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Kenai Sockeye Trip need advise.

3K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  steelydan 
#1 ·
I have a 9’ 9wt and plan to pick up a 10’ 8wt for this trip. Can anyone give advice on fly line and flies?? I was thinking of going with bead eggs? I’m a Midwest trout and smallmouth fly fisherman so I do need help here.
 
#2 ·
I used to tie flies for a co-worker's annual trip to the Kenai to fish for sockeye. They were dead simple. I just lashed some chartreuse polar bear, yak, or similar hair onto a size 2 standard bait hook. Not too sparse nor too bulky. He caught lots of sockeye and always gifted me some fresh fish upon his return.
 
#6 ·
I left 11 years ago, so check regs a little bit. Better yet, hire a guide for the first day and just listen to them.

Gamakatsu makes a specific hook for the Russian/Upper Kenai- they are the ones to get. Very specific about how big a hook you can use.

As for fly selection- a lot of locals bring a bag of hooks and a spool of red yarn. Tie on hook, then tie a 3" piece of red yarn. A fly is born. That is how important fly selection is, as they are not eating in fresh water and don't really eat many fish in the ocean.

Hook can not be weighted, but you can use tire weights or bowling balls on your leader.

We usually had a 10' section of stout maxima with a good bit of big split shot 2' above the fly. Like was mentioned earlier, you are just flossing them, and when done right results in lots of fish hooked in the mouth. If you snag one, you have to throw them back and fish cops love writing tickets on snaggers.

It is definitely not regular fly fishing. And generally you are fishing near other folks, and they will appreciate it if you use stout enough gear to horse your fish in fast and not start a rodeo. The first run fish only weight about 6 pounds, but they are strong, and if you snag one in the back or side it is not easy to reel them in.

I miss that fishing. It was weird, but really fun, and June and July in AK are awesome. Have fun.
 
#9 ·
I successfully fished several waters around there and further North and East with a 7 wt. Sage RPL+ and it was plenty of rod for reds (sockeye). I'd skip the the ten weight and have some fun. The fly line is pretty much moot on the Kenai, you can get away with shooting heavy mono and a heavy-ish fly to get the job done. It isn't fly fishing as you know it. Matt 35 and maltipa hold the keys. .
 
#10 ·
You can buy the coho flies cheap almost anywhere in Anchorage. Red/white seems to be the right color most of the time but others will work. They will be the correct hook/gap. The Kenai is a big, fast river in most places and if the fish turn sideways in the current an 8 wt. is not enough. I usually use a 10 weight and fishing is much more like euro-nymphing or tenkara than fly casting. You have to use a lot of weight. I used a 2 - 3" pencil lead with heavy mono inside, loop to loop on the fly line and straight , short mono leader. The fish aren't selective. They just hammer the fly.
 
#12 ·
When does the late run pick up? I was up there late June early July and they were smaller, similar in size to A run steelhead around here. Yes, I can see where heavier gear is in order on the Kenai. I stuck to the Russian and some smaller rivers, most of it battle fishing. Red/white flies, chunk of surgical tubing and pencil lead. Flip 10-12' of mono up river and high stick it through the hole, couple of strips, repeat. It was weird fishing in the glacial melt, no visibility at all but still hooking up regularly.
 
#13 ·
I have a 9' 9wt and plan to pick up a 10' 8wt for this trip. Can anyone give advice on fly line and flies?? I was thinking of going with bead eggs? I'm a Midwest trout and smallmouth fly fisherman so I do need help here.
Take an 8wt. with a floating line. Also, bring a ten foot section of T-17.
You can have a blast swinging the T-17 with small chartreuse flies! Don't let anyone convince you that sockeye won't take flies! It's just not as efficient as flossing. I posted a video on Youtube a few years ago on the technique.

Good luck!
 
#14 ·
elbow to elbow fishing up and down that river with flossing the appropriate technique, just don't let a game warden catch you doing that. not much fun to be had as the folks up that way are looking to fill their winter supply of salmon in the can by standing around on those banks.
 
#17 ·
Fished there several years ago with a small sponge, weight and hook. That's it takes when they're stacked up heading up river. I also used some red and white synthetic with a weight and you're good to go. They seem to attack that style more than the sponge which is really designed for flossing. The second method gets you quite a few foul hooks. Second week of July has always been the thickest rubs I've seen. Fry them up right out of the river for the best tasting salmon you'll ever have.
 
