# Alaskan Fishing Trip



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Thinking of an Alaskan fishing trip next summer. Thinking of Doc Warners Mid August, is it worth it for $3,500 or what is better? Hoping for something a bit more affordable. Thanks in advance for the info.


----------



## EricH (May 3, 2014)

What do you want to fish for? Generally speaking by me August only the silvers are left. 

A do it yourself fishing trip would not be very hard and you could do it for a lot less than $3500. Last week of July thru first week of August would get you into the end of the chums, prime reds and pinks. You can very easily do this by rental car starting in Anchorage. Other options or add ons include an overnight or day trip fly out for pike, trout fishing smaller streams or doing a halibut charter.

I can send you some links if you are interested in going this route.


----------



## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

EricH said:


> What do you want to fish for? Generally speaking by me August only the silvers are left.
> 
> A do it yourself fishing trip would not be very hard and you could do it for a lot less than $3500. Last week of July thru first week of August would get you into the end of the chums, prime reds and pinks. You can very easily do this by rental car starting in Anchorage. Other options or add ons include an overnight or day trip fly out for pike, trout fishing smaller streams or doing a halibut charter.
> 
> I can send you some links if you are interested in going this route.


that would be some info many of us would appreciate


----------



## EricH (May 3, 2014)

I would fly into Anchorage and rent a car. Drive to Hope Alaska and fish the resurrection river for pinks in the clear water. This is a perfect place to perfect "flossing" salmon. About 50% of the locals are a-holes but the ore half will be more than happy to help you learn if only to keep you from screwing everyone else up. Park at the turn off to "downtown" hop the guardrail on the other side of the road and follow the trails to the gravel bar. Once you get the technique down, you will be able to catch them every few casts. I think it is important to learn here so you can see your hook to understand what is going on under the water before you hit the big glacial rivers. When you get sick of pinks head to Bings landing in Sterling AK. You should be I. The thick of the red run and the crowds. Combat fishing is not as bad as it looks and if you are personable, help others, and don't ack like an entitled tourist, you will learn the flow and catch plenty of fish. For Halibut you can do either Seward or Homer. The overnight two limit trips from homer are pretty cool but you will basically be doing only halibut. Seward will offer more variety. I have fished with Tim Bergs and Just in Time charters. If you are military the resort there has great deals. After the saltwater fishing you can hit the kenai again for more reds or drive the parks highway to Fairbanks. Every river you cross will have fishing for salmon and/or trout. You could spend a week doing it. From Fairbanks Rick Gold from Marina Air runs a pike fishing fly out to Minto flats. You can do day trips or overnight. Last but certainly not least, take the Richardson highway back to Anchorage and stop off at Tangle Lakes for world class grayling fishing. This is one of my favorite fishing holes in the entire state. When it is hot, you can catch 100 12" plus grayling per day.


----------



## EricH (May 3, 2014)

Sorry about the errors, did this on my iPad.


----------



## wapitiboy (Feb 17, 2008)

I would suggest visiting Calder Mountain Lodge. I have been there 3 times and believe they have the best outfit for the right price. They focus on self guided but have one boat set for guided trips too. Caught a lot of Halibut, Salmon, ling cod, rock fish. They have become so popular they are almost booked full for 2015 so check there early. 
Mid august should be great for silvers and odd years (2015, 2017...) produce a large run of pinks
Caldermountainlodge.com


----------



## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

wapitiboy said:


> I would suggest visiting Calder Mountain Lodge. I have been there 3 times and believe they have the best outfit for the right price. They focus on self guided but have one boat set for guided trips too. Caught a lot of Halibut, Salmon, ling cod, rock fish. They have become so popular they are almost booked full for 2015 so check there early.
> Mid august should be great for silvers and odd years (2015, 2017...) produce a large run of pinks
> Caldermountainlodge.com


Yup, Calder Mountain Lodge! Bill's an awesome guy and guide. I've been there a few times and they have an awesome lodge, nice boats and good knowledge of the fishing. Here's his number (208) 852-0191
If you want to do a DIY fishing trip, there's plenty of places to go other than the elbow-to-elbow fishing on the Kenai. Look into a DIY on Prince of Wales.


