King Salmon fly rodding is about as thrilling as freshwater fly fishing can get. The incredable burst of "Big" fish energy and the outright anger/maddness of a King Salmon (Chinook salmon) when hooked on a fly rod is a feeling that no other fresh water fish has given me in over 30 years of fly fishing North America.
I love the fight and energy of a large steelhead or Middle Kenai River monster Rainbow, or a large mouth bass taking a top water fly. A sturgeon on the Columbia River in Washington State is a thrill to behold, but there is something about a King Salmon in Alaska that challenges fly fishers from all over the globe who want to experience the feeling of hooking a big King.
We use starting from a 10 wt one handed fly rod and go up depending on the river we fish. A Spey rod is usable both in the Kenai River and Nushagak. We recommend a larger Arbor reel that will handle at least two hundred yards of 30# backing and a full length of weight forward fly line with a leader as strong as twenty five pound test for the really Big Bad Boys on the Nushagak, Kenai, Kasilof or Montana Creek.
More often than not, when a big King realizes it's hooked, it explodes in addrenal energy that is second to no other large North American fish I know of. The large 25 to 45 lb Chinook Salmon we call "King" can explode so intensely that it will turn it's self sprinting down stream and head straight onto the surface of the water and streak like a torpedo across the top of the water right onto the dry bank as though trying to swim out of the water into the air. I see this time and time again as big male or female Chinook seem so Mad that they can not control their burst of energy.
We fly to the Nushagak River, the Chuitna River by Beaver Float Plane for Kings. We fish on the Kenai Peninsula for Kings in the Anchor, Deep Creek, Ninilchik and Kasilof Rivers. We fish the lower Kenai for big King Salmon. Montana Creek is also another big King destination of ours for really big King Salmon.
If you have not yet experienced fly rodding for big King Salmon in Alaska, don't put it off another year. Best times for King Salmon in South Central Alaska is the month of June. Early June is best for the Kenai Peninsula and late June early July for the Nushagak. Montana Creek is best fished the end of June and first weekend of July if that season is open. Ask us about adding a King trip to your package today.
