Lots of good fishing to be had this week. A break in the weather has even made it pleasant to be out again.

Echo Cove shows no sign of slowing up. Pinks are plentiful and still up near the head of the bay. For more on this fishery check out our last few reports.

Montana Creek is full of chums all the way up to its headwaters. The Dollies are right behind them and a well chosen and presented bead is deadly. Have some variety in sizes as well as color. Last weekend 10mm beads ruled. With the water dropping, 8mms are more effective at the moment. If it rains in the next week that could flip back again. Mottled Tangerine or Orange Clear have been super hot.

Cowee Creek also has plenty of Dollies as well as a slug of pinks. You don't have to move far from the bridge to get into fish. For the pnks try a larger profile pink fly such as a Starlite Leech. A steady strip or slow swing is effective. The Dollies are feasting on beads of the variety we mentioned in the Montana Creek report.

Silvers are showing up in the troll fishery and should be near shore in a week or two. Point Louisa, Lena Point, and Auke Bay are all good early silver bets. More on that soon.

Get out there!  Brad

Now that the July deluge has subsided, there is quite a bit of good fishing to be had. River levels are running medium to medium-low and salmon are in the creeks.

Dolly fishing has been heating up as the chums are settling in and starting to spawn. Sheep Creek and Salmon Creek have quite a few Dollies right above the tide line and are good spots for a "quick fish."  Montana Creek has chums all the way up in the Canyon and the Dollies are behind them. Up by the rifle range the chum numbers are just starting to build but as you fish downstream the numbers really increase. A bit of rain and even more will push up.

Cowee is also fishing well for Dollies. Look for chums or long deep runs and be sure to  get your offering down. Beads in Mottled Natural Roe and Mottled Tangerine in 8mm and 10mm are working well. Also peachy king glo bugs, Unreal Eggs in peachy king, Gorman Eggs in Pink #10 and Battle Creek specials are all good bets.

Finally, lots of pinks in Echo Cove especially around the low end of the tide. Humpy Hookers and Searunner Specials are the hot flies.

See you on the water, Brad

The Upper Kenai River opened this week with prime water conditions, and big Rainbows were in battle formations ready to pull anglers' chains after a long winter. The first run of Sockeye have arrived on the Upper Kenai heading for the Legendary Russian River, a main tributary of the Upper Kenai River. Magnum Trout and Char are using these five to seven pound chromers as meat shields to navigate up the river into the Combat Zone where hundreds of pounds of Sockeye carcass, guts, and egg sacs are being thrown back into the river by mobs of blood thirsty, frenzied salmon anglers below the confluence of the Russian and Kenai Rivers. Trout anglers dead drifting micro flesh flies and 8mm beads in the deeper runs and drops below the Salmon Apocalypse are getting their rotator cuffs stretched to the max.

The Kenai River Canyon is also producing some mega results in the Boils and deep cliff runs for some big native red stripers and transitional Chrome out of Skilak Lake. Again, flesh and egg patterns are standard connectors, however do not hesitate to swing some big leeches in the mix. The River delta into Skilak is especially kicking down on the swing, but be prepared to get embarrassed when that ultra rainbow pulls a figure- eight 360 swirl maneuver and wraps your neckpiece with fly line.

The middle Kenai River is throwing down some epic leech fishing for Rainbows from the outlet down to the Killey River Tributary. Trout anglers swinging deep with big 4-6 inch Loop Leeches in Black, Brown, and Olive are getting crushed on the swing. Massive schools of smolt are boiling out of Skilak Lake and the setting is straight out of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” with Arctic terns and Loons swarming on the feed. Below the Killey River, articulated flesh flies in white, grey, and cream are lighting it up in the “dirty water” below this trib. I would highly recommend upgrading your tippets to the 12lb class in this stretch of water as the Rainbows here are completely on another level and hand out free lessons like you have never seen.

More Reports to follow

Billy  

Fishing has been heating up this week with a lot of food choices on the platter. Pinks, chums, kings, dollies and sockeye... you choose.

Tomorrow (6-30-10) is the last day for a shot at sockeye up at Windfall Creek. Last Saturday was a little on the tough side with the high water from the last rain storm. But there were plenty of trout to keep busy with. Try some of the traditional sockeye flies like Montana Brassies or Sockeye Lanterns.

Pinks have started to show up in Echo Cove. There is even a few rumors of them in Cowee Creek already. Try around the boat launch during a low tide. These fresh chrome pinks are a hot ticket on the fly. The Humpy Hooker and Sea Runner Specials are the best bet in the salt and estuaries. Starlite Leeches. Polar Cabelleros and neon shrimp in pink are the ticket in the streams.

Chums are stacked in at Amalga Harbor. These tight lipped slugs can provide quite a challenge on the fly... and then you hook one! Be sure to use a stout 8 wt. or 9 wt. rod and do not try to horse them in, or else! Try dead drifting small pink flies for them. Sockeye Lightnings, Karluck Shrimp and Humpy Hookers can produce. If a current seam provides some flow, then swinging larger pink leeches can be fun. Rocket Men and S&B's Super String can do the trick in this situation.

The king game continues to provide some hard fighting action. More and more reports of fish being caught on hot pink has been the buzz in the shop. Try Seekers, Guide Intruders and Rockstars on the swing or stripped.

Dollies continue to pour into the local streams as they prepare for the salmon to come. The egg drop is in the near future, but smolt are still the pattern of choice at the time. Try finding dollies in the deeper pools just above the tide line and up. There are still a hand full out and about in the channel. Try larger clouser style flies for these guys.

Tight lines. Brad and the crew