Kenai sockeye counts, as well as Kasilof sockeye counts forecast, are helpful tools for planning your Alaska trip. Whether sockeye fishing in Alaska is the primary focus of your trip or just a one-day excursion of a larger-scaled adventure, timing makes all the difference. Fortunately, the peak of the sockeye salmon run aligns perfectly with the peak of summer, when we see the best weather. Blog by Dallas Voss, Explore Kenai, LLC The decline of Kenai Chinook has paved the way for Kenai sockeye counts to shine. Sockeye now dominate as the preferred salmon to target on the Kenai Peninsula. Th ..read more

Sockeye salmon fishing is an extremely exciting sport. Many anglers consider them the pound-for-pound strongest fish that swims in Alaska. It’s not uncommon for a 7-pound sockeye to make a mockery of the fisherman holding the rod. Imagine the speed and agility of a rainbow trout, ferocity of a coho, doggedness of a chum salmon and gravity-defying moves of a steelhead. Then roll them into one delicious fish, and you’ve got the Alaska sockeye salmon.  Sockeye salmon fishing can be challenging for anglers new to the activity. The predominant technique for catching this species is by flossi ..read more

This Arctic Alaska sheefish story and photos are by Dan Paull Arctic Alaska sheefish or Inconnu (derived from the French word for “unknown thing”) have been a wonder to a lot of anglers looking for something different. I think the wonder is the fact that there is not a lot of places in the world that you can catch sheefish. Additionally, this species lives in places where there aren’t a lot of people. It seems that they live a solitary existence. Sometime between mid-June and early July Alaska sheefish get keyed into topwater presentations. Where the Sheefish Are Looking at their home water ..read more

Article and Photos by Erik Salitan of Talarik Creek Lodge “Fish On!” I yelled out. My 11-year-old son, Lucas, immediately shouted back from across the hole, “Is it a rainbow?”   I answered him that it was not, and he shrugged off the 18-inch Arctic grayling on the end of my line like it was a piece of weed. My wife had sent us fishing that evening to catch some fresh grayling for dinner and our goal was now achieved, with four large, translucent-white-fleshed fish having been plucked from the cold waters of the Newhalen River. The author’s son Lucas with what he calls “a real fish” also ..read more

Written by Joe Jackson photos courtesy of Derek Fergus It’s July 7th, 2003, and the night sky around Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida is suddenly whelmed in fire. The National Air and Space Administration’s Delta II Heavy rocket surges upward, its $400 million payload destined for a mission far, far away. A little over six months later, that payload—a dastardly intelligent rover named Opportunity—will make contact with its destination and proceed to give mankind some of its first true insights into a world beyond our own; the lonely, windswept rock known as Mars. You’re likely scratchi ..read more

Story and photo by George Krumm     My friend, Brad Zweifel, was backbouncing roe and a winged Cheater in the Beaver Creek hole amidst a crowd of boats one July morning in the early 2000s. Backbouncing was new to Brad; I offered advice on technique, and he was executing effectively as I drove the boat and coached him. I saw the initial bite—thump! I said, “Wait.” He waited for a second or two, then the rod tip dipped down again, and stayed slightly bowed. “Hit him!” Brad set the hook. Moments later, we’d drifted out of the pack and I netted the fish. It was a beautiful, tide-fr ..read more

Meet Alaska’s native trout species and the angler who pursued them during a single visit Story by Marian Giannulis Photos by Daniel A. Ritz/@Jacks_Experience_Trading An Arctic Grayling caught by Daniel, a Trout Unlimited volunteer. When one thinks of fishing in Alaska, a few special species typically come to mind: the mighty salmon, door-sized halibut and vividly colored rainbow trout. Fewer people are familiar with all species of trout and char native to Alaska. When Daniel Ritz (tu.org/magazine/author/daniel-ritz/), an angler in pursuit of accomplishing the Western Native Trout Challenge ..read more

by Joe Jackson Photos by Jonathan Farmer Jonathan Farmer with a lovely steelhead from one of his favorite Alaskan rivers.   There’s a vexed sigh from the other end of the phone line, Jonathan Farmer says “This stupid Schlappen is not cooperating.” It doesn’t surprise me at all that Jonathan Farmer, founder and owner of Midnight Sun Custom Flies, is tying as we speak. As a full-time fly designer who produces something on the order of ten dozen flies per week (sometimes more—sometimes much more), it seems he would have time for little else. What does surprise me, though, is that in only p ..read more

Kenai River Fishing blog by Melissa Norris Photos courtesy of Visit Soldotna Kenai River fishing for silvers Kenai River fishing for silvers (AKA coho) salmon is hard to beat in southcentral Alaska. The multitude of river access points, boat launches, lodging, camping, dining, local breweries and more make it an easy fishing destination for Alaskans as well as folks who come to visit from outside Alaska. With a bounty of options, it’s the perfect home base for a Kenai Peninsula-wide experience. Here we are smack dab in the silver season on the Kenai. Coho started to enter the estuary weeks ag ..read more

Eklutna River Salmon Blog by Eric Booton Photos by Tyler Schwab Currently, none of the water from Eklutna Lake is allowed to flow down the Eklutna River. 90% of what would be the river’s flow is used for power generation, and 10% is used for Anchorage drinking water. Eklutna River Salmon: Water for Idlughetnu Two decisions of the past, made with little consultation or consideration, decimated one of Alaska’s wild salmon rivers. For nearly a century, its indigenous stewards and historic subsistence users have been forced to live with this loss. The grief that accompanies loss erodes us in its ..read more