Anyone that has been fishing for sockeye in AK knows that it's primarily a floss fishery... I'm interested in personally trying to find ways to get them to legitimately bite.. It's my own personal challenge for the summer... Any tips or tricks you guys could share with me to steer me in the right direction? PM's are fine too

Thanks in Advance!

T

TBird-
Might have agreed with you a couple years ago, but, we had many biters that moved to the rig and grabed it, and you could see it happen.
We saw it most on our fly out to a remote system.
We had small flies tied with a knot of yarn and a little crystal flash on it, seemed to work.
Yes, there were many flossed fish, but it was good to see a Sockeye move to the lure and grab it. I knew it was working as I can remember at least 10 fish hooked right in the beak and you don't hook fish in the beak flossing.

Thanks a bunch I'll definitely keep that in mind! I was hoping you'd have somethin to chime in with!

That's good to know.. I know there are ways to get them to bite... another option we have is trolling for them in the lake... Do you guys think that with 4' of vis in the lake that bare hooks and a dodger would work?

Tbird I know someone who does well on the Sol Duc sockeye with tiny red and white jigs worked along the bottom fall coho stlye if that helps.-T

T-bird, what lodge you at?

Peace
Fly

Don't rule out big and flashy. I just spent a week with the good EYE doctor on the Kenai and cought one on a big wad of eggs with a spinnenglow and the largest size twinfin in front of that. Yea probably a fluke but the fish hit it three times with everyone watching while I was backbouncing it about 9 miles up from the mouth. The hook was about 2" behind the eggs and the fish was hooked in the tip of the lower jaw. Before the red hook and flasher days in lake WA they used good sized flat fish behind flashers and lots of people thought they were chasing the flasher as though they were other sockeye and snaging themselves on the double treble flat fish. Just a thought. You may look like an idiot casting a double 00 flasher and drifting it down the river but somebody had to cast the first PINK worm. Maybe try it when no one else is watching...Art

Jake & TBJ: I've personally nailed sol duc sockeye on hootchie somethin or others It's on my list of things to try, and I've got about 250 hootchies in my box with me, as well as all the stuff I need to make about 150 jigs for twitchin and float fishin.. I'll definitely be trying the ol flasher and hooks trick on em in the lake.. I'll just step it up a notch or two...


I'll backtroll a flasher in the river, Art.. I've got at least a little cracker in me

Sent ya a PM Superfrisky...

Twitch small pink hootchies on 1/4 oz. lead heads. If it's really snaggy you can rig them up under a slip foat and twitch them through the float. That might work better for clients, as it adds a visual aspect to the bite.

weren't pixee spoons primarily meant for sockeye? i've never tried them for socks, but i've caught a lot of chums on them.

Dick Nite's

Banjo Minnows.

Even better response: You're the farking "guide" now. Get off your ass, get a line wet and FIGURE IT OUT yourself.

Damn, that felt GOOD!

At least one Baker River sockeye has succumbed to a red gammie hook 12 inches behind a 1/2 oz. spoon, casted and swung spoon style, but it looks a lot like a miniature Lk. Wa. trolling rig.

I get half a dozen a year or so fishing for summer runs, all on spinners.

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. I'm with Parker. You're the bigshot guide now, go figger that chit out, and then when we come up to fish, you tell us how it is.

TBird, for reds... it's probably more the WHERE than the HOW in gettin' 'em to actually bite. If you're flippin' or swingin' flies for 'em in current when they're on the move upstream... 99% of them will be flossed.

If you can find an area in the lake they're headed to... like a bay below their spawning creek where they're holed up... or a slow deep pool in the river where they're hangin' out and not in a hurry to get upstream... the jig twitchin' tech should work. If you do find these kinds of spots... you could also try usin' a clear casting bubble and a #6 weighted krill pattern fly casted into the school... allowed to sink a bit and SLOWLY retrieved in short reel & pause intervals.

Good luck!

LMAO Parker and Todd.. I know they will hit spinners and jigs in certain rivers... Now that they are officially here, I'll be playing around.. I WILL find a way! Thanks 4Salt for your advice, as well as everyone else!

Many fisherman more tallented than yourself have pondered the same thing for years. Best case senario the overall percentage of fish that can actually be enticed into biting once in the river is SMALL. As a guide you should be more interested in getting your clients to learn to floss fish in the mouth. They don't need to know the fish aren't taking the fly on purpose.

It is what it is, bro. Roll with it.

That's from a man that has forced his presentation for years! Skillfully of course
Have a great 4th fellas.
Neal

Very weird fish as far as biting, I have had them bite an assortment of flys with no regularity, small prince nymphs and caddis nymphs sometimes work. Abu, I have seen the sockey rise as well. I had a customer catch a 6 lb chrome sockeye on a #14 yellow humpy, on the Agulapak river. Ya found any bugs yet Tbird?\

Matt

That's funny. I watched a guy catch one on a dry on the Agulawok. He swears the fish "rose and took," but he was casting to a seam with sockeye porposing nearly constanly. Total accident if you ask me.

Not sure how to catch them in a river..I've tried about a hundred techniques to catch one..legally.

This year my *tactics* have changed...and as the run nears the Baker (should arrive the 3rd to the 10th if a normal year) I'm getting a number of lengthy leaders tied up.

I'll try a very sparse yarn fly, a corky...leaders are about 4 ft. in length, and 15 lb. Seaguar flourocarbon.

If I can hook one in the mouth it'll be good enough for me. 4 years I've chased these things in the Skagit with bupkis to show for it...not this year. One way or another, I'm taking home a limit..;-)

Mike

http://www.bentrods.ca/bcfishingarticles.htm

Try and target staging or resting fish, looking for places where they may slow migration for even short periods.
The small red bead head jig tipped with the ol prawn slice has been good. Float fished of courrse, but sometimes a little twitch gets the strikes. Light LIGHT biters at times, so weight your float proper like and watch for slow downs and lift ups ans set quick and firm, keeping in mind their soft mouths.

We use ultra light rods and noodle rods and wait all year for the chance to ethically fish for these great sportsfish. Once you look past the BBQ, SOX ROCK.

The strain I fish for goes 4-12 pounds and can kick some serious arse.