Upon entering the Delta Clearwater River Campground, there is a left turn onto a straight, dirt road. I suspect that it leads to private property, but I took it, willing to apologize if necessary and leave. What did I find? About 10 50 foot access trails down to the river. And, even better, the water was shallow on this bank and one could wade out and cast into deeper, moving water. Wow!! This gave me about 200 to 300 yards of river to fish.
I sat down and watched to see if there was surface activity from fish. I was on the river at a time when an Internet article stated that “there is a mayfly hatch at this time, every day from May to September, although the amount of mayflies can differ”. I sat for 45 minutes, watching a vast stretch of river, and did not see a single rise. I walked down to the river on a trail, then walked back up. I had to put my hands on my knees and catch my breath, twice, all from a 50 foot climb, maximum. This turned into a nope and I drove back into Delta Junction to assess my condition.
One logical choice came to me. I called a guiding service in Fairbanks and scheduled a full day float on the Chena River. I’ll be the fourth to a group of three, but I’m big enough in body to take over the boat if necessary LOL. I drove back to Fairbanks and drove out to the Chena River. I read today that the Chena River has many access points and is crossed by the road four times. Plus, there are two stocked ponds holding rainbows and grayling. Huh? How did I miss that? Well, these access points are all further up the road from where I had caught my two grayling days ago.
I drove to the end of the Chena Hot Springs road, crossing the river 4 times, and driving past the two ponds and several river access roads. I decided to drive back to the lowest campground, stopping at each access point to observe and take a picture(s). On my third or fourth stop, I entered the Mile 48 Pond area.
And what did I see? Fish rising within casting distance from the shore. I pulled out my 3-weight rod and started casting a gold beadhead flashback pt nymph, size 14 (phew, quite a mouthful). On my third cast, I hooked a nice fighting, small trout, only to lose it. I lost the first four trout that I hooked, but then slowed down my hook set and landed a nice strong, 10 or 11 inch rainbow. I became a kid in a candy store, or an adult who accidentally found a truck planting stocked fish.
I caught rainbows from 6-8 to 10-11 inches long, approximately. The larger fish were very strong. And these fish were amazing. They would cause a large boil when taking the fly, but I felt nothing. If I didn’t set the hook on the boil, no fish was hooked. Then some of the larger fish started coming straight up out of the water, and falling straight back in without moving their body. The were acting like sticks erupting out of the water and falling back in.
I didn’t take photos as I didn’t want to get into the water, or hold the fish out of the water any longer than necessary. Also, they were pathetically small for Alaska LOL. I released 13 of 20 hooked fish, with 30 or more takes without hooking. And, my last fish was a Grayling, about 8 inches. I couldn’t have been happier fishing anywhere else at this time.
Unfortunately, I think the pond is not deep enough to keep from freezing 100%, killing this year’s planted fish. I hope I am wrong. These small guys are as magnificent as the biguns found elsewhere. I’m fishing the Chena River tomorrow, followed by a day-long float trip. Good times in a beautiful area.
Tight Lines!