----------



## stuckduck (Jan 31, 2008)

Have to put a plug in for my friend Charlie Summerville. Runs one heck of an operation! No combat fishing here!

http://alaskatrophyadventures.com


----------



## EricH (May 3, 2014)

Certainly nothing wrong with fishing sockeye in Bristol bay or going with a fully guided trip. I just wanted to offer up a lower cost alternative. The guides up there can really use the business. King salmon used to be their bread and butter but the crash in populations and resulting fishing restrictions along with the dramatic decline in tourist traffic after 2008-2009 has really put a hurting on them.

If I went guided, I would do a combo fishing deer hunting trip on Kodiak. I did this trip before at it was money well spent.

www.kodiakcombos.com

About combat fishing:
You can easily avoid it on the Kenai river if you are willing to check a few spots and fish off hours and during the week. You can also go to the Klutina and catch the "world famous" copper river reds (I can't tell the difference), and have absolutely no crowds. Copper center is a bit out of the way but from there you could hit the saltwater from Valdez.


----------



## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

EricH said:


> I would fly into Anchorage and rent a car. Drive to Hope Alaska and fish the resurrection river for pinks in the clear water. This is a perfect place to perfect "flossing" salmon. About 50% of the locals are a-holes but the ore half will be more than happy to help you learn if only to keep you from screwing everyone else up. Park at the turn off to "downtown" hop the guardrail on the other side of the road and follow the trails to the gravel bar. Once you get the technique down, you will be able to catch them every few casts. I think it is important to learn here so you can see your hook to understand what is going on under the water before you hit the big glacial rivers. When you get sick of pinks head to Bings landing in Sterling AK. You should be I. The thick of the red run and the crowds. Combat fishing is not as bad as it looks and if you are personable, help others, and don't ack like an entitled tourist, you will learn the flow and catch plenty of fish. For Halibut you can do either Seward or Homer. The overnight two limit trips from homer are pretty cool but you will basically be doing only halibut. Seward will offer more variety. I have fished with Tim Bergs and Just in Time charters. If you are military the resort there has great deals. After the saltwater fishing you can hit the kenai again for more reds or drive the parks highway to Fairbanks. Every river you cross will have fishing for salmon and/or trout. You could spend a week doing it. From Fairbanks Rick Gold from Marina Air runs a pike fishing fly out to Minto flats. You can do day trips or overnight. Last but certainly not least, take the Richardson highway back to Anchorage and stop off at Tangle Lakes for world class grayling fishing. This is one of my favorite fishing holes in the entire state. When it is hot, you can catch 100 12" plus grayling per day.


Thanks for the tips Erich. We are going to go again next year. We will be deciding how and where this next week. Last time we went it was to here http://mcdougalllodge.com/the-lodge-0/#

Had a great stay and caught our limits pretty much everyday but I like to mix things up.

Also took a charter out of Homer and got into some halibut. Good times.


----------



## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

I have used these guys twice, you can do a do it yourself cheaper but I like the convenience of the guide service. They let you customize the packages if you want to change or substitute different trips in their packages. 
http://www.gonefishinlodge.com/ Ralph is from Salt Lake and you can check them out at the sportsman's shows.

I have used this car rental company a couple of times, they have a "Fisherman's Special"
http://alaskarentacar.net/


----------



## EricH (May 3, 2014)

I've never fished lake creek but there are a lot of lodges up there so it has got to be good. Whatever you decide on, good luck!


----------



## uttransplant (Nov 2, 2014)

I lived in Dillingham Ak for 9 years... Fish the Nushagak river.. late june early july.. IMO best king fishing in Alaska.>>O


----------



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

After reading lots of reviews and talking to lots of people who go regularly...the place is so stinking big that everyone has their spot and believes there are no others. Considering my only experience was a little 5 hour excursion from a cruise ship, my dad celebrating his 75 th bday, we decided on the Silver King Lodge out of Ketchikan. It is the best priced 6 day excursion. WE will likely take advantage of the jet boat rental one or two days to get after the halibut. We booked last week to get the PFD deal on the airfare. Excited to do, thanks for all of the input guys!


