I made the decision to go to Alaska next year.
Would like input for recomendations of what rods I will need.
I realize that I will need 4 or 5 piece rods for travel, so I'll have to build since I
currently only have 2-piece rods.

Species will include all species of Salmon and Steelhead.
Brands, legnths, line wt, reel seat, guides, etc.

There would be nothing more wonderful than catching the fish of my dreams with a rod I built.

Thanks for your input and advice

Larger King Salmon will require rods of up to 9-weight. For most everything else, including rainbows and steelhead, many anglers use 6 and 7-weight rods and do quite well.

Since you seem able to take more than 1 rod, I'd likely carry a 6-weight and an 8-weight, which I think would adequately arm you for anything but the very largest King Salmon, and even then with an 8-weight you'd have a fighting chance.

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I would agree with everyone. 8 is big enough for almost everything. The only issue with it I have found fishing up there is the current. Several of the rivers have really fast and strong currents. If the fish gets sideways in it you might be in trouble. I have broken one and almost broken several rods due to the stress. The other issues can be other people on the river. Some times as much as you would like to play the fish forever the others around on the river might not find that so entertaining. To be honest I have been fishing with 4pc and 3pc rods. 3 pc seems to work just fine. I built my father and brother-in-law 3pc G Loomis rods and they work out perfect. You should email me and we can chat about where you are going to go. I have been going up there for 7 years and my parents have lived up there for about 10 now. Can give you some decent advice as to where your going and great places to stop for some fun.

Matt White

Hi Sir, I have lived and fly fished in Alaska for over 20 yrs now, a two pc rod is fine as is 3-pc. number of pc rod is up to the builder and what you like, For all kings I use a 2-pc cane in 9-wt for the rest a-6-wt 2 pc cane but the rod I use the most is a 1-pc Lee wulff taper 6-wt cane. the high wind can be troubleing and one thing you will need most for big kings is the best reel you can get one with a good brake and that will hold a lot of backing , fin nor, pen, our a top of the line orvis ect there is a good internet site www.alaskaflyfish.net with a lot of info on it. Have a good time up here God Bless Jeff Rhonda and Kaya

Paul,
You saying that there will be multi-species of salmon and steelhead steers me toward Kodiak Island. The suggestion above will work well here, as the rivers are slower running streams. If this is the case than your 2 piece rods will also work here. I see 2 piece rods being used at all but the most remote, hike in areas of Alaska all the time. Alaska Airlines and the smaller services see 2 piece length rods all the time.

Kodiak Island would be correct.
Just in case there is a problem w/ travel restrictions, I would like to have some 4 piece rods
ready. I was thinking of going with a Dan Craft 9' 9wt 4 pc FT and a Tiger Eye 9' 4 piece 8wt saltwater blank,
full wells grips and auminum reel seats w/ fighting butts.

The only reason I would steer you away from a 2pc is now days they will require you to check a rod that length many times. My brother-in-law lost his rod this way last time. It did not make it to the airport last time. Later after we fished and he used one of our rods he went back to claim it and someone else had walked away with it. The airline claimed no responsibility since it was claimed even though not by its owner. Long story short he lost his rod. I like the 3 and 4 pc because you can usually get away with it as a carry on. I can always buy another set of waders or flys on a trip, but I can't loose my rod! I make sure it is right next to me on the trip no matter what.

Matt White

If you're going that route, I'd stick with the Dan Craft make for both rods. They'll be lighter and crisper than the Tiger Eye in that length and line weight.

But buying 2 rods so close in line weight really doesn't make much sense (unless you just want 1 of them for a back up rod). If you know you want a 9-weight, skip back to a 7-weight or even 6-weight for the other rod. Put some distance between the 2 so you'll really be armed for a variety of fishing conditions.

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Paul

I need to preface this post by stating; I don't mean to throw a resume out there and I don't mean to be argumentative when I post this, but I have fished ALL around Alaska, and have taught hundreds of folks up here how to flyfish based upon my travels.

But I, as a 21 year Alaskan, would NOT reccommend a 9 weight for King Salmon. A 9 weight is the wrong tool for the task-I STRONGLY reccommend nothing under a 10 weight. Most 9 weights these days have very little power IMHO.

ALso IMHO, leave the 6 weights at home for Steelhead. Kodiak Steelies will hand you your @#$ with a six weight. And one more tip: Try building 10 foot rods instead of 9 footers. 9 foot rods cannot manage line as well as 10 or 11 footers can when fishing big rivers like the Karluk and etc.

Remember, like I have always said in my flyfishing schools; the two varibles when determining the fly rod weight for specie. is DEPTH OF WATER and SPEED OF THE CURRENT. (And yes, of course, size of flys etc, but that is almost a moot point here.) You can fight a COHO all day long on 7 weight in calm, shallow water with no current. Now, take that same COHO and change the river. The river being 5-6 knots, and add 6-8 feet depth to it. DIFFERENT BALL GAME! That 7 weight will feel useless on that fish when fighting it in the deeper current. The rod will not have a large effect when trying to turn the fish and will be overloaded if you allow it.

What do you plan on fishing for Paul and what time of the year?

Respectfully,
Paul

Right on Paul!

I have fished the Little Susitna (clear creek) various rivers around Anchorage, Russian, Kenai and others. River speed and depth mean everthing. I used an 8wt at Clear Creek and as long as you kept them out of the middle of the river you were fine. I fished the Russian and I felt like I was catching a wale on a stick! The speed of that river changes everything! My family switched to 10ft 10wts and WOW. That is definatly the right tool! Never go smaller for faster rivers now! Glad to see I'm not alone on this one!

Matt White

Thanks Matt...I just hate seeing people come to Alaska with the wrong gear, as I have seen it so mnay times that it makes me ill.

Paul

Me too!! I've seen many people snapping their gear. It always puts a hilariously funny look on their face even though the situation is not funny at all. I have also had many people with a King set up fishing reds and yanking them out of the water. They see our set up and say, "Man I wish I had something like that. Looks lots more fun!" And I say Yes SIR! It sure is!

Matt White

Paul and Matt have good points for most of Alaska. The Dan Craft 9 ft FTs mentioed are real powerhouses in the butt section, the 10 ft blanks are a bit different with a slower action and lower power. That said the salmon streams I fished, like the Ayakulik River on Kodiak aren'r particularly large or fast running, many are about as large as the Situk at the bridge put-in but run more like the lower mile as far as current speed. Huge runs of Kings and Sockeye.
I've seen 30 to 60 lb fish taken out of the Ayakulik on rods as light as Loomis 7 wts IMX rods, with only the fish over 30 lbs really being much of a concern if you didn't have a big reel and plenty of backing.