Spring Dolly 2019A nice spring Dolly off the beach
Welcome to our first fish report of 2019! And I wish we had more to report...... although we've enjoyed a mostly warm spring the fishing is still just like usual for early May. Kinda slowwwww. Dollies and cutts are here and there but they are still not congregated in any one spot in big numbers. Fish have been caught at Sheep Creek, in the channel by the whale sculpture, the mouth of Fish Creek, Auke Bay/Auke Rec, Cowee Creek and Echo Cove. But mostly these have been onesy-twosy types of catch rates.

When heading out try to bracket the low tide. 2-3 hours before the low until 2-3 hours after the low is the most productive time. Fish fry patterns such as AK Clousers, Epoxy Mini Minnows, Doppelgangers and other smolty-looking flies. A floating line, 9 foot tapered leader in the 8-10lb range and a quick strip retrieve are all you need. 

On the upside, there are absolutely huge schools of salmon fry all over Juneau and pretty soon the Dollies will key in on them and it will be game on! The weather continues to warm and Dollies and cutts keep coming out of the lakes. By mid May the fishing will be really heating up and not long after DIPAC will be dumping their net pens of chum fry. That is when it really goes into overdrive.

Steelhead fishing is also happening but for the most part anglers are leaving Juneau and heading to Yakutat or other super secret spots to get their chrome fix. The runs have been solid so far and hopefully more fish are on the way, too.
Steelhead 2019Gratuitous Steelhead Shot
Finally, take note of the Peterson Creek closure to protect the very vulnerable steelhead run. The creek, salt chuck and saltwater out front are all closed until June 30 to all fishing. 

Happy fishing and see you on the water. Brad