Rainbow Trout at Lake Marie Lodge

The Alaska Rainbow Trout is a wild trout that lives entirely in the cold clear water of Alaska's creeks, streams, and rivers.

The lakes, rivers, streams, and creeks around Lake Marie Lodge support large populations of Rainbow Trout, Arctic Grayling, and Dolly Varden. The majority of the Rainbow follow the Salmon as they migrate upriver in early summer. They enter the clearer streams and rivers where they feed on insect hatches and gorge themselves on spawned salmon eggs and the flesh of the dying salmon.

The Rainbow Trout can be seen following the spawning salmon as they wait to scoop up the spawned salmon eggs.

The Rainbow gain tremendous weight and size in a very short period of time and can provide a very exciting and challenging fishing opportunity. The cold clear water of the streams and creeks teem with hundreds of Rainbows. Each pool of water will have at least one large Rainbow, and several smaller ones. We have an unlimited number of Rainbows up to 3 lbs., thousands up to 6 lbs., many over 8 lbs., and a few 30 inch/10 lb. plus Rainbow Trout.

Kirk, pictured above, sent the following note. (Kirk and his Group fished the last week of August,1999) Kirk and his group are coming again the last week of August, 2001. This time he's bringing enough friends and family to have the entire lodge to himself. "The guides bend over backwards to assure the best fishing experience. We fished a different river or stream each day. They even let us explore some new areas. As for the fishing, it was incredible. We caught four different species of Salmon, Rainbow Trout, Graylings, and Dolly Varden. Our main interest was the rainbow trout and even though I fish some very good rivers in Oregon, I think that in the time I was in Alaska I caught more twenty plus inch rainbows then I had caught in all my fishing before combined."

Spin Fishing

The spoons don't usually have as flashy an action as spinners, and so maybe they don't attract as well. On the other hand, more time is spent fishing with spinners, so maybe this accounts for more Rainbow being caught.

You will also catch Rainbow when you are fishing for salmon, especially early in the season for King Salmon, like the picture at the right shows.

You can have on the largest lure in our tackle box, which you might think is too big even for a large King Salmon, and then have a 20 to 25 inch Rainbow hit. This happens many times, especially early in the King Salmon season.

Fly Fishing for Rainbow Trout

What can be said for fly fishing for wild Alaska Rainbows other than, Wow! The Rainbow trout in the Lake Marie Lodge region (as in 99.9% of all Alaska) are wild and native. There are no hatchery fish. They strike with enthusiasm and fight like a cornered tiger. There is no other fish in the world quite like the Alaska Rainbow. Rainbow Trout has to rate at the top of the list of the best and most exciting fish to catch on a fly.

(For a complete list of fly patterns click on the link to the Fly Pattern web page at the bottom of this page)

Let us begin with early spring and work our way through the summer months to fall, as we describe the way we fly fish for Rainbow Trout. By proceeding this way, we can briefly touch the different techniques and flies needed in association with water conditions and food sources of the trout.

Right after the ice leaves the river and streams, the rainbows spawn. They enter the small clear water streams to propagate and feed. This is the best time to try to get the Rainbows to rise to the dry fly.

Dry fly fishing in Alaska is the same as anywhere in the world. Work the banks, mend your line so there is no drag, and cover the entire stream. One thing that might be a little different than in most places is that at times the sunny areas, as opposed to shaded areas, produce better. The water temperature can be very cold in the spring so the fish tend to congregate more where the warmest water is available. If by chance the trout won't rise (Grayling will always rise to the dry no matter the time of the summer) to a dry fly, try nymphing. Small larvae size nymph's work well, or try the larger streamer type flies such as the egg-sucking leech.

The streams themselves could vary from near flood stage to low water levels depending on the amount of snowfall the previous winter.

We have beautiful streams for fly fishing. One thing to remember, and this is something that we see happen quite a bit, is to fish the entire stream. Do not assume that the most likely looking holding spot is the only place a fish will be and ignore the rest. There are many fish that hold in the fast water and not in the eddies of the stream. Another suggestion to take to heart is not to go wading into the stream before you start fishing. Trout will, at times, hold in the shallow water close to the shore, so work those areas with your fly before entering the water. Think of the stream as a checkerboard, and cover each square with a good drift of your fly.

For a setup, we at Lake Marie Lodge like using a 6-wt. rod, a floating line, and a long leader and tippet (10-12 ft. in length and 6-10 lb. in strength).

By using this setup, you can adjust back and forth if necessary between dries and nymphs. When nymphing, slightly weighted flies work well or you can use split-shot to get the fly to the bottom. Try to get as natural a drift as possible by mending the line. When fishing with leech-type flies be sure to let them tail around on the drift and then strip them in slowly. Many times a strike will occur at the beginning of the retrieve. (Egg-sucking leech flies are catchall flies for Alaska. They catch all species and work well the entire season.)

King Salmon start arriving the first week of June, and with their arrival, the Rainbows, Grayling, and Dolly Varden start striking egg and flesh patterns. Rainbows still will rise occasionally to the dry during this time. Another good surface fly is a mouse. It is fun to use and at times is a phenomenal fly. The same fly patterns catch both Rainbow and Dolly Varden in the same areas.

As July arrives, the spawning of the King Salmon is in full force. The trout are now devouring eggs and, especially later in the month, the flesh of the dying salmon. A 6-wt. rod is still good during the salmon season; some of us at Lake Marie Lodge go up to an 8-wt. because of the chance of hooking one of the spawning King Salmon. Floating line and long leader and tippet is still the best setup. Fished the same way, on the bottom with a natural drift, both the single egg and flesh fly are very effective. There is a saying we have at Lake Marie Lodge, "If it's not on the bottom, you're not catching fish."

On the cast, make sure it is well upstream of the area that you want to cover with the fly. Mend the line as much and as many times as necessary to get the fly on the bottom with a natural, current equal drift.

Either weighted or non-weighted flesh patterns will work just as well as the other. Single egg or non-weighted flesh pattern flies, when working up and down streams with varying depths and currents, are kept on the bottom by adjusting the amount of split-shot weight. Typically, a good distance to keep the split-shot from the fly is anywhere from 12 inches to 18 inches. Again, during this time be sure to have some egg-sucking leeches in your fly boxes.

The rest of the season, from August on, egg and flesh patterns are the predominant flies for trout. One that also works well when going after Grayling is a small minnow-type fly. This fly works great as a dropper below an egg or flesh fly, too. This rig is a favorite of several guides at Lake Marie Lodge. Whether they catch anything on the dropper or not, they absolutely believe that it works as an attractor. There are times when double hook-ups occur; a trout on the egg/flesh fly and a Grayling on the minnow fly. What a combo!

We at Lake Marie Lodge practice catch and release on all non-salmon species and urge the same on the salmon as well. Let's keep the wild trout around for the enjoyment of the generations to come.