Fishing Addiction Group

[Sourdough]

Just before this nasty weather set in a friend and I headed to the swordfish grounds (1,500 feet deep). Our first bite was from a nice Wahoo that hit the tip rod as we were dropping the bait down. Little later we caught a Pomfret (called Monchon in Hawaii) on the buoy rod while we had a swordfish vandalizing our tip rod bait but not getting hooked. Getting late in the day we decided to do one last drop. We caught this small, beautiful swordfish on the buoy rod. After getting a couple of pictures we sent it back to the deep.

 

[fourfive8]

Fishing this August Naknek and surrounds. CPR rainbows and char. Joined by some locals.

 

[fourfive8]

Pretty normal gear and baits for August SW AK. 7 wgt fly rod. For rainbows- dead drift or swing large, orange tint flesh flies, Dalai Lamas, rabbit leeches, smaller brown/black jigs or ~8mm plastic beads. For char- dead drift ~8mm plastic beads. For silvers (cohos) with spinning gear- Yakima squid spinners or twitching 3/8 oz dinger jigs. Fly outs courtesy Beaver on floats. Continually BOLO for and dodging bears… everywhere.

 

[fourfive8]

For serious trips, for larger trout and salmon I use proven rods and reels. There are many out there that are much more expensive but I’ve settled on these….
Shimano Stradic spinning reel. Bauer fly reel with cork on PFTE plate drag that prevents the dreaded herky jerky when handling stronger fish. Batson travel flyrod I put together to save some money. Ugly Stik travel spinning rod. Hard to beat the inexpensive Ugly Stik for toughness and utility Pays to use good rods and reels as they tend to reduce fatigue and frustration. I’ve noticed the smallest things can make a big difference like having to manually flip the bail on a spinning reel after casting as the reel’s timing is random or not in best position after each cast. I prefer fast tip flyrods and spinning rods. Fast tip flyrods with some backbone make hauling and shooting line possible. Long, slow tip, noodle spine spinning rods wear me out.