Trip Report by Arran Kerr
I had been planning a trip to Alaska for about a year and a half. My Aunt Lauren, Uncle Doug, and cousin Hayden live in Chugiak (about 30ish minutes north of Anchorage), and I planned to stay with them for nine days. I decided that I was going to tackle this trip with only a fixed line, with goals in mind of catching various species of salmon, Arctic grayling, Dolly Varden, and possibly Arctic char or any trout I could find. I managed to get three species on my list and missed out on the rest, but that’s just an excuse to go back, right?
First, a bit about the gear:
- I brought 5 rods: My Riverworks ZX4-PRO, two Tenkara Rod Co. Rocky rods, Wasatch Rodzilla, and the new Wasatch Phoenix Rising.
- Lines & Tippets: 30lbs Rio Dacron fly backing (main line for streamers and other heavy rigs), Ygk #4 level line in pink, HitenaUSA tippets in 6x, 5x, 3x, and 0x.
- A slew of flies in the range of nymphs, eggs, and streamers mostly (I’d later purchase flesh flies and more eggs at a local fly shop).
- I also brought my Gossamer Gear Mariposa Vaporwave, Yonah Simple Pack, Sawyer water filter, and GoPro Hero 5, but panicked at the airport when I realized I had left my net at home. Luckily my family had a backup!
I fished five times over the course of my vacation, starting out in Peter’s Creek behind my aunt and uncle’s house. The water was a swift, silty gray-blue color from glacial water pounding granite into dust. The visibility was short to say the least, a bit discouraging, and even a bit terrifying. I tried anyway, because I’d heard Peter’s creek was full of Dolly Varden, which was my main goal of the trip, as they are closely related to the beautiful brook trout from back home in Tennessee.
I tossed an egg around, with a pheasant tail nymph underneath, on the Riverworks ZX4-PRO in hopes to search some fish up. No success. Funnily enough, after I’d gone home, my family ended up catching a few dollies out of that same creek.
The next day would be the complete opposite! My uncle, cousin and I hiked the Chugach Mountains to Symphony Lake, passing Eagle River and Eagle Lake in search of Arctic grayling. We finally came upon a primordial Eden nestled in-between jagged mountains, yet still holding pockets of snow in late July. We spotted several grayling and immediately started getting our fishing gear out with great anticipation of the rest of our day.
I went with my trusty Riverworks ZX4-PRO and a pheasant tail nymph. My cousin chose the Tenkara Adventure Outfitters Wisco 2 that I got him for Christmas, and my uncle used his spinning gear. Success for us all! We caught probably 5-6 each in the lake before the bite started to wind down. We almost started to hike back out when at the other side of the lake we noticed tons of fish annihilating something on the surface. Even though it was late in the day, we decided to go where the action was! It was a long hike and we weren’t done fishing.
We came to these smaller ponds with very short stretches of current from the main lake (I guess they were technically creeks, but very short, maybe 20-50 feet). It was here that we started absolutely destroying fish after fish, cast after cast. None of us could cast and not catch a fish! We found a few small rainbow trout in-between, but the grayling were much more numerous. I ended up catching over 30 grayling and 5 rainbows. We finally packed up and headed out for a close to 12-mile hike.
After a much needed day of rest, we made our way to Seward. We made stops at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and Sea Life Center, and had lunch at a taco truck that served locally-caught fish tacos in Resurrection Bay. After a long day and drive, we decided we still wanted to try for salmon as we heard reports of silvers (coho) in the bay, and pinks (humpies) in the creeks, with some reds too (sockeye), though less plentiful than the pinks.
We made our way to Sawmill Creek where it flows into Resurrection Bay. It was time to try my Wasatch Phoenix Rising. We saw tons of pink salmon darting back and forth.
We had maybe 200 feet of creek underneath a sign where it’s legal to fish. The salmon are “safe” in their spawning grounds above said sign. My family was snagging and catching left and right, but I was struggling.
I tried a method called “flossing,” with two brightly colored salmon streamers. I worked down the right fork of the creek and I felt a bump or two but didn’t hook up. I worked around the bay and still got nothing. Feeling puzzled, I worked up the left fork, casting upstream as I would back home for trout, instead of perpendicular like the flossing method tends to be.
FISH ON, FIGHT ON! I finally hooked a pink salmon! I fought for a few minutes with a net assist from my cousin Hayden. I was exhilarated to say the least! The day grew dark and the mosquitoes multiplied. We made our way to the car and went home.
My uncle was unable to join me on my next outing, but my aunt and cousin were still glad to take me out and put me on some fish. We ventured over to the Eklutna Tailrace, a man-made eddy that connects to the Knik River. I had heard from a local fly shop that this fishery was loaded with Arctic char and Dolly Varden. Obviously, I had my Phoenix Rising ready to go in case of monsters! I decided to go with a rig similar to a double nymph rig, except I opted for a big pink egg with a split shot and 0x tippet, up to a “flesh fly,” with more 0x tippet up to my main line.
My cousin had the same setup on my Rodzilla. We casted and dead-drifted all the way up and fished there for a while to no avail. It was then that we decided to start fishing the Knik River. I kept getting snagged on vegetation. As I always say, “hooksets are free,” so I set that hook every snag. Eventually, it wasn’t a snag…
Fish on! BIG. FISH. ON!
I saw the silhouette of a massive fish. “Please stay on,” I thought while screaming obnoxiously, “HOLY ****!”
I told my cousin to get the net ready. “It’s in the car,” he said. My heart sank. “GO GET IT MAN I HAVE A BIG ONE ON!” He ran to the car while a massive silver salmon (coho) started jumping, flipping, and dragging me down stream. With the help of another angler, I landed my monster. The adrenaline I felt in that moment was incredible and emotional. This is the biggest fish I’ve ever caught, and the most incredible fight I’ve ever experienced. All I can say is dinner was amazing that night.
The last day, we hiked up to Thunderbird Falls. I fished a small section of Thunderbird Creek in Chugach, which flows into the Eklutna River. I had heard the reds (sockeye) were running up there, and was hoping to get one of those and maybe one of the char I had been searching for, but had no luck. The water was quite shallow, and access to many parts of the river was simply impossible due to deadly drops from cliffs, as well as legality around fishing from native land. I also just didn’t see any fish, so I assumed they had already run through.
The hike was still well worth it! The falls were beautiful, and the foraging was incredible. The trail was covered in red currants and watermelon berries, bolete mushrooms and even some coral tooth fungus that had unfortunately already gone bad.
Alaska is an amazing place. I implore anyone who can to get up there and get after it! Fishing, hunting, foraging, and hiking opportunities abound. The sheer amount of activity possible for outdoorsmen and women is unmatched in the Last Frontier.
Arran Kerr is a single father, forager, and avid angler in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest. His favorite fish to target are Southern Appalachian brook trout and brown trout. His Instagram is Appalachian_AF.
This article originally appeared in the 2024 print issue of Tenkara Angler magazine.
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