releasing a nice 19" September Rainbow

Lake Creek, Alaska September 19, 2011: Trout Fishing excellent; Arctic Grayling: Good,  Water Conditions: Low/Clear

 Well, although trout fishing is still phenomenal this time of year in our neck of the woods, we are closing down after another great summer season here in Alaska.  September weather and water conditions have been superb as has the trout fishing. 

We elected to run two all-inclusive ‘trout camps’ at Wilderness Place Lodge this fall season.  Limiting our lodge capacity to just 6 fishermen allowed for everyone to fish their prefered stretch of river without stepping on each other’s toes.  Being virtually the only people on the river this time of year led to awesome fishing and peaceful solitude.  Hundred fish days are common in our river in September and with mandatory catch-and-release, we will be sure to continue to have quality fishing for future generations.

By September, most of the salmon species have passed through, spawned and died.  The chum salmon are the only exception as they are historically the last species to spawn in our area of Alaska each season.  Most of the rainbows are keyed in on areas of chums spawning by the hundreds.  The target forage for the trout are salmon eggs and/or the flesh of dying, degrading salmon carcasess (lovely).  Although this is the primary forage for the native rainbows, we as fly fisherman have had much luck catching hundreds of trout on dozens of different fly patterns both topwater and sub-surface.  Some of our favorite fly patterns for September are:  ginger bunny leech, black articulated leech, orange stimulator, deer hair mouse and brown gurgler.  Alaska trout, much like the local grizzly bears have such a short season to pack on weight reserves for the winter,  they are true opportunists when it comes to feeding.  The benefit to fishing trout in September is they are easy to find.  Find the chums, you will find the trout.  Also, as all of the salmon in the upper 50 miles have already spawned and died, all of the upper river fish migrate downstream seeking out the final forage of the summer.  So, fish densities are quite high.  This triggers competition for food and very very aggressive fish.  Therefore, we as fly fishermen have the luxury of catching trout by many methods, drifting and skating topwater patterns being the most popular for obvious reasons.