This marked my second trip to Vern's great spot! We fly out of Yakatat to get to his lodge. Again, our main target was Sockeye Salmon. The water was a little higher than our trip before, but we still managed to catch some great fish and have some good action. The Teeny Mini-tip line seemed to work the best in most waters.
A little higher up river the water seemed to be slower and our new Invisi-Tip was the best. The weeds were up from the bottom and the Mini-tip sank too fast. The Invisi-Tip has between 2 and 3 feet of clear slow sinking tip. The rest of the line is weight forward floating. This kept our fly just under the surface and allowed us to strip slow which was the retrieve the fish wanted. Ginger, hot pink, and chili were the three best colors. Hot green, flame orange, and black were also productive. In addition to the Sockeyes we caught trophy sized Pink Salmon up to 8 pound that were hard fighters, packing sea lice. Dollie Varden up to 5 pounds also smashed our flies. This is a great trip that I truly enjoyed. Our dates were July 18-23rd. The best way to describe this trip is lots of fun!
Contact Northern Lights Haven Lodge at 360-864-6755.