. Chapter 5: King Salmon Fishing at Lake Marie Lodge

King Salmon (Chinook)

Whatever area of Alaska you choose to fish for King Salmon in, try to make sure that you will have access to some smaller streams that are wadeable. The difference between sighting, stalking, casting to, hooking, fighting, and then landing kings in shallow and wadeable streams, as compared to larger rivers, is like the difference between night and day.

The excitement and thrill of playing and fighting king salmon, while you are moving up and down the shore, in and out of the water, and trying to turn them during their long runs, cannot be matched by fishing out of a boat in a large river.

Because of our unique location, we have access to many smaller streams and creeks. The lower sections of these streams usually have deep holes and slow moving water.

The King Salmon gather in these pools to rest before traveling either up the main rivers, or on up the smaller stream. After the run of Kings is going good it is not unusual to see pods of several hundred king salmon cruising back and forth from deep to deep hole. These kings are usually very aggressive and will strike at almost any lure or fly, although they do tend to slow down during periods of heat and bright sunshine. The early morning fishing is usually the best and can be incredible with kings being hooked one after another, while the late evening fishing comes in a close second.

While the lower sections of the streams have deep pools, the middle sections have smaller, shallower pools, with stretches of fast shallow running water between the pools. The kings in these pools are easier to spook because the water is so clear, but if you are careful when you approach, they bite very well. When you hook a king in these waters, you are in for a true Alaskan experience as you battle the king while he is ripping up and down the stream going from pool to pool. If you can keep up, (they don't always go too far), the king will tire and then you will have your chance to land him. These smaller pools are great fun, not only for the kings, but also for the rainbow trout that are mixed in with salmon.

While the middle sections of the streams have smaller pools and faster water, the upper sections usually have all fast and shallow water. However, there are what we call "micro-pools" in these upper sections. These are slight depressions behind boulders, fallen trees, overfalls, or anything that would create a small washout in the creek bed. These are sometimes only a foot deep and two feet long, but they are large enough for kings to hold in while they rest. After a careful stalk and good cast, you can be rewarded with the time of your life as you attempt to tire out the fish. It's usually 50/50 on who tires out first, the king screaming up and down the shallow water, or the screaming fishermen as he attempts to chase the king up and down the shallow water.

King Salmon start arriving in our area toward the end of May, and their numbers climb steadily until the end of June when we usually have our maximum number of kings in the creeks. From the end of June until July 13th, when the Fish and Game Department ends the king season, we continue to have new kings arriving while others move on up the creeks to spawn.
We have an unusual King Salmon season in that our run doesn't taper off and slowly decline, instead our run reaches the maximum numbers, and then the Alaska Department of Fish and Game ends the season by regulation on July 13th. This ensures not only great fishing through July 13th (because the run hasn't begun to taper), it also ensures there will be plenty of kings left to spawn since they continue to arrive even after July 13th.

The majority of our spin fishing for King Salmon is done in the lower sections of the streams and creeks and we also fish the pools of the middle and upper section of the creeks also.The large schools of Kings, 50-200, silently cruise up and down the creeks, going from pool to pool, while small schools of 10 to 20 are found holding in one spot from time to time, although they too usually do a lot of cruising up and down the creek.

For spinners we use Mepps, Vibrax, and others of various light colors. We don't seem to have much luck with the very dark ones, like black, and the size of the spinners doesn't seem to matter much either, however the larger ones cast much further than the smaller ones. Treble hooks are allowed, with the maximum gap between the tip of the hook and the shank being no greater than 1/2 inch.

For spoons, we use Pixies, Daredevils, and others.Pixies work great for getting to the bottom of the deeper pools where the King Salmon are, although they do drag a lot in shallow water.

"Is it possible to fly fish for King Salmon?" This is a question asked all the time, and the answer to this simple question is an absolute and positive "yes."
	A jumping King Salmon is the reward for stalking the mighty fish!

There are several reasons why we are often asked this question. The most common reason is because now, and for many years past, and in most parts of the state, the method used to catch a King Salmon is to fish from a boat by back-trolling. Since King Salmon are usually found in the larger rivers around the state, fishing out of a boat was thought to be the only option. Well, not at Lake Marie Lodge, we don't restrict ourselves to only fishing for King Salmon out of a boat.

