Alaska - Halibut / Salmon guide recommendations

So I just turned 40 and my wife told me to book a trip to Alaska for Halibut / Salmon / whatever. I figure people here might have some good recommendations, so let em fly!

Thanks in advance!

I’ve made about 25 trips to AK to fish. On about half of them, depending on the time of year/regulations, we’d stop at Sitka on the way home. Fish there 1 1/2 - 3 days or so. If you pick well, it can have Salmon and Halibut on a very short run out, with both species being in close proximity. Max fishing time, making a 1/2 day charter a reasonable possibility, if you can fine one. We found boats that served the Cruise Ships, and booked trips for 1/2 days around them. Been some years ago, so might take some digging around as the two we last used went to lodge based 2-4 day packages.

Was not unusual to really do well there, after a trip to a more famous river. What ever you decide, hitting multiple areas can be a good idea as runs of Salmon vary. Halibut tended to be readily available.

Mike B said:

So I just turned 40 and my wife told me to book a trip to Alaska for Halibut / Salmon / whatever. I figure people here might have some good recommendations, so let em fly!

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Mike I use Alaskan widespread fishing located in Soldotna AK. Reubin and Mindy Payne are the owner operators of this company. If you would like references I can give you about 15 right of the top of my head. We had 6 of us in our party this August and brought 925 lbs of halibut and sockeye salmon home with us. I will personally recommend them as I have fished with them for the last 5 years.

Fly to Anchorage.

Drive too Seward.

Stay at the New Seward Hotel.
https://www.hotelsewardalaska.com

If you want to Ocean Fish https://www.millerslandingak.com

If you want to river fish and/or lake fish call http://chugachbackcountryfishing.com

If you want to go remote https://orcaislandcabins.com

Shoot me a PM if you have any questions...

Mike B said:

So I just turned 40 and my wife told me to book a trip to Alaska for Halibut / Salmon / whatever. I figure people here might have some good recommendations, so let em fly!

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Contact the good folks at Alaska West Air. They can fix you up with everything from lodging to fly in day trips for salmon. Some of the best silver salmon fishing I ever did. You can start by checking out their web site and take it from there. However you want to customize. Best of luck on your Alaskan adventure.

Some questions to clarify if you would.

Are you looking to bring back meat? Gear fishing or fly fishing? Remote experience or five star service?

Depending on the answers I can either give you a recommendation or give you another Alaska source of information.

It can be a great place to fish, you are a lucky man!

There's a lot of variables here. Timing is the big one. Salmon run at different times depending on the species and area. Halibut are generally best in the shallower waters in the summer, June through August. May and September may still be OK. Realize a lot of areas now allow only one large halibut and one small one, and salmon, depending on the species has been up and down the past few years.

Mekaniks has some solid info, but I'll throw out one more.

Shane with Driftwood Charters out of Homer trolls for king (chinook) salmon in the winter and spring and in the summer switches more to halibut/rockfish. Show up in May or maybe early June and you could possibly do a split charter. Worth a chat. Shane knows his business and works hard to get you fish. http://driftwoodcharters.com/13locationmap.html

Mort Hill said:

Contact the good folks at Alaska West Air. They can fix you up with everything from lodging to fly in day trips for salmon. Some of the best silver salmon fishing I ever did. You can start by checking out their web site and take it from there. However you want to customize. Best of luck on your Alaskan adventure.

Click to expand...

I second this recommendation. I used to run the nitrogen complex about ten minutes from their float base. They are exceptionally good operators. Best of all, they’re safe.

I agree with all comments about what kind of experience you are looking for. Run timing is also very very critical. I can only speak for fishing the Kenai Peninsula area. Good King salmon fishing on the Kenai Peninsula is long gone but there are other great options. Sockeye salmon fishing most years still good with the last week of July and first week of August being peak times on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers. Silver salmon should be pretty good from mid August thru end of September on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers. Every even numbered year the pinks pour into this two rivers also and are a ton of fun for catch and release. Halibut is good from about 3rd week of May til about first week of September. I would also agree on Alaska West Air. I do one day of fishing with them each year while I’m up in Alaska it’s usually on the Kustatan or Big River Lake for silvers. Reubin and Mindy Payne of Alaskan Widespread Fishing can handle any of your needs or wants for fishing and can set you up a complete package for as many or as few days as you would like. I will personally recommend them. That’s who I use and will always use. FYI. I do not get any discounts or benefits from recommending them. I’m just one satisfied client five years and counting.

