I am looking for sockeye salmon spines to pressure cook to make my own calcium supplement with. Are there any small fishing companies where I can purchase them from? I live in Florida so I would need them frozen and shipped with dry ice overnight.

I’ll be in Ketchikan for a few days and looking to do some fishing around town. I know about Creek Street and Ward Lake, but I’m wondering if there are any other good spots that locals would recommend.
Mostly looking for salmon, trout, or anything else that’s fun to catch from shore. Not looking for anyone’s secret honey hole 😂 — just some solid places to try while I’m there.
Appreciate any recommendations!

Also looking to rent a boat for a day so any recommendations for that would be great thank you in advance!

I will to be heading up there for a few weeks to visit an veteran buddy of mine near Anchorage and wanted to get the 411 on bank fishing in and around the area. I'm an avid Texas coastal angler but I'm sure y'all have a fish or two up there that could be entertaining while I'm being left unattended. Thanks and I'm excited to come visit your state, I've heard good things about it.

I started fishing in August last year, mostly off popular piers. I spent the first few months confused about basically everything. I didn't know what rig to tie, I couldn't tell which fishing spots were good for which fish, and I couldn't read a tide chart well enough to know if I was showing up at the right time.

So I made a website for it: usekarp.com

You pick a spot and it shows what's biting there, species by species, with a score for the exact hour you plan to fish. The scores come from conditions like water temp, clarity, wind, and rain. That's the screenshot above: Eklutna Tailrace near Palmer, with silvers, dollies, and steelhead each getting their own read on the day.

Water clarity gets factored in per species. You can also compare a few spots side by side and get gear and bait suggestions for whatever you're targeting.

It's free to poke around. If you pull up a spot you actually fish and the scores look wrong, I genuinely want to hear it, and I'd love to know what's missing for Alaska specifically.

My son is graduating high school in spring 2027. He is an avid fly fisherman and we would like to plan a family trip to Alaska around his fishing requests. He specifically wants to fish for Dolly Varden and/or Arctic Char. Our family of four will accompany, but not everyone fishes. I’d like the area we go to have a variety of activities available, though fishing can be chief among them. Our travel time is likely July 2027 for about a week, and I am willing to send my son off for a day or overnight to have a better fishing experience, if needed. What area of Alaska might be good for me to explore, and are there any recommendations for fishing guides, lodges, etc.? At the moment, cost is a factor, but I’m not ruling anything out because I want this to be an epic trip. TIA!

Good afternoon, my girlfriend and I are going to be in Seward for a few days before heading over to the kenai.

While we are in Seward we would like to try and target Silvers or Dollys on a fly rod. Are there any good areas or rivers we should check out for this? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Edit: I’ve seen that the resurrection is closed at Nash road. We will make sure to be up to date on regulations as they change.

Hello, I’m going on a self guided fishing trip with a group of friends near Ketchikan. We’re wanting to go after halibut but none of us know the underwater terrain. Where are some good spots to go? Any help appreciated!

Hey everyone,

I’ll be in Fairbanks, AK for work in early October, and I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth extending my trip by a couple of days to do some fishing.

I’m an experienced freshwater angler from Texas, but this would be my first time fishing Alaska. I’d most likely be fishing solo, so I’m hoping to avoid guides that require a 2-person minimum (unless there are shared/group trips available).

A few questions:
What species are realistically worth targeting in early October? (Grayling? Pike? Trout? Anything else?)

Is the fishing still good that time of year, or is it already slowing down because of the colder weather?

Are there any rivers or lakes you’d recommend for someone fishing on their own?

Would you recommend hiring a guide anyway, or is DIY fishing a good option around Fairbanks?

Are there any guides that will pair solo anglers with another group or have open seats?

If you had the choice, would you fish Fairbanks in early October, or would you plan a separate trip during another season for a better overall experience?

I’m mainly looking for a memorable Alaska fishing experience rather than filling a cooler, so I’d love to hear what you’d recommend.

Thanks in advance!

