Alaska trip

[Eric F]

I am new so let me introduce myself. I grew up and still live in the Sacramento area and learned fly fishing in the little streams of the Sierra's near Ice House Reservoir and continue to primarly fish those waters. As such I haven't really learned to fish in bigger waters since I enjoy that area so much.

However my wife and I are headed to Alaska for 6 weeks at the end of the month and I am looking for some advice. Fishing is not the main focus of this trip but we would really like to get out and fish a couple times a week. I was in the store the other day and I picked up "Flyfisher's Guide to Alaska" and it has tons of info, almost too much to digest. So here are my questions:

1) How essential are waders? I don't have a pair and have very infrequent need of them and at 6'9" with size 16 feet I haven't found a non-custom set that fit yet? Will this really limit the fishing I can do?

2) Any places along the way that stand out that I should try?

3) Is there much fishing in smaller streams or are they all too small to support fish through the winter?

I am open to all suggestions of places/techniques whatever...

Thanks for the help.

-Eric

[David Lee]

Welcome to the board , Eric !!

I'll only address the first question ....

Buy the best you can afford - I use Simms light-weight Gore-Tex . At $200.00 a pop , I kicked and screamed , but they are FANTASTIC !! If you really enjoy fishing , you will need them , sooner or later . I am using Chota boots , and the are up to the task - no problems AT ALL w/ that gear .

I hope you have a great trip , and welcome again :!:

David

[Adam Grace]

Eric, Good luck finding non-custom waders for a foot size that large.

You know what they say about guys with large feet..................................... They have a hard time finding waders and boots to fit them :lol:

Forget the waders, how did you find boots that go up to a 16 or 17. Simms is one of the industries leading boot manufactures and they only go up to a 15. Please let us know because there might be some other readers of the board interested in finding a nice pair of large comfortable boots instead of craming into #15's.

I ordered product for Kiene's Fly Shop for five years and I don't ever remember finding boots larger than a #15, EVER.

Sorry about the discouraging post.

Like I said before , Good Luck :!:

[Adam Grace]

Oh yeah, Welcome to the board!

I would have contributed more but I don't know much about Alaska.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

[Hairstacker]

Welcome aboard Eric! Afraid I can't help you with Alaska, though, unfortunately don't know much about it.

[Eric F]

Thanks for the warm welcome, I have been lurking for a week or 2 and have been impressed with the crowd here, it is very friendly.

As for wading boots, I don't have any. Like I said I don't really wade much since I fish smaller streams. I did have a really old set of waders that were passed on to me but they finally died. However I just wore tennis shoes with them, not the best but it got me by.

I am really curious to see what Alaska fly fishing is going to be like. As I said before I am used to small streams that I can cross by rock hopping, I suspect this is going to be a totally different world! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Eric

[CPasley]

Hi Eric,

I've driven the road to AK 4 times or 2 round trips and fished some spots on the way each time. I've only driven the Cassiar route since it's shorter(by about 300 miles) and suppose to be better road and more scenic.

There's a variety of fishing(trout, northern pike, grayling etc.) on the way up. We took a Milepost book with us which also had fishing information in it. The lake fishing in BC is absolutely incredible, particularly if you get off the main road, however you would need a floating device to do much good at most of them.

It sounds like stream fishing might work better for you and as warm as it is in August and as tall as your stilts are, you could probably get away with no waders and just a pair of shorts and wading shoes. If you can't find wading shoes that fit, take a pair of old shoes or boots and glue some felts on the bottom with contact cement.

We caught fish in every nice looking stream we stopped at on the way up. Even the really small streams produced fish. The farther north you get the more grayling there are, particularly in the Yukon Territory where it was almost all grayling. It was 1987 the last time I drove up, so I'm sorry I don't have more up to date information, but I don't think things have changed up there too much.

When you get to Alaska, I'd recommend the Kenai Peninsula for drive to fishing. Coho will be running in all the rivers in August. Stop in at sporting goods stores for up to date reports and best rivers and keep your eyes peeled for big numbers of anglers which usually means big numbers of fish.

Best of luck to you on your trip.
Chris

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks for the info Chris

What would be some basic flies for those streams?

[CPasley]

For the smaller streams on the way up, as I recall, best flies were standard dries that float high in smaller sizes, such as #14 - 18 royal wulff, adams, or yellow humpy. Best results were morning and evening. Don't forget your bug repellent and maybe even bring a head net, although you will be there after the peak of the mosquito season, there will most likely be some pesky bugs around. If you fish some of the bigger meandering rivers up north with northern pike in them, bring some mouse patterns and wire leader for some explosive action. Big trout will often come up for a mouse too.

Check with the shops up in Alaska for best coho flies when you get up there. It seems we always did best on streamers and marabou muddlers in pink, white and silver combinations.

[Eric F]

Not exactly what I am looking for but I found this:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009BUZBY/qid=1121187175/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl193/104-9347742-9671930?v=glance&n=507846

Men's LaCrosse Marsh™ 32" Hip Waders and they come in a size 16!

Has anyone ever used hip waders before? Are they worth pursuing?

And Chris thanks for the info, those little streams sound right up my alley, I love fishing dry flies.

-Eric

[Adam Grace]

Eric, you REALLY need felt soles :!: :!:

Those rubber soles on those hipper will have you slip sliding away :D

As far as hippers go, most of us use chest high waders which can be rolled down above your hips to make wading PANTS. This change from chest to pants make them more versatile than hip waders. Hip waders limit the different types of water that you can cross and or fish.

Many fly fishermen do not frequently wade out to chest level. But when you need to reach a certain spot by wading accross the river or simply gain a better position by wading deeper chest waders are a great help.

Not matter what type of wading garment you purchase make sure the soles of your boot are FELT. Felt "grabs" the wet rocks, which can turn a day of slipping and slidding into a better sure-footed fishing experience.

[Eric F]

I didn't think they would work too well but I was so shocked to even find them I figured I would pass the link along.

I think I am just going to live without waders. I can't justify the cost of custom for the amount I would be using them and the fishing I do around home just doesn't require them.

I hope this decision doesn't come back to bite me on my trip (not that it matters at this point since I can't get custom ones by the time I leave anyway)

-Eric

[Adam Grace]

Good luck!

I hope you have a great trip.

[clif wright]

Well, you probably have made the trip but I feel that I should post since as a size 16, 6'7" angler I know how frustrating shopping for waders and boots can be and thought maybe others might be having the same problem I've had in the past.

Dan Bailey makes high quality custom sized waders and carries boots up to a size 17. That's a real godsend for the big and tall.

I spent a week on Kodiak fishing out of Port Lions lodge last August and the waders and boots are absolutely required here. No problems with the Baileys though the wader price is quite high. I think around $400. Not that I have a choice anyway. The boots run around $90 - $100 which is not bad at all.

Good luck,
Clif