9/11/25 Fishing Report

It appears that the rain we have been so desperately needing has arrived. As the water levels drop the coho fishing should be absolutely dynamite. Our friends who have been fishing out of the boat around Icy Straight indicate there are still a pile of cohos on the way and these few inches of rain are going to help bring them into the channel. While we still have some excellent weeks of fishing ahead, the end is creeping up. Now is the time to get out and hit it hard, this next week should be one of the better weeks of fishing for the season. This last week it seemed like the incoming or right around high tide were the most consistent tides to catch your cohos, while the dropping tides were slower.

The creeks around town rose pretty rapidly yesterday and are likely blown out right now. Once they drop back into shape there will be some decent Dolly and cutthroat fishing to be had, but you may need to work for them a little bit. Dollies will be heading way upstream to their spawning areas, and the trout will be working their way back towards their over wintering lakes. Now is a great time to try throwing some flesh patterns for big cutthroat trout that are gorging on flesh to hold them over for the winter. If you are throwing flesh flies, focus on deeper pools and places where wood has collected salmon carcasses. The closer you can swing flesh flies to wood piles the more likely you are to find a lunker. This is the time of year where you may see a cutthroat approaching 20".

Time is running out to participate in this year's coho derby. Send us your three photos by 10 AM September 20th for an entry into our drawing. Once you are entered, submit another photo of a top water caught coho for a second entry.

The 2025 COHO DERBY is going now, have your photos submitted by 10 AM September 20th to be entered into the drawing! This year we will be blending last year's coho contest and this year's king contest. The contest will run from August 15th till 10:00 AM September 20th. Like last year you will need to catch three coho on three different flies. Here is how it works:

Come into the shop and pick out three different flies you will use to catch three different coho.
We will record your choices at the shop.
New rule for this year: You cannot choose Dolly Llamas as any of your three flies(!)
Once you have come into the shop to get your three flies and register, those are the three flies you must use for the contest (you can use and many as it takes, but the pattern and color can't change).
All three coho must come from the Gastineau Channel anywhere between the mouth of Fish Creek and end of Thane Road. All coho must be caught from shore and photographed with the fly in their mouth.
Either come in to show us the photos, send them to our Instagram page or email them to cory@alaskaflyfishinggoods.com.
All anglers who complete the task of catching their three coho on the three chosen flies will be entered into a drawing for three awesome prizes. We will draw the winners on Saturday September 20th; you don't need to be present at the shop to win.

COHO CONTEST PRIZES

First Place: Echo EPR 890-4 fly rod.

Second Place: Simms Dry Creek Zippered Backpack

Third Place: Grundens Dillingham Tech Hoody with Alaska Fly Fishing Goods Logo.

As always, we love featuring your photos for our fishing reports. If you have a great fish, scenery, or action photo that has to do with fishing around town send it our way! You can email photos or videos to cory@alaskaflyfishinggoods.com. Please remember to handle fish with care, especially if you are practicing catch and release. Consider getting a net with a rubber basket to help land fish quickly, pinch your barbs and keep them in the water until you are ready to snap a quick photo.

See you on the water!

The Crew at AFFG

Listed below are the hot patterns of the week. Fisheries change here through-out the season and so do the best patterns to use. Below are some of the recommended flies for the current fisheries. Happy fishing!