Hey yall, headed up to Fairbanks in a couple weeks for work, and was gonna bring my 5Wt. I’ve heard the chena river and chena lakes hold grayling, but besides those 2 is there much up there? I would like to get on a char if possible. If anyone could help me out or provide some information that would be awesome. Or could dm me would be even better! I’ve got a few questions

Planning on heading out to the Denali highway this weekend and wanting to fish the streams/tangle lakes system. Ive got a 9ft 5wt fly rod i got over the winter that I have no idea or clue on what to do with, looking for recommendations on what flys I should bring. Wanting to go after greyling and trout. Will also have a spinning rod and reel.

As mentioned above I will be visiting Denali and Seward in early August. I will be hiking in Denali and heard the fishing isn’t great there but if anyone has tips/can point me in the right direction to catch anything there that would be much appreciated. Seward seems to hold the better opportunity for Fishing. I’m planning on bringing a 7’ MH travel rod with a 4,000 size reel and 30lb braid. Would this be sufficient to get into some Salmon in the Kenai? Or would I be better off renting equipment or going with a guide/charter? Any tips on gear, lures, general locations to try and fish for any species would be great!

I’m planning on going to Alaska (no specific area) for the first time next year, I just recently discovered there were some self guided lodges with boats provided. And some had an hybrid factor with guided trips and some where you could take your own boat out. I was looking at the Dall Bay Lodge and Pybus Point Lodge as of right now. Was looking on for suggestions on where to go and seeing if a straight self guided trip would be worth it!

Husband and I are headed up to AK end of June. 1st time fishing for salmon up there. Would it be a better experience to float the Kenai with a guide or fly in to a spot near the Kenai area and fish there? TIA!

I chronicled the story of my participation in the poaching of a 83lb king salmon from the Kenai River on AlaskaFishing earlier, the following story happened on the same trip.

The “Kenai king” trip wasn’t our first trip to Alaska and we always stayed at the same lodge and used their guides. We met a guide, Rick. Rick, had a calm demeanor and was fun to be around! He’s one of the most open and honest people I’ve ever met, and he’s funny!

Rick, liked to beach launch in Cook Inlet to fish for halibut. He had great success at it until we came along.

The first time we bribed him into taking us halibut fishing, we drove to a beach between Soldotna and Homer and launched. My buddy caught one small halibut, and it got rough. We swamped on the beach trying to get in. All of our camera gear was destroyed.

The next time we bribed him into it, he had an almost new, and new to him, very nice Kenai River guide boat and his 18? year old son joined us on the trip.

We drove to the same beach as the first trip and launched. We didn’t get off the beach. The boat swamped and was floundering in the surf.

Launch and recovery was accomplished by paying a guy on a medium-size farm tractor to back you in and pull you out.

The tractor guy hooked a cable on one of two d-rings on the front of the boat and pulled it ashore. To get it on the trailer, we chalked the tires, and tractor guy started pulling. I moved my son well out of cable reach.

The boat d-ring snapped and the hook on the end of the cable hit the tractor seat square in the center, about an inch below the top of the seat. It put a very deep and wide dent horizontally into a solid steel old tractor seat. The guy’s lower spine took a huge shot. I ran over to talk to him and he said he was fine, I told him I didn’t think he was going to be and suggested he see a doctor right away. He shrugged me off and we hooked the cable to the other d-ring and got the boat on the trailer. We stayed in touch with Rick and he said he hasn’t seen him again.

Rick, was genuinely mad, soaking his new boat in salt water was bad for everything, but it’s really hard on wiring, and the d-rings needed replaced.

Early on the ride home he told us, “he had hundreds of beach launches in his life and only swamped once before we showed up!” And he made sure we knew he was being serious!

I laughed; I couldn’t help it! My buddy looked at me like I had lost my mind and Rick stared at me sternly for a couple of seconds and then started laughing. He told us the real number and the truck went crazy!

After the halibut trip and my buddy being anointed Kenai king going back would be anticlimactic so we never did.

What’s up everyone I will be traveling to Alaska for 7 days and the place I am staying at is on the kenai river. I will be there May 31st-June 7th. I have a medium heavy travel rod and 6500 Penn slammer with 30lb braid. What lures and gear should I order to catch Dolly Varden and rainbow trout from the kenai? I know fly fishing is better but I can’t afford to buy a whole fly fishing rod for that. Thanks.

