Estuarine Anadromous White Fish

[SculpinSwinger]

Being locked in with the ice storm I found something new to obsess over - Sheefish or Inconnu. Alaska or Northwest Territory’s Canada. Resident and estuary migrant populations. Travel, weather and expenses are of course the biggest obstacles near the arctic circle, but man I think I need to make it happen.

Sheefish Species Profile, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

General information about Sheefish in Alaska such as description, life history, range, habitat and more.

www.adfg.alaska.gov

@G_Smolt have you fished for them?
@clarkman sea run whitefish!
@singlehandjay what do you think? Plan a self support float?

 

[singlehandjay]

That looks like a good time.

 

[HauntedByWaters]

This is a bucket list fish for me. I want to fish them through the ice though, not fly fishing. The natives fish for them through the ice with a reindeer antler and line.

 

[DerekWhipple]

I thought this was about a run of mountain whitefish you found in the sound or something!

But sheefish are cool too. Definitely on the bucket list.

 

[G_Smolt]

I have not fished for sheefish, as it would involve flying past all the massive char (as in, 20lb + Dolly Varden) in the region to reach the places the sheefish congregate. I have friends that have done it, mostly because they are experience-driven folks who relish the new over the known even if the known is world-class.
There was a pretty good video on sheefish done by the CastAlaska folks about a decade or so ago...not sure if it's on the innertubes, but if memory serves it was called "sheebang" or something like that.

Goodonya for the stoke!

 

[SculpinSwinger]

I have not fished for sheefish, as it would involve flying past all the massive char (as in, 20lb + Dolly Varden) in the region to reach the places the sheefish congregate. I have friends that have done it, mostly because they are experience-driven folks who relish the new over the known even if the known is world-class.
There was a pretty good video on sheefish done by the CastAlaska folks about a decade or so ago...not sure if it's on the innertubes, but if memory serves it was called "sheebang" or something like that.

Goodonya for the stoke!

I am a big fan of Char, I was looking into places to fish for them, and that led me to the sidetrack.
Thanks for the reply

 

[troutstalker]

This is a pretty good video that shows some fishing for sheefish.

 

[Matt B]

I’ve gone through this long distance obsession too. Not that it has fully faded, but diminished somewhat. It seems like part of a hell of an adventure and I reached out to a few folks at one point in time but never got really serious. Hope you do. Pretty sure @Irafly went on an inconnu excursion in the far north once.

 

[BDD]

This is a pretty good video that shows some fishing for sheefish.

That might have been the most enjoyable fishing/hunting video I have seen in a long time. Can't say enough good things about it. Everything from interacting with kids, teaching them culture and nature at the same time, how to respect fish and game, how to prepare it for a nice meal, and sharing in the bounty. Thanks for posting. Looking forward to more of his stuff.

 

[troutstalker]

That might have been the most enjoyable fishing/hunting video I have seen in a long time. Can't say enough good things about it. Everything from interacting with kids, teaching them culture and nature at the same time, how to respect fish and game, how to prepare it for a nice meal, and sharing in the bounty. Thanks for posting. Looking forward to more of his stuff.

I'm glad that you enjoyed it. He has many good videos. Check them out.

 

[Irafly]

Way before the Shebang video @G_Smolt mentioned, like 26 years ago I did a 2 week adventure up a system in Alaska with 3 other guys that held shefish up to 20lbs. We caught them on fly rod and gear and harvested a few for meals. We rented boats out of a tiny “town” and camped on a sandbar a good 30 miles up river from there. We mostly avoided the grizzlies and moose, spooked way too many beavers (insert 9 year old joke here), and shat inside the tents to reduce the mosquito butt bites from 1000 to just 100.

The real prize though was the absolute world class pike fishing. I personally landed a few over 42” and we are sure that we lost one over 50”. They are everything we threw at them, including a rigged up soup can lid!

 

[SculpinSwinger]

Thanks for the reply @Irafly, sounds like a sweet trip other than the mosquitoes!
I like pike, super aggressive fish. Love seeing the gill flare when they inhale the fly. I do a semi annual pike trip to Manitoba. Where we go we can sight fish for them - usually.

 

[Irafly]

Thanks for the reply @Irafly, sounds like a sweet trip other than the mosquitoes!
I like pike, super aggressive fish. Love seeing the gill flare when they inhale the fly. I do a semi annual pike trip to Manitoba. Where we go we can sight fish for them - usually.

It was almost all sight fishing!