Fishing Alaska News & Tips
December 2005

This month's tip | News | New on Website | Hot Forum Threads | Index of past months

Not much to report this month.  It's kind of quiet around here during the holidays.

The big news for halibut fishermen is that the IFQ program that many deep sea anglers feared is not going to happen.  The concern among many was that this would limit access to halibut among recreational fishermen, and thus increase the costs of halibut fishing.

Be sure to take a look at Pudge Kleinkopf's "A Fly Fishers's Winter" in the tips below.  She's got some good ideas on getting organized and ready for the coming summer fishing season.

Good fishing.....David

David M Johnson
Publisher / OutdoorsDirectory.com
PO Box 609
Delta Junction, AK 99737

TIPS

A Fly Fisher’s Winter

Not very many fly fishers fling their fly toward a hole in the ice. Instead we usually spend our winters tying flies, watching videos, cleaning our gear, and shooting the breeze at the fly shop.

Out of all the various winter fishing activities you can spend time on, cleaning your fly fishing gear can seem pretty tame compared to watching some fly fishing celebrity fighting a huge tarpon, but once you get started, it feels really productive.

By the end of my guiding season, the work table in my garage seems to morph into a huge pile of various fishing stuff, piled willy-nilly on top of other fishing stuff. Leader spools that were once carefully arranged are now spilling everywhere. Split shot packages seem to be disgorging their contents onto the floor, and accessories like hook sharpeners, spool tamers for reels, hemostats, stream thermometers, fleece patches, floatant and line cleaner dispensers, and extra nippers are all over the place.

You may not have as much stuff to get organized as I do, but I’ll bet that you still have a place that needs your attention. Bring order out of chaos is a matter of patience and determination accompanied by a box of zip lock bags, paper towels, plastic stacking bins, and a hot cup of coffee.

Start with the zip locks. I sort all my leader and tippet spools by pound test and label the bags with a waterproof marker. Then I sort split shot packages by size and do the same thing. Suddenly, things start to look better.

If you don’t already have one, get yourself a set of stacking plastic containers with pull-out drawers. Mine sit against the wall just waiting for me to fill them with the labeled zip locks. One drawer for the spools, one for the split shot, etc. Anything on the table that there is more than one of goes in a zip lock and gets labeled. As I fill the zip locks, I also clean whatever needs cleaning. That’s what the wet (or dry) paper towels are for, of course. Now things really start to look good!

While you clean, it’s also important to throw things away!! You’ll be surprised how much junk will emerge as you sort and stash still-good or re-usable stuff. Be brave, have a wastebasket nearby and use it!

Now, wasn’t that worthwhile? Aren’t you going to be proud of yourself next spring? Now, go clean out your fly boxes.

This month's author Pudge Kleinkauf has owned and operated Women’s Flyfishing ® her instruction and guide service, for nineteen of the thirty-six years she has lived and fished in Alaska. She is also the author of a recent book, Fly Fishing Women Explore Alaska. This tip and photo © 2005 Women's Flyfishing.

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NEWS

NEWS: December 24, 2005 -- The Federal Subsistence Board meets Jan 10-12 in Anchorage to consider changes for the 2006-2007 regulatory year, including one that would establish a customary and traditional use determination for rural residents of the Cook Inlet area. The public is welcome at these meetings. 

NEWS: December 20, 2005 -- In a precedent-setting decision, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council voted 8-3 in early December to rescind a plan to impose an Individual Fishing Quota system (IFQ) on charter boat operators who participate in the Alaska halibut fishery, according to the Recreational Fishing Alliance.  There was a unusually large amount of public testimony on the issue.

NEWS: December 14, 2005 -- The Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted a number of changes to the fishing regulations for portions of the Copper River drainage. The changes affect subsistence and sportfishers.

NEWS: December 8, 2005 -- The Division of Sport Fish has released the annual sport fish stocking plan, in draft format for public comment. The plan is posted on the agency's website.  Hard copies are also available at ADF&G offices around Alaska. The deadline for comment is January 17, 2006.

