Yes, this trout is really big. 34" by 22" and thick from head to tail. Wes Bradish of Grand Junction Colorado managed the near impossible by leading this fish to Guide Stacy Corbin's net with his 6wt Sage XP. Imagine catching this fish in 2006!

Fly Fishing Alaska in 2005 with Mystic Waters

2005 started well, continued well and finished well. It was simply great all the way through. We enjoyed good to excellent weather and water conditions, healthy runs of salmon and continued strong populations of pumped up rainbows and Dolly Varden.

The early sockeye run was strong with consistent catches from season opening into early July. The trout fishing was also steady right from the start, with big fish (26”-30”) making a regular showing. Many smaller trout were also present. Some anglers believe there are too many small fish. I believe it to be evidence of a healthy population as all size fish are present. One drift may result in a 10” silver torpedo of a rainbow. The next might result in the whole submarine. The unknown dynamic and lack of “cookie cutter” size fish makes fishing on the Kenai even more exciting.

Once again, our late Sockeye run was huge, with close to 1.5 million fish counted. We had several big surges early, but late July proved to be the best for catching them in the Upper Kenai. The fish made irregular pushes from early July into mid August, probably due to warmer water in the Lower River reaches. This actually resulted in better trout fishing on days when the sockeye were holding up.

During early to mid August, we had unusually clear water and moderate flows. This made the spawning King Salmon easy to spot and created some wild feeding frenzies nearby. Trout and Dollies would move up and down in the water column in the vicinity of the Kings and many anglers were startled to see them attacking their indicators on the surface.

Big Sockeye numbers (and the resulting commercial openings) held back the silvers in mid August, but from late August into October, there were plenty to catch. We had days when our guests hooked silvers non-stop for several hours. Landing multiple large salmon on the fly is something that thrills most anglers.

We sometimes forget to mention Dolly Varden, but they make up a large part of our daily catch in August and September. Big Dollies are especially stubborn and many anglers have been amazed at their tenacity. Often they run, sometimes they jump and always, they pull. With an endless variety in sizes, colors and body characteristics, catching Dolly Varden Char is unique.

The huge Sockeye numbers kept the Rainbows on pace with the last several years. They keep eating and growing. Some fish exhibit unbelievable girths. Landing a 22” long rainbow is considered a real achievement in most places. How about landing rainbows with 22” girths. They can boggle the mind and make grown men make very strange noises. Chasing big rainbows continues to be our primary focus and our guests landed some truly epic fish this season.

 Fly Fishing Report 2004

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