Fly Fishing Patterns for Alaska
Our favorite patterns for fly fishing Alaska.

Flies for Alaska
There are seemingly endless fly  patterns and color combinations that will catch fish in Alaska. The following is a description of some of the more popular patterns. This is by no means an exclusive list but rather examples of the types of fly patterns that are most commonly used. Seasonally hot flies and tying materials can be purchased in Anchorage prior to your trip departure. A couple dozen of the flies below  in varying colors, sizes and patterns within  the categories outlined should have you well prepared for a weeks worth of fishing. Fly tiers may bring along a portable vise and a selection of materials to create patterns on the spot or reproduce the flies you find to be working best.

Alaska is primarily streamer and wet fly country. With few exceptions, all five species of pacific salmon are fished sub surface with large, weighted and colorful streamers. Salmon do not feed once they reenter the freshwater environment. They strike primarily out of an aggressive territorial or instinctive biting response. Fishing directly to the depth they are holding is the best way  to trigger strikes. Trout, char, grayling and other native non-salmon species  key in on the salmon life cycle as their primary food source. This is a sub surface cycle which includes, eggs,  fry, smolt and decaying salmon flesh. Other important sub surface food sources include leeches, lamprey,  sculpin and other small fish.

Alaska's rivers do have insect hatches which should not be overlooked if you enjoy dry fly fishing.  Dry flies and nymphs produce better in early summer, May - June, than late summer once salmon spawning activity has begun.  Dry flies will take grayling consistently throughout the season.  Large, mouse and shrew patterns are the most productive dries for drawing up large trout.

