Rick Sisler back at AK West

For those of you who have been following the Deneki family for years, you are probably familiar with Rick Sissler.  Rick has been an important member of the Deneki team since he started guiding at Alaska West in 1998.  After guiding the Kanektok for almost a decade, he became the Operations Manager at AK West in the summer and Andros South in the winter.  Well we are excited to announce that Rick will be coming back to AK West this year as the Operations Manager again.  We understand how hard it is to stay away from the Kanektok and could not be more excited to welcome Rick back.  In honor of Rick’s return, we wanted to feature an old post from 2008 where Rick covers his Rainbow Rig for the lower river.

“Big rainbows in the lower Kanektok love hanging around snags. These jumbo trout get a steady diet of salmon parts all summer, and big snags provide them with the perfect combination of cover and easy access to the protein conveyor belt that the Kanektok becomes once the salmon start dying. Abrupt drop-offs are great targets as well, for the same reasons.

Here’s Rick’s rig of choice for the pursuit of lower Kanektok fatties. This is the big leagues – leave your 4 weight and 5x at home.

The Summary:

• Sage 796-4 Xi2
• Sage 3400D Reel
• Sage Performance Taper II #7 line

The Detail:

• 200 yards of high-vis 20 pound dacron backing attached to spool via an Arbor Knot
• Bimini Twist on the fly line end of the backing to attach to a double nail knotted mono loop (20lb) on the end of the fly line. For added security and durability use Aqua Seal on the nail knots.
• Same double nail knotted mono loop in the leader end of the fly line
• Tapered leader hand tied with Maxima Ultragreen mono
• Perfection Loop tied in the fly line end of the leader
• Leader tapered with Blood Knots, starting with 3′-4′ of 20 lb, then 3′ of 15 lb
• Tippet section of 2′ of 12 lb Maxima Ultragreen
• Depending on depth the overall length of leader may be bumped up to as much as 12′ (if you can handle it)
• The meat is some variation of the infamous Cotton Candy tied by longtime Alaska West guide Matt Hynes, tied on with a non-slip mono loop.

More Expert Rigs:

• John Toker’s Steelhead Rig
• Ed Ward’s King Rig
• John Toker’s Bonefish Rig