In the angling circles of the Pacific Northwest, there are still some doubters out there. We know because we run into them.
“Kings don’t eat swung flies – you have to force-feed them nymphs.”
“Sure, you might hook one, but then it’s like reeling in a mattress.”
Folks who say those things have been fishing in the wrong place, or at the wrong time, or possibly both. On most rivers that still have runs of kings, you have to fish hundreds of miles from the salt to show a fly to those bad boys.
It’s no coincidence that we operate lodges on the Dean River in BC and on the Kanektok River in Alaska – it could be said that we’ve got a problem as it relates to swingin’ and kings.
The Dean and the Kanektok are two of the top handful of rivers in the world when it comes to catching king salmon on swung flies.
Here’s why.
- Kings only eat (crush!) swung flies when they’re chrome bright and fresh out of the salt.
- Kings only fight like sea lions on crack when they’re chrome bright and fresh out of the salt.
- The Dean and the Kanektok both have really strong runs of kings.
- The Dean and the Kanektok are both small enough rivers that you can swing flies effectively on them within…guess what…a mile or less of the salt.
If you want to catch kings on swung flies in 2010, you’ve still got a shot. We’ve got 2 chinook weeks on the Dean this year with a few spots each available. 4 of our 5 king weeks on the Kanektok are sold out, but there are a few spots left in one of those weeks.
Interested in learning more? Drop us a line. We’d be more than happy to talk your ear off about kings on the swing.
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