• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Deneki Outdoors Fishing Lodges

Alaska | The Bahamas | Chile

  • About Deneki Outdoors
  • Our Fishing Lodges
    • Alaska West
    • Andros South
    • Rapids Camp
    • Rio Salvaje
  • Deneki Blog
    • Alaska West
    • Andros South
    • Chile
    • Fish
    • Fishing Reports
    • Fly Tying
    • Gear
    • General
    • Guest Posts
    • News
    • Rapids Camp
    • Rio Salvaje
    • Tips
  • Contact Us

Jan 26 2011

Jeff Hickman’s King Rig

It's raining - why is Jeff smiling?
It's raining - why is Jeff smiling?

Time for another king rig!

Jeff Hickman is a Deneki Outdoors alumnus who guided five seasons for us at Alaska West, and he’s now a popular year-round steelhead guide in Oregon.  Jeff will be returning to Alaska West this summer from June 12th to the 17th to host our spey instruction program and catch some Kanektok kings.  There is space available during his week– let us know if you’d like to join Jeff on the river!

Here’s the setup that Jeff prefers for removing sea lice from chrome early season king salmon on the Kanektok.

The Summary

  • Ross Reach 8134-4
  • Ross Momentum LT 6
  • Airflo Skagit Compact, 570 grains

The Detail

  • 275yards of 30lb Dacron backing, attached to the spool with an arbor knot
  • Rio Powerflex Core Floating Shooting Line .035″  “I loop the back end of the running line, and secure it with two nail knots of 12lb Maxima Chameleon or Ultragreen. I then loop this to a non-slip loop knot in the backing.”
  • Skagit Compact Head, looped to the running line using factory loops
  • Airflo T-13 tip, cut to 8 to 14 foot lengths, attached to the Skagit head using the factory loops
  • 4″ Butt section of 30 pound Maxima Ultragreen attached to the leader end of the tip using an Albright knot
  • 2 to 3 feet of 15 pound Maxima Ultragreen, looped to the butt section with a non-slip mono loop
  • Pink Fish Taco tied on using non-slip loop knot

The Commentary

“During the early season on the Kanektok, higher water conditions with a fair amount of color is the norm. This means that the kings are more comfortable and will typically travel and hold closer to the edges in fairly shallow water. It’s often not necessary to wade deep, cast far and dredge the bottom. The lighter setup with the 13’4” 8 weight rod is plenty to put 30+ pound fish on the beach, and it’s much more enjoyable to cast and fish all day than a heavier, longer rod.”

More Spey Fishing Knowledge

  • The Death Star
  • Cast, Then Step
  • Switch Rods, Scandi Heads, Polyleaders

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Frank Dalziel says

    June 14, 2012 at 8:24 am

    Andrew: In point #5 of the detail, is the length of 30 lb supposed to be 4 inches or 4 feet? Four inches isn’t much, but if that is all that’s wanted I presume he just wants some mono that won’t cut through the T-xx material? Thanks, Frank

  2. andrew says

    June 15, 2012 at 7:07 am

    Hi Frank! Yes, I think Jeff really does use a 4″ piece of 30 pound – since its main purpose is just to serve as the connection point for the leader. 4 feet combined with the leader would make for a total length way too long for king fishing on sinktips.

    He likes the piece of mono on the front of the tip because it has a lower profile than another loop in the front end of the tip.

Trackbacks

  1. Rajeff Sports » Blog Archive » Note to Kanektok Kings: Jay’s on the way… says:
    February 19, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    […] and he knows the fish.  I can hardly stand it.  Check out some of the stories and photos on the Deneki Outdoors […]

  2. King Salmon Fly Fishing | Big Hooks and Marabou says:
    April 5, 2011 at 6:02 am

    […] Jeff Hickman’s King Rig […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Plan Your Trip

Let our experts plan the fishing adventure of your dreams.
Contact Now

Search Topics

Subscribe to our newsletter

All Blog Posts

Recent Posts

  • 7 Most Popular Smoked Salmon in the World
  • Fly Tying: March Brown by Kevin Foley
  • Who Doesn’t Like Potcakes?- Support The Bahamas by Helping the Potcakes
  • Tips on Mousing for Rainbow Trout and Grayling at Alaska West
  • What’s Happening with Pebble Mine- Good News for Alaska

All About Spey

All About Trout

All About Bonefishing

All About Gear

Best Posts

Footer

Deneki Outdoors

Mailing address:
200 W 34th Ave.
PMB 1170
Anchorage, AK 99503

Office:
4451 Aircraft Drive
Suite 202
Anchorage, AK 99502

US Information and Reservations
800-344-3628

International Information and Reservations
+1 907-563-9788

Email: info@deneki.com

Our Lodges

Rapids Camp
King Salmon, Alaska

Alaska West
Kanektok River, Alaska

Andros South
South Andros Island, The Bahamas

Rio Salvaje
Puerto Montt, Chile

Deneki Outdoors thanks Peter Viau, Tosh Brown, Abe Blair, Kyle Shea and Kara Knight for the beautiful photography used on our sites.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

#denekioutdoors

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 · Deneki Outdoors · Privacy Policy · Site by 21 Designs