Description
Departments
4 Fish Alaska Online
6 Alaska Traveler
8 Creel
10 Gear Bag
12 Fishing for a Compliment
14 Salmon Sense
16 Fly
18 Boats
26 Saltwater
30 Flyfishing
32 Conservation
36 Holiday Gift Guide pt. 1
62 Recipe
65 Ad Index
66 Final Drift
On The Cover
This 22-inch trout changed Joe Jackson’s opinion of stillwater fishing. No doubt he’ll now be a regular angler on the Lake Louise Road. © Joe Jackson
FEATURES
40
Goin’ Deep
by George Krumm
Technology now allows sport anglers to target deep-water species such as sablefish (black cod), shortraker rockfish, rougheye rockfish, and other large rockfish species that until the last few years were essentially beyond reach of sport tackle. The extreme depths fished (500- to 2000 feet or more) require specialized tackle and technique to effectively target these species, but these fish are no longer strictly the domain of commercial fishermen.
46
Grayling on the Fly
by Andrew Cremata
Perhaps no species in Alaska is a better match for beginning fly anglers than the Arctic grayling. Available throughout the state, they are willing biters that will take almost any small fly, either on the surface or under it. Andrew’s “Lazy Man’s Flyfishing” technique is an easy way to introduce beginning fly anglers to grayling, whether in Southeast, Southwest, the North Slope, or the Interior.
52
Learning New Things on the Lake Louise Road
by Joe Jackson
Lakes abound in the area around Lake Louise Road and along the Glenn Highway from which it branches off. Almost all are underfished, some stocked with rainbows, others with grayling, and some have native populations of grayling and burbot. Most lakes are small, but a float tube or canoe are nearly required to fish them since their borders are composed of boggy muskeg. You could spend weeks fishing the area and not fish all the lakes.
56
Subsistence Flyfishing by E. Donnall Thomas, Jr.
There is a strong catch-and-release ethic amongst fly anglers in the Great Land. It is justified in many cases. But there is still room for the occasional harvest of plentiful species with resilient populations, and which live in areas scantly visited. Dolly Varden, sockeyes, silvers, pinks, pike, and grayling are some that make for a great streamside meal, and which can supplement your packed-in food during float hunts or float-fishing trips. Don Thomas shares years of experience to guide you in your efforts to subsist on the river.