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Posts: 200
Location: Twin Cities | We are looking to do an Alaska trip sometime this summer, flying into Anchorage and the rest is not planned at all. Any recommendations on a good time frame to go or good outfitters? I guess I'll take any information at this point but right now just trying to book flights. Sockeye is my favorite but all salmon is good and also like Halibut. |
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Posts: 34
Location: New Carlisle, IN | https://youtu.be/wyL7bYUTpT8
not salmon but looks awesome.
Edited by Ryan21 1/20/2017 5:54 PM
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | Sockeye (reds) are your favorite to eat or to catch? Fishing for reds is an entirely different thing than the other species...so much so that I don't even fish for them. What are your priorities? Fill the cooler? Avoid crowds? Catch huge fish? Catch a ton of fish? Have your own gear? Fly fishing? Need a guide? Mind rough weather? Open to early fall?
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Posts: 200
Location: Twin Cities | esoxfly - 1/20/2017 6:36 PM
Sockeye (reds) are your favorite to eat or to catch? Fishing for reds is an entirely different thing than the other species...so much so that I don't even fish for them. What are your priorities? Fill the cooler? Avoid crowds? Catch huge fish? Catch a ton of fish? Have your own gear? Fly fishing? Need a guide? Mind rough weather? Open to early fall?
Reds are my favorite to eat but I will eat any salmon. Main priority would be to fill the cooler but would be fun to catch a big one. Don't really have any gear for it, probably buy some there and yes need a guide. I don't mind rough weather but others do. Probably not for early fall |
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Posts: 65
Location: Springfield, IL and Vermilion Bay, ON | Check out outfitters on the Tsiu River. |
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Posts: 559
| IT has been 20+ years ago but caught some giant kings on the Klutina river by Glennallen in mid July. By an internet search it looks like alot more guides now, back then only 1 guide on the river Mike Lanegan Great guy and Great guide |
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Posts: 559
| fished kings and halibut out of Ninilchik with Chihulys charter . spent a lot of time in the rental car. |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | I went with Tim bergs outfitters good time. Want to go back in miss alaska |
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Posts: 51
| Went to Valdez 2 years ago for Silver salmon over labor day... great time, weather was in the 40/50 degree range. Went out on a Halibut trip too.. caught fish, just nothing huge. I think the biggest was like 35lbs. Which reeling up from 250 feet is a heck of a workout. We just brought M/H travel rods, some blue fox spinners and fished from shore. Caught as many fish as we wanted, smallest was in the 6-7lb range, biggest was just over 14lbs. Usually fished for about 3-4 hours a day.
No need for an outfitter or anything, just find some open shore and start casting! We actually caught more fish than some guys who had a boat most days. Lots of wildlife while fishing as well, saw otters, seals, sea lions, and a few bears. Saw some whales on the boat ride out to the halibut grounds. If you are planning on going Halibut fishing, i'd try to stay somewhere that is closer than Valdez... it's about a 2.5 hour boat ride out to the halibut fishing area... so that was a long day.
I think we brought back like 145lbs of fish, salmon and halibut. |
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Posts: 51
| Esox, you caught a Halibut on a fly?!?!? |
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Posts: 546
Location: MN | Amazing time with these guys. Our guide, Derek was amazingly talented and patient with the novices and skilled enough to school those with a lot of experience. http://www.alaskabearviewing.us/ |
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Posts: 46
| If being guided isn't an issue have you thought about Midnight Sun Trophy Pike Adventures? It's an all inclusive arrangement and it's not cheap, but the pike fishing is probably the best of anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. You'll likely catch more pike over 40" and even over 50" than you will in a lifetime of musky fishing. You might catch more fish in some of the northern Canada lodges, but the fish are significantly larger in Alaska and the shallow water season is much longer. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | pistolpete314 - 1/23/2017 1:22 PM
esoxfly - 1/20/2017 6:36 PM
Sockeye (reds) are your favorite to eat or to catch? Fishing for reds is an entirely different thing than the other species...so much so that I don't even fish for them. What are your priorities? Fill the cooler? Avoid crowds? Catch huge fish? Catch a ton of fish? Have your own gear? Fly fishing? Need a guide? Mind rough weather? Open to early fall?
Reds are my favorite to eat but I will eat any salmon. Main priority would be to fill the cooler but would be fun to catch a big one. Don't really have any gear for it, probably buy some there and yes need a guide. I don't mind rough weather but others do. Probably not for early fall
First thing to remember is that all salmon don't run at the same time, and that's by design. Likewise, different species run further and live longer once in freshwater. I suggest Kodiak for a few reasons. First, smaller rivers that you can fish without chest waders, let alone a boat. Most guys here fish in knee high rubber boots, or maybe hip waders. I do fish in chest waders just so I can fish surf and then there's very few places I can't get to. Also, the rivers are short and direct, so it's not like "eh, should we fish above Copper Landing or below the highway?" You can fish most any of any of the rivers any day. These are short, coastal rivers, compared to the major riverways you'll see elsewhere in the state. And lastly, because of the size of the rivers, you don't need a guide. You can walk up to the river, look into a pool and see the fish sitting there. After that, it's figuring out what fly/pixee/vibrax/roe to throw at them. Of course, there's more to it than that, but there's not many guides here because there's just not much business for them. You could fish here for a week and have it dialed in. Or hire a guide for a day and be set knowing how by that afternoon.
