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Anchorage in July?

Posted By: Todd R

Anchorage in July? - 03/24/18 01:10 PM

My son is buying my daughter and I tickets to Alaska. He lives in Fairbanks but we are planning on meeting him and his brother in Anchorage. We will be there less than a week (unless I miss the ight home😁).

I would really like to fish char and grayling. I will be working with a very, very limited budget.

Any suggestions would. E appreciated .
Posted By: Gulo

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/24/18 01:45 PM

On a limited budget, I can't help with the char. However, if son is meeting you with a vehicle in Los Anchorage, there are some phenomenal grayling streams off the Denali Hiway, with 20+" hogs. PM if this might work and you're looking for details.

Jack
Posted By: waggler

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/24/18 03:11 PM

Char versus Dolly Varden; that will get a debate going.

They are virtually the same fish. It seems the general consensus is Dolly Varden are found in the Pacific south of the Alaska Peninsula and Char on the Bering Sea side of the Peninsula and then northward into the arctic. This is a long way to say you won't really find and "char" fishing close to Anchorage. But if you find some Dollies, that's close enough.

Some fishing guides in Alaska will get all bent out of shape if you call a char a dolly; I think they really like to market them as char. Kind of like Sable vs Marten.
Posted By: Gulo

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/24/18 03:17 PM

Brown bear vs. Grizzly
Posted By: Todd R

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/24/18 03:25 PM

Yah even though I have not been to Alaska I am aware of the dispute. I ran a fly fishing department for many years.

Just try to tell someone in the Midwest that a brooky is not a trout but a char...
Posted By: Todd R

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/24/18 03:27 PM

Originally Posted By: Gulo
Brown bear vs. Grizzly


I'm no expert but I always thought the difference was whether you were eating him or he was eating you...😀
Posted By: gary j

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/24/18 10:18 PM

There are Grayling in almost every pothole between Anchorage and Fairbanks and every stream. Take Petersville road to the west by Trappers Creek and stop at all the culverts. fish from the road or walk in about 50 feet and fish with a small salmon egg and split shot. You will catch Grayling and some decent size. I don't like eating them because of way too many bones, but they are a thrill to catch for those of us from the lower 48. Have fun, been there done that.
Gary
Posted By: Todd R

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/25/18 01:33 AM

Originally Posted By: gary j
There are Grayling in almost every pothole between Anchorage and Fairbanks and every stream. Take Petersville road to the west by Trappers Creek and stop at all the culverts. fish from the road or walk in about 50 feet and fish with a small salmon egg and split shot. You will catch Grayling and some decent size. I don't like eating them because of way too many bones, but they are a thrill to catch for those of us from the lower 48. Have fun, been there done that.
Gary


Thank you very much, any suggestions on a good fly shop?
Posted By: James

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/25/18 02:11 AM

Originally Posted By: waggler
Char versus Dolly Varden; that will get a debate going.

They are virtually the same fish. It seems the general consensus is Dolly Varden are found in the Pacific south of the Alaska Peninsula and Char on the Bering Sea side of the Peninsula and then northward into the arctic. This is a long way to say you won't really find and "char" fishing close to Anchorage. But if you find some Dollies, that's close enough.

Some fishing guides in Alaska will get all bent out of shape if you call a char a dolly; I think they really like to market them as char. Kind of like Sable vs Marten.


Arctic char, Dolly Varden char, and lake trout are all separate, but closely-related species. Arctic char and Dolly Varden grow up in the sea, but return to rivers and streams in the fall. In their spawning colors, they're pretty hard to mistake for land-locked lake trout.

For Dollies, you might try some of the streams on the southern Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage, the Anchor River, Deep Creek, and so on.

Jim
Posted By: James

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/25/18 02:15 AM

Originally Posted By: Gulo
On a limited budget, I can't help with the char. However, if son is meeting you with a vehicle in Los Anchorage, there are some phenomenal grayling streams off the Denali Hiway, with 20+" hogs. PM if this might work and you're looking for details.

Jack


I would take up Gulo on this advice and offer. This is the first place I would go, along with the Gulkana River off the Richardson Hwy., if I wanted to catch grayling.
Posted By: James

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/25/18 02:24 AM

Originally Posted By: gary j
There are Grayling in almost every pothole between Anchorage and Fairbanks and every stream. Take Petersville road to the west by Trappers Creek and stop at all the culverts. fish from the road or walk in about 50 feet and fish with a small salmon egg and split shot. You will catch Grayling and some decent size. I don't like eating them because of way too many bones, but they are a thrill to catch for those of us from the lower 48. Have fun, been there done that.
Gary


There are grayling in SOME of the small streams, if they are clearwater streams. Anything larger than a stream is apt to be glacial and a waste of time to fish.

Most of the potholes that look like they ought to have fish, don't--they freeze to the bottom most winters and won't support gamefish.

The Petersville Road option may be a good one. Just stick to clearwater streams.

Jim
Posted By: Willy Firewood

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/25/18 05:28 AM

Please listen to the advice these experts are kindly giving you. The most beautiful stream may contain no fish and before you know it you will have wasted your precious time.

Take these guys up on their offers for SPECIFIC locations. Then when you get there look at water conditions. Blown out from a storm with muddy water means check somewhere else. Have many options on a map and a plan so you don’t waste your time and gas. Time goes fast.

Look into the regulations for the specific water you will be fishing to make sure that the method is legal. Here are some tips.

A few Panther Martin spinners and a 7 foot ultra light spinning rod with an ultra smooth reel work great to catch grayling and dollys. The spinners in gold bodies with gold blades and silver bodies with silver blades worked best for me - both with some fur tied on the hook. Other colors and patterns worked but seemed less effective.

For fly fishing, everybody has their favorite methods and strategies. I have found that flesh flies work very well. I also like all purpose attractor patterns - the Royal Wulff wet fly and streamer are great. Tight spaces for casting.

Look into single bead egg with a toothpick peg method. Simple and cheap.

Be sure to take a camera and look around and enjoy the adventure. Don’t forget your bug spray. Watch out for the frost heaves!
Posted By: James

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/25/18 08:55 AM

Just about any dry or wet fly works for grayling, most of the time.

Jim
Posted By: The Beav

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/25/18 03:43 PM

If your driving through Delta JCT stop In and talk to the Fisheries people at Fish and Game they have one of the premier Grayling fisheries In the state. It's the Clear Water River. But It's all catch and release.
Posted By: gary j

Re: Anchorage in July? - 03/25/18 03:46 PM

Question, are you staying in Anchorage area or going to Fairbanks and back? With only one week you aren't going to go to Fairbanks via Richardson highway unless you want to spend most of the week on the road. I don't live in Alaska like James, I live in Duluth, but I've been there about 18 times and have been to more places than most Alaskans. My brother lived in Anchorage, retired and now lives in Willow. I would leave all my gear at his house so all I really had to do was get on the plane and when I got there we were ready to go hunting, fishing, gold mining, ATVing or anything else.
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