Best Time For Alaska Fishing?

The most asked question we get is when is the best time to come?

It is just not that simple of an answer, but the best thing I can say is that there is no bad time. Between May 1st & September 1st you will always catch fish & go home with several 50 pound boxes of fillets. The main difference between times of the season is what species of salmon you will catch & weather you will catch them in the saltwater or freshwater rivers. Below I have detailed the differences of each time period.

May
King Salmon & Halibut Saltwater Combo Trips
May is my favorite time of year since after a long winter I am eager to get out on the water. This is also the most popular time for the locals to go saltwater fishing for halibut & king salmon. The weather has turned warm, the sun is up for almost 24 hours, the trees are sprouting leaves, & the moose are dropping calves.

This time period is for saltwater anglers interested in salmon & halibut From May 1st to June 5th is the only time you can catch both King Salmon & halibut in the ocean. There are several hundred thousand salmon migrating thru the area on the journey to spawn in the many rivers. There are also thousands of what we call feeder kings that are just feeding & are not going to spawn that year.

We troll in shallow water of 15-40 feet with herring to catch these dime bright fish.
Halibut is excellent at this time of year with big fish in shallow water & closer to shore than later in the year.

The fish are feeding on many schools of smelt & needle fish migrating thru.
No matter what the wind is in May we can always find fish because they are everywhere & the Kenai & Kasilof Rivers are back up spots to bad weather days.
From mid May on the weather is dry & temps in the 50-70 degree range

June
Saltwater halibut, & Kenai River King Salmon
For saltwater anglers mainly interested in halibut this is the best time for you. The bigger halibut start moving into deeper water & we spend the whole time targeting halibut. June is probably the month with the highest number of halibut & fish seem to be everywhere, Shallow & deep.

For Freshwater anglers this a great time for Kenai River King Salmon without commercial gill nets intercepting salmon, & anglers usually split their days equally between river fishing for salmon, & ocean fishing for halibut.

The first run of Kenai River King salmon peaks in June. The early run has about 15,000-30,000 fish that average 30-45 pounds with 50-60 pounders available, Remember the world record 97 pound king came from the Kenai in the early run on may 17th 1984.

The river conditions are much less crowded, & the water is lower & clearer than in July.

The Kasilof River with its hatchery fish is a good back up river in the event of poor conditions on the Kenai or blow off on the ocean.

By June 10th the red salmon are in fishable numbers on the Russian river about a half hour drive from Soldotna. Fly out trips for red salmon & brown bear viewing is also good in June. June offers excellent fishing in less crowded conditions for all activities, the sun is up 24 hours & is the driest month of the year. Average temperatures range from 50-85 degrees.

July
July is the busiest tourist month for the whole state, so expect large crowds every where.

July is for freshwater anglers mainly interested Kenai River King Salmon. Anglers spend the majority of their days on the Kenai River, & chase halibut on Sunday & Monday when the river is closed to boat fishing. The second run of Kenai Kings hit the river in late June, & continues to build in numbers thru the last week in July. The total return is 30,000 to 60,000 fish.

The fish average 45-55 pounds with 60-70 pound fish caught regularly. Even though there are more fish in the July run than June, the success rate is about the same due to more boats & anglers on the river. Another factor in July is the commercial gill netting on the ocean intercepting kings as they try to go into the river. Red salmon fishing from shore is popular on the entire river. Halibut fishing is good & many boats are running double trips daily compared to single trips in other months.

August
August is a lot like June where anglers split there time equally between saltwater & freshwater fishing. In August it will get dark at night at about 11pm so you might see the northern lights. Temperatures in August are 50-80 degrees & little wetter.

August is silver salmon time in both the Kenai River & salt water. Silvers are abundant & is for anglers looking for lots of action on salmon. Silvers are very aggressive & bite almost anything. Silvers are very acrobatic & like to jump a lot. We cast spinners in back eddies, & side pools. This is also an excellent time for big rainbows.

In the saltwater halibut is still going strong with most of the fish out in deep water feeding for their winter journey to the open ocean. While halibut fishing we can also put out salmon rods to catch silver, & pink salmon migrating to their native streams. Limits are 3 per day & many days we come in 15-25 salmon along with a limit of halibut. In even numbered years we have millions of pink salmon in the river, the limit is 6 fish & you usually catch a fish on every cast. This is a great fishery for kids.

Summary

May: Saltwater kings & halibut, majority of your take home poundage will be halibut.

June: Saltwater halibut, & Kenai River kings, usually equal time between both fisheries.

July: Kenai River Kings, & saltwater halibut, Majority of time spent king fishing on river.

August: Kenai River silvers, & pinks, Saltwater halibut, silvers, & pinks. Usually equal time between both fisheries.

Alaska Fishing | Alaska Fishing Lodges | Fishing Cabins

Kenai River Alaska Fishing Guide | Kenai River Salmon Fishing | Alaska Halibut Fishing  

 Alaska Fishing Guide INFO | Halibut and Salmon Gallery

Home | Contact | Site Map | Resources

©Copyright 2009 Alaskan Gamefisher