Question:
Hi Brad, thanx for your recent flies you sent me. They look great and although I ve come to AK since 1989 I still get all crazy knowing I m coming out again this year. I want to fish for dollies and silvers at the inter tidal zone on the anchor, ninilchik& deep creek. As I ve read and am told schrimp are a good fly to try there so do do have any recommendations for schrimp patterns. I've been tying sand lance in various patterns but schrimp seems to be a tough one even tho you fish them at dusk till dawn as they surface to feed on plankton from what I've heard. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I ve also been out & had dollies seemingly hitting midges. Any ideas what they'd be taking. I ve usually seen this late july into august. I ll have my specimen net with me this year to maybe zero in on what's happening. Bye for now jeff campbell 297 maple ct alburtis pa 18011
Answer:
Hi Jeff,
Shrimp flies can be great patterns especially for silvers. Here in SE Alaska, some anglers fish chartreuse shrimp patterns around kelp beds to catch silvers before they head into the rivers. Pink shrimp are another good inter tidal color or for in-river fishing.
I’ll admit I don’t have a specific shrimp pattern that I favor. There are quite a few out there that are relatively similar in style and bulk.
As for Dollies, I have not tried shrimp for them. In SE the Dollies key in on salmon fry and herring in the spring time in the saltwater. Our Dollies are mostly back up in the freshwater by July. Sounds like you have found them in the salt mid summer up there. Very cool! I would guess a scaled down size of shrimp would be best for Dollies.
In my experience, when Dollies appear to be eating midges, they are usually actually rolling on some very small sub surface creature. What that is I don’t know. Your idea to deploy your specimen net is a good one! Take a photo when you do and send it to me. I’d love to know what they are eating.
Thanks much!