# Alaska fishing. Big lake/Anchorage-homer



## kyles2 (Apr 4, 2005)

Will be going to alaska for a 2nd time july 4th-11th. Last time I was there I had locals to take me. This year was kind of a last minute planned trip so I dont want to be a pain. I'm planning on a halibut and salmon charter. My 2 questions are which salmon should I target for this time period. And Any recommendations on a charter service to take ? Thanks in advanve


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Reds and pinks will be in then,. I use to charter with crystal sea out of homer, but I hear the Captain died and new owners have the business. He was a top notch captain and didn't set up on chicken holes filling limits, he worked hard to get you big butt. The new captain is capt. Ron with crystal sea charters, sorry I cant be more help.


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## Huntinman225 (Sep 24, 2005)

I was in Homer back in 2016, I'll be back August 2019 - Inlet Charters has the best price for a full day of fishing (Salmon/Halibut). Just my $0.02 - Enjoy your time. If you stay in Homer, you can fish the inlet pool at high tide, just need your pole.


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## Abel (Feb 14, 2003)

Red fishing is dismal in most places up here right now, Russian River has the best run and it's only half it's normal numbers. On the Kenai Peninsula Josh on the Huntress is the best in the area. If you want a Kenai float call Kenai Cache and talk to Collin, amazing guy. That time of year in the salt you'll be seeing Kings and silvers in most places. Your best silver fishing on the mainland will be in Seward with Andy of Grey Light Charters. Just pulled our first silver of the season last night and kings are on fire here in Kodiak right now.


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## kyles2 (Apr 4, 2005)

Thanks everybody for your input. Looks like I will only be traveling to seward. I talked my uncle into going with me he lives there but is half paralyzed from a stroke so I want to travel a little less for less stress on him from traveling. So any input in the seward area would be appreciated. I'm going to see if grey light charters does a combo charter. Thanks everyone


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Abel said:


> Red fishing is dismal in most places up here right now, Russian River has the best run and it's only half it's normal numbers. On the Kenai Peninsula Josh on the Huntress is the best in the area. If you want a Kenai float call Kenai Cache and talk to Collin, amazing guy. That time of year in the salt you'll be seeing Kings and silvers in most places. Your best silver fishing on the mainland will be in Seward with Andy of Grey Light Charters. Just pulled our first silver of the season last night and kings are on fire here in Kodiak right now.


Its extremely sad to hear about the dismal salmon runs on the kenai now. 35 years ago it was a spectacular fishery. I hear the copper river isn't producing like it once did also.


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## MallardMaster (Nov 17, 2003)

Any word on when they are going to close the King Season? My buddy received a call from our outfitter saying that we might not be able to fish for kings when we are there next week. Perhaps that is only a rule when fishing on the rivers. Regardless, I am looking forward to my adventure next week!


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## Abel (Feb 14, 2003)

early run Kenai kings are closed....Late run kings will open up to No bait, but odds are will go to No kill quickly. Here's the link for the latest updates with regulations changes. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/EONR/

The Kenai king has been loved to death, that fishery should be shut down for at least a life cycle..

Copper river has been open and closed for reds, I don't keep a real tight eye on it, but it's not getting the reds like it normally does.


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## dhosera (Jul 11, 2006)

Seward is the place to do a Multi-Species bottom fish jigging charter. Halibut, Rockfish and Lings....... Ninilchik Charters runs a boat out of Seward. They are good people and have great success. Seward Brewing has a great red ale & decent food. The sea life center and a hike to Exit Glacier should be on your list of things to do in Seward.


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## MallardMaster (Nov 17, 2003)

I just got back from my trip to McDougall Lodge on the Yetna River, and boy did we have a great time. As I previously stated, King Salmon season was closed by the DNR the week before we got there. That made the fishing pretty difficult. The rivers were absolutely stacked with Kings, but we were not allowed to target or catch/release any of these fish, per the law. That was very frustrating to say the least. However, you just have to smile and roll with things. We spent a lot of our time fishing for rainbow trout. We did manage to catch a few of them. The highlight for me was learning how to fly fish and catching a trout on a fly. That was an awesome experience. We went for a boat ride up the Skwetna River as well to check things out there. Everything was great until Sunday. Sunday we woke up to rain that didn't stop until after we left. The Yetna River rose almost 4' in our last 3 days there and actually ended up flooding us out of the cabin we were staying in. We had to relocate to the lodge. It was quite the time having to walk around camp in your waders to go to the mess hall, shower room or even the rest room. Again, it was a challenge that we had but we just chose to smile and have fun. We didn't end up fishing for a couple of those days since everything was blown out. We did manage to find a back back of the river that was flooded holding a lot of pike. We through some frogs at them all morning but was only able to hook up on one of the strikes. Obviously these outfits are not set up to fish for pike, so they need to get some updated equipment. It was a weird concept though having to kill that pike due to them being an invasive species. 
Overall, I would give McDougall Lodge 4 stars. I could not have imagined a better place to stay at and guides that were fun to hang around with. I do look forward to the time when I can go back and enjoy things again.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Beautiful country over there. I lived not far from moose creek and kroto creek in the head waters off the Petersville rd.
I loved catcing kings at the mouth of moose and kroto on the yetna. Did you get to see Denali,it was probably socked in.


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## MallardMaster (Nov 17, 2003)

During the first part of the week we actually were able to see McKinley off in the distance. However when the low ceilings came, it was out of the question.


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## cmark (Mar 27, 2008)

How far did you travel up the Squentna? I spent the week after the 4th on the Talachulitna which has the furthest north lodge in the Susitna Drainage. I see we had the same weather. And the Tal has been catch and release for years. But it was frustrating not being able to target. Plant of bows, dollies and grayling though. When we lefts Rusts flying service on Sunday morning, they just cancelled a 15 person wildlife viewing tour. Then our pilot says to us 2 Let's saddle up! It was pretty lumpy over Cooks, but once we got over the mainland to the west, it smoothed out quite a bit. It was too low of a ceiling to see Denali, but the Tordrillos up close and personal are pretty damned impressive.


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