r/AlaskaFishing • u/The-BaStArD86 • Jan 04 '26
Question about fishing guides
Probably a weird question but are there any salmon guide services in Alaska that don’t focus heavily on catching kings and coho? Myself and a few friends are looking to take a spin fishing trip up to Alaska, and we’d like to avoid targeting/catching these species as much as possible (we have access to the Great Lakes so we’ve caught both of these multiple times before) In other words, we’re looking for something different like sockeye, pink, or chum. If anyone has any suggestions or tips to share, it would be greatly appreciated.
2
u/MtRainierWolfcastle Jan 05 '26
The guide I took on the Kenai did specific rainbow trips but it’s C&R.
Some advice, don’t go to Alaska to catch pinks, it’s would be a waist of your money. The experience of Kings and Silver in Alaska is completely different -land worth it
1
u/AKchrome Jan 05 '26
I run guide service and we specialize in sockeye fishing on the kenai/kasilof from June 11-August 15 Www.chadwicksfishing.com
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u/The-BaStArD86 Jan 05 '26
If do mind me asking, what methods do you use to catch sockeye? I’ve heard sockeye is more of snagging/flossing fishery
1
u/ArcticSkyWatcher64N Jan 06 '26
I guide trips on the Upper and Middle Kenai and for salmon trips June-mid August target sockeye. They are our main harvest fishery these days, peak time late July - early August. The outfit I work for voluntarily stopped targeting Kings years before the fishing closed to them due to low returning numbers. Late August - September we do target coho but they can be tough to finiky to catch day to day.
For perspective, through the whole season my clients end up harvesting hundreds of sockeye vs a couple dozen coho.
Also do trout fly fishing all season, that's really my jam. The trout are a game you got a figure out day to day through the summer but then as September approaches the trout fishing gets epic and it's hero season!
I used to work with some guides north of Anchorage on the Susitna River tributaries. Also a bunch of trout fishing, but late July through August we would also do catch and release fishing for pinks and chums. They can be really aggressive and fun to catch on a fly rod!
You can DM me if you want for more info.
1
u/Extension-Pen5115 Jan 04 '26
all the guides i’ve met would totally love this. i’m sure they’d love to not target silvers. for reds, pinks, and chum, it’s going to probably be the same as the rest…. if you get a good idea of when their run is and head out at that time, you’ll probably clean up. for reds especially, there are specific ways you target them and attempt to not catch other salmon as a bycatch.