April 2021

Description

Departments

4   Fish Alaska Online
6   Traveler
8   Creel
10  Gear Bag
12  Fishing for a Compliment
14  Salmon Sense
16  Fly
18  Boats
26  Saltwater
28  Fly Fishing
30  Conservation
32  Fish For the Future
70  Ad Index
72  Recipe
74  Final Drift

Features

34 Kenai Trout: Worth the Journey
by Jeremy Anderson
The Kenai may well produce the heaviest rainbows in the state, and the stars lined up last fall for it to produce obese rainbows the likes of which you normally only see in triploid fish pens. Jeremy sums up the 2020 season and provides insight on what 2021 might be like.

42 To Know the Naknek
by George Krumm
Editor George Krumm has spent time on the Naknek each of the past several falls pursuing its incredible rainbows. The Naknek River’s special rainbows exhibit unique migratory patterns that may protect them from overexploitation. Those patterns also determine when the most likely times are to catch “megabows.”

50 Lord of the Alaskan Flies
by Joe Jackson
Most anglers have their opinions on what the most productive flies are for Alaska. Joe Jackson does an admirable job at naming his top-ten choices, with reasonable justification for each choice. He also describes his methodology for each decision and discusses the origins of these patterns.

56 Should We Stay or Should We Go?
by Daniel Hoffman
Capitalizing on a special offered due to vacancies caused by COVID, Dan Hoffman and Glen Nielson found themselves in unbelievable angling on the Kulik. But rumors of even better flyfishing on a nearby fly-out put them in a catch-22: leave a sure thing for their last day of fishing, or take a risk and venture to the unknown…

64 Before the Eggs Fall
by Kelly Pinnell
Many think Alaska stream fishing for rainbow trout to be a fall affair. Some like spring, especially during the smolt migration. Summer is often overlooked for Alaska’s stream-dwelling ‘bows, but it shouldn’t be. The trout are still there. Kelly Pinnell has spent decades figuring out how to catch them when the smolts are smolting and the eggs aren’t dropping.

COVER: Giant rainbows are the stuff of dreams for anglers descending on the famed Kenai River. © Alaska Drift Away Fishing