The Tsiu River 2012

In September 2012, My Friends Kent and Jake embarked with me on a trip to the Tsiu River seeking Silver Salmon.  The weather was questionable, but we were able to pick our way through from Anchorage to the beach of the Tsiu River. Kent and Jake standing beside N2162Z on the day we landed.

The Tsiu River runs through an ancient Glacial Moraine.  So, it is very sandy, and there is very little vegetation in the area.  Camping can be interesting, because there really isn't anything natural to protect you from the elements.  While we were there, a significant front blew through, bringing heavy rain and high winds. I wasn't sure the Tent would make it through the night.  We made some adjustments to keep it secured, but it worked us over pretty hard!

Regardless of the weather, there were an amazing number of Silver Salmon in the Tsiu River. Here I pose with a nice Silver that I took on a Black Articulated Leech.

Jake is not a Fly Fisherman (we will keep working on him).  He used a Pixie.  Jake hooked a Salmon on about every third cast throughout the trip.  It was pretty sick.  I didn't count how many he caught, but over the course of four days, I am certain he caught well over one hundred Silver Salmon. Jake is holding one of the larger Silver Salmon that was caught on this trip.

Over the past couple of years, I have come to rely heavily on my Black/Blue Articulated Leech.  I gave a couple of these to Kent, and he proceeded to hook Silvers very regularly.  There were a lot of them, but still, Kent caught a lot of fish on the Leech. Kent is holding one of the many Silver Salmon that he caught on the Black/Blue Articulated Leech.

The weather finally cleared, and we had beautiful, sunny skies - for one day.  The river rose about a foot, but remained crystal clear.  However, our landing zone was covered in water. This is a nice photo of N2162Z in the sun with river and mountains in the background.

The storvm brought some pretty heavy waves in off the Gulf of Alaska.  Just the other side of the berm on which we camped is the beach facing out to the Gulf.  It is strewn with the debris washed up from previous storms. We walked around a little hoping to find something interesting washed up on the Beach, but we didn't really find anything but logs.

After catching a handful of Silver Salmon using the Black/Blue Articulated Leech on the first day, I switched over to the Pink Pollywog.  The Silver Salmon were actually very aggressive to come to the top for my fly.  Silvers aren't very good at hitting the mark, and only about 1/3 of the strikes would actually hit the Fly.  In addition, because of the way they strike, about 1/2 of the Salmon I hooked came off.  Still, over the course of four days, I brought to hand over 70 Silver Salmon that were caught using the Pink Pollywog. This is a photo of one of the many Silver Salmon that I caught on the Pink Pollywog.  This is a very exciting way to fish for Silver Salmon!

I think I would really like to take my Kids fishing for Silver Salmon on the Tsiu River.  Only Mack has had the opportunity to fish for Silvers.  I think they would really enjoy the trip. I took this photo while working a Silver Salmon under the bright blue sun of Alaska's Lost Coast.

Over the years, and especially after living in King Salmon, I have come to prefer fishing for Rainbow Trout in Alaska.  However, of all the Pacific Salmons, the Silver Salmon is the most enjoyable for me.  They are agressive, good fighters, and provide the opportunity to catch a large fish on a Top-Water Fly. Here I am with another Silver Salmon that I have caught on the Pink Pollywog.