header

Website     Articles     Guide Services     Stream Conditions     Shop     Photo Gallery     Area Info     About     Contact
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

7-29-2016 Slate Run Tackle Shop Newsletter
Glaciers, Salmon, Grayling, & Gold! 
____________________________________________________________
 
   
     Thank you for being with us again.  This newsletter is from all over Alaska where we fished from the Kenai Peninsula to the north above the Arctic Circle!  The 1st video below is of many trophy-size grayling from Alaska's interior.  The 2nd video is of hiking to a glacier which is headwaters of one of the great Alaskan Rivers.  The 3rd is a video of Dave finding an excellent grayling on a float trip on the Clearwater.  The 4th is panning for gold on Nome Creek.  The 5th video is of catching a Dolly Varden while fishing for sockeyes at the confluence of the Russian and Kenai Rivers.  The 6th shows a float trip on the upper Chena River.  The 7th is a video of huge sockeyes holding in a pool during the run including a few pictures of sockeyes we've caught.  The 8th and last video is of Exit Glacier, a part of the great Harding Ice Field (which itself has 40 glaciers).
 
Fishing for Huge Arctic Grayling
 
  Exploring an Interior Alaskan Glacier

Clearwater Float for Big Grayling

Panning for Alaska Gold

Dolly Varden while Salmon Fishing the Kenai River
 
Floating the Upper Chena River

Huge Alaska Sockeyes

Alaska's Exit Glacier from the Harding Ice Field

What's working...

     
     What is really working are surface flies for Smallmouth Bass!  Since Pine is warmer, the trout should be left alone where they take sanctuary at the mouths of the tributaries.  Of course, you can fish the tributaries for trout or bass in Pine with the same flies. Try these flies on Slate or Cedar for trout, or in Pine in the deeper runs and pools for bass: BWOs, Rusty Spinners, various Caddis, Gray Foxes, Pale Evening Duns, Pale Morning Duns, Slate Drakes, Yellow Drakes, Gray Drakes, Black Stone Flies, Yellow Stone Flies, Light Cahills, Pink Cahills, Cream Cahills, Blue Quills, White Flies, and Tricos! You can still hang a dropper under the Slate Drake or a strike indicator and try a caddis soft-hackle emerger, BWO emerger, Slate Drake or Cahill soft hackle emerger.  Underneath you can be successful with Pheasant Tails, Copper Johns, Golden Micro Stones, Rycophilias, Hare's Ears, Zug Bugs, San Juan Worms, Squirmy Wormies, Yellow Stones, and Prince Nymphs.  If the water is higher, try a weighted bugger or Sculpin near the shore - if the water is lower try the same offering in the current.  Big Psycho Ants become King in the low water during the later evening - try both a drag-free float and twitching!  The trout are looking for a meal - give them what they might be looking for and present the offering in a way that they just can't refuse!  Also, look in the "secret drawer" in the tackle shop for a lot more bass bugs!
     If you know an angler under 16 years of age, Slate Run Tackle Shop gives free voluntary Junior Fishing Licenses!  The only thing you'll need for the free Junior License is the social security number for the person receiving the Junior License!


_____________________
                                                    


Time To Retire

     It has been 40 years since we started the shop.  So much has happened on Pine Creek since then - Babb Creek is a trout stream, Pine's fly hatches have prospered and multiplied, The Stretch (Catch-And-Release) where everyone can catch exceptional trout year round has expanded to 2.8 miles, and the culture of conservation, appreciation, and joy of this very special stretch of Pine Creek is prospering.  If you've entertained the thought of owning Wolfes General Store/Slate Run Tackle Shop, this is your opportunity.  Give Lisa Lynn a call at 570-660-0626, a Davis Real Estate realtor.  Thanks, Tom & Deb.
Click on the link below to see pictures and specifics of the business... 


     ___________________________



Just a few more casts...

Excellent top water bass fishing is here!  While you leave Pine Creek's trout alone until cold water returns, take the opportunity to have a great time with the bass and your fly rod, dry flies, big bugs (Psychos), and poppers... 
     
   
     Bass are always looking for a meal, and in the low water this summer their range for looking for that food is much reduced.  Read the water and determine where the bass have cover while still availing themselves of food presenting itself in the current or on the surface.  I really like the base of riffles where a lot of food can be washed into deeper cover.  Also I like deeper runs along a ledge or under tree limbs - a good location where a bass feels secure while food drops from the limbs and is washed downstream in the current.  Probably my favorite is in a larger pool where there are small areas of current which give the angler a means for a natural presentation for the imitation.  The very large smallmouth in the picture above hit a large drake at the edge of the slight current and calm water - I danced the drake on the surface at Tomb Flats with a 10-foot rod and the bass couldn't refuse!  What a bass!
     All the flies listed above in the "What's Working" section will work for bass as well as trout up Slate Run and Cedar Run, but I believe there is nothing better than a Psycho Ant.  Try it dead drifted, give it a few twitches, splat it on the water with the cast, or retrieve it underwater, it drives bass crazy!  It seems to me they may take it as a large fly, a grasshopper, a black cricket, or just a chance for a large meal of something that definitely looks buggy.  When the white flies are hatching and coming back as spinners, try a White Wulff on top - it is a great fly to use in the late evening from now all the way through fall.  The Slate Drake, Pine Creek Special, and October Caddis can all be fished the same way as the Wulff or Psycho Ant - try them all!   Also, remember to look in the "secret (bass) drawer" at the shop, there are a lot of big bugs there as well as poppers!
     While our big trout survive in their cold-water haunts in The Stretch, smallmouths will get you on Pine, keep your casting arm in shape, and share with you the August joys of Pine that can be as consuming as any other month.  My five year old grandson just said to me, "Poppop, there is just so much in the world to see.  There are ants, flies, grass, trees...there is so much, there are so many things, it is so wonderful.  I don't think everyone sees it all..."  This, from a five year old!  I hope some time he can come from Alaska to Pennsylvania so I can show him Pine Creek and some more that is wonderful.  Go bass fishing this August on The Stretch and renew yourself with more of the wonder Pine is there to freely give.

     We have more stockings scheduled for the fall.  Watch the stream updates and we'll try to let you know in advance when we'll be putting them in - we would appreciate your help!  Until then, may you have big bass, blue skies, and tight lines...
   
Dave Wonderlich
  __________________________________       
     
     

     Thanks for being with us again.  We'll be back next month with the latest news about our bass, trout, stocking, hatches, 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. 

Brown
Trout
 Club

Support the Brown Trout Club!

License Plates & Buttons are in!

$50 Membership
gives you a 
License Plate &
Gold Member Pin.

$20 Membership
gives you a 
Gold Member Pin.

$10 Membership
gives you a
 Member Pin.


Trout License Plate 
  
 
top: Member Pin
bottom: Gold Member Pin

This fall we plan on stocking more German Brown Trout.
All contributions help to make this and our incredible fishery a reality.
Call for information on Corporate Sponsorships.

Many Fly tying items have been added and stock is constantly being updated!

Our Ebay Store
Many great Orvis close-outs are in our Ebay Store with more put on-line every few days.  Plus, most of our non-closeout Orvis equipment (rods, reels, boots, & waders) will also be in the store - free shipping on non-closeout equipment!

   PO Box 1, Route 414,                                    Slate Run, PA 17769

 

Phone: 570.753.8551                   Fax: 570.753.8920                      info@slaterun.com

 

 
 Great flies, fly rods, and fly fishing supplies and accessories are in the shop's supply - stop in and check it out!