Must-have lures

[TomBow]

Howdy,

My name is Tom and I live in Proctor (Duluth) Minnesota. My wife and I, along with her mom and dad will be coming up to the beautiful state of Alaska this coming weekend. We will be travelling in a rented RV from Anchorage to Fairbanks, then hitting the Kenai peninsula at the latter part of the following weekend. Unfortunately, I will be limited on what I can bring with me on the plane and will have to rent fishing equipment and buy lures and such. I'd like to say that this is primarily a fishing trip for me but in reality it's going to be more like sightseeing with some fishing where I can get some time on the water, err banks of the rivers of lakes that we come across while we travel and camp. If you have any suggestions for lures or tactics that will slide the odds of success in our favor, please share. Seems some spinners and spoons (Pixies) in pink colors might be the ticket but any suggesions would be greatly appreciated.

I am primarily a trad bowhunter but durned if I don't enjoy fishing when I get the chance. Hope all is well with you and yours and best of luck to all.

TomBow
aka Tom Brissee

[traveler]

Hey Tom, fellow Duluthian here
You're going to be covering a lot of ground, with access to a lot of different fisheries. I always bring my own gear... I know you can rent, but I can't tell you where, and I expect the rental gear won't be anything fancy. I'd try to buy a travel rod somewhere, you can bring a reel or reels and some tackle., terminal stuff, etc you can buy some specialized tackle up there , vibrax, pixies, etc...
You'll also probably want/need waders. Hard to do justice to fishing AK as an aside to a sightseeing trip, but ya gotta do what you can do!

[fishak]

you can pretty much catch any fish in AK with a vibrax spinner or a pixie. go for colors like blue, pink, orange, green.

[limon32]

you can pretty much catch any fish in AK with a vibrax spinner or a pixie. go for colors like blue, pink, orange, green.

I agree, a handfull of vibrax spinners from #2 to #6 in pink or chartruse will have you fishing almost anywhere in this state.

[ChugiakTinkerer]

The Kastmaster is another good go-to lure for trout and grayling.

[Anythingalaska]

For dolly varden in salt water a Kastmaster works best. Even in rivers they work alright.

For salmon in salt, Pixies work best, although Kastmasters also work alright.

For salmon, dollies, and trout in rivers and lakes, Vibrax spinners seem to work the best.

All IMO that is.

-Also, I haven't used them in quite some time, but for dollies and salmon; one of my favorite lures were Fiord Spoons.

[The Kid]

If your going to fish reds on the Kenai all you need or want is a hook, weight, and a dab of yarn. For trout and dollies in the Kenai, buy 50 cents worth of beads and a handful of flesh flies, few Corkies and your split shots and you're ready to roll.

For lake fishing trout I like Panther Martin spinners and Super Dupers. Sometimes pautzkes balls of fire on the bottom are hard to beat in a lake as well. Cocktail shrimp you get at the grocery store fished on bottom or under a bobber are good trout medicine in the lakes too.

I would forgo the rental and buy a decent quality spinning setup when you get here, probably be cheaper than renting anyway. When you're done with it look for a kid on the shore who looks like he or she could stand a new outfit and give it away. Medium weight Salmon/Steelhead rod with one of the $30-$40 shimano reels, probably be in it less than $100 and if it's spooled with 12# mono you can do double duty with it and not worry about tearing up someone else's gear.

edited to add. For fishing silvers on the Parks the vibrax is the way to go. You can float eggs under a bobber for them too. Grayling can be caught on Panther Martins and small Mepps in the Tangle Lakes if you drive the Denali Highway.

[live4chrome]

pick up an 8'6 medium or medium heavy spinning rod and pair it with a decent 4000 series shimano reel. 15 or 20 lb mono (I like maxima ultra green) get some kodiak custom # 4 spinners in pink, purple, and orange. Pixies suck in the rivers imo, save them for the salt.
when you get home your rod will make a great looper/steelhead rod on the north shore. trustworthys in soldotna has great prices but if you insist on getting the rod before you go marine general should have just what you need.

[BrownBear]

I'd bring a few of your favorite lures from home too. You'll be surprised and pleased what will work up here.

Best demo I've ever seen was years ago when a coupla guys from Minnesota showed up on a remote king salmon river we were fishing. They didn't know what to bring and didn't have a lot of time along the way, so they brought a box of spinner baits they use for muskie and pike. Those guys absolutely smoked the kings! Made all of us go home and start looking at muskie tackle catalogs.

[Abel]

Smuggle a box of your casting spoons and spinners, crankbaits too up here. Salmon is a salmon, I cast and troll the same stuff I learned with on the Lakes. But if you can't, look for teh same style stuff up here, fish it the same way.

[Jester979]

The Kastmaster is another good go-to lure for trout and grayling.

Agreed! The Kastmaster is an excellent lure that has been my go to trout lure for years!

[TomBow]

Hey Thanks alot! I appreciate the info. I will definitely check out the options. I know that my Mominlaw had arranged for rental gear from the RV company BUT I have no idea what we will be getting for gear or what it's condition may be. I plan on getting at least some hip boots or waders once we get up there and are shopping for lures. etc. I like the idea of buying a decent rod and then donating it to a deserving kid, might just be the way to go.
Now. gear shops. If you could give me some suggestions on tackle/gear shops to hit in Anchorage, I would be much obliged.

Thanks again,
Best of everything to you and yours,
Tom B.

[theultrarider]

Soldotna trustworthy hardware in Soldotna is tough to beat. Local mom and pops store. Owners are vreat people, prices cant be beat and have a great stock of products for the area.

[JimmyC]

Soldotna is quite a bit off the track between Anchorage and Fairbanks. If you've ever made it up to the Baptism River for humpies, it works for the humpies here but be aware that there are restrictions on hook sizes, lures, etc. depending on where you are fishing - get a copy of the regs or download them from the adfg web site. Also - waders - no felt soles in the streams. I Anchorage, get a copy of "Highway Angler" by Gunnar Pedersen, available at most department, drug, book, and sporting goods stores, has what you need to figure out where you want to stop and fish.

[ChugiakTinkerer]

I got my first breathable chest waders last month and am convinced they are the only way to go. Picked them up at the local Fred Meyer store, they are in most of the larger towns in Alaska. Not that you can't get gear all over the state, just to let you know that you can stock up the RV, get your licenses, and get your tackle all in one place. The waders can be had for under $100, and pick up some oversized running shoes at Salvation Army rather than dropping $50 on special boots. Much, much more comfortable than hip waders and allows you to get some places that would fill the hip waders with water.