King fishing on the Kenai has begun to pick up again, but my buddies typically fish outside guide hours and high grade the run (only fish on high count days). I highly recommend Mark Tuter for Kenai river fishing. One of the longest running guides on the river. I believe he was the first to put a willie’s on the river. Excellent fisherman and super guy.

Some great options mentioned above. You might also look at Alaska Sportfishing Expeditions out of Ketchikan. I have fished with them 8-10x over the past 15 years. They have 3 different set-ups to choose from... Cedars "lodge" is in town if you want charters for Salomon/Halibut/rockfish etc.(they can also set you up if you want some river fishing for various species) ... Clover Pass is a bit farther out of town, you can still get a charter here, but also can go DIY for your fish if so inclined. Lastly is Silverking Lodge which is on an island, the fishing here is all DIY/self-guided. They provide all the gear... all you do is fish. I have fished out of all three and had good experiences at all.
As has been stated by others the runs for the various Salmon species occur at different times with some overlap. Determine your target species and book the appropriate dates to increase your odds. Luck to you!

Thanks is for all info, I’m I Spain with the family and will really dig into this when I get back home this weekend!

Chukar said:

Some questions to clarify if you would.

Are you looking to bring back meat? Gear fishing or fly fishing? Remote experience or five star service?

Depending on the answers I can either give you a recommendation or give you another Alaska source of information.

It can be a great place to fish, you are a lucky man!

Click to expand...

I would like to bring / ship meat back to TX.

I’m good either way, I was wondering if maybe a day or two for halibut and then a couple days fly fishing somewhere.

At this point I’m not sure who will be with me, so would be happy with about any level of comfort, just not sleeping on rocks! Hoping I can get a few buddies to go with me, but haven’t started asking around.

Mike B said:

I would like to bring / ship meat back to TX.

I’m good either way, I was wondering if maybe a day or two for halibut and then a couple days fly fishing somewhere.

At this point I’m not sure who will be with me, so would be happy with about any level of comfort, just not sleeping on rocks! Hoping I can get a few buddies to go with me, but haven’t started asking around.

Click to expand...

Shipping your catch back is no problem. We Tanners in Soldotna and they always do pretty good job. They will vacuum pack and freeze and pack in airline approved boxes. Pick up the morning of departure and check it in just like luggage. It usually takes me around 24 hours to get home from the time I pick up my fish and always has been good. If interested just message me and will give the contact info for Reubin and Mindy.

Is the king salmon in the Kenai river still artificial bait only?

Mike B said:

I would like to bring / ship meat back to TX.

I’m good either way, I was wondering if maybe a day or two for halibut and then a couple days fly fishing somewhere.

At this point I’m not sure who will be with me, so would be happy with about any level of comfort, just not sleeping on rocks! Hoping I can get a few buddies to go with me, but haven’t started asking around.

Click to expand...

Hopefully you are having a great time in Spain with the rain on the plain!

I will PM a message with my small thoughts.

Do you know how to run a boat on the saltwater? If so, I would book a self guided lodge/boat rental in Southeast. That's what I do and I live in Alaska. I've come to the conclusion that its just not worth buying an ocean boat.
You can PM for a referral if interested however there are other options besides where I go.

If not, there is plenty of good advice posted above.

If you are fishing out of Kenai/Soldotna please ship your meat home. The folks on K-Beach road do a great job. When you check it in as baggage on our small planes out of Kenai, you fill the baggage compartment and non-fish baggage gets bumped. Locals are not impressed when this happens!!!!

Fly fishing silvers in non-glacial water is incredible. The like lightly dressed silver flash flies with a bit of red or pink in them. Sight casting, quarter upstream, mend, and twitch the fly as it drops down to the fish. Alaska West has a couple of non-glacial fly-in streams that are great. My favorite is over by Tyonek.

Milo said:

Do you know how to run a boat on the saltwater? If so, I would book a self guided lodge/boat rental in Southeast. That's what I do and I live in Alaska. I've come to the conclusion that its just not worth buying an ocean boat.
You can PM for a referral if interested however there are other options besides where I go.

If not, there is plenty of good advice posted above.

Click to expand...

Good advice! Also lots of options in SE AK

Timing is everything for salmon! Sometimes the silvers are what to go after depending on the particular water and sometimes the reds (sockeyes). If you don't mind "lip snagging" with a fly, then sockeyes are great on light-medium fly tackle if they are fresh from the salt water. Good table fare as well. Sometimes you can combine halibut with salmon in same trip and sometimes not- just depends.