Late Season Hog Bows!!!

We are approaching the end of our season here at Rainbow River Lodge with one week left. The leaves on the trees are turning, the air is cooler, and some fresh snow has covered some of the higher peaks on the mountains. Even though winter is rapidly approaching, the rainbow trout are still feeding.  The past few weeks our guests have landed some of the biggest rainbow trout of the year!  The pictures below are the reason our guests brave the cold temps of September and try to bend a few rods on these big hogs.  Check back next week as we will post a few more pictures of what the last week will bring us.

Hans Rudi and Chad with a toad!

Picture Perfect Rainbow!

Stu and Devyn with Chrome Buck! 

Pat with a 29" Rainbow

Fred with a Nice Hen Rainbow 

Eggs, Eggs, and more Eggs...

Assortment of Painted Beads

We are rapidly approaching the end of our season here at Rainbow River Lodge.  Throughout the next few weeks we will catch some of the fattest rainbow trout of the season on egg patterns.  These protein packed eggs are everywhere in the rivers and the rainbow trout are on a feeding frenzy to beef up before winter arrives.  

Sockeye Salmon Eggs on the Copper River


To match the natural sockeye eggs that are being dropped in the river we use a 6mm plastic bead.  Our guides will take a plain orange plastic bead and paint them with a variety of fingernail polishes.  We fish these eggs underneath a strike indicator and use a small amount of weight to get the egg down.  The State of Alaska will allow anglers to fish these eggs in "fly fishing only" water but there are a few regulations.  You must have some sort of material on your hook shank, and your bead must be no further than 2" from the hook.

Matt a guest at RRL fooled this Rainbow on Moraine Creek with a 6mm bead

Fishing a plastic bead is not the most traditional way to fly fish, but it has been proven to be much more effective than the classic glo-bug fly pattern.  The mortality rate of the rainbow trout is also greatly reduced when fishing a bead rig. With a glo-bug the fish would sometimes swallow the fly and be hooked deep into the gills.  The plastic bead setup ensures when a hook is set that the egg will slip and the fish is hooked on the outside of the mouth.  

Tim with a beautiful Iliamna Rainbow

Click on the link below to read a fun article written by our guide Jonathan Streeter

Pro Beads: An argument for Gear Fishing with a Fly Rod