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John -

Are you self-guided, or will you be hiring a guide? You'll need to know what the river(s) you'll be fishing are doing when you are there. From what you've told me, you could be running into a whole bunch of options, or fewer.

Unless the silvers are running, I'd stick with targeting trout/dollies. Sockeye may be plentiful, but they are a nuissance and don't really take a fly so much as snag themselves.

As for flies, again, a lot depends on the status of the salmon runs, but you'll want:

Egg sucking leeches in either purple or black, pref w/weighted head.
Flesh flies
Sculpins
Egg/egg cluster flies
Mouse
Clousers (red/white, white/chart, chart/yellow) for silvers if they are around.

Also, there's a surface fly -- a foam "gurgler" type fly that the silvers will slam. Some even fish poppers. I haven't experienced it myself, but it's a method that's been gaining popularity lately. Bright colors (pinks and chart) fished over pods of silvers laid up in fairly shallow pools. Go figure! And if you hook a decent sized silver salmon, your life will never be the same.

Last time I went (late June a few years ago) I did amazingly well on rainbows with an articulated purple marabou leech, unweighted. The black leeches of the same size/pattern did well, but that purple really got the job done. Have a variety of streamer/leech type patterns in the box in gaudy/bright colors. Some times the unexpected will draw the most strikes -- first time I was there I tied on a canary yellow muddler one day when the fishing was very tough and the rainbows really seemed to get aggravated and for whatever reason, that fly was the ticket. Unfortunately I lost it and had no others in the box (it was a one-time inspiration tied by Flytackle...).

Also, have dry flies handy. Even though the trout will be keyed in on gorging themselves on salmon eggs and rotted salmon flesh, you never know when a hatch will come on. Black gnats, Henryville Specials (or other caddis imitations), and some attractor patterns. If there's a chance you'll have a shot at grayling have some traditional hackled flies like Adams, too.

And don't skimp on the leader. My suggestion would be to err on the heavy side, but use fluorocarbon to minimize spooking. The fish can be very competitive for the eggs and the strikes are often HARD, and those rainbows aren't inclined to laze in the slack water... they'll be in the current where the eggs get funnelled to them. It's great fishing when the conditions are right.

Alaska's an experience unlike any other. Enjoy!

mike