Alaska Fishing Info?

[Hookedup]

Hi guys didn't know where to post the question. I will be going to Alaska and wanted to know if any of you had fished in Seward or Homer for Halibut or Silver Salmon. I have limited time to go off shore fishing so I am limited to two half day trips. Any guides you can recommend in either location? And if so which species did you enjoy catching the most. I am going to do some river fishing but I want to get out in a boat a time or two. Thanks Sean

[watermola]

Hey Sean, I was in Homer and Seward two summers ago and both places are beautiful! I really enjoyed the halibut fishing out of Homer however I only got to experience a half day charter when I did it. You will have no problem finding a charter the main strip in Homer is loaded with them, however I would highly recommend taking the extra time to do a full day trip for the halibut, because on the half day trip, half the trip was traveling, the other half was split between fishing and avoiding the other ten people on the boat suffering from sea sickness. So it would be worth spending the extra time if you can, also another shocker was I almost spent more on shipping the fish back from Homer than I spent on the charter, it was worth EVERY penny and I didn't waste one ounce of the Halibut, but be prepared for that too. As for fishing for Silver Salmon I didn't get to experience to much of that outside the river in Anchorage and I caught a few Kings up near Fairbanks but the Halibut fishing was exciting and Tasty!!!!! And each day at the docks there were hundred pound halibut hanging for pictures the two I caught were only 15, 20 lbs but still a fun time fishing.

[shadster]

There are quite a few charters in Seward. I was there last summer, but didn't get to go out. Most boats I saw were in the $250 to $300 range per person for a full day charter. The fishing in Resurrection Bay is pretty phenomenal by all accounts. A lot of fishing is done right in the inlet in the second picture.

View or the harbor and bay at Seward from Iron Mt.

[Good Times Sportfishing]

Sean, Anchor Point which is near Homer, but closer to the Halibut fishing grounds. That means less time traveling & more time fishing. Important: if you have not picked your date yet check the tide tables you want to fish the least tide possible. You would be fishing in the Cook Inlet. My wife & I fished with a Captain on "Good Times Charters" out of Anchor Point. I've sent others & they have all done well. We've fished with him twice & had good trips.

[jimski2]

You have to meet the "slack tides" to hold bottom for halibut fishing, especially at Homer. The thirty foot tides they have will pull a four pound sinker off the bottom. There usually is a three hour prime fishing period and then the currents are hard to control for bottom fishing. Half day trips are not the best use of your time when you travel thousands of miles. Check out the tin can six pack boats from Anchor Point or Ninilchik. Cheaper accomodations there also. A camper on the beach at Seward is a good deal. The best spots I know of are at Montague Island and Yakutak, tough travel, those places.

[CVO]

My parents just came back home from a 10 day trip to Homer. They went with another couple and ended up renting a house on the water. All 4 of them fished this past Tuesday, July 13th. Only 3 of them fished Wednesday, the other wife didnt want to be tossed around in the boat because it was pretty rough out there. They chartered a boat just for the 4 of them for 2 full days of fishing. It was pretty expensive, but they are already talking about booking another trip next year because Dad was saying it was definitely worth it. Both days they easily limited out on halibut. They caught a few ling cod afterwards and a lot of rock fish as well. Of course, my mom has never been interested in going fishing with dad and i..not even once. she didnt want to miss this opportunity and experience though. She ended up boating the largest fish out of the 2 days though. it weighed 71lbs. They had 3 fish that were over 100lbs, and all of them seemed to break loose just before the captain could shoot and gaf them. Since the limit on halibut is only 2 per person, per day, they through quite a few fish back. They planned on fishing for salmon, the afternoon of the second day, but it was too rough. Thats the only bad part about booking a trip like this...you can never predict the weather.

heres a few pictures.....

moms 71lb halibut with the rest of the catch from day 1. a 16lb ling cod and a few rock fish and a small king that dad wanted for smoking.

mom, chuck and dad on the 2nd day

a 33lb halibut, rock fish, a red eye and the rest of the halibut limit

they fished with Silver Fox charters in Homer.

a couple other random pictures from their trip...

driving to their rental house

from the deck, overlooking the bay

[Pike Hunter]

Sean:

Did you say which time of the year will you be in Alaska? The timing of your trip is important factor in deciding where you want to be.

In case you re driving toward homer or steward, be sure to stop by on your way to one of the best river, Kenai River.

I have caught tons of silvers during the month of July out of Kenai River My good buddy runs this charter www.kingoftheriver.com

Best of luck.

Anthony

[hawkeye625]

We went back in 2002 and the fishing was great. Booked our charter online and it ended up being a 1/2 day party boat out of Homer. Make sure when you book that the charter is the type your looking for. The party boat wasn't our thing but it was still a good time. A smaller charter might have given us the opportunity for some other species. As for the silvers, they are loads of fun on a fly rod or spinners but if your going to fish from land on an even year (2010) your going to have a rough time getting your bait through all of the pinks. They run really thick on the even years and we caught a ton of them mostly in Soldotna on the Kenai.

If you enjoy trout fishing I would suggest a float trip on the upper Kenai River for rainbows. I believe coopers landing is the area we booked our trip with troutfitters. Excellent day trip with huge numbers of rainbows (catch and release) and even a couple of silvers. If memory serves me right August was prime time for silvers. Pixey spoons in pink and green where the best producers for silvers for us. Pegging trout beads was the ticket for rainbows, just match the size of bead to the eggs in the stream when you're there. If you want a trip away from the crowds go into Talkeetna (north of Anchorage) and book a guided trip or drop off to clear creek. Just watch out for the bears.

Make sure to budget another $300 or $400 to vacuum pack and airmail fish back, it gets expensive!

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

[Just Fishin']

Just got back from Kenai Peninsula 3 weeks ago. Took a 5 day fishing class at the Kenai Peninsula College and stayed for 8. Like Anthony and others said, "when" you are going is the real issue. On the Cook inlet in the summer you will always catch halibut, but for the full Alaska trip you also wanna catch a chinook run on the middle Kenai in June and/or July and fish the upper Kenai for gorgeous rainbows on fly or light tackle. Fished 5 different ways up there in a week and every guide said July was the best time to be there, all things considered, except crowds are the worst. Anchor Point, Deep Creek or Homer are all safe bets for Halibut.

Feel free to PM me if you wish and I can give you some places that I would stay at when I go back up there and the rundown on guides we used and liked.

Mine was a trip of a lifetime and I hope you enjoy yours as much or more.

[Hookedup]

Thanks for all the great information. I will let you guys all know how I make out when I get back. Sean

[Gill-T]

If you want to do silvers on the cheap. You can rent small boats with outboards in Valdeez. In August, just long-line troll large vibrax spinners or spoons near creek mouths and waterfall drops. The tides and wind effects on the upper layers makes trolling with dipsys and downriggers REALLY difficult, but you will be pleasantly suprised by the fish you can catch with surface lines. In the evening at Valdeez, or Seward, you can wade out from creek mouths and cast Vibrax spinners and kill Pinks, and Silvers. Try to find/or custom make the Vibrax with orange fur on the treble. Silvers LOVE their orange colors up there.