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This was our 2^nd visit to Pyna-tee-Ah Lodge (PTA).  Last year we  fished PTA early in the season so this visit we decided to come in the Fall in hopes of catching some large rainbows.  Typically, the rainbows can be found as they follow the spawning sockeye salmon upstream to feed on their eggs.  To our surprise, we caught not only rainbows but some great sockeye too!

Before going into specifics about the fishing, we wanted to once again acknowledge that Don Morris is a great guide.  Don knows the waters, the most successful methods of catching the fish and he is an excellent fly fisherman.  Further, fishing with Don is always a fun experience and that adds to the experience too!

September 8 – We spent our first day fishing the Horsefly River (we don’t know if it’s named after the town of Horsefly or vice versa).  Anyway, the water was low and loaded with sockeye salmon.  We were able to catch numerous rainbows.  Unfortunately, we each lost a “5 lb. goldie” as these fish definitely know how to run into the driftwoods and snap a line.  Oh well, they don’t know we’re just going to release them once landed.

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September 9 – Don took us to a private lake today.  Although it was pretty quiet, we did manage to catch a few nice fish.  They primarily hit a fry imitation that Ed had tied.  The largest rainbow of the day was approximately 20” and 3 lbs.

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September 10 – Today was our trek to the Mitchell River.  We first crossed Quesnel Lake in a large motorboat and then went up the river via jet boat.  Here is where you can run into big rainbows and we certainly did!  We each had lots of strikes and Ed was able to land one rainbow of 8-10 lbs not to mention a couple more in the 5lb. range (Don estimated the weights of the fish as we wanted to return them to the water as quickly as possible).  Lindy too was able to land a rainbow in the 5lb. range.  Also, although we weren’t attempting to do so, we each had a sockeye salmon take the egg pattern fly we were using to catch the rainbows.  They are supposed to do this, but we enjoyed the sockeye catches too.  Lindy caught a sockeye that was 30”x16” and ~12lbs.  A trophy in most any location!  Then, Ed followed by catching a sockeye that was 32” x 18” and ~14 lbs.  Wow!!  Unfortunately, our fun came to an end when a sow grizzly bear with two cubs decided she wanted to fish in our spot.  We quickly acquiesced!

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September 11 – 13:  We finished our visit at PTA by flying to Mitchell Lake and camping there for 3 days/2 nights.  Most of the first day was consumed with the fly-in as well as setting up camp (done by Don).  However, we did catch some nice rainbows from shore near the camp.  Our 2^nd day was quite cold and rainy (enough to convince Lindy she doesn’t want to do a float trip in Alaska!).  Anyway, the fish were very uncooperative today.  Thankfully, Don caught a Dolly Varden which made for a delicious dinner (yes, we did waiver on our catch & release policy but Don was keeping the Doll.  No matter what, we enjoyed it too).  On our way home Ed spotted several Dollys in shallow water near an inlet creek.  We threw every fly at them but they wouldn’t take.  We assumed that they were spawning.  On our final day prior to pick-up we returned to the spot Ed had seen the spawning Dollys.  They were still there but again no takers, so our day was spent primarily fishing for rainbows.  Again, we had some nice catches but all the rainbows at Mitchell Lake were relatively small (1-2 lbs.).  When we returned back to PTA that night, we all enjoyed a hot shower and civilization!

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