----------



## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Huge29 said:


> After reading lots of reviews and talking to lots of people who go regularly...the place is so stinking big that everyone has their spot and believes there are no others. Considering my only experience was a little 5 hour excursion from a cruise ship, my dad celebrating his 75 th bday, we decided on the Silver King Lodge out of Ketchikan. It is the best priced 6 day excursion. WE will likely take advantage of the jet boat rental one or two days to get after the halibut. We booked last week to get the PFD deal on the airfare. Excited to do, thanks for all of the input guys!


I wanta go:sad:


----------



## GutPile (Feb 26, 2013)

You won't regret Silverking, I've gone there 15+ years now. Best price, awesome fishing, great food and service. I even worked up there back in '04


----------



## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

My family has done several trips to both Alaska and Canada....although the fly-in trips to Alaska are pretty special and really fun, the drive-in trips to Canada are much less costly and offer similar fishing opportunities. Our trips to Canada have cost right around the $500-700 dollar range and we were able to catch chums, pinks, sockeye, coho, kings, and even a few small coastal cutthroat and dollies. We have done everything DIY and have caught chums up to about 25 pounds, pinks in the 5-8 pound range, coho up to about 10 pounds, kings up to about 35 pounds, and sockeye in the 5-7 pound range all on fly rods.


----------



## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

Huge29 said:


> Thinking of an Alaskan fishing trip next summer. Thinking of Doc Warners Mid August, is it worth it for $3,500 or what is better? Hoping for something a bit more affordable. Thanks in advance for the info.


a lot of old USU wrestlers are going there on a group deal next August- just couldn't pull the lever to go.


----------



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Headed to teh Silver King on MOnday, is there any lures or anything worth bringing that they might not have? Been planning for years and now it finally comes to pass; very excited.


----------



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Well....holy freaking crap! I just got back after a 4 am wakeup and walked in the door at 8pm. What a trip! it is not a matter of if I go back, simply a matter of when. I need to make a new thread with a trip report just to remind myself if nothing else. this place was great and worth every penny, however that was a lot of pennies making it hard to get back. I think next time it will be DIY now that we have a feel for what is going on; just like many suggested when I was asking about it. we checked out VRBO already and see some houses you can get for around $1,500 or so for a week; split that 4 ways and rent a boat split 3-4 ways and it would be around half of the cost we paid. I think I will start a thread just while the memories are fresh.


----------



## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Huge29 said:


> Well....holy freaking crap! I just got back after a 4 am wakeup and walked in the door at 8pm. What a trip! it is not a matter of if I go back, simply a matter of when. I need to make a new thread with a trip report just to remind myself if nothing else. this place was great and worth every penny, however that was a lot of pennies making it hard to get back. I think next time it will be DIY now that we have a feel for what is going on; just like many suggested when I was asking about it. we checked out VRBO already and see some houses you can get for around $1,500 or so for a week; split that 4 ways and rent a boat split 3-4 ways and it would be around half of the cost we paid. I think I will start a thread just while the memories are fresh.


Just how I felt :grin: The minute I get home I start a new "Alaska Trip Savings Account"

Looking forward to the report.

Whoa.....top of page two pages in a row


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Awesome glad you liked it. If you're interested, I know how a group of 4 guys can do the kenai for a week around $1500 total each including flights, rental car, and a couple days guided in the kenai river.


----------



## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

bowgy said:


> Just how I felt :grin: The minute I get home I start a new "Alaska Trip Savings Account"
> 
> Looking forward to the report.
> 
> Whoa.....top of page two pages in a row


Hey!, that's just how I felt. Oh wait, never mind. :mrgreen:


----------



## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

longbow said:


> Hey!, that's just how I felt. Oh wait, never mind. :mrgreen:


That is funny longbow, each time I went up my wife thought that I would buy a place up there...... not that the thought hasn't crossed my mind. As long as I could leave for the winter;-)


----------



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Packfish said:


> a lot of old USU wrestlers are going there on a group deal next August- just couldn't pull the lever to go.


There was about a dozen guys in their 60's who grew up in Hyrum, great guys,


----------

