TheOkieAngler.com

Feel like I’ve almost forgotten how to fly fish.

We’ve had a rough winter so far in OK… making it hard to find conditions worth fishing in. Between the constant cold, iced over ponds, snow storms (still have over a foot in a few places in the yard), and a new job with longer hours (QuiBids.com, check it out if you’re looking for crazy deals on just about anything), it has been hard to get in quality time on the water.

The snow’s been keeping the golfers away, but the ice has forced me to find alternatives to the ponds… time to explore the creek that feeds the ponds.

No success, but it was fun to explore.

Fishy

In a different location it would be a sweet little trout stream.

Surprisingly deep

After a more than a few unsuccesful drifts I checked the depth with a stick and It was 6-7ft in the middle.

wasn't alone

Even the coons gave up on fishing. All the tracks were headed away from the water.

winter color

Or maybe they were only interested in the berrys??

so fishy

Confident this hole will produce for me sooner or later. It’s got to.

I like this place

Excited to see what I’ll pull out of these holes.

We’ve been here less than 24 hrs and I can already tell I could spend some serious time here…

We got in after midnight yesterday and missed the views on the way in, then woke up around 8 when it was still dark out and couldn’t make out our surroundings. The wait was worth it though, and the view from our corner hotel room (Reese’s parents hooked us up) certainly did not disappoint.

Cook Inlet on one side...

Chugach Range on the other side...

We spent the day taking it easy and exploring Anchorage. We stopped in a couple shops downtown, and I thought the coolest shop was probably the Oomingmak Musk Ox Producers Co-op. I’m not much of a “shopper,” but I have to admit the fiber from the musk ox was a remarkably soft and warm. Hope things cool off some, otherwise I think the hat Reese picked up is going to be a bit warm!

Reese sporting her new Qiviut hat

We drove around a bit and tracked down a couple of fly shops.  We stopped in McAfee’s Fly Shop first and didn’t hear any promising news  (although he was helpful and forthcoming with info).

Reese snuck this pic in... getting the bad news

I wasn’t quite ready to give up so we checked out the World Wide Angler shop. It was a sweet shop and was HUGE, but unfortunately the news there wasn’t any better than at McAfee’s. Fly fishing Alaska in late November just wasn’t meant to be for me. Guess I’ll just have to come back in season!! Ended up talking skiing for a bit with the WWA crew and I’m hoping we can work in some skiing time at Alyeska before we head home. Looks like they’re going to open up in the next day or two.