Fishing in Alaska

Imagine yourself in Alaska, far from the urban civilisation, standing in a clear and crispy river which is filled with trophy salmon and arctic char. By a short distance from the rivers edge is your comfortable fishing lodge... All around you is just the magic wilderness of Alaska and nothing interrupt the view! It's a picture of a magic fly fishing vacation! Alaska offers also the most incredible fishing for salmon in the world, travel there and convince you!

Salmon species

Fishing in Alaska is very easy because you have just to buy a license and head to a wild stream or deep lake. Salmon is the name of the game in Alaska. Every river and stream on the Kenai Peninsula which is connected to sea supports some or all of the salmon species found in Alaska.

Chinook salmon-King

Alaska's state Fish, the Chinook salmon, is perhaps the most highly prized sport fish in Alaska and is extensively fished by anglers in the Southeast and Cook Inlet areas. It is abundant from southeast to Yukon River. Major populations return to Yukon, Kuskokwim, Nushagak, Susitna, Kenai, Copper, Alsek, Taku, and Stikine rivers. Important runs also occur in many smaller streams. It is the largest of all Pacific salmon, with weights of individual fish commonly exceeding 30 pounds. The largest on record is a 126-pound Chinook salmon taken in a fish trap near Petersburg, Alaska in 1949. The largest sport-caught Chinook salmon was a 97-pound fish taken in the Kenai River in 1986.

Red salmon-Sockeye

The Alaskans love to eat red salmon, but the sockeye is the hardest catch of the state's five species of salmon. The other name for red salmon is blue back.

Silver salmon-Coho

Silver salmons are fighting fish. Their acrobatics and reel-humming runs make stream and saltwater fishing a thrill.

Pink salmon-Humpback

Pink salmons are fun to catch as they return in immense schools. This fish is important for the state's canning industry. This specie of salmon is nicknamed "humpback" or "humpy" because of the distinctive hump that the male develops at spawning time.

Chum salmon-Dog

Chum salmons are colorful and a little fearsome with the hooked snout and large teeth of the males. This salmons often travel with pink and silver salmons.

Trout & fly fishing

Many rivers and lakes are excellent for fly fishing, roaming by many tasty fishes. The trout is a common fish in Alaska. You can find there a few trout species, such as:

Rainbow trout

Rainbow trout is a big part of Alaska's fishing culture. Rainbow trouts, with their dark backs, reddish-pink side bands and black speckles, attract anglers from around the world, especially to southwestern Alaska. The clear streams and lakes of the Bristol Bay area produce trout up to 42 pounds!

Steelhead trout

Steelhead trout is perfect for anglers pursing freshwater fish with saltwater instincts. Steelhead trouts are like rainbows and they spend part of their lives in the ocean. Steelheads are more streamlined and have a more silvery sheen than freshwater-only rainbows.

Cutthroat trout

Cutthroat trout is very aggressive, as you can guess from their name. Cutthroats range from lower Southeast Alaska to Prince William Sound in South-central. Landlocked cutthroats may reach 24 inches but the sea-run fish reach just 18 inches. Adults have a vivid red slash mark under the jaw.

Brook trout

They are found in Southeast area of Alaska. The Brook trout is also called Brook char.

Lake trout

Lake trout, in reality a variety of char, lives in Alaska's cold lakes. Lake trout is Alaska's largest freshwater fish. They live in deep lowland lakes in the Arctic coastal plain, in clear mountain lakes of the north and in glacial lakes on the north side of Chugach Range and on Kenai Peninsula.

Other fishes in Alaska, which can be found close to your Alaskan fishing lodge, are:

Arctic char

The arctic char is the most northerly distributed of char. The arctic char can be found in lakes in Brooks Range, in Kigluaik Mountains, in Kuskokwim Mountains, on the Kenai Peninsula, on Kodiak Island and in a small area of Interior Alaska, near Denali National Park.

Dolly Varden

The colorful Dolly Varden is abundant in all coastal waters of Alaska and main capture of fly fishers. Two basic forms of Dolly Varden occur in Alaska's waters. The southern form ranges from lower Southeast Alaska to the tip of the Aleutian Chain, and the northern form is distributed on the north slope drainages of the Aleutian Range northward along Alaska's coast to the Canada border.

Arctic grayling

The arctic grayling, with its spots, is instantly recognized. The grayling lives in many streams and lakes. It's fun to catch, and its light flesh is very tasty.

Northern pike

Long and aggressive, the northern pike is a fearsome predator of Alaska's waters.

Whitefish

Whitefish are the most common species in the North of Alaska. There are eight species. Whitefish in general are silver-colored with large scales, fleshy dorsal and adipose fins, no teeth.

Lingcod

Lingcod, often considered one of the ugliest fish in the ocean, but also one of the tastiest, is a popular saltwater sport fish usually found in water 30 to 300 feet deep. The lingcod, a type of greenling, can live 25 years and grow to well over 70 pounds!

Salmon shark

Fishers from Gulf of Alaska have caught salmon sharks averaging from 250 to 400 pounds and sometimes weighing over 700 pounds. Heavy tackle is needed for these edible sharks.

Burbot

The burbot is an ugly fish, but its mild white flesh is considered very tasty. The burbot is the only fresh-water cod in North America, living in cold waters north of 40 degrees latitude.