We use many different techniques to fly fish for King Salmon. Since we fish numerous streams and rivers of varying size, depth, flow speed, and clarity, it is imperative that gear and modus operandi is easily amended. Our waters vary from deep slow moving water to shallow fast moving, and King Salmon are present in both types and all types in between. The following information details and describes some of the techniques, flies, and waters and how we fly fish for King Salmon.

This is the type of water that you typically find the back-trollers and spin-fisherman. There are several ways you can fly fish these deep slow moving pools: a) anchoring and fly fishing out of the boat; b) floating and fly fishing from a raft; and c) walking the banks to spot cast to King Salmon holding areas.

When you fish these deep slow moving pools, we recommend you use a 10-wt. rod with sink tip line and a leader and tippet with a length of about 3-5 feet (anywhere from 12 lb. to 17 lb. test). Weighted flies such as egg-sucking leeches, zonkers, and Alaskabou work well in the slow current because they are easily stripped.

The JWEnticer is an excellent fly developed here at Lake Marie Lodge (pictured at left).

You should cast into the holding area, or ahead of their path of travel, and strip the fly in with varying strip lengths. Be sure to use a fly with enough weight so that it will sink to within one foot of the bottom because King Salmon typically swim in schools close to the bottom of the pools or channels.

Another way to fish these waters is what we call "passive fishing". We have developed a fly (Lake Marie King Special) that has worked wonders for us.

It has a small piece of Styrofoam tied to the shank of the hook that keeps it floating off the bottom. You should cast it into the pool or deep slow moving channel with just enough weight (positioned about 18 inches from the fly) to pull the fly underwater. You do not strip the fly in immediately; but instead let it float off the bottom until a school of Kings swim by. It almost never fails to catch a King.

These are by far the most fun to fish with a fly. We access these waters by boat, six-wheeler, and hiking. Once at the stream, you can either stay in one place or spend the day working your way up and down the stream. Again, a 10-wt. rod is recommended for Kings and either sink tip or floating line (use what you know and are comfortable with to fish). You can use weighted flies in these waters, instead of split shot, and should also tie flies with varying amounts of weight so that you can easily adjust for different depths and flow speeds

In the smaller streams, we "sight fish" most of the time since you can easily see the fish in the clear water.

You need to cast up stream of the holding king so that you get a good drift that allows the fly to sink to fish's depth - basically, try to place the fly on the fish's nose. Quick strips work well to attract the attention of the fish and entice a strike. King Salmon are typically found in the deeper pools of the smaller streams such as bends or confluences. They are also, at times, holding in long fast water that is fairly deep that shields them from your view so don't pass up water without trying a cast or two. You would be surprised at how many times anglers hook into fish that they never dreamed would be holding where they were.

Be sure to visit our Fly Patterns web page for more information on flies and how to tie them. The link is shown at the bottom of this page.

Here are a few names of some good King Salmon flies: egg-sucking leech (purple or black), woolly-bugger (purple or black), fat Freddy, Lake Marie King Special, Alaskabou, Bunny Fly, and Flash Fly.

One thing you should remember about King Salmon, and all other salmon species, is that once they enter fresh water they are not feeding anymore. They attack and strike flies and lures out of aggression, and so you are mainly attempting to attract the fish's attention. As you will be able to tell from the pictures of the flies on the Fly Pattern web page, the flies are not necessarily imitating a food source. They are usually fluorescent and bright in nature,in order to make them more visible to the fish. We are partial to the fluorescent chartreuse colored flies and usually try them first. However, you should always keep a wide assortment of flies handy, because generating a strike during a slow period can be as simple as changing the color of fly or the fly itself.

The great thing about fly fishing is that it is a dynamic and ever-changing sport and one that it is necessary to keep an open mind about, especially if you wish to better your skill and knowledge. If a fly angler asks if a fly from their part of the world would work up here, our answer is always to 'give it a try'. The number one thing to remember when fly fishing for Kings is ... Set the Hook, Hold On, and Have Fun!

For more information on Fly Patterns, visit our Fly Patterns web page using the link below.