9/14/2023 Fishing Report

There had been more reports of cohos getting caught in Montana and Cowee Creeks.  The good news is the high water is bringing in more fish.  The bad news is the water is high and muddy and extremely difficult / impossible to fish.  Bittersweet I suppose. Now is the time of year when we pay the price for the stellar summer months we had.  Assuming that it eventually stops raining, fishing the drop will undoubtedly result in some chrome bright cohos.
The Dolly fishing has still good, though it is starting to slow down a little with less and less salmon in the creeks.  The fish you do end up catching this time of year are gorgeous, however.  Bead color and size are extremely important right now and are changing day to day and creek to creek.  Try fresher bead colors first (pale peach and oranges) and slowly change hues, getting progressively more dead looking.  10mm beads are fishing better at higher water levels and in Cowee Creek.  Anglers are having better success in all the other creeks (Montana, Sheep, Fish Creek) with 8mm beads.  Often times once the bead fishing starts to turn off Dollies will key in on whatever is in the water for the last couple weeks of the season.  Having a selection of flesh, sculpins and baitfish flies can help get some fish to hand.

*We understand that folks want fish, but, if possible, release most of the wild cohos after you catch them.  By all means, keep a fish for a BBQ, just leave the freezer filling for hatchery fish.

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 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 we do our best to get you the hot flies.  Listed below are our recommended patterns for the particular species available.  Happy fishing!

Hot Beads/Flies - Dolly Varden

Hot Flies - Coho