NEWS: December 8, 2005 -- The Alaska Board of Fisheries is accepting proposed changes to the subsistence, personal use, sport, guided sport, and commercial finfish regulations for the Bristol Bay, Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim, and Alaska Peninsula/Aleutian Islands management areas. Finfish includes: salmon, herring, trout, groundfish, char, burbot, northern pike, whitefish, Pacific cod, sablefish, shark, pollock, etc., but does not include halibut.  The proposal deadline is April 10, 2006.
 

EVENTS: December 2, 2005 -- The Mat-Su Outdoorsman Show -- the first Alaska outdoor show of 2006 -- is scheduled for March 31-April 2 at the Wasilla Sports Complex.  The show runs in cooperation with the Mat-Su Home Builders' Show (which brought in 11,762 visitors in 2005).

PUBLIC INPUT: November 23, 2005  -- The Chitina Dipnetters report several proposals are before the Board of Fisheries that are important to dipnetting at the Copper River.   The Board meetings start in late November in Fairbanks.

TRAINING: November 17, 2005 -- The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Hunter Heritage Foundation of Alaska is hosting a winter Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) workshop March 24-26, 2006 at Victory Bible Camp, Alaska (Mile 94.8 Glenn Highway). Applications will be available online mid December.  For more information on winter workshops please contact Tracy Smith  907-267-2896. For more information on summer workshops please contact Nancy Sisinyak at 907-459-7346.

Alaska fishing news from November 2005 >>

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NEW ON WEBSITE

NEWS & TIPS: 29 December 2005: We are changing our News & Tips section to a new blog-based format.  The idea is to be able to quickly and easily add news and tips in a format that's easy to find and easy to keep up with using RSS.  You'll find the Alaska Fishing News and Alaska Hunting News blogs on BlogSpot.com  Want to receive a monthly note with information about what's going on?  You can subscribe to our free newsletters.

DIRECTORY: 15 December, 2005: Sitka Seaside Lodge. PO Box 2135, Sitka, AK  99835. Tele: (907) 747-8113, Toll Free: (866) 747-8113, Fax: (907) 747-3337. Email: info@sitkaseaside.com Choose Sitka for Alaska's best fishing--King Salmon, Coho Salmon, Halibut and Rock Fish. Choose Sitka Seaside Lodge for exceptional hospitality, accommodations, delicious meals, and great fishing. Stay at our waterfront Lodge with private dock. (View our lodge)  Fish with local captains with excellent catch rates. Alaskan family owned and operated. Call to create a custom fishing package for your family, friends, and business associates.

DIRECTORY: 1 December, 2005: Alaska's Bearclaw Lodge P.O. Box 32, Aleknagik, AK 99555 Toll free 1-866-429-2327. Email: info@bearclawlodge.com Alaska's Bearclaw Lodge is located in the famous Bristol Bay, gateway to remote world class fishing -- all five species of Pacific salmon, rainbow trout, arctic char, grayling and pike.  Our modern lodge with all amenities has a cozy atmosphere, outstanding views, great food and experienced, licensed fishing guides and friendly staff waiting to serve you.  We are proud of our reputation for providing exceptional service at a great value.  

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HOT FORUM THREADS

Chiniak jdweiss Dec 30 2005
curing eggs buzby Dec 26 2005
Kings, Kenia? need help with fishing charter plentycoupe Dec 24 2005
Keeping Dry In Wet Weather GregStevens Dec 21 2005
Good Fly Reel for Kings wildwilltx Dec 17 2005
the kasilof pescador Dec 15 2005
Alaska fishing Next August Andy Dec 12 2005
Charter IFQ shawn Dec 10 2005
Rental car in Anchorage for July??? ysr_racer Dec 07 2005
Chum egg color? twoatlow8 Dec 07 2005
July around Anchorage... Kevin Birznieks Dec 07 2005
halibut rod ideas Ripface Dec 03 2005
Some advice needed floridafisherman Dec 02 2005

See all forum threads on the website >>

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