Alaska fishing trip help

In the early stages of planning a trip to Alaska with pops. He brought back a bunch of brochures from a cruise he took a few years back.

Seems like there are many options and destinations, so many my head spins. Kenia peninsula out of Homer or Anchorage, Icy Straits out of Juneau/Hoonah, Kodiak and Afognak Islands, Bristol Bay...

The hope is to target lings, rockfish, halibut, and silver salmon on a 7-10 day trip. I’d like to go with an all inclusive resort, fish with guides at least a few days, and remain in one to two locations for the duration of the trip.

Budget is around $7,000 (at least that’s all I can contribute) for two people. Thinking June, maybe July?

I’m hoping anyone here with experience or knowledge on this stuff can weigh in and help me start to narrow this down a bit. Thanks

Can't believe there's no responses to this...

If you search Alaska on the forum, you'll get a ton of results. There was a recent report from June.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=84382.msg958774#msg958774

My experience is that Kodiak is overrated for the money. Sure, the bears are cool, but I'm not there for the bears. And it's too troublesome to get to.

Stay in the Southeast Alaska region. You can fly direct into either Ketchikan or Juneau. From there, you have a lot of options.

For silvers, June is too early. I would go in July/August. I would also go in an even year, just so I can go after the pinks. If you are fishing for meat, sockeyes are what you are after. May/June is the time for kings. Halibut, lings and rockfish is all the time.

The ling and rockfish up there is phenomenal, but it's not really the target species.

I'd say August, perhaps even late August, if you want to target silvers. June/July is king season - and there hasn't been much of that lately, so I'd go later.

One idea is to book a place in Homer for a few days, for ocean fishing, then Soldotna or Cooper Landing for the remainder. Several good guiding companies on the Kenai. Or if you want to save money you can book a nice motel & wade fish the Kenai on your own. I've caught a lot of trout that way, and plenty of salmon too.

But with that budget, I'd recommend a wilderness float trip, or possibly a lodge. The Fly Shop in Redding has some good lodges & they book floats. You can find plenty more on the Internet. Best Alaska experiences I've had have been on float trips.

I'll be fishing the Kanektok next week, staying in a tent camp. We wanted to float it but couldn't get a good booking. So starting now for 2019 is the right idea. Best trips book in October or even earlier.

Hope this helps.
Bill

If I were to do Alaska trip, I wouldn’t go for salmon.
Our local salmon is just amazing.

I would definitely go after King crab, spot prawn, Pac Halibut.

Thanks for these replies guys. Lots to follow up on and very helpful

Trutta
Check out Alaskanfishing.com. They have two lodges based out of Soldotna and offer a few fishing packages.

I have been using them since 2003 and am heading back next July with 18 more guys

Targeting silvers and getting some salt action in brings a couple options to mind.

Yakutat in September.  Hit the river hard on a DIY float and you will be reward with many silvers.  Take a day or 2 break from the river and hit a charter on the salt for halibut and more silvers.

Kodiak in late August.  Same deal, silvers in the rivers, salt for mixed bag.

-Allen