If that sounds like something you might be interested in, let me know and we can talk run timing, offshore fishing, different species and what to bring. I'd say it's the most affordable AK fishing trip. Airfare, hotel, rental car. If you can fish (tie your own knots, land your own fish, clean your own fish) you can do it on your own. And it can be as easy (roe) or as challenging (fly fishing lakes for salmon) as you want it to be. |
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Location: Kodiak, AK | jhillman17 - 1/24/2017 2:05 PM
Esox, you caught a Halibut on a fly?!?!?
I have. Several of them. This was my largest, at 85 lbs, landed live and solo and on IGFA Fly-legal gear and methods. Tons of work, but fun and worthwhile if you're into big game fly fishing. And tastes great!
Also salmon, rockfish and cod as well.
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Posts: 51
| Nice man, I hated pulling a 35lb'er up from 250 FT with a pool cue rod... can't imagine fighting an 85 on fly gear... must have been awesome! |
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Location: MN | I'd recommend following esoxfly's advise regarding small rivers. I visited my buddy last September. He guides on the kenai with a drift boat and power boat. We did well on silvers in the lower and caught piles of trout on the middle and upper including some tanks but I had the most fun on one of the last days when we drove to a small river probably only 10 yards across and hammered the silvers. Most were too red for good eating but man was it a blast. One fish after another and much more fun catching them casting with a fly or spinning rod. And the best part is you don't need an expensive guide if you have basic knowledge and someone like esoxfly to key you in on rivers to fish.
Unfortunately it was too windy for us to go fish halibut, rocks and ling cod. The halibut guides could only get out to where they were catching chickens due to the seas and we didn't want to spend big bucks to catch small halibut you can get in the surf. Oh well, it's a good excuse to head back up there in a couple years. I'll definitely be targeting more small rivers the next time I'm there.
One thing to be aware of is the red bite is basically a flossing bite which to me is not appealing. That's on the kenai anyway, not sure if the other rivers are the same. |
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Location: Kodiak, AK | Nershi - 1/25/2017 7:42 PM
One thing to be aware of is the red bite is basically a flossing bite which to me is not appealing. That's on the kenai anyway, not sure if the other rivers are the same.
It's the same everywhere. There is a fishery for reds where you can actually catch them on a strike, but once they get in the rivers and they get HAMMERED by EVERYONE they just lock down and the flossing begins. I don't even fish for them because the crowds, the behavior and the fact that it's literally just snagging in the mouth and turns my stomach. They're available in the salt, but I'm messing with other fish that time of season. |
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Location: Kodiak, AK | jhillman17 - 1/25/2017 5:19 PM
Nice man, I hated pulling a 35lb'er up from 250 FT with a pool cue rod... can't imagine fighting an 85 on fly gear... must have been awesome!
Wasn't as dramatic as you'd think. It's a tug of war just like with a conventional rod. I use 13 and 16 wt rods, which are what you fish for tuna and marlin with, so you can wrench on the fish with all your might and it'll come up. Only had a 20 lb leader, but with all the stretch in the line and resistance in the water and flex in the rod, I was herking on it! The most dramatic part was hand-landing it solo. You can shoot a halibut on a fly (not just for IGFA reasons) but mainly, once the fish dies, it's just 85 lbs of dead weight hanging on a 20 lb leader...do the math! You have to land them live with the fish swimming holding it's own weight. Rod in one hand, lean over the side and grab her by the gill plate with the other and sling it into the boat and kneel on her while you cut the gills and wait for it to bleed out.
And no, I've not submitted for anything IGFA...haven't even looked at it. Not into records, but just abiding "fly" rules. A lot of guys will jig an 8 oz jig with a fly rod, or put a piece of herring on a fly and call it fly fishing...it's not. |
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Posts: 51
| No matter what gear you use, it's an awesome thing. Guess I never just wrapped my head around the possibility of using a fly for halibut due to depth, but I guess anything is possible! Yeah, I could see how the landing could be a bit hectic... guess you don't use a gaff instead of shooting them? |
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Location: MN | Not all Halibut live deep their whole lives. We caught them surf fishing off the beach. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | jhillman17 - 1/27/2017 3:13 PM
No matter what gear you use, it's an awesome thing. Guess I never just wrapped my head around the possibility of using a fly for halibut due to depth, but I guess anything is possible! Yeah, I could see how the landing could be a bit hectic... guess you don't use a gaff instead of shooting them?
I typically target them around rock pinnacles. This one came from about 70-80' down. I use a T20 shooting head...you cast it and it sinks like a set of car keys and takes the fly with it. Once it gets down, you start stripping in running line and wait for a bit. |
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