AKnook
Well-Known Member
Got back last night from chasing rainbows on a cloudy rainy weekend. What a difference a week made in this river. I have never seen so many salmon choked into a stream as this one. The water was black in areas with the amount of pink salmon in it. When you walked through them it was like the parting of the red sea as they swam around you. A sudden move would have the water boiling with jumping salmon like asian carp. I have seen some amazingly beautiful sights being up here in AK for ten years but I never expererienced anything like this. Truly amazing.
The pink salmon were most abundant but all five salmon species were present. In order of abundance there were pinks, sockeye, king, chum and silver salmon. They were all together in the same river. How cool was that? We were targeting rainbow trout and had to skip certain sections of the river because there was no way to get a drift through all the pinks in there. Every cast would be a pink. We fished areas there were not as dense with them and did really well with some very healthy beautiful rainbows.
The color variations of these rainbows is crazy. Some rainbows were a solid chrome while others had a pink band and cheek with yellow body. Others were colored up blood red. Such a gorgeous fish with a very fitting name.
We fished hard up and down the river battling the current and elements. My body ached from day one already coupled with an already messed up lower back, and the begining of day two I was struck with a gut punch. We brought my buddy's camper along and stayed near the river. It was nice waking up warm and dry. We geared up in the camper before heading out into the rain. I had on my wading boots with my studded soles and headed out the door onto the wet metal steps. In two seconds my feet slipped underneath me causing me to land on the edge of the steps with my right ribs. Wow, I couldn't talk or breath deep for a minute until I caught my breath. My wind was literally knocked out of me. I was alright after a few minutes but that kicked my ass for the rest of the day. Every time I hooked a fish I would fight it and then get on my knees to unhook it in the water before a photo and quick release. Getting up would kill me every time. Multiply the bending and getting back up by thirty with the amount of pinks I hooked into. Wow my body is feeling it big time today at the office. Ah well, totally worth it.
We got into a lot more fish than the week prior and a lot larger fish as well. Couldn't have been a better trip.........Well, I guess if I caught my white whale it would have been a little better. Ha!
Enjoy some pictures.
The pink salmon were most abundant but all five salmon species were present. In order of abundance there were pinks, sockeye, king, chum and silver salmon. They were all together in the same river. How cool was that? We were targeting rainbow trout and had to skip certain sections of the river because there was no way to get a drift through all the pinks in there. Every cast would be a pink. We fished areas there were not as dense with them and did really well with some very healthy beautiful rainbows.
The color variations of these rainbows is crazy. Some rainbows were a solid chrome while others had a pink band and cheek with yellow body. Others were colored up blood red. Such a gorgeous fish with a very fitting name.
We fished hard up and down the river battling the current and elements. My body ached from day one already coupled with an already messed up lower back, and the begining of day two I was struck with a gut punch. We brought my buddy's camper along and stayed near the river. It was nice waking up warm and dry. We geared up in the camper before heading out into the rain. I had on my wading boots with my studded soles and headed out the door onto the wet metal steps. In two seconds my feet slipped underneath me causing me to land on the edge of the steps with my right ribs. Wow, I couldn't talk or breath deep for a minute until I caught my breath. My wind was literally knocked out of me. I was alright after a few minutes but that kicked my ass for the rest of the day. Every time I hooked a fish I would fight it and then get on my knees to unhook it in the water before a photo and quick release. Getting up would kill me every time. Multiply the bending and getting back up by thirty with the amount of pinks I hooked into. Wow my body is feeling it big time today at the office. Ah well, totally worth it.
We got into a lot more fish than the week prior and a lot larger fish as well. Couldn't have been a better trip.........Well, I guess if I caught my white whale it would have been a little better. Ha!
Enjoy some pictures.
