Fly Fishing Around Denali

[STL Matt]

Hi,

So this July I'm going up to the Denali National Park area for a couple weeks, helping my brother who lives up there build a cabin. A couple summers ago I fished in a stream in the wilderness a good ways south and east of the park entrance, off the Denali highway, lots of grayling and rainbows in there, not sure what the stream was called. Anybody on here happen to know any other good places, the closer to the park entrance or Healy area the better? Including lakes, which might be easier on my less fishermanny brother? I don't have the money for a guide trip or to fly anywhere, so it's gotta be within hiking distance of the Parks or Denali highways. Also, while I'm at it, I'm really into taking advantage of the rare opportunity to fish for grayling, any advice on flies for them? Any different from trout?

Thanks.

[duckydoty]

Im not real familiar with that part of Alaska, but I do spend my summers in Western Alaska chasing grayling. There should be some great stonefly hatches and caddis hatches that time of year. There is also a lime green mayfly that comes off the water in the July time frame too. Most of your common trout flies will work for grayling, both dries and nymphs. Some of my favorite dries to use are stimulators and caddis flies in size 8 to 16's. Make sure you have a few in that lime green color. Bead heads and hare's ear nymphs are good ones for under the indicator or as a dropper. Check the rules in the areas your going to fish because a dropper is illegal in some places in Alaska. The grayling tend to hang out in the slower water of the creeks and streams and tend to be more in abundance in what I like to call the meadow streams. Slow winding water flowing through more of a flat land area. The rainbows will be in the faster water areas, more of what I would think of as mountain creeks or streams. The grayling are fun to catch and sight fishing for them is alot of fun. They can keep you busy on a bright sunny day when the hatches are coming off. I think the Alaska State Record was a 23 incher caught over in Ugashik Narrows. (One of Phil's favorite places) The largest I have landed was 22 inches over on Battle River in Western Alaska. Sounds like your gonna have a great time. I know all about building cabins in remote Alaska....LOL!

[Phil Lilley]

http://www.alaskawil...shingguides.com

Peter Mathiesen, formerly of the St Louis area, moved up there a year ago and started a outfitter biz up there. He is first class, and what he would offer would be excellent quality, guaranteed.

I may be helping him the last of August, first of September.

[watermen]

Rock creek is full of nice graling or was. Used to float it for moose, it''s over by cantwell if I remember. lot's of 15-18 inchers which is nice for grayling. You just have to walk and not fish for 20 minutes to get away from the road. Just take the gravel at cantwell and go east from the park, A delorme atlas should put you in the spot. The peterson road south of the park has good fishing as well, it's an old mining road and will be on the atlas. A milepost will tell you the fishing lakes stocked by game and fish and some of them have great fishing. It's alaska hard not to catch fish just stay away from the touristy spots farther south that time of year and you will catch fish. Btw the lakes in the middle of the paxton road have lake trout acessible to the fly rod. goodluck.

[STL Matt]

Thanks for the advice, guys. And man, how great is it to have this forum where I've learned so much about fishing around MO, then I ask a question about Alaska and people help me out there too. I'll be sure and post some pics if I remember to take them...

[STL Matt]

Ok, that was the greatest fishing of my life. I only went three days, and caught all the fish I caught, but man it was fun. My brother and I explored a few creeks down south, the biggest being Honolulu creek, which sure looked fishy but I couldn't find any. Then we tried a couple of the really small streams as you head east on the Denali Highway with similar results. Things changed when we hit the Brushkana river, though. First of all, what a tremendously beautiful place. Second of all, I was with my brother and his brother in law, neither of whom have much experience fly fishing (for that matter, neither do I, but I'm a couple years ahead of them, anyhow), and before I had even tied on a fly my fishing buddies were into the grayling. As I wasn't seeing any rising, I was trying to do it right by dead drifting little copper johns or BHPTs but getting nothing. I went to put on a bobber strike indicator, but accidentally dropped my whole little bag of them and watched helplessly as they found the rapids downstream. Meanwhile my two fishing mates are catching 'em just fine, and I realize it's because they are letting their lines go tight downstream and just sit there for a lot longer than I was. Sure enough, once I figured that out, I could tie on seemingly anything, including some monstrosities from my own vise, and let them swing up and sit in the current. I never could get my eyes to where they could see the fish holding, but it was easy to narrow it down to a rock or two, and they never seemed to get spooked away.

The next day there was a hatch of some little mosquitoe-looking bugs, which I couldn't really match but tried the closest thing I had and sure enough the graylings rose willingly, sometimes even jumping out of the water as they took the fly, sometimes rising the milisecond it hit the water. As the hatch died down, I realized they just kept taking them. At least it felt more sporting than the wets, because you did have to get a natural drift with the dries (though occasionally they'd also take one skittered back towards me, too). The next day I spent most of my time fishing elk hair caddis to likely places and sure enough they just kept rising for it, big (like 14") and little (down to fingerlings) both. Must have got 30 fish that last day, which is a ton for me.

The locals say they aren't great for eating any time, especially not fresh. Seemed fine to me when we ate some at the campsite, but I was still in that afterglow from feeling the rod bend so many times. For a bit I tried to find the rainbows that I know also live there, but it seemed silly to tie on more weight and search around the rapids when I could fish dries to my heart's content.

Unfortunately I forgot pics except these two of one my brother was fighting, a pretty big one for greyling. I wish I had picked up a disposable camera instead of being scared to risk killing my iphone, but those big ones especially are incredibly colorful, with beautiful spots and that giant sail-like irridescent dorsal fin.

Anyhow, that's the story, thanks again for the advice. Next summer my goals are to hit a salmon run and to stalk some tiny arctic char (they call them dolly varden there) in the smaller, more bear-anoia-inducing streams.

[jdmidwest]

Great. I want to catch a few Grayling sometime. Maybe next time up.

[sfiser]

i fished the brushcana last year and actually will be back there this coming monday on my 2 week fishing trip to AK. It was my favorite stream i fished last year and its got an insane amount of grayling in it. From what i gather from my guide buddies up there, the creek does not have trout in it... just grayling but a heck of a fun place to fish

[STL Matt]

Well that guide report makes me feel better about not catchin' any. I can vouch for at least one little rainbow being in there two summers ago, because it was the first fish I ever caught on a fly. Dumb luck I guess, cuz on that particular trip I never got another fish at all. Have fun up there, man, savor it because it hurts to come back, Count me jealous of the fish and the fall colors and say hi to the big ones I let go.