Ask JD

Guiding: My new career path?

by JD on May 25, 2009

JD,

After 30 years in the union as a Air Conditioning tech, the last 19 years with one company…I was laid off! I’ve got to tell ya, I am a little burnt out! I could care less if I don’t ever see another HVAC product in my life!

I bought a North River a couple of years ago and have been fishing a lot due to being out of work, mostly New Melones and Lake Pardee, in the Motherlode! Yesterday I entered a derby at lake Pardee put on by CIFF. That was a kick ass time. We were 5th place in the trout division.

I would much rather make a living doing something I want to do Instead of something I have to do, no what I mean? My wife tells me I am a lot more happy these days! Any advice?

Thanks, Jim

Hey Jim,

Sorry to hear about you getting laid off…man, tough times right now! As far as making a living doing something you love, I assume you’re considering the guiding route.

Well, here’s my two cents worth on that subject:

Your wife is on to something — do what makes you happy…that’s pretty much what mine said when I dropped the little “honey, I think I’m going to become a guide” on her back in 1997. Well, what I can tell ya is it is the greatest job in the world…I mean, damn, you get to get out there and be on the water every day. How cool is that, right?

However, there are some wake-up calls that every new guide gets, too. In most cases (myself included), you find out really quickly that you don’t know nearly as much as you thought you did about catching fish when you have to do it every day, under pressure and under all conditions. Before I was a guide, we’d quit fishing when the wind kicked up or the river got muddy or whatever….but you can’t do that when you’ve got 4 paying clients in your boat.

Dealing with the public can be a bit of a test some days, too. If you get a personality or two on the boat that doesn’t mesh with yours (it’s guaranteed to happen), it can make for a loooong day.

The other thing to consider is that, despite what most people think, you don’t actually get to do any fishing when you’re guiding. It really does change your outlook on the sport. When I was busy running 2 salmon trips a day, seven days a week for 30-40 days straight, the last thing I wanted to do when I had a day off was get near a boat!

With the economy being super suckalitious right now and fishing in many areas kinda on the same track, starting a guide business at the moment is a tough road. However, if you dedicate yourself and have passion for it, you’ll be fine. And again, it’s still one of the coolest jobs you can have!

My best advice to new guides is this:

Remember it’s what you do between the bites that makes or breaks you.

I’ll leave you with that one to digest. Good luck with whatever path you decide to take and please let me know if I can help you out if try the guiding thing.

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Best time to fish Alaska?

by JD on May 18, 2009

JD,

When is the best time to go fishing in AK. I want to fly into Anchorage and make my way to Homer.

Thanks,
Brian

Brian,

Well, that’s a bit of a broad question….depends on what type of fishing you want to do. Driving down from Anchorage, there’s not a ton of stuff to do off the bank (unless you count combat fisheries like Bird and Ship creeks) until you get down to Cooper Landing down on the Kenai River. Of course, you have Soldotna just past that.

In that area you are in the epicenter of the Kenai’s giant king salmon fishing (May-July), though you’ll need to get on a guide boat to have much of a chance. Also, the reds come in thick in the Kenai and Russian rivers in July and then there are the jumbo rainbows, dollies, silvers, chums and humpies (mainly on even years).

Heading towards Homer, you will encounter the Kasilof River, where you can catch some kings below the Crooked Creek Hatchery off the bank or try Deep Creek, Ninilchik River and Anchor River, which have a mix of salmon and trout.

Homer, of course, is the self-proclaimed “Halibut Capitol of the World” and you can find countless charters down on the Spit that will take you out into Kachemak Bay for flatties. There’s also a fish pond on the spit that salmon return to, though it’s not really the nicest place to fish…

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Braided Line for River Salmon?

by JD on May 12, 2009

JD,

Well, I am probably one of the last guys to switch over to braided line but, I was wondering when running bait divers for Kings what size leader do you run?

Also I am running GLoomis HSR 982 rods do you think these rods are too fast for running divers and braid? Does braid work well for running Kwiks? I have always run mono but, I would like to switch I think.

Any opinions would be great!

I am a guide here on the Skagit and Sauk rivers in northern WA, and all info would be appreciated.

Nick P.

Hey Nick!

Don’t worry…you’re not alone in the late switch to braid…there’s plenty of die hard Old Skool salmon anglers out there like yourself. Once you do try braid, however, you’ll never go back. While you’re at it, you may want to look into updating that 8-track player in your truck too. Just messing with ya! :)

Anyway, the leader I run depends on the particular river I’m fishing. On small, clear streams, I may drop down to 20-lb. flouro and use a longer section — maybe 6 feet. In big water, you can bump that up to 30- or 40-pound and drop the length down to 3-4 feet. I run my divers off a slider rig attached to the braid and only use the clear stuff between the diver and the bait.

Yea, the HSR 982′s may be a bit fast. I’m a huge fan of the HSR 941′s for both diver & eggs and pulling plugs for both kings and steelies, which leads me to my next point:

Yes, braid is the ticket for pulling Kwikfish/Flatfish. It really is the way to go for both flat-lining plugs and back-bouncing ‘em. Again, just be sure to run a lighter drag and a softer rod…hence the GLoomis HSR 941s I mentioned above.

