The Braids

Just hearing the words "The Braids" instills imagines of monster rainbows amidst a multitude of grassy islands and small gravel channels.

The Braids are, of course, known throughout the fishing world as one of the very best places to catch a 30 plus inch Rainbow Trout. The Braids are often written about and are one of the premeire destinations in Alaska.

In the top section of the Braids, the Kvichak River divides into several branches, and then each branch divides again creating a multitude of grassy islands.

These grassy islands and large channels produce world class Rainbow Trout.

Some of the channels are large enough to boat through, so drift fishing is the way to hit these channels. Our boats are heavy duty, (welded aluminium), Alumaweld and Koffler brand boats. They are extremely stable and are easy to fish out of. These are not the lightweight skiffs that are tippy and hard to stand up in that other lodges use.

Drifting through the best runs, sometimes several times in a row, is very productive. Drifting also allows you to cover quite a bit of river, which in turn, will help you spot the big ones, such as in the picture below.

While the larger channels can be drift fished, the majority of channels are too shallow to drift through, so this is where we wade fish for miles and miles. The upper section of the Braids have an almost unlimited number of channels to wade. Most are fairly shallow, with deeper pools here and there. The Sockeyes pile up in these channels to spawn. The giant rainbows obviously follow them and hang just downstream from the spawning Sockeyes. The bigger Rainbows also hide, from time to time, below the undercut banks.

These smaller channels have clear water and gravel bottoms, making sight fishing rainbows the way to go in these areas.
The big Rainbows like to take cover in the shade, so scan the undercut banks very carefully when fishing these channels.

With these shallow gravel bottom areas to spawn, sockeyes are drawn here by the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. Once they attain their well known bright red spawning colors and start building their redds, the Rainbows are drawn into these areas. Arctic Char, as well as Arctic Grayling, are also drawn in to take advantage of the spawning Sockeyes. In the picture below, a mature female Sockeye is spawning, while three male Sockeyes vie for the opportunity to fertilize the eggs.

With all of the Sockeyes spawning, literally thousands and thousands, the whole area of the Braids becomes an enormous food supply for the Rainbows.

This is a prime area for sight fishing, as you can easily walk these channels and see the red colored sockeye salmon spawning in the shallow clear water. The big rainbows are also easy to see as they are bigger than the sockeyes! Once sighted, a careful stalk will allow you to present your fly to the monster rainbow and then the fight is on.