carlyle

Reading the Water. First I think we need to discus fish behavior. I'm writing this while waiting for the ice to go out. When the water goes out reading the water is more about reading the bottom. If you look for sand patches along the shore you'll find large fish in spawning colors. Mudler minnows are fly this time of year. As the year moves on the trout will look for water about 60 degrees. As the water temperature rises the fish will move deeper but when they go too deep the oxygen decreases so the fish will only go so deep. In most of Alaska's lakes the limit is about fifteen feet. In shallow water you have bugs, leaches, freshwater shrimp, minnows, and all food. The larger fish become pray for eagles, loons, and other ... read more

I discovered lake Lucille last summer. I have caught more fish over 20 inches long than you would believe. I found the fish in this lake because we were going to set of fireworks for the fourth. In Alaska it's not dark until about 2 am. I decided to fish while we wait. I caught a couple of fish about 18 inches long. Then I saw about ten inches of the side of a fish above the water as it rolled over my floating line. This fish has been my favorite lake ever since.... read more

Beach Lake: The lake temperature was 72 degrees and the sun was shinning. It's Memorial Day weekend and the fisherman are all around the lake. On the lake in numbers and I didn't see anyone catching fish. After trying several flies I tried a Dragon Fly nymph. The fish I caught were small about, 10 inches. ... read more

Bradly/Kepler Lake: The lake temperature was 64 degrees and the sun was shinning. I caught two fish after an hour of fishing. but this was a good day because these fish were around twenty inches long. I caught them on a fly of my own design. This fly is one of my favorites. It works best on warm sunny days fished deep(10-15 feet). This kind of fishing is slower than most fly fishing but the fish are larger and they take the fly hard. ... read more

Delong Lake: The lake temperature was 68 degrees and the sun was shinning. I caught ten fish about 10 inches long. The fishing was fast but I wanted large so I went trolling. I caught one about 13 inches long. The 10 inch fish are fun but I would have liked more. ... read more

Myers Lake: The lake temperature was 62 degrees and the sun was shinning. When I pulled in at the lake a man in a pickup pulled in ahead of me. He walked down to the lake ahead of me. I was still getting my equipment together when he came back he said their is no sing of fish. So he left and I took my gear and went fishing. It took me about half an hour to find the fish. I was fishing a muddler minnow and I caught enough fish that the fly became a muddler. The minnow part was gone. These fish were from 10 inches up to about 14 inches.... read more

When I was a really little kid I remember fishing with my dad. He would bait my hook cast the line out and then we would sit and wait. We had great conversations. Then every once in a while we would drive up to still water and he reached for his fly rod. On those days, my job became removing the fish from his hook. He would look at them and tell me if they were dinner. In either case by the time I was done with the fish he had another on the line. Of coarse I wanted to fly fish. I was about 12 when he gave in and taught me how. We went out on the lawn and spent hours getting me to cast just right. That was over 40 years ago. ... read more

Junction Lake; The lake temperature was 36 degrees and the sun had come out. Still using the Hare's Ear Nymph I cough fish one right after the other. They were about 10 to 15 inches long. Float Experience... read more

Wolf Lake: The lake temperature was 34 degrees I was cold and although I fished for 3 hours all I caught were 3 inchers. This lake usually produces large fish. Float Experience ... read more

Beer Can Lake: The lake temperature is 36 degrees. The sun is shinning. We started fishing with Mudler Minnows, a favorite fly of mine for this time of year. I was having trouble catching the fish. They were hitting frequently but not getting caught. I tried a smaller Mudler Minnow with no change. I didn't have a smaller Mudler Minnow so I used a Hare's Ear Nymph. I thought the color was a good match and the look was similar. I started catching fish at will. Float Experience ... read more