I’m flying up to Anchorage Alaska in the middle of July for work. I have clearance from Commander Honeybunch to spend an extra week fishing and seeing the sights. Anyone been there and have any suggestions?
Rent a car and drive south to the Kenai peninsula. Purchase the 2016 Milepost and the Moon Anchorage, Denali & the Kenai Peninsula guide books. lots of good stuff to read and make plans for beofre you leave. The lower Kenai river for King Salmon and the Upper Kenai has excellent Rainbow Trout fishing. You will most likely need a guide trip for both. The Russian river should have Sockeye (Reds) running that time of year, that’s a DIY fishing excursion and a very good chance at seeing both black and brown bears. Then go to Homer and charter a boat for Halibut fishing. Lots of stuff to see along the way, including bears and moose. I guess you could go the opposite direction north out Anchorage just to sight see and go to Denali, but I was just assume fish and hike and there is plenty of that in the Kenai peninsula. Have fun!
Head down to Seward. It was the most scenic drive and part of the state. Seward is a cool little fishing village with a bunch of ocean charter opportunities. We spent a day on the ocean fishing for Halibut, Cod and Rock Bass. It was a great experience, but definitely get a bottle of Dramamine.
Dan
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If you have a whole week to fish I’d suggest spending a few extra bucks and fly the hell away from the road system/combat fishing/traffic jams to see the real Akaska and go to a remote fishing lodge. You’ll never regret the experience, remoteness, wildlife, or the huge box of fish to bring home to the boss.
Check out Alagnaklodge.com
I have been to the Kenia and to Seward. Seward is a very cool little fishing village. I would visit there again in a heartbeat.
The Kenia has great fishing, but if I remember correctly the sockeye and silvers don’t run until the end of July, but kings season will be open. one issue with the Kenia is it gets a lot of attention because the fishing is so good, so if you don’t have private access, it’s combat fishing from shore.
Maybe Alagnak Pete will chime in. He used to be and maybe still is a fishing guide in Alaska during the summer. He could definitely steer you in the right direction.
Enjoy the scenery, it is spectacular.
I wish I could remember, but we did a float trip for sockeye and silvers on our last trip. That was the most magical part of our 10 day trip. The fishing and scenery was incredible, the slow float down a uncrowded river was breath taking.
Been there twice. If its your first time, I would just book an all inclusive if possible. (this late in the year, it may not be possible)
Nancy & I stayed at Anglers Lodge right on the Kenai river last year. Food was awesome, they took care of all our trips. (Fly outs, Halibut, Red Salmon and Silvers on the last day) and when we weren’t out fishing with the guides, they had rods/reels/lures at the ready which anyone could use to catch fish right off the bank next to the lodge.
Anglers Lodge
I’m going back again this year. Gonna target Silvers on Tsiu river this time.
In July, you’ll have a great chance at a giant King on the Kenai. You can also do a float trip down the Kasiloff for Kings which is also a blast. Did that on our first trip up there.
Like someone else stated, Reds probably won’t be in the river till mid to late July. Silvers come even later. Might be able to get a few in late July but I think there more mid to late August.
Maybe Alagnak Pete will chime in. He used to be and maybe still is a fishing guide in Alaska during the summer. He could definitely steer you in the right direction.
sorry Pete, must have been posting at the same time as you. 
go up to Kavik and visit silly Sue !!! 
What kind of fishing are you looking for? What kind of experience do you want? Figuring this out ahead of time is the key.
I went last year for my first time. Some was super cool but much didn’t hit the boxes I like. Personally I’m more of a get away from the crowds. Sometimes it was combat fishing 
If you haven’t halibut fished before it’s worth a try. Plus quite tasty. Homer is good and Seward has charters too. Be prepared to have a Plan B in case you get blown out.
Wish I could have done a drift boat on the upper Kenai at Cooper’s landing. Shore fished the lower Kenai but also wish we could have got a guided boat down there. Didn’t catch much, actually sucked, but beautiful.(Labor day and the week before targeting silvers).
Silvers are later in the year. Could be kings and/or Sockeyes. Read up on AK regs, they can be very, very, very particular especially when it comes to kings.
We were self guided for our week on the Kenai. We were terrible guides and didn’t know what we were doing.
Sightseeing – drive any direction and you’ll be happy. It really is just that good.
My brother and I used guide Gary Hull of Slammin’ Salmon when we fished the Kenai. I caught a 50 lb female silver king (pictured in my avatar…I’m on the left and Gary is on the right) and 30 minutes later my brother caught a 70 lb copper king male. We had a great time and Gary was fun to fish with. His web site is
http://www.alaska.net/~slammin/
At the time, most guides had 1/2 day rates that were almost as much as Gary’s full day rate.
He also hooked us up with a nice (and cheap!) bed and breakfast in Soldotna that we stayed in the night before we fished.
We fished around the 23rd of July which is a great time for the “big fish” run on the Kenai.
If you do the halibut trip, do the overnight trip. Light almost all night that time of year. Plus that way you can have two days limit. Plan it the second to last day you are there. They will clean and freeze your fish over night. Then you can bring it back on the plane as checked luggage. They will have it in Styrofoam cooler. $40 or $50 as checked luggage (depends on airline) for 50lb. They will want $4 to $5/lb to ship it back.
Glacier climbing was great. White water rafting. Go to Denali park. Rent a car and take a tent. Almost every town has a campground and a community shower. Not to hot to tent camp. Plus that way you can go wherever you want, when you want. Climb flat top[ mountain just outside of Anchorage. Awesome view of the city. Try to do it on a clear day. Mostly walking trails with a small amount of scrambling at the top but not a technical climb. Takes about 5 hours to go up and come back down.
Thanks everybody for the advice! I’ll definitely post pics when I get back.
Plan it the second to last day you are there. They will clean and freeze your fish over night.
There can be a catch with putting this last. If you get blown off there’s no second chance to get out. We got blown out of Homer for three days straight in the first part of our week. Later we added a one day charter in Seward for Halibut/salmon/rockfish.
As for freezing, we noticed that sometimes it took a couple days to freeze all our fish solid. Mileage may vary. Good points on transport and airlines. One additional note – there is freezer storage at the airport for a fee.
Eat at Orso in Anchorage for dinner, amazing food. And it’s connected to a brewery who has really good root beer.
The seafood chowder at Orso is fantastic, as is the lobster corn dogs and the crab stuffed cod.
Jimmy Jack is another charter worth checking out on the Kenai, if you can fish with jimmy himself you’ll have a great time.
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