Alaska Salmon Trip

[camomanbg]

Anyone have a suggestion for a fishing guide for late July in the areas of either Talkeetna, Anchorage, or Seward. A friend is heading up there and wants to go out for a day and try to catch some salmon.

[DJ 17]

Alaska is Awesome! We went to Alaska in '05 on our honeymoon and fished the Kenai for a day for Kings.  My wife caught a 60# er.  It was a great fight, with that being said I will not recommend my guide service at all, we were not real happy with their total package. 

 

We did also do a Halibut charter and that captain was outstanding, I would go back to him in a minute. If I can find the info for him I will give it to you.  If I was able to go back I would try the Kasilof or some other river with less of a crowd.  I was happy to be fishing the Kenai but I would have liked it more if it weren't so crowded where we were.  I would also look into fishing for silvers (coho's) they catch more of them and they fight like hell!

 

Halibut charter was out of Nilnilchik.  They launch the boats with log skidders due to the 40+ foot tide!

[hawkeye625]

http://www.aktroutfitters.com/

 

We took a float trip with them back in 2002 and it was awesome.  It's not cheap, but how often do you get to Alaska?  They are located at coopers landing which is between Anchorage and Seward.  The village of Talkeetna also has a few guides that will do drop off trips, we did a day on clear creek unguided, but was well worth the $$ to get away from the crowd.  You won't have too much trouble finding salmon out there.

[fishhard23]

There are guides everywhere on the Kenai Peninsula. Silvers are real fun, and the reds are probably in their peak run during late july. A fly out charter is definitely worth the price it's so much more than just fishing. We saw a few bull moose, a few big grizzlies, flew over a few glaciers up close, and saw more spawning fish from the air than you can imagine. If money is an issue, someone with a little fishing knowledge and the ability to ask a guy in a tackle shop a few questions can do extremely well without a guide at all. Alaska is an awesome place, simple as that. 

[High Point]

Head to the Kenai peninsula. Reds should still be around. Nothing to catch fifty to a hundred fish a day. I use to fish where the Kenai and Russian river meet. Some of the most impressive fishing in the world. Probably get to see a bear or two there also.

[woody 184]

I second ak outfitters. We were up there in 2004 and we had an incredible experience with them both fishing and lodging and super friendly people. We fished both the lower and upper Kenai river and I would go back in a heartbeat to Coopers Landing. We also did a 7 day cruise of the inside passage after fishing and we fished for halibut out of Juneau, Ak and that was a great experience also... Woody

[MooseKnuckle VI]

Did a cruise in Alaska for my honeymoon a few years back. AWESOME!!! Not cheap, but worth every penny. My cousin used to live there so him, me and my wife did an "8 hour charter for halibut". Guy's boat could fish 6 people, but the other group bailed out. He never charged us any more to cover the costs, AND he gave us his combined species trip. We trolled for silvers for awhile, then spent many hours slamming halibut, my wife caught a huge ling cod but they weren't in season yet. We caught some "yelloweye" (some type of snapper I think) and then a bunch of "rockfish" (giant seabass to us easteners). Saw a ton of eagles, seals and other wild stuff. A giant blue whale breached not more than 25 feet from the boat while we were at anchor fishing for halibut. Captain started to get a little worried, this thing was literally big enough to flip our boat over. It was funny because once on the cruise ship, people were paying tons of $ to go see whales, and we did that, plus all the fishing for $200/person!! Our trip ended up being 14 hours rather than 8. Then him and his mate cleaned all our fish, and that took a looooong time. All said and done till we got the fish cleaned and vacuum sealed it all, it was just over 24 hours! Awesome trip and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'll be damned if I can remember the captains name. I remember he was from wisconsin though. We fished out of Seward. If you want to catch the giant halibut, go to Homer. 

[King Davy]

I fish the Kenai a lot as a DIY'er, but I can offer Mark Glassmaker. Fished with him not for Kings, but that's his speciality. He's in Soldotna, and has several guides and boats in his operation. They fish the Kenai, and the Kasilof. One thing to understand, they can shut down the Kenai and the Kasilof at a moments notice for King Salmon fishing if the counters from the Ocean are showing continued poor migration of fish into the system. His report last week, said the numbers were better then last year, and they get their second run right about now, and they are their bigger fish.

 

They are getting an earlier run of Sockeyes , and plenty of them, and the trout fishing is off the hook right now mid river.

 

Mark's number is 800-622-1177. Mark is about a two hour ride from Anchorage down the Sterling Highway, and then only about 45 min to an hour to Homer. Many rivers to fish for trout and salmon down the Seward, and Sterling highways.

 

There are a lot of bears in and around the Russian ...if they stop to fish there. And since they see a lot of anglers they aren't afraid of humans very much which isn't a good thing, so tell  your friend if they go be careful..

Edited July 18, 2014 by King Davy

[Just Fishin']

All good info above. I did a 7 day fishing school up there and fished with and met a lot of guides. My favorite was Paul Tornow at  http://alaskasanglingaddiction.com/ and will definitely fish with him when I go back up there. Super knowledgeable, skilled at several types of fishing and passionate about what he does. I cant believe how sincerely happy he was every time we hooked up. Loves what he does and it shows.

[Just Fishin']

One more thing, most of them have access to each type of fishing and if they cant do it, they know someone good who does. Fly out, Kenai trolling, upper Kenai fly, Cook Inlet halibut, etc. Same basic program everywhere on the Kenai, they do it all.

[panfisher]

Great replies on this thread......    Thanx! Will have to start planning a trip for next year. The info given from everybody will be enough to get the ball rolling for guides and DIY exploration....