"It Isn’t Always Pretty"

I have included in this issue a pair of my not so pretty salmon flies (see below) that are among my top producers on all species. Why they work so well I don’t know, perhaps they are more visible than some of my more classic style flies. The orange Bunny Fur Comet has quite a presence wet or dry. It is a big bushy bright glob of undulating fluff as it dead drifts and becomes rather streamlined as it goes into the swing. Most of the fish caught on the Bunny are taken while the fly is fished dead drift as you would a nymph. The fly has a pair of zinc eyes that provide plenty of weight to assist in getting to the fish and although the weights don’t do much for the beauty of the fly they sure help to make it a fish catching wonder. In many of the rivers and creeks I fish the water is swift and weight is an unpleasant part of the equation if you want to be successful. Many of the rivers and creeks in the interior where our cabin is located are fed by glaciers and they have silted flows. This creates a constant muddy water effect and the big high visibility flies are the only option that will give you a chance to hook up. Only when visiting a clear water streams do I use the more aesthetic patterns that I so love to tie.

I would like now to move on to another of the “It Isn’t Always Pretty” topics. As you may know salmon stocks all over North America are in trouble. Here in Alaska the king salmon fishery has been in decline for the past several years. The past two seasons almost all of the river systems in the Matanuska and Susitna drainage have been closed to king salmon fishing. This year ADF& G (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) closed the greater Yukon and Kuskowim to most substance and commercial fishing for king salmon. The runs have been far below the numbers needed to support fishing pressure. However in some other fisheries with other species the runs are still strong. The silver salmon runs are still maintaining themselves at levels so that closures have not occurred and sockeye numbers are holding their own also. I do not profess to be a fisheries expert and my statements here are resultant of what I learn from ADF&G postings and local closures.

For some the catching of a fish takes precedence over all other aspects of this wonderful sport. I have no remedy for the pattern that I see forming with fly fishermen here in Alaska and I can only guess that perhaps you have witnessed some less than sporting behavior yourselves. My observations are troubling enough that I want to use this opportunity to at least remind our readers to do everything you can to teach newcomers to salmon fishing a good ethical approach to our beloved sport. Now if you will bear with me, I will digress into the subject matter to which I am making reference. I travel from the upper Yetna rivers as far as Kodiak Island in pursuit of good fishing. You may be familiar with the phrase ‘Combat Fishing’, this refers to areas where heavy returns of salmon in combination with high numbers of fishermen results in some less than palatable tactics. I am noticing a disturbing trend on creeks and rivers from my home area, Wasilla Alaska, all the way to Kodiak. These are not streams or rivers where the combat circumstances and crowding are really prevalent. What I have learned is that it does not take an army of fishermen to put an inordinate amount of stress and pressure on the fish returning to a river. I am encountering more and more fishermen who are often equipped with the state of the art fly fishing rods and reels that are using a fishing technique I find conducive with that of a person who is attempting to snag salmon. Well hello! Did I just wake up to the fact that there are people dressed like a sporting gentlemen who are not? Of course not, I have known about snagging ever since I learned about fishing for salmon. What I find most discouraging is that these people choose to disguise themselves as fly fishermen. They come with one intent and that is to hook as many fish as possible and in many cases having total disregard for any other fishermen on the river.

The tackle in question is a set up as follows; a fly rod of 9’ with a leader of about seven feet attached to the line, to the end of the leader is tied a hook dressed with some very highly visible material like chartreuse green Ice Chenille. About three foot from the fly is a large weight or series of weights and this unit is used in a flogging fashion with a hard overhand swing of the rod. The resounding noise when this weight hits the water is unmistakable and I will spare you my attempt at describing it in writing. Now as I said, I understand how to snag, line, or lift a salmon whatever you would choose to call it. I will quickly outline the process for the benefit of the uninitiated in the readership. The object is to spot a fish either holding in the current or swimming up stream. After the target is acquired you flog your weight down upstream of the target, the object being that the weight land on your side of the fish and the hook land on the far side of the fish. Having accomplished this, the person controlling the rod makes a swift lateral sweeping motion with the rod in an effort to quickly drag the hook into the fish. Someone who is having a good day at this may even hook the fish in the head or the far side of the jaw. When this occurs it appears to any observer that the fish was induced to take the fly and is thus a legal catch. My opinion, nothing could be farther from the truth. No account of sport fishing for salmon with a fly rod and a salmon fly that I have ever read even remotely resembles what I have outlined here. So maybe in an effort to avoid a controversy we could say, ‘what the heck his style is simply not conventional’ that would be an option were it not for the number of foul hooked fish involved in this reprehensible practice.

Have you seen fishermen take up a watch position, wait until they spot fish enter the channel and only then begin to fish? In theory I would call this a smart fisherman. Why spend endless hours casting over empty water? The problem begins with what happens next. Most often the person will commence to pursue the fish up the river channel. In this chase the fishermen endeavors to stay just ahead of the fish all the while keeping the aforementioned flogging action going at a crescendo pitch. Sometimes these people are almost comical to watch as they stumble through the rocks and other obstacles on shore or in the water. Watching this scenario unfold could be humorous, the desperate stumbling fool thrashing madly at the water while stumbling like a drunk on the slick rocks and gravel; if only the fish were not the hapless foil of these outlaws. They quickly become aware of this new threat that they face and begin hurrying up the river. It is simply a fact of my own observations that a great majority of the salmon are often foul hooked in the belly of some other part of the body. Hey, so what’s the big deal if the person knows you’re watching he will probably release the fish that was gut hooked right? Perhaps I am a sissy at heart but I don’t find any justification for making the final stage of such an incredible animal’s life any more arduous or painful than need be. I admire the Pacific salmon species’ more every time I catch one. When I intend to harvest a fish I dispatch it immediately using a thrust through the brain from my Gerber knife, somehow that doesn’t sound like a sissy in action to me. When these people appear, and as I state they are showing up everywhere these days, they get the fish so stressed out by means of this chasing to which I refer that you have hardly a chance if these people are down stream of you. So is that what all this is about Ard, you’re angry because someone is impacting your personal odds for success? Perhaps in part, who would not object to some one else diminishing your chances of having a good days fishing? I do strongly oppose the needless and cruel action of knowingly foul hooking salmon or practicing a style of fishing that will lead to far more foul hooks than legitimate takers.