Perspective on a “Good” Day of Alaska Fishing

04.30.14

Steve finds a chrome bright chum salmon on a day of non-stop fishing!

I remember guiding a guy named Steve at SAFARI camp who wanted nothing more than to hook a chrome bright chum salmon after catching his share of pinks. I took the challenge.

The tides had been off that day and there wasn’t that good push of fish we normally like to see. I couldn’t spot any chum in the small pods of fish that were holding in the tidal flat so I figured the chum were running straight up to the river. So I decided to commit Steve to fishing the runs that were in between the pods of salmon in search of a transitioning fish. I remember hooking and landing 1 or 2 chum that day and that was it.

Guide Johnny with a BIG colored up chum.

When we got back to camp, Steve boosted to the other fisherman about the successful day we had set out to accomplish. One of the guys turned to me and asked me how I did it… Without thinking too much about it I simply said, “I took him where there were no fish.”

by former Alaska fishing guide, Johnny Quiroz (still of The Guides of Texas)

Learn more about fly fishing for chum salmon.

Posted in All Posts, Guide Journal