looking for suggestions on things to do

[jwmiller33]

i will be taking my 2nd trip to Alaska this June 9th for 10 days. We went last June as well for the king run, and we stayed in Wasilla. We fished with the same guide on the little susitna for 4 days and then we went to Talkeetna on our last day and switched it up and fished in weighters where my little brother caught the biggest fish of the trip at 38lbs.

Anyways, this year, we are going to be doing a lot more things in different places. The first 3 days we are in soldotna at all Alaska outdoors lodge, then we are going back up to Wasilla for 3 days to fish with the same guide we went with last summer. Then we will commute to talkeetna again and do the same thing as last year again.

We are wanting to get after some halibut this year, as well as possibly doing a fly in somewhere.

Does anybody have any suggestions on cool things to do while we are there? I'm talking other lakes/rivers to go to and target different species. We are also considering going to Denali national park, but thats still up in the air. Does anybody have any suggestions on other things we could do that we don't already have planned? Maybe some cool sightseeing?

here are a couple pics from last year's trip

me with the first fish i got of the trip

me with another nice one

and finally, the highlight of the trip, my little brother's 38 pounder

[redhooks]

Nice pics. Check out the hiway angler's book by gunnar pederson and rent a car for a road trip. It looks like you got kings dialed, you could chase rainbows, greyling, sheefish, dollys and pike further north. Perhaps have an air service fly you up and drop you off someplace to camp or do a raft float somewhere,I worked at lake creek and had a ball. We fished with seward fish co last summer and had a blast,I loved catching ling on light gear more than a halibut on heavy gear. A salmonshark charter might be wild too. I heard the train is cool and some may do remote drop/pickups otherwise there are some sweet areas to hike and some bwcaw type nonmotorized wilderness areas where you canoe in a few lakes. No matter what you'll be on an adventure w/ potential for a fish of a lifetime. Green w/ envy, have fun.

[jwmiller33]

thanks redhooks. we rented a SUV last year, and we will be doing the same thing this year as well. yes, we do have the kings dialed in, and i was thinking i would really like to get into some rainbows... how is the fishing in early/mid june for the rainbows?

we were talking about doing a fly in to a northern lake, which would be an awesome experience, as i have never done a fly in before...

will the red's or silvers be running at all that time of year? we went up just about the same time last year and had plans on fishing a different river for kings, but it got closed down by the alaska fish and game for lack of numbers, so we ended up going to the little susitna which was still a blast... during the last couple days, we were talking with some locals and the word was they were slaying reds or silvers (cant remember which) in the kenia... it would be fun to target some salmon besides the kings

[traveler]

JW; June is a solid month for kings on the kenai peninsula, the early run on the kenai is the smaller of the 2, but still produces nice fish. But just south of that the Kasilof is very good in early June, with some shorefishing opps too. It's also the best driftboat river around, so if that interests you it's a very good fishery. Then there are a couple smaller rivers towards Homer, the Anchor and the ninilchik (all shorefishing) but they have shorter openers, just a couple weekends in early June.

In General, it's Kings, then Reds then silvers, the last of which aren't available anywhere till late July.

The only reds I know of in June are the 1st run Russian reds...it's a bit of a zoo, but I've caught a lot of fish there. Opens June 15, peaks between there and the end of the month.

June isn't the best month in AK for rainbows, they tend to be more available following the various salmon runs, but I'm sure a charter out of Cooper landing would be very cool. The upper Kenai is a gorgeous area.

Don't be too sure about the "dialed in" thing:) Runs in AK can be fickle, especially for the traveling angler whos only there for a short time. what worked great for you last year you might miss by a week this year, so learn as much as you can and have options.

I always get out after Halibut at least once, but like redhooks, find the heavy bottom gear a little cumbersome. But I love to eat halibut, so it's a must do for me. The salmon shark option will be on my list next time for sure...saltwater safaris out of Seward is the name I keep hearing, although I'm sure there are other good options.

My AK fishing philosophy is this; I can catch rainbows, lakers, and fish little lakes here all I want. AK is about salmon, and if ya can't fish salmon for a week straight till your arms are ready to fall off and your fingers are shredded till they bleed, you should give ME your ticket and I'll show ya how it's done:)

[Sherpa]

I have to agree with Travelers philosophy on AK fishing. Although there are some monster rainbows to be caught. I hear more and more about salmon sharks these days. That would be a blast to land one of those.

Traveler is right about the salmon runs being fickle. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has a great tool on their HSOforum that shows the sonar fish counts for individual rivers. This can help you ensure you are fishing where the salmon are actually running.

As far as other things to do you have plenty of options. If you are into hiking there are many great hikes to do. There is a ferry service that you can drive a vehicle on and visit Kodiak Island or Valdez among other places. We drove to Valdez and took the the ferry back to Whittier once and that was awesome. There is a 2.5 mile long tunnel going through a mountain that you have to drive through to get back to Anchorage from Whittier which is pretty cool. A fly in fishing trip would be a great time. If you don't do that I recommend at least taking a sightseeing flight. Alaska is amazing from 2000 feet. You can do a flight to Denali from Talkeetna and even land on a glacier. That might work for you guys if you are fishing up there already. Denali is an amazing place. I saw bear, moose, caribou and even a wolf run across the tundra then pounce on a ground squirrel and start munching on the little sucker. You can take a bus tour into the park which is what we did. You can't drive your own vehicle in very far so I recommend the bus. Near Wasilla is Hatcher pass. It is mountain pass road that will bring you to Willow which is on the way to Talkeetna from Wasiila. Look at it on google maps if my wording was confusing there. It is a really cool drive and wont take you to long. Sometimes you see people parasailing up there which is pretty cool to watch.

Well that's all I have for now. I hope your trip goes well and you catch a lot of fish. Here are a couple pics from the air in my dad's little two seater.

[3_Olives]

Awesome pictures, thanks for sharing.