Overview of Alaska Fly Fishing Flies
Alaska fly fishing flies and determining what the “best” flies are in any region will bring on a lot of discussion, many ideas, and an overwhelming amount of evidence (all anecdotal of course). This is especially true in Alaska, and for good reason.
Let’s start with the sheer size and diversity of the state. Where we are in southeast Alaska is a completely different fishery than the Bristol Bay region, Kodiak, southcentral, and farther north. Even when there are species overlaps like coho, kings, or steelhead many times the behaviors or run timings are different.
We could go on and on about the differences between the regions (and maybe we will in a different post), but here we won’t let it distract us from the fact that there still are a lot of similarities and fly choices that will work across all rivers and a lot of species.
At the very highest level fly selection is overcomplicated by us, the anglers. While colors, sizes, and patterns can make a difference the most important feature is having confidence in the fly you’re fishing. Don’t be afraid to try something completely out there if nothing else is working, but start with your favorites. The fact is you’ll just fish it better.
For the sake of this article we’ll be focused mainly on Southeast Alaska and the fish of the Tongass, but we’ll try to note any major exceptions or important notes.
Best Alaska Flies for Each Fish Species
Below we’ll discuss some of our favorite Alaska fly fishing flies for our main fish species and how we like to fish them. We’ll lay the groundwork for understanding what types of things we’re looking at when choosing flies and hopefully that will help you as you’re putting together your fly box.
Some days it seems as though no flies will work, and others just about anything you tie on will get a bite.
Steelhead
When it comes to steelhead in Alaska, we’re fortunate to be able to fish a lot of different streams and conditions over the course of our season. This means that we’ve been able to test different flies and see what seems to consistently produce.
We’ll also break out these flies into swing flies and flies we dead drift. One trick we like to use is dead drifting our swing flies as well. A lot of them will still have great action and can get a hit when other flies or presentations won’t.
Swing Flies
Most of the rivers that we fish are relatively small compared to a lot of the swing rivers in the Pacific Northwest or British Columbia. When we’re looking at changing flies, we’ll mostly focus on color or weight, and less on size or profile. That said, if the water is extremely clear we will try something a little smaller.
Some of our favorites are the Hoh Bo Spey, Mini Intruder, and Conehead Eggabous. Most of these in size 2 or 4 will do the trick, with some variation if the water is unusually low (go smaller), high (bigger), or dirty (larger profile with some flash to stand out). For colors, we mainly stick with the classics – black and blue for more glacial water, orange or pink and purple in regular or very tannic water, and rarely chartreuse. This is more the option if nothing else seems to be working.
Dead Drift Flies
Dead drifting flies in Alaska for steelhead can be very effective in a variety of situations. A lot of people only dead drift flies and catch a lot of fish doing it.
We like using egg sucking leeches in black and purple, brightly colored flies on jigheads, and sometimes a more natural colored nymph like a stonefly imitation. Sizes range from 2-6 but the main thing is understanding the weight. Make sure you are almost bouncing on the bottom and add split shot if needed.
One last trick when dead drifting, the swing flies mentioned above can work very well when dead drifted, they still have great action and can be the perfect choice when a run is really slow or feels froggy. The main drawback is that it is harder to keep a fish on because the hook doesn’t usually seat as well.
Silver Salmon (Coho)
One of the most fun fish to catch. They’re big, aggressive, and put up a great fight when hooked. While their reputation is that anything bright will do the trick there are times when that might not be the best strategy.
Many of the classic salmon flies in pink, purple, orange and chartreuse will do great. Coho Comets, starlight leeches, and other similar patterns in sizes 2-6 are a great starting point. If you really want to have some fun, get some polywogs (or variations) and try to get one to take on top. This is best used as the first fly into a pool because you’ll have the most aggressive fish still untouched.
Here in southeast, we are fishing a lot in tidal areas or just above which means the fish are just out of the salt, and in some cases maybe still coming and going from freshwater to saltwater. In these instances a white, white and pink, or white and blue clouser minnow can work great. Even if the fish aren’t feeding, they will chase. It also helps diminish the amount of pink hits if they are all mixed together.
Pink Salmon
Pinks take the crown for most aggressive fish, they will eat just about anything. Silvers can fall into that category at times, but pinks seem to always have that attitude.
Anything pink. That’s the best advice we can give. Strip slowly and steadily and they will eat it. They’ll also eat green, purple, white, etc.
Dolly Varden
For Dolly Varden, the main consideration when choosing a fly is time of year. In the spring through summer, they will mostly be focused on outmigrating salmon fry. This will be their main food source until later in the year when the adult salmon are returning to the rivers.
Small minnow and fry patterns are key. Anything that looks like a chum or pink fry will be a good option. Small clousers in olive and white, white, or even pink are good options.
Later in summer and into fall, once the salmon start spawning they will switch over to focus on eggs. Beads are almost always the way to go. While they can be picky and you will need to key in to what type of eggs they are eating in certain instances, it’s good to have orange and pinkish colored beads in sizes 6-10mm.
Sea Run Cutthroat
All of the flies listed for Dolly Varden will also work for Sea Run Cutthroat. They will also be following much of the same feeding pattern, but SRCs will almost always be interested in a streamer or minnow pattern regardless of the time of year.
They are also more keen to take a fly on the surface. Our favorite is the Sound Searcher in blue, white or orange (that said we’ve caught them on every color available.
Check out our more in depth article about flies for SRCs here.
Conclusion for Best Fly Fishing Flies for Alaska
In the end, don’t think of your fly selection like you would trying to match the hatch in a technical western trout stream. Here, we’re more concerned about presentation and making sure the fly will cause an aggression response for salmon and steelhead, and mimic food for the trout and Dolly’s.
If you have any questions about any of this, or are interested in coming to fish with us don’t hesitate to reach out!