Fly Fishing for Pink Salmon in Alaska

If you are a beginner to fly fishing or just want to go out and catch fish, then fly fishing for pink salmon will get you started off on the right foot. The great thing about the pinks is that when they are in the streams, they are there in huge numbers and they are generally very easy to catch, more so than any other salmon species. Now, what I mean by “when they are in the streams” is that pinks make their spawning runs in exponentially greater numbers in even numbered years than in odd numbered years. For that reason, I recommend for your first trip, fly fishing for pink salmon in Alaska during an even numbered year.

Pink salmon are the smallest of the salmon species with the average size being around 3 – 5 lbs in the Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet regions. Anything over 6 lbs is a real gem.

All the flies that are used here have already been mentioned earlier so you should be familiar with most of them already (or at least you’ve heard of them). When fly fishing for pink salmon, just about any fly I mentioned for steelhead and most flies used for silvers could be used for pinks. The list includes the Double-Egg Sperm Fly, the Polar Shrimp, Glo Bugs and other single egg patterns, the Flash Fly, the Boss, the Comets and the Thor. The size of these flies can vary from size 4 – 10. Pink salmon don’t seem to be particular when it comes to size.

I like a six weight rod when fishing for pinks. This allows you to control the fish without totally bullying it but also allows for a good fight as well. Again the choice is yours as to whether to use a floating or a sink-tip line but I like a floating line here and adjust my weight accordingly. I start with a 6 lb test leader and tippet and make any adjustments necessary if larger fish are being caught.

You’ll want to time your arrival here just prior to the peak of the pink salmon run for optimal fishing. This is because during those even-numbered years there can be so many fish in the stream that you literally cannot cast a fly into the water without hitting one in the back and snagging it. And remember, snagging is illegal in Alaska. Another reason for this timing is the pinks deteriorate quickly once they enter fresh water. So, to sum it up, fish the tidal zones of streams for fresh pinks and fish prior to the peak of the run before the stream gets choked off by the sheer numbers.