Small-stream brook trout in Alaska? Not exactly...

Small-stream brook trout in Alaska? Not exactly...

By Troutnut on July 11th, 2012

Amidst the hundreds of little grayling streams scattered through interior Alaska, there are a handful places to find a welcome bit of variety: dwarf dolly varden. These guys don't migrate around chasing the nutritious salmon runs, but instead stay in small streams at a correspondingly small size. I had never found one of these gems (and hadn't looked very hard) until the other day. I had great fun with my soft, short 4-weight, placing a foam beetle in some challenging places in hopes of enticing an 8-inch fish.

Photos by Troutnut from Mystery Creek #170 in Alaska

I always knew the mottled pattern on the backs of char was excellent camouflage, but I never quite appreciated how perfectly they can match the light tones of a riffly river until I took this picture. From Mystery Creek # 170 in Alaska.

Underwater photos by Troutnut from Mystery Creek #170 in Alaska

This was the biggest dwarf dolly varden of the day, a mature male about 8.5-9" long, quite a bruiser for the creek he was in. He's the prettiest fish I've caught in a while.

This fish is also pictured in this picture and this one. From Mystery Creek # 170 in Alaska.

Same male dwarf dolly as in this picture and this one. From Mystery Creek # 170 in Alaska.

Closeup of the pectoral fin of this dwarf dolly varden. From Mystery Creek # 170 in Alaska.

You can see the dwarf dolly I caught in this pool, hanging out after being released, just up/left from the center of the picture. You can't really tell it's a fish here, though. From Mystery Creek # 170 in Alaska.

Dwarf dolly varden From Mystery Creek # 170 in Alaska.

On-stream insect photos by Troutnut from Mystery Creek #170 in Alaska

View Full Size and Comment (2.2X larger)

Shed exoskeleton from what was very likely an Ephemerella aurivillii nymph that emerged on this rock.

StateAlaska

Date TakenJul 11, 2012

Date AddedJul 14, 2012

AuthorTroutnut

CameraCanon PowerShot D10

View 15 larger pictures»

Comments / replies

GONZO	July 14th, 2012, 7:57 pm
Site Editor "Bear Swamp," PA Posts: 1681	Beautiful pictures, Jason! It's easy to see how the dollies in this little creek would go a long way toward satisfying a "brookie" craving.

Shawnny3	July 14th, 2012, 8:51 pm
Moderator Pleasant Gap, PA Posts: 1197	Great gallery, Jason. In some of the images, I think the light in the water is more beautiful than the fish (although the fin closeup is maybe my favorite pic). I was wondering how you captured the fish images. I see the line in at least one of them, but were all of these taken while they were still on the line? Sometimes after releasing a fish they will sit long enough at my boot to take some good pics if I had a camera, but I don't know that I've ever knowingly approached a fish that I haven't caught closely enough to take a good photo without spooking it from its lie. Have you ever taken photos of undisturbed fish holding in the water? -Shawn
	Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis www.davisflydesigns.com

GldstrmSam	July 15th, 2012, 3:24 am
Fairbanks, Alaska Posts: 212	You have just started to get me itchy for some exploration. Not necessarily to go search out this creek, but to go find some hidden world of my own. Great photos, Samuel
	There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm. ~Patrick F. McManus

PaulRoberts	July 15th, 2012, 12:38 pm
Colorado Posts: 1776	Wonderful. Those creeks look just like a little stream just a mile below me.

Jmd123	July 15th, 2012, 1:28 pm
Oscoda, MI Posts: 2611	Small fish in small streams are underappreciated. Most people want big fish in their pictures, but holding these small jewels of nature in your hand is often more than enough. The closest trout stream to me is a small stream with mostly small fish, but every once in while a much bigger one comes up that compared to the others looks just huge, like the 13" rainbow I caught last week. But there is something so special about these small, brightly colored fish... Jonathon
	No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

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