Halibut/Salmon Fishing

We went out of Ninilchik several years ago. We used TNT Charters I believe was the name. We all caught our limits.

I don't, just don't, do the Kenai/Russian combat fishing. It isn't fun and does nothing for a fisherman other than to possibly/probably get some fish. Since the experience doesn't add anything, I'd just rather buy my fish at the supermarket or go to some of the streams on the West side of Cook Inlet.

As Jim mentioned, going out of the SE towns (Juneau, Sitka, etc) is almost guaranteed to get bigger halibut more frequently than going out into Cook Inlet.

If you want a true barn door 'but, consider going way out....Aleutians or the Pribilofs, or even off of Kodiak.

I have herd out of Seward or Valdez the best bet is the smaller charter boats they call sometimes a 6 pack. Smaller boat is the ticket for quality not as much as getting your 2 "chicken" limit then motor in. I have fished out of Juneau and there are some MONSTERS 1/2 mile out of AUK Bay. If you don't mind flying out, any SE. town can produce fish well over the 200 lb. mark. As far as Salmon you must see or if you feel brave enough fish the mile of combat fishing where the Keni and the Russian come together. Try looking this one up on Google or Bing You will understand. The fishing is very good over on the Kieseloff River I pulled in a 28 lb. Coho on a 7-wt. Fly Rod almost two hours for that one. That's about 15 miles south of Soldotna that's a good central point to camp and venture out from.

What are you looking for? A wall-hanger or eating fish?

Almost regardless, I'd suggest a trip out of Ninilchik: less travel time and more chances at both Chicken and bigger halibut...but more likely to be in an open boat (at least in my experience).

If you want a real wall-hanger...chances are better out of Homer, but with a 1/2 day trip, you chances ain't real good there either.

You'll likely have a more comfortable trip out of Homer, but will lose a big part of your 1/2 day to travel.

Hubby did full day out of Ninilchik the boat got it's limit I didn't fish as they only take certain # however when we were in Haines we fished and fished caught so many salmon we gave them away. Just keep eye out for bears we gave some away to them.

If you fish the half day runs out of Homer you'll have a short run to the fishing grounds, but you'll generally be catching the small "chicken" halibut. The full day runs do get bigger fish, but this generally takes a 100 mile or more run to the fishing grounds. We fish Ninilchik on full day charters. They launch right there, and you're on the fishing grounds in 30 minutes. Bigger fish by far, too. They fish Cook Inlet.
For pink and silver salmon we fish Valdez. You can fish pinks right off the rocks at Allison point or the city dock, and the silver charters don't go more than 10-20 miles for nice fish. Silvers can also be had from the city dock. Fish Central, EZ Freeze or any RV park can help you with reservations. We're in Valdez now and head for Ninilchik in a few days.

We had good luck with "The Falcon" out of Homer. Google it. Limited out for 5 of us. Left port around 0600 and returned at 1400. Great day with lots of action. Enjoy.

Lakeside

Ron,

I have fished Allison Point from shore and was worn out by the constant action and I have been there when we didn't catch a darn thing. The time I caught so many I think it was a run of pinks but I'm not sure. I'm a C&R fisherman mot time, rockfish and halibut excepted. At Willow Creek campground I had the same experience. Cought lots of fish one summer and when we took the DGKs nothing. The time you get there is important.

We have done the overnight trip out of Homer and caught our limit both days. Never done a half day boat.

I like silvers and use Alaska West Air out of Kenai for fly outs to the Kustatan River. Spendy but great fun and lots of silvers. Once again, it depends on what and if anything is running.

On Halibut out of Homer, you're allowed XX per day, I think it's currenlty at 2 per day. Anyway, the way some of the charters run is to go out in the late evening, you catch 1 or 2 before midnight and then after midnight, you catch a couple more. This way they got more hours of charter time per day on their boat and you had a chance at more fish.

For Valdez, it's been a long time since I've fished there, but it was always on friends boats, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone fishing from shore there. I could be wrong.

Bill