Where is the best salmon fishing in Alaska?

Lets start first with rating types of salmon from a sport fishing and eating perspective:

#1. Chinook (King) salmon (considered the most fun partially because of its size)

#2 Coho (Silver) salmon (good eating and provide arguably the best lb for lb fight

#3 Sockeye (Reds) salmon (bright red meat which is visually appealing)

Chinook Salmon (Kings)

Chinook (King) salmon are the highest prized salmon among most sport fisherman. British Columbia (BC), Canada is considered the best place for ca Chinook (King) salmon fishing on the ocean. But Sitka is a place where you can catch Chinook salmon off shore on the same day as fishing for halibut.

Coho Salmon (Silvers)

Considered the hardest fight salmon pound for pound, Coho salmon are not only fun to catch but good eating as well. They may not have the versatility in coolkig like Chinook, but they are still very delicious.

Sockeye Salmon (Reds)

Sockeye salmon are know for their delicious red meat. Some would argue that sockeye salmon taste better than Chinook and Coho. They are significantly smaller and don’t put up the same kind of fight, but fisherman who love eating them will spend hours trying to catch them.

Alaska has long been known for great halibut fishing. But Alaska also has some great river fishing for Sockeye and Pinks (every second year) and ocean fishing for Coho salmon.

A few thousand people will hit Seward every year in their campers  to cast their weighted treble hooks in hopes of snagging a passing sockeye. There are quite a few parking lots turned “campgrounds” there with portable toilets set up to handle the influx of fisherman descending on the town.

There are fishing lodges that combine salmon and trout fishing on rivers with hunting. Some are fly-in lodges that appeal to the person looking for a truly remote adventure.

Chinook (King) salmon have been on the decline in Alaska that past 20 years, probably because of the offshore commercial fishing by-catch.

Sitka is probably the best Alaskan spot to catch Chinook (Kings) in the ocean. Time to fishing is approx 1.5-2 hours in Sitka, Homer and Seward. In North America Vancouver Island is known more for Chinook fishing closer to shore. But if you are visiting Alaska, the scenery on the boat while running to locations can be quite spectacular.

Halibut fishing out of Homer is very good and if you are wanting to go on a fishing charter as a single, there are lots of options to jump on a boat. Once the boat get their limit of halibut they will often see if there are 1 or 2 Chinook salmon to catch in the area.

The Kenai river…

has long been famous for its return of large Chinook. Every year eager fisherman fight their way through the crowds to get their crack at a large Chinook. The Kenai is one of the best known rivers in Alaska because of the large Chinook that frequent the river and this also means you will find many fisherman around you fishing in anticipation of the big one. Unfortunately limits have been reduced and closures more frequent as numbers of Chinook (Kings) continue to dwindle.

You still can fish trout and other salmon on the river. There is a huge run of sockeye salmon that come up. The best time to fish the Kenai is in July. For Alaska, July is like August in British Columbia.

For those people that would like a little peace and quiet, there are many rivers in Alaska and lots of terrain that provides opportunity for those who want to get away. For some, the thrill of seeing Grizzly bears close by on the feeding grounds is almost as good as the fishing experience.