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Alaska's Klutina River, a tributary of the Copper, for Sockeye Salmon...
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After clicking on the picture and viewing the video, to continue with the newsletter and videos,
just click on the News from Slate Run tab at the top of your computer screen and your
computer will take you immediately back to the newsletter and you will be ready for the next video.
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Dick Crawford Back With Another Dry Fly Trout!
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Grayling Fishing Below The Arctic Circle
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July 10, 2013 Tackle Shop Newsletter
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Dear (Contact First Name),
Our 2nd newsletter from Alaska is here! Thanks for being with us again. The first video above is of catching sockeyes on Alaska's Klutina River. The second is of Dick Crawford -yes, he's back catching another Pine Creek brownie on a dry fly. The third is of fishing for grayling below the Arctic Circle - so many fish and no other anglers! The fourth is a video of surface feeding on Pine's Delayed Harvest Stretch late in June. The next five are a few pictures of our trip south to the Klutina to fish for Sockeyes. And, the last, is a short video of a beautiful Pine Creek pool. We hope you enjoy our email!
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Late June Surface Feeding on Pine
Light Cahills, Rusty Spinners, BWOs
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What's working...
This is one of my favorite times to fish! When the water gets lower and clear, I get to relearn the bottom channels and dynamics that control the lower levels of the stream. Those same channels are still there even when the stream is higher. Another reason to enjoy this time of the year is the preponderance of Cahills - cream, yellow, and orange. Of course the BWOs are present as well as Slate Drakes, and a cornucopia of midges. When the water is higher, it is good to try streamers and buggers. Terrestrials are another staple from now until fall with ants, crickets, grasshoppers, inch worms, and various frog patterns. Depending on water level and clarity, there are many opportunities to hook-up both underneath and on top. Right now fish early and late. If the water gets warmer, let the trout alone in their deep springs and cold groundwater seeps - fish the runs! Slate and Cedar stay cold and trout can be caught at all times of the day. When temperatures drop and water levels rise with cooling rains, it can be a good time to ply Pine again for trout. When Pine is warmer, smallmouths are in your favorite trout haunts and can provide exciting action while keeping the casting arm in shape!
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Heading South to the Klutina River for Sockeyes
Glaciers and snow on the trip...
The Copper River Above Chitina - 1,100,000 sockeyes have run past the Miles Lake Station on the Copper already this year,
many on their way to the Klutina!
The Klutina River
Great Catches of Sockeyes - Each with a day's limit!
Just a few more casts...
Fishing in Alaska, regardless of whether it is in remote stretches accessible only by float plane, by long hikes through almost impenetrable brush and mosquitoes, in clear water rivers and streams or rivers of glacial water colored by glacial flower and near the major roads, besides the obvious difference in quantities and size of fish, Alaskan freshwater fishing is very much the same as in Pennsylvania. You must read the water and determine where the fish are holding, or running, and what they will will eat (or hit if they aren't eating). And, of ultimate importance along with this, is the constant factor that char, salmon, and trout do not act in a way contrary to their preservation, and the preservation of their species.
After arriving on the Klutina, we found an area where the current was slower along a gravel bank. We began fishing the water at various depths and distances from shore - it wasn't more than 10 minutes until one of us hooked into a sockeye, less than three feet from our feet while we were standing on shore! After that we all used the same procedure - cast out eight feet and bring the streamer out of the faster current in an arc to the shore. Most of the hook-ups were between three to four feet from the edge of the water! Our friend kept saying, "You're casting over the salmon, fish in closer." It was hard to believe, but true. We each caught three sockeyes the first day, and the second day since they increased the limit from three to six sockeyes, we each took six the next two days. We caught at least double to triple the limit but returned them to the water until we reached the legal limit of fish we wanted for fillets. The Copper River goal for returning sockeyes was 975,000 at the Miles Lake Counting Station this year, they increased the limit because while we were fishing, the count rose above 1,100,000! It is all about management!
Why is that like Pennsylvania? The salmon were along the shore so that they were successful in their run to spawn and reproduce. Natural instinct dictated that a run in the middle of the raging Klutina would tire the salmon and bankrupt them of their chances to propagate - totally against nature. So, the salmon run the edges, conserve energy, and successfully make their trip to the upper reaches of the river and the Klutina Lake. Similarly, it can be observed, time and again, that trout in Pine are along the shore in the shallower water: especially in high water such as that in the Klutina, and in the colder water of November through March (when the trout come in for the warmer water of the sun-heated shallows and hatching stone flies. The water can be 34 degrees in the morning and heat to 35.5 later in the day and the fish move in! No, they aren't spawning, but they are responding naturally to the weather's stimuli of heated water and food activity. To survive and prosper they move toward shore - as do the salmon - to survive. In both cases we should be casting from shore into water we don't normally fish!
All we have to do to be successful in our quest to place the hook of an artificial fly in their jaw, is to be tuned-in to their need to survive and assure themselves that their kind will live after themselves, in Alaska or Pennsylvania. It is instinct for them, understanding is learned for us... Maybe they start slightly ahead in the game! Alaska and Pennsylvania different? For the most part I don't think so. The instinct to survive is the same the world over...
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A Beautiful Pine Creek Pool
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Thanks for being with us again. We'll be back in another few weeks with the latest news about our trout, flies, catches, and scenes of our favorite waters!
Don't forget, we have fly fishing guided trips and float trips available - call the shop for more details. Call us or drop us an email to let us know what is on your mind - or call to find up-to-the-minute details on stream conditions and what is happening on the water. Please, stay in touch with Pine, Slate, and Cedar by going to our website slaterun.com - we'll update as often as possible.
Thanks again for being with us!
Sincerely,
The Tackle Shop Team
Tom & Deb Finkbiner - Proprietors, etc.
Jed Grove - Sales Manager, etc.
Dave Wonderlich - Website, Newsletter, etc.
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Free Fly
Fishing 101
A free Fly Fishing 101 Class will be offered at the Slate Run Tackle Shop July 13th. But, you must call the shop beforehand to let them know you are coming!
All the facets of fly fishing will be covered in a capsulized presentation including insects, imitations, equipment, the mechanics of fly fishing, and practice outside with fly equipment. If you know someone who is contemplating either beginning to fly fish or in need of a refresher, or you would like to hone your skills, this would be a great opportunity to see the basics - at no cost!
Call the shop for details or to register!
Shop closeout sale
continues until products are gone...
Pro Guide Stockingfoot Wader reg. $395, now $225; Silver Label Bootfoot Wader with Eco Trax soles reg. $475, now $299; Sonic Weld Pack & Travel Wader Pant (x-large), now $198. Wading boots with closeout deals include: River Guard Ultralight Boot with Eco Trax soles reg. $198, now $179; River Guard Easy-On Brogue Boot with Eco Trax soles $198, now $148. Also on sale are Orvis Trout Bum Shirts in burnt red, light blue, and olive reg. $65, now $43; very limited numbers of the Under Wader Fleece Suit reg. $129, now $99.
Helios2
Helios2 rods are in the shop!
Come and give the latest advance in rod design a cast - it may be hard to leave without one!
lighter...
more powerful!
Convert to waist high without removing suspenders with the new $259 Silver Sonic Waders - fully waterproof double-airlock interior pocket - new gravel guard makes on/off even easier - anatomically shaped feet - flexible - comfortable - breatheable - a pleasure to wear!
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PO Box 1, Route 414, Slate Run, PA 17769
Phone: 570.753.8551 Fax: 570.753.8920 info@slaterun.com
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Great flies, fly rods, and fly fishing supplies and accessories are in the shop's supply - stop in and check it out!
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