Situk Steelhead

[ORpoke]

Just read the Scott Haugen article in STS. Has anyone fished up there in April for the steelhead? How was the experience? Was considering going.

[CHOSENBOY]

I have fished the Situk a few times, twice for kings/sockeyes and once for steelhead. The trip for steelhead was a great experience but was not a trip that I would spend lots of money on. First off it was a mix of fall and spring steelhead, bright and dark fish. Four of us fished the river and were hoping to fly-fish but what everyone was using was yarn or egg imitations w/ lots of lead. This being the way we just stuck to our casting rods since it was the same thing and easier to cast the lead. You can catch as many steelhead there in a week as you can in OR/WA. The best part of the trip was I got my biggest to date steelie as did my uncle (20++'s). Hope this helps. Alaska is awesome but is a long ways to go. Go for salmon or 'bows if you go.

[Salmo]

Cheap, Cold, Wet, and Big fish. The Situk has some of the highest concentrations of steelhead for the size of the river. I would say it resembles the Necanicum in size. I have family in Yakutat so my expenses are cut way down as far as lodging and vehicle are concerned. Yes there are opportunities to catch 20+lb fish. But like Chosenboy said it's a long way to go for numbers similar to the PNW. I've found that fish over twenty in the Situk have a great advantage over the fisherman. There is tons of logjams and snags for those brutes to get snagged. I you have to go to AK or BC for steelhead I can think of tons of other rivers to fish. Good luck with your search.