Sheefish or Inconnu On the Fly

Steve Fitzsimons has been a friend since he joined one of my Yellow Dog hosted trips to Brazil back in 2013.  He introduced me to his lady, Therese Rappazini, a few years later at the Pleasanton Fly Fishing Show.  Steve was getting Therese into fly fishing, and at a rapid pace – doing more learning at top world destinations than in their home state of California.

 

In 2019 Steve and Therese (Sammy too) were on my mentally difficult hosted Seychelles trip where we were canceled due to a cyclone.  Unfortunately we traveled the 8,000 miles there only to turn around and come home.  But they’re tough spirited adventure fly fishing travelers and here they are with me on the Yukon Drainage of Alaska on board the Midnight Sun.  Today Sammy and Steve fished together and I fished with Therese.

 

The weather wasn’t good.  It rained all last night right up until about a ½ hour before we went fishing.  When we boarded the skiffs it was downright cold and windy with a little drizzle.  It would rain and drizzle all day.  The fish don’t mind such conditions so we bundled up went for it.  While the day started slow I still got to watch Therese put the hurt on some mid-day feeding pike.

 

The pike fishing truly was slow however.  Slow enough that our guide Scott called for an attempt at getting me my first ever sheefish on fly for my species list.  We motored upstream to a huge deep pool of strange funneling currents and seams.  The water was off color and there was plenty of debris floating.  But more importantly, a sheefish rolled on the surface.

 

When we saw that sheefish roll I knew we were in business.  And wouldn’t you know, on about my second cast I hooked into a big one.  Though sheefish don’t make a long run, they thrash and twist on the surface, both tactics for shaking a hook.  Sadly, thirty seconds into the fight this one got away.

 

I’m not after a sheefish (Stenodus leucichthys) (also known as the inconnu) this week just to knock it off my species list.  Sheefish really are cool.  They are salmonids and this one is the largest member of the whitefishes.  This being said, the mouth on them more resembles a tarpon than a whitefish and some nickname them the “tarpon of the north”.  In fact they are only found in the far far north.  We’re here, and we all need to catch one!

 

I’ve been down the road of hooking a fish you really want to catch right off the bat but then losing it.  While it makes sense the next chance will come soon and you’ll catch him, it doesn’t always work that way.  That hook up would be my one and only during our 45 minute attempt.  Therese on the other hand had a fly they liked.  Therese hooked up with three and this one she brought to hand.  The catch was very exciting and the fish didn’t disappoint.  They are beautiful unique fish and I rattled off a heap of pictures.

 

After a good 30 minutes without another strike it was time to move back on to pike.  It was tough for me to be this close to my first sheefish and have to leave.  Scott had to twist my arm but I’m glad he did.  We went to one of his absolute favorite lakes and though the numbers of pike we caught weren’t good, they were big.  I landed three over 40”, including this donkey of a pike that was not only 46” but also fat.  This is the largest pike of my life.  Sorry for the mediocre photo but I made the catch during a downpour.

 

We had to pass through the sheefish hole again on the way home.  You know I convinced Scott to stop and allow me at least a dozen or so casts.  He agreed.  And deep inside I knew I was going to get it done.  Therese and I drank a beer during the boat ride from the pike lake back to the sheefish hole.  When we arrived I crushed my can and confidently said with a smile, “My next beer will be a celebration!”

 

My statement was bold but I felt luck was on my side.  It took ten minutes but I hooked and landed my first sheefish.  It was a beauty and we got some nice photos.  Then I released him and drank my celebration beer.  And after my beer I caught another!

 

Though pike numbers today were lower than our first two days, Therese and I had a great day of fishing.  Strangely though, Steve and Sammy had a freakish slow day.  Steve caught five pike and Sammy only two all day long.  I guess that’s why we call it fishing.

 

We arrived back at the Patriot mothership around 10 PM.  There’s still a little glimmer of daylight and it is as cold as a November day in Idaho.  Time for dinner and a good night sleep.  Sweet dreams with species number 422 dancing in my head!

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing