Upcoming Alaska trip

DanH

Four Pointer
Wife and I are renting a camper van for 9 days in August and driving around Central Alaska. So getting prepared for some fly fishing. Now a little background. I have only fiddled with fly fishing. I know how to cast but have only fished for bass. I don't know all terminology so try to speak English to me.

Last weekend I got a new setup to replace my 20yr old 5wt walmart special with a 9' 8wt Orvis Clearwater rod along with 8wt Clearwater II reel, WF8 line. I have a 1 acre pond with plenty of bass and bream along with a 8' diy pontoon boat i fish out of. I have a trip next month to Cherokee to get some practice in a river since all my experience is in ponds and lakes.

So looking for some recommendations on how to rig up both poles for Cherokee area and what kind of flies I should use. I know will be different for Alaska but hoping to get some more knowledge.
 
Don’t have any pointers about fishing with fly rods. I’ve only used conventional gear. I have always wanted to do an Alaska trip. Where did you rent the camper from?
 

DanH

Four Pointer
Don’t have any pointers about fishing with fly rods. I’ve only used conventional gear. I have always wanted to do an Alaska trip. Where did you rent the camper from?
Wife added an extra day so 10 days now and by time we added insurance came out to around $3k. Got a helicopter/dogsled tour planned then working our way north towards Denali and Fairbanks then south towards Valdez then back towards Anchorage and south towards Seward. Plan to do some fishing in the Russian River area and anywhere else I can find water along our route.
 

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
8 wt is a pretty stout rod for trout. You may have some issues casting some of the smaller flies that are better suited for NC trout.

Flies for Cherokee? Whatever is hatching you to try and match up. But old standbys are the Parachute Adam’s, elk hair caddis, if the mayflies or stone flies are hatching then get something that looks like that. If you don’t care about dry flies and just want to catch, a bead head nymph of some sort or big ole wooly boogers work great for bigger trout.

As for Alaska, honestly for trout what you use in NC will work just fine up there. Only difference is if there is a big Salmon run then you want a fly that looks like salmon eggs. Salmon are a different story. No clue what kind of flies they like because I couldn’t catch one on a fly rod.

Grayling will bite anything. And I mean anything. If there’s a grayling in a stream or creek you toss a rock to it and it will bite it.

The more popular rivers and creeks the trout will be pickier. Find the little side creeks and they will bite better.

For fun and pure entertainment, find a pond and catch the snot out of some pike. They will bite every cast.
 

DanH

Four Pointer
8 wt is a pretty stout rod for trout. You may have some issues casting some of the smaller flies that are better suited for NC trout.

Flies for Cherokee? Whatever is hatching you to try and match up. But old standbys are the Parachute Adam’s, elk hair caddis, if the mayflies or stone flies are hatching then get something that looks like that. If you don’t care about dry flies and just want to catch, a bead head nymph of some sort or big ole wooly boogers work great for bigger trout.

As for Alaska, honestly for trout what you use in NC will work just fine up there. Only difference is if there is a big Salmon run then you want a fly that looks like salmon eggs. Salmon are a different story. No clue what kind of flies they like because I couldn’t catch one on a fly rod.

Grayling will bite anything. And I mean anything. If there’s a grayling in a stream or creek you toss a rock to it and it will bite it.

The more popular rivers and creeks the trout will be pickier. Find the little side creeks and they will bite better.

For fun and pure entertainment, find a pond and catch the snot out of some pike. They will bite every cast.
Thanks. Yeah I figured would end up using the old walmart special mostly in Cherokee but would like to try the new rod out if I can.
 

hog&deerhunter

Ten Pointer
Wife added an extra day so 10 days now and by time we added insurance came out to around $3k. Got a helicopter/dogsled tour planned then working our way north towards Denali and Fairbanks then south towards Valdez then back towards Anchorage and south towards Seward. Plan to do some fishing in the Russian River area and anywhere else I can find water along our route.


That's about the route I took, but was there longer. Rented a RV from Great Alaskan Holidays. Try to book a Halibut trip if you can. When in Seward, a glacier tour boat is a must. 10 days really needs to be a bare minimum of 2 weeks. Alaska is very RV friendly. Pull over and camp almost anywhere. The Denali campground is very nice. You can only travel 15 miles in with a private vehicle, so we took the green tour bus all the to the end of the road, 100 miles. Tons of wildlife. I could go on and on about Alaska. Oh, buy the mile post book. Well worth it. I used spinning gear and rooster tails and had an increadble trip. Anchorage has turned into a homeless cesspool. Don't waste a lot of time there.
 

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
That's about the route I took, but was there longer. Rented a RV from Great Alaskan Holidays. Try to book a Halibut trip if you can. When in Seward, a glacier tour boat is a must. 10 days really needs to be a bare minimum of 2 weeks. Alaska is very RV friendly. Pull over and camp almost anywhere. The Denali campground is very nice. You can only travel 15 miles in with a private vehicle, so we took the green tour bus all the to the end of the road, 100 miles. Tons of wildlife. I could go on and on about Alaska. Oh, buy the mile post book. Well worth it. I used spinning gear and rooster tails and had an increadble trip. Anchorage has turned into a homeless cesspool. Don't waste a lot of time there.
Sounds like you did a similar trip that my wife and I took. I can second get out anchorage as fast as you can. we also rented from great Alaskan holidays and they were great to work with.

Denali was awesome. I’ve been to 35 National parks and it’s my favorite. I hear people say “Denali is not that great” or “I’m going to Alaska but going to skip Denali.” That’s pure stupidity. I could spend a year in Denali and still not be satisfied.

All this talk about Alaska is making me want to book a trip again.
 

DanH

Four Pointer
Yeah only time we will be in Anchorage is night we fly in and day we fly out. We took a cruise there last year. Went to Juneau Skagway and Ketchikan and fell in love with the place. We were supposed to go to Hawaii this year but I wanted to go back and explore more of the interior. Did a boat glacier tour while on the cruise last year but our helicopter tour got canceled due to weather so we plan to do one this time that lands on a glacier then takes us the mountain to a dog sled camp. Rest of the time will be seeing the views, camping and fishing.
 
I know you mentioned not being in Anchorage long but if you get a chance, hit up Mossy’s fly shop and talk with Brian. He’s a Mitchell county boy and gave me some really good info and tips for catching around the area.
 

DanH

Four Pointer
I know you mentioned not being in Anchorage long but if you get a chance, hit up Mossy’s fly shop and talk with Brian. He’s a Mitchell county boy and gave me some really good info and tips for catching around the area.
Sounds good
 

DanH

Four Pointer
I'd NEVER get away with that switch with my Wife,,, NEVER,,,
Lol wasn't that hard to convince her since Hawaii is still very strict regarding covid. Getting tested every 48 hours just to go into a restaurant isn't my idea of a good time.
 
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