Steelhead fever soon took over, especially when one appeared right about where it should be on the home river. These fish run rapidly through a river system and will choose interesting lies to sit. The sweeping uniform tail out may look great, but the small bucket just below often has the better chance. Álvaro found this out, locked into his first, using a light integrated Scandi and a flashy intruder, and the mission was accomplished - steelhead on the swing! The Ocean River soon gave up about a dozen steelhead, confined to particular lies below spawning coho. It was soon time to move on to the Sandy.

A classic steelhead river in all ways, the Sandy spans a fairly short distance from its headwater lake to the Bering Sea. Hoodoo’s Sandy River lodge sits in the lower reaches, where guides start the day via jetboat heading up or down. Upon arrival in the afternoon, we headed down from the lodge where the first steelhead on the swing took a mere 2 casts. Lucky? Maybe, but it proved not to be the exception to the rule as multiple fish were landed per day, even in fluctuating water conditions, and with steelhead more tuned in on coho eggs than swung flues. It is a miraculous system in terms of fish numbers, strength, and overall experience, and is a perfect example of a world-class fishery operating exactly as it should, with care and respect from the guides who call it home for a few short months.

Equipment for the Alaskan wilderness needs to be tough during the fall, and small airplane flights mean one must conserve what they pack. Expect cold and unforgiving weather most of the time, meaning layers and good waterproof jackets. We found the most versatile rod for this fishing to be the ULS 2.0 in line weights #7 and #8. You can put on a heavier WF line and strip streamers for Coho, and then switch to a 3D+ Compact and swing for steelhead. For the most part, these rivers are not huge, though into October, I’d bring the full range of density lines to accommodate colder temperatures and deeper sections.

Once on the larger Sandy, we switched to both the 12’ Full Flex 7/8 and the 12’9” NT11 7/8. Both of these will handle a hot, fresh steelhead and the tight-to-the-inside fishing that is the norm in a system where steelhead do not move from their preferred lies because of pressure. Pair this with a Classic Scandi Float and a variety of tips from intermediate to T17. Flies were standard Alaska fare and had much more flash than is the norm for Scandinavia. Steelhead love a traditional black/blue pattern, but bright colors work too, just expect to run into more coho bycatch with them.