Alaska fishing and site seeing???

[NDSportsman]

Heading to Alaska in mid June, we're taking a week long tour thru Denali and Talkeetna. We have a couple days to spend in Anchorage and would like to do some Salmon and Halibut fishing for a day. Any suggestions for guides and what else we should plan to check out or do while we are up there? My first and probably only time to visit Alaska so want to make the most of it. Thanks in advance!

 

[KDM]

I would rent a car in Anchorage and then find a halibut charter beyond the Kenai river. Seeing the turquoise water of the Kenai is truly a sight and the drive to get there is spectacular. Plan on dealing with LOTS of black flies while there in June. I mean SWARMS of them. So many that moose have suffocated from them. If you can swing it, a combo trip (Salmon/Halibut) out of either Seward or Homer will expose you to the majesty of the Alaska shoreline where Orcas, sea otters, puffins, and other critters are very often seen. The fishing doesn't suck either. Good luck and have a BLAST!!

 

[Kentucky Windage]

Head down the peninsula as KDM mentioned. I would recommend a combo like you are thinking. I wouldn’t wait to book a charter either. Know that halibut is closed on like Tuesday or Wednesday (I can’t remember what day) for sport fishing, so you will need to plan around that.

 

[wjschmaltz]

YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG DIRECTION IN MID JUNE!!!

The Susitna drainage is pretty limited to Chinook that time of year and an emergency order was put in place only allowing catch and release. That can and likely will change hopefully by mid June on the Deshka. I've fished the Deshka a few times and like all king fishing, it's hit or miss. If you just want a fight and a picture with a big old king, it's worth looking into. I've fished with these guys once and had a good time: Fishing Tours Talkeetna, AK | Phantom Tri-River Charters (phantomsalmoncharters.com) and we did better than most on the river. It' worth calling around and watching the emergency announcements. I suspect (hope) it will be open to retention of kings by mid June. That's the only place I would really recommend north of Anchorage around that time.

From Denali Park to Cooper Landing is a minimum of 6 hours of driving. That's without tourist traffic so add on a couple hours. If by the time you're in Anchorage and are sick of driving but still want to fish, Whittier is a solid option and only about 1.5 hours from Anchorage. Crazy Ray's is a great option out of there. If you just want to fish and don't care about touristy stuff, then Whittier is an hour closer than Seward and just a scenic and the fishing will be about the same. The boat ride out of Seward can be a long one to get to where fish are. My favorite place to fish halibut on the KP is out of Ninilchik/Deep Creek. You're looking at 3-4 hour car ride from Anchorage to get there. The boat rides are short and you have just as good or better shot at a 100lb fish as anywhere else. What you sacrifice is the scenery and the marine wildlife that Seward and Whittier have, which is fine by me. Fished with Captains Steve's out of Deep Creek last year and had a good trip (ask for captain Chuck). You may get extra lucky and get a calm day and be able to run to where basically all the world record Ling Cod have been caught but it would take some luck. Keyo and Cook Inlet Charters are also good (among several others I'm sure). You may get lucky and hook into some saltwater salmon, but I wouldn't count on it. A bit too early. I've never personally been a fan of fishing out of Homer after about April 15th. Some people love it, but to catch big fish and a variety of fish, the boat ride is WAY further than other places for the same thing. The marketing team for the city of Homer is world class, that's for sure. No matter where you go, expect rough seas and rain so you're not disappointed.

The Kenai is bubbling with sockeye by mid June. That's where I spend most of June. There are tons of operations floating out of Cooper Landing. Fish em LLC is one I always hear good things about. If you do it, make sure you got one leaving EARLY. Like 4-5 am early and I would go Monday-Wednesday if possible. You get on that river after 7 am and you will never again complain about a crowded fishing spot in your life! Mid June is peak for the early run on the Kenai and solstice weekend is always the busiest of the year here. Realize sockeye fishing is a different experience so do a little research online and see if that's something you're interested in. Could head down to Kasliof are if you want to get a fresh water king. The real shit part of freshwater salmon fishing is either they are there or they are not. There really isn't any "lets go find em" like what we're all used to in ND.

 

[1lessdog]

I have fished out of Whitter, normally calmer water and lots to see. I caught a 67 lb Ling Cod out of Whitter.

 

[snow1]

Back in my day livinging/working out of Eagle river AK which is now a anchorage suberb our trips to whittier were special.

Wj,years ago in order to get to whittier we had to park our vehicle and take the train or go buy boat,has this changed? Curious,cool little town/adventure.

I looked into booking a trip to fish halibut at one time,we were at a sports show,one outfitter from AK had built a base camp out on the now deserted naval base on the ALLUTIAN islands which was strickley off limits for tourists for many years,this outfitter had video's of Gary Roach fishing giant halibut catching monsters up to 300lbs on giant eel type plastic baits these waters were untapped halibut waters for years,boat capt used a .45pistola to neutralize these massive fish,the camp island had one small stream with a silver run mid summer he claimed,other than that it was just a trophy halibut adventure I never took but wish I had today.

I'm guessing 1 week won't enough time,so much to see and do....

if the boyz get a night out in anchorage,ya gotta visit the "Alaskan Bush" company,one of the best strip clubs in north America,or was,hot chicks from all over the country...gotta love sight seeing.

 

[1lessdog]

Back in my day livinging/working out of Eagle river AK which is now a anchorage suberb our trips to whittier were special.

Wj,years ago in order to get to whittier we had to park our vehicle and take the train or go buy boat,has this changed? Curious,cool little town/adventure.

You can now drive thru the tunnel. The gate close at 9pm and you cannot leave Whittier till the next mornng at the bottom of the hr for 15 mins. I believe it opens at 4:30 am

 

[cobbwubs]

Good advice all around here. If you go fishing, have a plan on how to transport fish home. Last time out our first trip was canceled due to high seas, and after rebooking, we were no longer able to bring fish home in coolers as checked luggage (shipping our normal luggage home) because we flew out the next morning. We agreed we'd have our catch processed and shipped home, but ended up with an unexpected $1,000 bill to do so because of the incredible fishing. (It was worth every penny for peace of mind) Plenty of info out there on options to get it home. If you don't plan to freeze and ship overnight, be sure to call ahead to find freezer storage wherever you are staying. Rates can be pretty reasonable.

 

[snow1]

Hey what happened to Lycan's reply and the shot about his avatar someone gave him? made me smile.

 

[measure-it]

Be sure to book your full day/half day charter trip ahead of time--almost always full on day-of. Plenty of charters on The Spit to Homer.

 

[Sluggo]

I’ve been to Alaska once. We rented a RV in Anchorage and spent a week driving around site seeing. We fished 1 day out of Seward and it was AWESOME! We booked a charter out of J-Dock. We only went fishing 1 day. We also went north to Talkeetna and booked a flight tour of Denali thru Talkeetna Air Taxi. You can find Jdock and Talkeetna air on the web. We went in mid July. I would love to go back and fish more. Also, we stopped at the city of Hope where there was a small river with pink salmon running and people were catching them by flossing.

 

[sl1000794]

people were catching them by flossing.

Can they be caught with tooth picks as well as flossing???

 

[snow1]

I'll tell ya what,as much fun it is catching/fishing in Alaska I truely missed walleye fishing and walleye shore lunches when I lived in AK,so much so I would take a 5 day vaca from alaska to come back to the midwest west to fish walleye in june(minnesota BWCA) to be exact,one get's tired of salmon,trout,halbut etc over summer months,but that's me.