 

Let me know how you do.  I just picked up a new 10' echo ion 4wt and a lamson guru 3.0 to try here.  I can't wait to try it. 

Hey K-84, I'll be you passed me on the river if you were there on Saturday. I had a great day too -- half dozen fish +20, with one +25 -- lots and lots of action. What a fabulous day. Two productive spots for me -- post-Sportman's, on the left side of the river just past the powerline crossing, there's an island. I pull out my boat on the back side of the island (watch closely though, often bears there) and then I fish the toe and heel of the island -- there's a nice seam when the river scours but the slow water channel leaves a ledge that drops off on the downstream side of the island.  You don't need great casting skill -- just mend your line to get a longer dead drift.  The other spot is further downstream -- where the river splits into three channels. You probably took the first and widest.  I like to fish the sweeping turn of the second channel. All of the +20 fish I had Saturday were deep -- time for sinking tips.  The plan for this weekend is the Talkeetna River...  Already, one of the fishing partners has bowed out due to cold.  Obviously he forgot that nothing warms you up like a big fish on light tackle!

AKfishergal...

When did you start?  I started fairly early about 9am I think but just paddled hard to get to the second half of the drift to pass up all the boats that were launching early knowing I had to get back early to go to the Mayor's Ball.  I've been meaning to hook my sonar back up to the mini-x so I can see what is deep and what isn't. 

I think I know where you are talking about and I fish those areas too but from a slightly different angle.   

I did pick up a 10' 6wt Echo ion with a lamson 3.0 guru.  Gonna use small stuff on my 4wt and bigger flies on my 6wt.  I'm hoping to get out a few more times. 

Bowed out due to cold???  This is Alaska!  Talkeetna River, eh?  Never been.  Good luck!

I work Saturday, fly out Sunday evening so I think I am going to hit the Upper Kenai as early as possible on Sunday and get off the water by 1pm.  My flights at 5pm so  I should make it....I hope....maybe I will push my flight back.  It's only a hearing in front of of the U.S. House of Representative's Natural Resource committee...

I started at 1 and was off the water about 5:30.  It's such a nice float, and there are so many big 'bows and Dollies in there that there's always another cast, another drift, another fly to try.  You'll need to launch from the lake one of these times for a longer float and even more prospects. The river sure has gotten crowded with drift boats and rafts over the last ten years, but the colder mornings will knock the numbers down  My pal who canceled from the Talkeetna float just guaranteed himself much ribbing for being SO MUCH more a geezer than me. He used to be reliably on the rivers through October.  I think he's only been up her 20 years or so, thus explaining his cold weather timidity. The Talkeetna is great fly fishing water, with excellent rainbow fishing after the glaciers stop melting, the river clears and the water drops.  There's a guy who will run you and your boat up the river, and he doesn't end the season until the end of October. Tri-River Charters.

Good luck in DC. Taking the Alaska Air direct flight, I hope. Those quick trips to the east coast can be brutal otherwise.  Looking at your schedule, seems like you could use the uninterrupted sleep!

All I can say is you da man!!!! Not only do you need a bigger net you need a bigger Hawg Trough.

I can't believe you were landing  those on a 4 wt. 

Nice job Rudy.. Those are some nice fat Rainbow's.. That's the same section Mark Collett had us fishing last summer with the Grizzly's.. Thanks for posting

  Hey Rudy,
 Those were some awesome bows.And on a 4 wt. Looks like there might be some hope for you yet.......
  Seriously....we all appreciate the video's that you put up on here.Makes me think I might have left Alaska a little too soon.But when I see the temps in Soldotna getting down in the 20's I think...maybe I got out at a good time.Regardless...keep those videos coming.We all get a kick outa them.
  Hopefully someone from this armada this Sunday on the Wishkah will get some video of some decent coho action.It might even be me---either taking the vid or the subject of someone else's tape.I really hope we can bust micahgee's salmon cherry.Nothing like a guy getting his 1st salmon...
  Be looking for a report or two Monday morning................I will be...........
                                                                                                             Mark

Looking forward to your report. Headed to Seattle Sunday but back Monday. Be back down mid nov.

Ya it was a BLAST on a 4wt but it did take 5 to 7 minutes per fish to land. Being catch and release, as much fun as ultra lighting fish is, I felt guilty I couldn't land them with less stress. So I bought a 6wt. We'll see if that helps with both my casting and quicker landing. Leave the ultralight fishing to fish I intend to keep.

I work Saturday but plan to hit it before I get on the plane Sunday for a half day.

I want to spend a little of the time swinging big leech patterns to see if I can't hook a second run coho as well.