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Braided to briaded line connection?

by JD on May 11, 2009

JD,

Is there any knot at all that allows splicing braid to braid (Power Pro) ?

Thanks,

John B.

John, the Double Uni Knot is the ticket…as long as you’re under 80 lb. Above that, you’re getting into the more complicated Bimini Twist territory.

Double Uni Knot Video

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The Difference in Egg Cures??

by JD on May 8, 2009

JD,

I was wondering if you could explain the difference between sulfite and borax eggs cures. Furthermore, are there times when one is superior to the other, for example do Kings prefer sulfite cured eggs over borax?

Cheers,
Mike

Mike, many of the commercially-produced cures like Pro Cure, Pro Glo, etc. are sulfite cures…in that, sodium sulfite is one of the main ingredients. Usually, there’s other stuff in there too like dye and maybe some sort of “bite stimulant.”

Boraxed eggs are just that — baits rolled around in a bowl or Zip-Loc of Borax (not Boraxo). Borax helps toughen the outer membrane so the eggs will fish longer but doesn’t add any flavor or color.

Generally speaking, kings and other salmon prefer bright red salty eggs so go with sulfite eggs while chasing them. On the other hand, steelies like a sweeter egg, so Borax or Jell-o cures are better for them.

Both species will cross over and eat the other type of bait, but you will definitely do better by matching your bait to the species you’re after.

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Where do I fish in Juneau?

by JD on April 17, 2009

JD, I am heading to Juneau, AK at the end of June and looking for a place to fish but I am not interested in the fly or party boat
scene.

I am a simple man with wants and thought I would look around
for (A) true person that has some experience in the area and
see what I could read, this brings me here.

From my experienceit is easy to get advise from people
selling a service but my experience with those trips and information is considered tainted at best.

If you know a place to fish, a local hole or just a stream,
lake scant of people to drop a line in please know that
I would think kind thought of you and send positive vibes
in your direction.

– Bill A.

Bill, I’ll take all the positive vibes you can send! Here are some of the spots in the Juneau road system you can hit with a rental car. Good luck!

MONTANA CREEK
Close to town and it’s got a nice variety of species, from dollies to cutthroats to most of the salmon.

You can hike into the mouth of the creek via the paved Mendenhall Glacier trail or fish up or downstream of the bridge off Back Loop Road. You can also hit the upper reaches by following Montana Creek Road until it dead-ends in a cul-de-sac. There’s a trailhead at the end of the road that will lead you to the creek.

PETERSON CREEK
Peterson is located at Mile 24.5 on the Glacier Highway and can be accessed near the highway bridge. From the salt to the first falls, there’s about 2 ½ miles of stream to explore, and it harbors a decent steelhead run.

WINDFALL CREEK
Windfall Creek (a bit past Mile 27 on the highway) is a small stream that gives anglers a rare shot in local waters to catch sockeye salmon. The stream has a large run of reds but is subject to tight regulations to ensure the fishery remains viable.

There are a couple of holes were the sockeye stack up by the thousands and you can walk right up to them…just check the regs first.

FISH CREEK
Fish Creek’s a beautiful rushing stream on Douglas Island off North Douglas Highway that gives anglers a shot at king salmon in fresh water. Cutthroat and dollies also venture into Fish Creek and it gets loaded with chums and pinks mid-summer.

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Situk Steelhead??

by JD on March 3, 2009

Hey JD

We were thinking about a trip to Yakutat AK, to fish the Situk River for spring steelhead. I have heard it can be an absolute zoo. My buddy from Juneau goes up every year to fish the tide flats…He won’t go up river at all, because its a full of people and some very nasty locals. I guess the tidel area gets crazy too . Can you give your input on the place. –Mark D

Mark,

Yea, the Situk is pretty much a mob scene. But, you can rent a driftboat and make the 9-mile float from the bridge down and, even though there might be 20 boats on the river, you can get away from people. Plus, there are enough fish for everybody. Still, it’s not going to be an ‘alone in the wilderness” experience!

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Nushagak Salmon Rigs?

by JD on February 24, 2009

JD, My brother and I are going to the Nushagak River, Alaska this summer for King fishing. We are getting ready to tie up some double hook rigs from the trip. My question(s) are:

Guide recommends using Maxima line for leaders and main line. Said they have never used braided line or flouro-carbon.
What do you think? Flouro-carbon leaders and braided main line a good choice? Does Flouro-carbon hold well when used to snell a hook?

Thanks, Dave N.

Dave, after guiding up there for 7 seasons on the ‘Nush, I can tell you that I never used anything but single barbless (no double rigs). The reason: there are so many fish up there that…

A) You’re going to hurt too many small kings with the double rig
B) You’re going to get hooked in the hand at some point
C) You’re going to spend too much time messing around, unhooking fish when you could be fishing

Unless the fishing is tough (rare), don’t bother tying too many double rigs…I think the slowest day I ever had up the guiding was 18 kings to the boat and we had as many as 100. Maybe take a few just in case you hit it at the worst possible time and there aren’t many fish.

As far as flouro goes, definitely not necessary. These fish are about as leader shy as bluegill. I’m not sure where you’re fishing, but in the lower river, it’s all pea gravel and you may not lose a rig to a snag all week. Plenty to fish, however…

Have fun!!

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