Man on a mission to promote lake fishing

WASILLA — If Bob Andres has his way, the Mat-Su fishing paradigm is about to shift.

The owner of Trout’s Place and Windbreak Cafe wants anglers to forego the expensive flyouts and busy rivers and join him on the still waters of the Valley.

“When people think of fishing in Alaska, they think of river fishing for salmon. Rivers have become overcrowded, noisy and they have lots of allocation problems,” explained Andres. “Our lakes, and the quality of fish in the lakes, are amazing.”

There are 90 lakes in the area stocked by Fish and Game, he said, and many more that are totally wild. In one day, he said, an angler can fish on three or four different lakes for trophy rainbow trout, Dolly Varden, grayling, char and pike.

“This will help take pressure off the rivers. This is a statewide movement and Mat-Su is the center,” said Andres.

The problem now, he said, is getting the word out.

To do this, and with the blessing of then-Borough Mayor Curt Menard and Borough Manager John Duffy, Andres flew to British Columbia. In what Andres claims is the still-water fishing capital of the world, he recruited PBS Canada’s “The New FlyFisher” to film a show on Finger Lake.

“This show isn’t just some guided fishing trip. It’s to educate people how to catch fish on our lakes,” said Andres.

And educate it does. With sections on the equipment, presentation, technique and location, the show is a crash-course on flyfishing for rainbows on Mat-Su still water.

The preferred method is to use a 5- to 7-weight rod to sink a dragonfly nymph just above a submerged weed bed. With a combination of hand rolls and quick twitches, Andres and the host of the show pull in monster fish after monster fish.

The crew was so impressed, they came back to film a second episode on Wasilla Lake and Big Lake.

The thing to notice, according to Andres, is the quality of the fisheries and how easily accessible they are by car and float tube. People need to start realizing that an Alaska vacation can be affordable, he said.

“Part of this initiative is to make people realize they can fly to Anchorage, bring your float tube and rent a car. There are thousands of lakes accessible by the highway system,” Andres said.

More immediately, Andres hopes to pull some of the Anchorage tourist dollar into the Valley as well as letting locals know about this untapped resource.

“This is the birth of an industry,” said Andres. “I really think this will power the Mat-Su economy for years.”

That is if the infrastructure grows. Currently, Andres does not think there are enough campgrounds and boat launches to accommodate the surge of still-water fishermen.