Matching the Alaskan Hatch

Step one, load up a few good pals and head up the river and find some clear water.




Step two, find spawning kings




Step 3, figger out what the trout are eating




Step 4, find something that looks like what the trout are eating and put it on your line... with a hook and some other stuff




Step 5, carefully stalk said trouts




Step 6, cast to and hook said trouts




Step 7, take a photo or two








Step 8, release trouts




Steps 9 - infinity, repeat as needed or until the beer runs out, then go home.












Bonus points, dont forget to stop and smell the flowers.

Coley,

I notice that the max is missing from a lot of the rainbows in your nonetheless gorgeous photos. Are these rivers heavily fished? Seems like these trout may have run into treble hooks or otherwise poor angler handling to leave them in that kind of shape.

Sg

Repetitive use and abuse Sg. These rivers are not heavily fished compared to many up here. I am growing to learn that it doesn't take many encounters with the hook, line, and angler to leave a significant and lasting mark on trout. Treble hooks, likely not. Suspect handling, entirely possible though in my opinion not required for the noted effects of C and R.

We are loving them to death.

supersweet

Coley,

From a human interest perspective, it's only loving them to death if the population abundance and age class structure is declining. Obviously the trout can spawn and reproduce with missing maxilaries, however the mouthparts are designed for optimum feeding. So mutilation doesn't help any. What about barbless hooks? Careless removal of barbed hooks when the trout are still fairly small is more likely to tear away the max than if barbless were required and used. Just thinking about alternatives that allow us to continue loving them without loving them to death.

Sg

Nice..........


c/22

Hmmm...

Your "Step 3" in AK is different than Washington's "Step 3".

Step 3 here is "Start snaggin 'em!".

Nice, I'm jealous. Fishing with chicks and catching bows in AK...What could be better?

Is that a Vanquish on your rod? Spendy fly reel, although bead fishing on a fly rod is debatable by some as to whether it is really fly fishing. Not necessarily by me but for some, regardless what the regulations say.

nice, very nice