The First & Last word on flies and a fly shop that may help fill unseemly gaps in your Alaska fly box.

If you have more than a passing interest in flies for Alaska or tie your own then purchase the first word and most authoritative book on fly patterns "Flies for Alaska — A guide to buying & tying". By Anthony J. Route, 1991 Johnson Publishing.

The last word for Alaska-bound fly fishermen who wish to simplify fly selection is that they have an ally, Howie VanNess, the owner of the Alaska Fly shop. There are a handful of people in the world who know Alaska’s fly patterns and fishing waters as well as Howie and he is as helpful to a new fly-fisher as to a master. I spoke with Howie and he will help any of us who call him to select & purchase patterns and send your flies to your home before the trip. He has a copy of this list, which he can, no doubt, improve further, and Howie is exactly the kind of gentleman that we wish all our commerce could be conducted with. His phone # is (907) 456-3010 between the hours of 1:00 pm – 7:30 pm Pacific Standard Time.

Essential flies for Kings, Sockeye, Coho, Chum.

Hook sizes for Bristol Bay Salmon range from size 2 - 1/0. Hooks should be barbless & sharp! Salmon fly selection begins with your choice of fly lines! If you are fishing a floating line choose more heavily weighted flies.

Starlight leech & Krystal bugger, weighted in sizes 2-1/0. Wonderful for King salmon they are flashy flies with dumbbell or bead chain eyes. My favorites are contrasting combinations of orange head & white body, and combinations of green head & black body. Sight fished on a 10-18 lb tippet these are also great for coho.

Crystal bugger & Volcano bugger. One of my favorites for kings is a size 1-1/0 gold beadhead Volcano Bugger in orange. Fished on a floating line or an intermediate sink tip, weight added as needed. For Kings-in July bring a couple in orange. In August for coho bring 1 mixed dzn in red, orange, blue. Bring a smattering of other Salmon Patterns depending upon what is available to you and how you like to fish. Polar shrimp, Popsicles, bunny flies, egg sucking bunnies. Colors in order of preference should be orange, purple, black, pink, and chartreuse.

Trout Char & Grayling.

Egg imitations are the hands down winner for rainbows, char, & grayling. Bring 6-8 glo bugs per day for prospecting while the raft drifts in rainbow waters. Color choice should be varying shades from apricot and cerise to florescent orange. The second egg imitation in your box should be either Illiamna pinkys or "beads" which are smaller & a more precise egg pattern for matching the "hatch" when water is clear, shallow, & we are sight fishing. A variety of shades of orange. More fish are caught on glo-bugs than any other fly but more are hooked deeper in the throat so it is essential that they be barbless and that beads & pinkys be substituted when we find concentrations of trout / char.

Purple & black egg sucking leeches. 6-12 size 4’s -6. An argument could be made to bring only Egg imitations & Egg sucking leeches for the minimalist. But when we want to target large trout bring Sculpin patterns. I like the Conehead Zuddler sculpin. Considered by me to be the most effective fly for large rainbows in the Tributaries of the Nushugak and other premiere Bristol Bay watersheds. Bring black & olive. Plus white (flesh) for Aug-Sept. Fished on an intermediate sink tip or a floating line. 4-6 of each color. Size 2-4. Fishing the sculpin let the fly hang at the end of a swing. Twitch, twitch. You may prefer other sculpin patterns. Muddlers & black & or olive wool head sculpin. Some prefer the wool head to the Conehead Zuddler if fishing sinking lines. Size 2-4.

Dry flies, Elk caddis, royal Wulff, Yellow Humpy, Rio Grande Trude. Sizes 6-12. High floating flies that you can see! Plus floatant.

Mice, Lemmings, voles, shrews, Pink Pollywogs. 3-4 mice (plus floatant) should do it when we find trout & char in the mood. A couple of pink Polly Wogs for Aug-Sept coho.

Flesh flies, Ginger bunny is the standard. White is useful in late fall and early spring. I personally cover the white pattern with white conehead Zuddlers. 1/2 dzn. Size 2-4.

 Losing flies, leaders that perform, fly lines, split shot etc.

We are going to lose 6-12 flies per day and 2 leaders, plus some tippet each day. I use Rio "Salmon-Bass-Steelhead tippet" & leaders. The softer trout leaders really don’t hold up as well as hard finish salmon leaders nor will they turn over the weighted flies very well. Maxima leaders & tippet are wonderful. Fluorocarbon has not been useful. We use 6-12 split shot per day in sizes AAA, AB, & BB. I like the egg shaped expensive shot, which seems to stay on through abusive casting much longer than the split shot with fingernail grips for easy removal. Strike indicators. Good indicators. Bring 2-3 per day for prospecting as we float. 2 Fly lines cover 90% of our fishing because we are fishing wadable and hence shallower rivers. A weight forward floating line and an intermediate sink tip. There are so many good lines that I hesitate to give advice here. I use the Rio VersiTip more than any other line and consider the VersiTip the best all around solution for Alaska. I also use Rio WindCutter lines for floaters and density compensated 7 ft type 3 ‘s for sink tips.

After awhile all this gear talk begins to feel like marketing and it’s important to just get out there and fish with whatever you have on hand.

When in doubt call Howie VanNess, as the owner of the Alaska Fly shop he may separate you from a few of your dollars but not just for the sake of commerce. If he can offer you a solution to gear or fly questions he will do so otherwise he’ll advise you to save your dollars. His phone # is (907) 456-3010 between the hours of 1:00 pm – 7:30 pm Pacific Standard Time.