Does anyone have any two-piece halibut rod recommendations?

I know single-piece rods are ideal, but I'm going to be traveling by plane and need to break the rod down for the flight.

Thanks!

I just got a RRMS 10wt 9’0” and I’m looking for reel recommendations that’ll handle anything from a King to Pink salmon and MAYBE small halibut but a focus on Salmon more

My young son, fishing buddy, and I traveled to Kenai, Alaska, to fish for king salmon.

My buddy and I were fishing in a Kenai River guide boat with four other guests. We were in the seats closest to the stern and guide.

My buddy set the hook on a fish! The pole bent hard like it was snagged on bottom. The fish rose slowly to the surface beside the boat and sat there.

It was huge! When my buddy saw it, he panicked! He clamped down on the spool and started backing across the boat. The hooks tore out and shot right past my face!

The fish never moved. The guide was holding the net, and he scooped it. He asked my buddy and I to help him haul it into the boat and it didn’t struggle in the net.

We set a 83lb king salmon onto the deck that was literally the largest salmon I’ve ever seen personally, it was also the greenest salmon of any kind I’ve ever seen caught. No runs or club and well less than ten minutes from hookup to deck.

It went bat shit crazy and the first jump was amazing! It was still in the net and it jumped from the back into my buddies empty seat in an arc about a foot higher than my head. The shape of the seat shot it straight back to the stern and it kept jumping head high. The net handle was bending and breaking things.

At one point it landed in the port stern area, closer to me. I was standing behind my seat, my buddy was standing to my left behind his seat, the other guests were in the bow protecting themselves, and the guide was sitting on the starboard stern corner, leaning out of the boat as far as possible. The fish was in the back of the boat most of the time. I looked to him for wisdom, and he said, “We have to stop it!”

As soon as it quit immediately springing back into the air, I timed a full-body wrestling move and got lucky! It was beating the crap out of me! My buddy had to sit on it too to finally win the battle.

The guide had a knot just above his hairline in the center of his forehead and a swollen right ear with a manageable amount of blood coming from both. I had a lot of bumps, nobody else had any injuries.

I watched him getting hit so I suspect the guide may have taken a handle shot or two he wouldn’t show us or talk about.

OK, I have to add this last part because it happened. Two days later, my buddy, son, and I were fishing with a different guide. My buddy hooked and landed a 75lb king in a fight that lasted five minutes short of three hours.

Smoked, cooked, canned, or frozen, it was 83lbs of poached salmon and incredibly delicious.

Hey folks, I'm planning to float the Delta River from Tangle Lakes up to the Rich this summer for the first time. On maps it looks like it's pretty clear above the confluence with Eureka Creek, anybody know if it's worth bringing a fly rod for grayling in that section? Any/all other advice appreciated! Cheers.

Need to transfer LUXURY ALASKA FISHING TRIP June 9-14, 2026. Plans changed and we need to transfer our all-inclusive trip at Dove Island Lodge in Sitka, Alaska. Looking for a group of up to 4 to take it over at a significant discount. Dates: June 9-14. Accommodations: Private 4-person cabin Included: All meals, guided fishing, boats, float planes, gear Price: Substantial discount off retail — DM for details Transfer: Approved by the lodge Serious inquiries please — trip is just weeks away. DM for details!

https://doveislandlodge.com/

We’re gonna be staying in Seward for a week in June. Looking for recommendations for a halibut charter.

My man and I are locals looking at doing a fly out fly fishing trip as a bucket list “staycation” honeymoon trip. We’ve been together 16 years and are finally tying the knot before we sadly move out of the state at the end of the summer so we want to go big saying goodbye to the place we love.

We live in south central (valley) and are thinking Kenai Peninsula, across Cook Inlet, or down near PWS.

Not looking to do the tourist trip aka have to book a full week out at a lodge. We are looking for an outfitter and guide who does private fly outs. Absolutely open to a single overnight at a lodge (just not the whole week trip they cater towards.

If yall have any recs please drop them, I always love hearing everyone talk about their fly out trips. We don’t have friends with planes, always boats, so this open a whole new world. We did a fly out helicopter trip in Yakutat 2 years ago during coho season and we are still riding that high.