#18 ·
I tend to be a reader and don't usually respond to many posts. That said, while born, raised and now retired in Washington I was blessed to live in Anchorage for 33 years. I would return in a hartbeat if circumstances allowed it and actually consider myself a displaced Alaskan. One thing is for sure; there is, and I suppose will always be, an abundance of misinformation about Alaska out there. A quick 2 hour run after work to fish for Russian River reds is common practice. It's a big place. Given that, I have been able to fish there somewhere north of 150 times.

Fishing in the Keani / Russian River area for Reds in a prime example. I have seen some good information in this post as well as some that will promptly get you a citation and fine from ADFG. It is important to recognize that fishing in the Keani River and at its confluence with the Russian is a different fishery from fishing in the Russian River itself. As my brother Steve said in a previous post, the Keani is a "big fast" River. It is best fished with different gear than fishing in the Russian River, a small beautiful, and in some parts stream like fishery. The area is "fly fishing " area only". However, you will see lots of spinning rods with flies at the tip of the leader. Totally legal. Important is that hook gap and leader length are specifically regulated so check the regulations. When fishing either there are two things that are a must! Patience and a healthy respect for your fellow anglers and the fish. It is often crowed and most often shoulder to shoulder. You will be amazed at the dumb things people will do and should also consider this a "social experience ".

As for gear in the Russian, a stout 7wt would do but an 8wt is perfect. Light enough to have fun but heavy enough to control the fish and stay out of each other's way. Please leave the 6wts at home!

For fishing the Keani a 10wt is a good choice as the fish will use the river current against you. You will also need to have enough control to keep from fate fish heading downstream across 10 or 12 other lines. In "the old days" your neighbor would of the just cut your line off.

Yes Charlotte, reds will follow your fly and actually bite it!! It is not uncommon to snag them as well and you must release them. Flossing is common, and if you constantly practice techniques leading to that be prepared for a discussion with the ever present ADFG representative in your area.
The trusty Coho fly is all you really need. Attached to a couple feet od 20lb mono and an appropriate amount of weight to get on the bottom and you're in business. I Like to use the hollow pencil lead with mono line through it and looped on the ends as it doesn't snag between rocks as much as some other weights. Fly - leader - weight - line. I usually use a sink tip line. There are undoubtedly many other ways to rig up as well. I will attach a photo of my fly wallet for this fishery.

Remember, this isn't really fly fishing in the pure sense. It's more of a lob, plunk & dunk thing. Whatever it is, it's one of my very favorite social experiences which should be shared by all.
 

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#19 · (Edited)
One thing to consider if you do fish the upper parts of the Russian is the opportunity to site fish for Rainbows below the fillet and release stations. Rainbows will stack up and wait to eat the eggs from gutted fish. I did this versus fishing for the Reds, but then again when I fished it I wasn’t in a place to keep fish. Had I been I would have slung it out with others.

I did catch one Red while fishing for the bows, it ate an egg pattern under an indicator. I was younger and very naive about what was happening around me. That fish did “get” in the way of other people fishing and I thought someone was going to drown me when I landed it and let it go.
 
#22 ·
Been there many times with my brother. The Kenai/Russian river confluence is beautiful and my favorite fishery bar none but it is as he said, a social experience after all. You see all kinds of outfits and people from the "regular" Alaskans who know what they are doing to the beginner who shows up with a $10 Zebco outfit and casts across about 50 other fishing lines and then wonders why when he reels in there is no longer a fly on the end of the line. I've stood in the river knee deep and had big rainbows resting between my legs and I have fished for rainbows using flesh flies. The whole scene is a made for TV experience but it nevertheless fun and the rewards of a good day go without saying. My favorite fish is fresh sockeye.
 
#25 ·
July 17 is the peak of the sockeye run.
I started fishing it in about 1999 and you can set your watch by the sonar count peaks.
The water is silty glacial runoff and visibility is less than 2'.
Gear fishing was a swivel tied to your main line, 1/2oz bell sinker in the snap of the swivel, and approx 3' of stout leader, hook with appropriate legal gap, and about a 1" tuft of yarn, chartreuse if it matters, but as said before, you're flossing.
I would fish an 8wt and run 3' of 20lb UG, tie in a 1/2 oz weight in the loop of the leader where it attaches to the fly line.
To call it a roll cast is pretty glamorous. You'll see everybody flip the line in the water at about a 30 degree angle upstream and hold the line while it drifts, feeling for a bump.
A 10lb chrome sockeye will rival any steelhead ever for strength, speed and acrobatics.
 
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