Headed to Prince Edward Island

[Riverwhy]

I'm headed to Prince Edward Island in late July for my first ever Alaska trip. We are staying in a forest service cabin and will spend the week fishing the island streams. I'm packing my standard spinning tackle but I really want to land several on a fly rod. I currently have a pretty cheap 5 weight rod. I was told by the fellow at BPS that an 8 weight is probably what I need to purchase. Any advice out there from the experienced Alaska fishermen?

[Jeff Behrns]

If you have a fish on and a bear moves in, cut the line.

Post a couple pictures on here when you get back.

[watermen]

Do you mean prince of Wales island below the ABC islands, other than that I'm confused. Thought PEI was in the other country.

[duckydoty]

An 8 wt is pretty standard for all the salmon except kings.

[Nighthawk]

You're gonna want an 8wt for sure. 5wt is a trout rod.

[Ham]

An 8 wt is pretty standard for all the salmon except kings.

are guys able to land Kings on flyrods? How much backing is required?

[duckydoty]

are guys able to land Kings on flyrods? How much backing is required?

You need to replace the standard fly reel with a mini cooper hub and rim for kings......lol.

I have caught kings on a 5 at in smaller creeks but would not recommend it. A 10 at with a size 4 lamson and 300 yards backing works well. Just be prepared to do some chasing.

[Quillback]

"Just be prepared to do some chasing."

Always was something to consider when fishing the NW rivers, having a chase route planned out in case of hooking something too big for your tackle. Fortunately, fishing in Washington state, I didn't have to factor in bears.