Wooly Bugger - perhaps the most versatile streamer pattern ever developed. With it's fibrous full body hackle to its undulating marabou tail this fly has so many things going for it as a pure attractor pattern but it can also specifically represent so many different food sources in Alaska waters including, leeches, lamprey, sculpin and smolt. When tied in light colors it makes an excellent flesh fly. When tied in bright colors it makes an excellent salmon attractor. One could fish Alaska with nothing other than Wooly Bugger variations and do fine throughout the season. Popular Colors in solid or combinations are purple, black and olive. Tied in white, cream and ginger they make excellent flesh flies.
Egg Sucking Leech - two of Alaska's top producing patterns tied into one great fish catching fly, a Wooly Bugger with a single egg head. It's often been said that if you had to choose one fly to fish all of Alaska, it would have to be the ESL. The traditional pattern calls for a wrap of orange or pink chenille to form the egg on a standard Wooly Bugger body. Variations included bead or glue heads (as pictured) on bunny hair or other leech pattern bodies. A single bead free lined in front of a standard leech pattern creates the same effect. Popular colors in solid or combinations are purple, black and olive. Tied in white, cream or ginger, the combination can be extremely effective during the late salmon spawning season when trout are gorging on both flesh and egg food sources. Tied in large  bright color combinations they make excellent salmon attractors.
Marabou Muddler- another very versatile pattern that works well in Alaska. This pattern as traditionally tied with a floating deer hair head may be greased and fished at the surface as a large bug,  mouse, or injured bait fish, or sunk sub surface as an excellent sculpin or smolt imitation. Usually tied with a black or white wing, silver body and red tail, variations on this pattern are many, with cone heads  or weighted eyes often used to sink them deep.
Bunny Bugs - this is a popular Alaska pattern not only because it catches lots of fish, but it is so easy to make  that you can quickly and inexpensively tie a box full. It is simply a rabbit hair strip wrapped on a hook. Rabbit hair has an unbeatable look and action in the water and it comes commercially available in a multitude of colors. Perhaps its most common and effective use in Alaska is as a flesh fly, tied in white, cream , ginger or similar pale colors to imitate a chunk of rotting salmon flesh set adrift in the current. Flesh is an important food source for trout, particularly  late in the year as spawning activity ends and the river bottoms become scattered by decaying salmon carcasses. Tied with a longer tail in darker colors these become excellent leech, lamprey or sculpin imitations. Tied in bright colors or color combinations like chartreuse, pink and orange  they make excellent salmon streamers. Lead eyes or cone heads are often used to sink them deep. Get creative with colored hackle, tinsel and other materials. Tie them with an orange head or free line a bead in front of them to create that ever so effective "egg sucking" combination.
Egg Patterns - There is simply no more important food source for trout and other fish species in Alaska than the salmon egg. The annual return of salmon each summer to deposit the nutrient rich eggs throughout the stream beds drives Alaska's prolific fisheries. Such a powerful food source is the salmon egg that even at times of the year when salmon are not present, the presentation of an egg pattern can trigger aggressive strikes. A small tuft of orange or pink on any fly you fish in Alaska will greatly aid in attracting a fishes attention. If you plan to fish trout and other non salmon species in Alaska during the summer and fall months, you will want to bring plenty of egg fly patterns and may find yourself fishing these exclusively. Tie these small, an individual salmon egg is only approximately 6 - 8 mm. in diameter. Most popular colors are orange and pink in varying shades, brightness and combinations ranging from bright red to pale white. Single egg flies are most commonly used, but patterns representing egg clusters also work well. Common pattern names include the Glo Bug, Iliamna Pinkie and Glue Egg. Oversized yarn flies or Fat Freddie's, from 1 to 2 inches in diameter are also often used for fly fishing king and silver salmon.    Beads - when properly presented, beads are without a doubt one of the most effective salmon egg imitations that one can fish.  Beads can be so effective that the Alaska dept. of Fish and Game has place restrictions on their use. Placed in front of any fly in your box quickly make that fly an effective "egg sucking" pattern. Bead fishing in Alaska has practically become an art unto itself. For more on what they are and how to fish them, click here.
Mouse Patterns - mice, shrews, voles, lemmings are plentiful throughout much of the Alaska bush. Plentiful enough that they intentionally or unintentionally find themselves in the water on a frequent enough basis that trout have identified them as a large juicy meal worthy of attacking the surface for. Cast them under a cut bank or overhanging branch, skitter them over a deep pool or riffle like a panicked rodent, and get ready for a violent strike. I find a fast retrieve with a shaking rod tip and occasional pause produces the best action. Mouse patterns can produce strikes from big trout throughout the season. Mouse patterns are also an outstanding fly for fishing northern pike in the shallow weeds.
Sculpin - are a small , chubby, bottom dwelling fish abundant in many streams and rivers throughout Alaska. Where present, they are an important food source for trout and other native fish species. Large trout love-em! The Wool Head Sculpin is an excellent imitation, but other patterns including  muddler and bunny bug variations also work well. Popular colors are black, brown  and olive in solids and or color combinations.
Bucktail Streamers - are an Alaska standard. The stiff bucktail fiber wing  creates a firm silhouette in the water and comes in a multitude of colors for the tier to get creative with. This category includes many  patterns with various body, wing color and material combinations. Our favorite variation is the "Clouser Minnow" , tied with lead eyes this version sinks quickly and swims inverted with great jigging action.
Popsicle Fly - created with varying colorful layers of wrapped marabou feathers this streamer has great pulsating action in the water and is a fantastic salmon attractor. A little tinsel or other sparkling materials may easily be added for that extra flash. Lead eyes or cone head may be used for added weight. Get creative with your color combinations. Our favorites include combinations of purple, orange, pink and chartreuse.
Flash Fly - a simple streamer pattern that works well for all salmon species. The all tinsel body and wing offers maximum flash appeal. The traditional hackle is red but it is worth tying  a few in all of the favorite salmon catching colors including pink, green, orange, purple and black.

Fly Fishing Vests are the most convenient way to organize and carry all of your fishing supplies. I encourage all fishermen to come with a vest well equipped for a week's worth of fishing. Be prepared to lose a lot of flies and leaders. Remember there are no tackle shops once you depart Anchorage. In addition to boxes packed with flies, items in your vest should include...

Leader & Tippet Materials    Split Shot  Needle Nose Pliers or Forceps Polarized Sun Glasses Clippers

Hook Sharpener Line & Fly Dressings and Cleaners Pocket Knife Insect Repellent Sun Screen