Alaska fly fishing

B

BMBMD

100+ Posts
Flying in to Anchorage 7/31, renting a motor home, and heading north for fourteen days. Who has done any self-guided fishing on the Parks Highway system?
 
I've never been, but there is supposedly good Steelhead fishing near Wrangell.

If you have Versus, set your DVR to record "Seasons on the Fly"; a lot of the episodes are set in Alaska. Based on this show, it sounds like a lot of the better fishing is in SE and SW Alaska. Most of it looks like boat access, however, so I would guess you need a guide.
 
My son caught several grayling on a 1 wt. bamboo rod just outside of Denali on Carlo Creek. The rest of the fishing opportunities for us were not North of Anchorage.
 
Couple of things:

1. Do you already have a RV rented, RV park spots slotted and/or hotel rooms on travel days booked with a confirmation? That is smack dab in the middle of tourist season in Anchorage and the town will be nuts. There are limited hotel options and it will be damn expensive during the summer.

2. Like Nick said, the best fly fishing is not north of Anchorage. It's south toward Homer/Seward on the Kenai Peninsula (which you can drive to) and on the Katmai Peninsula (which you can't) . The Russian River on the Kenai is a easily accessible spot but can get really, really hectic. There will be people lining the banks. And there are not a ton of camping spots down there.

3. If you're not tied into fly fishing only, this will be prime salmon season. The pinks and silvers will be running so anywhere along the coast, from Valdez a couple of hours east of Anchorage to those areas previously mentioned.

3. If you're interested in hiking and scenery, north toward Denali is groovy but there will be a lot of traffic. But you'll be in a RV so you'll be part of the problem.
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Don't waste you're time going farther north than Denali. There's nothing beyond it worth seeing unless you feel like driving way, way north and getting on a plane to go to Gates of the Arctic N.P. You can't drive to that N.P. You can get close but you either have to fly or pack in. And you're RV rental might not allow you to take the R.V. that far.
 
I found this book to be very useful on a trip a few years ago. We stuck to the Kenai Peninsula and caught lots of trout on our own, King Salmon on a Kasilof River guided float trip, and halibut out of Homer on a couple of charter trips. By far, the halibut trips were the most fun. Lots of big fish (get used to throwing back 20# "chicken" halibut and using 20# cod for bait) and 120 pounds of fillets to ship home--valued at more than enough to offset the charter cost. Would highly recommend Silver Fox Charters out of Homer and there's plenty of free RV space there, too. The easily accessible trout fishing we encountered was not as good as the Guadalupe, but that's not to say there aren't better places if you're willing and able to get off the beaten path.

The Kasilof trip was very good--no power boats like on the Kenai River. The only downside is that if you choose to keep your limit of one King, you have to stop fishing for the rest of the trip--no catch and release if you have your limit of one.

The Russian River has to be among the worst fishing experience of my life. It's not salmon fishing. It's salmon snagging. But you can only snag them in the mouth. And whatever you do, don't snag the people 3 feet to your left or your right. Ridiculous.

My next trip will target silver salmon on the fly later in the summer and the halibut again. Then I'd charter a flight to a remote lodge I recently learned about that has rainbows the size of your arm.
 
RV already signed, sealed, delivered, and paid for. Airline tickets bought. Overnight arrangements secured. King run will already be over-silvers pinks and dogs will be possible. More interested in trouts and graylings. Stuck on flyfishing-trying to avoid combat fishing. Leaning towards low intensity roadside fishing on clear creeks in the Susitna and Chulitna drainage. Not married to going north, but leaning that direction, primarily because of camping spots. Roadside Angler is by my bedside. We've got thirteen days, but don't want to spend more than a few hours a day driving....
 
"but don't want to spend more than a few hours a day driving.... " Good Luck with that.

If you do venture up to Denali, Carlo Creek is maybe 5 miles before you get to glitter gulch. There are at least 2, maybe 3 restaurants right there and the pizza place was Very Expensive (even by AK standards) and Very Slow (over an hour wait for a pizza and no one else was really eating. The place next door - Creekside? - was pretty darn good. Anyway, you can fish while you wait for your food. I've peed bigger rivers than Carlo Creek, but if you like to fool around and catch flying fish on dries, it's worth a little bit of time. Just right there on the highway. There will be NO other anglers. The anglers just don't go that way. Not for a 8" grayling.

We fished the Kenai as well. Float plane across the sound for silvers, deep sea out of Seward for silvers, Lingcod, Rockfish and some other species I can't remember. Halibut fishing out of Ninilchik (down by Homer) inside the sound (highly recommended so you don't have to kill yourself checking bait), and finally, fishing the Kenai out of Soldotna.
 
Personally, I would narrow my geographic area, and concentrate on the Seward/Kenai area.....you'll be there in the middle of the Sockeye run, meaning eggs a plenty will be floating around.....you won't even need flies, just egg imitations.

And as you said, the Silver/Coho run will be just kicking off, so you'll have that option as well.
 
BTW, be VERY careful on the road. Get used to the idea that you may have to come to a dead stop on an instant's notice. AK hwys are 2 lane and there is no turning lane in the middle. The remaining option is to veer right and flip over in the bar ditch.
 
Yes seward kenai/Russian River are great. Get down to Homer, and get a charter boat to go catch some halibut to mix it up.

My dad goes to Alaska every other year or so to go to Kodiak, and fish there, but that is bit more of a production.
 
Excellent fish and chips place in Seward. I highly recommend it. I can't remember the name, but ask around, there's only one that good.
 
Thorn's Showcase Lounge in Downtown Seward blows away any of the waterfront places.

They have a massive Jim Beam Decanter Collection (yes, they have one that "looked like Elvis")........and the "Bucket of 'But" deal (that's Halibut) that is their specialty.

Call the gal at PJ's Taxi and she'll drive you down there if you don't feel like walking. And she'll line up a table for you if you want. This is a can't miss, unique, one of a kind place.
 
Okay-here's the deal. The first few days we will be in Cooper's Landing, staying at an RV park, and fishing with a guide-ess. Upper and Middle Kenai. Sockeyes one day, then rainbows the next. Then, up to Copper River for grayling, dollies, and more rainbows. The second week, we'll mosey up to Denali (in stages) for a little more diy roadside fishing and the tour in the big gray bus. Back to Anchorage and the Hampton Inn, then back to DFW. Thanks for all the good advice.
 
You could easily kill half a day in Talkeetna. See if you can arrange a flight around McKinley (Denali) from there. Not free, but well worth it. Go see Jeff King's dog kennels. Google it. At least go see somebody's kennels. He has a slick operation and he's an arrogant prick, but his organization is full of nice people and nice dogs and puppies they want you to love on. Awww.
 
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