alaska salmon fishing

Greetings from Ketchikan, Alaska! Although I love my time on the beaches of Brevard County, getting out here is certainly a welcome change of pace and scenery! I’ve been chartering up here every summer for the past 12 years, primarily offering guided salmon and halibut trips. Combine wondrous scenery and the insane fishing, it’s an experience of dreams that I’d like to share with my fellow Floridians. If you want to do more than just read about it, come join me up here for the trip of a lifetime on a Ketchikan Fishing Charter!

Salmon fishing in Alaska holds the reputation for world class catches! This year has not disappointed with an amazing run of both King Salmon and Silver Salmon. Furthermore the catches continue come in huge numbers and big fish. Only in Alaska can one experience the thrill of this amazing fishery, not to mention an unforgettable setting. Mountains, Humpback whales, eagles and seals are a few of the wildlife species seen during a day of fishing.

Ketchikan, Alaska is known as the Salmon capital of the world. This season the month of June and July continue at a blistering pace. Limits of massive King Salmon running into local waters delighted visitors. This iconic salmon species are the largest and hardest fighters of the five wild Pacific salmon. Ketchikan fishing charters caught massive King Salmon by trolling lures and rigged herring. Implementing down riggers to keep the salmon fishing rigs at optimal depths made for the best hook ups.

King salmon fishing in Alaska generally steals the spotlight from the other species. For example Silver Salmon and Pink Salmon are both known to arrive slightly later then the kings. With that being said, Silver Salmon are known to be ferocious fighters and delicious table fare. Not to mention they come in larger numbers then King Salmon.

Thankfully the Silver Salmon arrived earlier then years past. Silver salmon limits are larger then King Salmon limits. For example, one can only retain one King Salmon. While Silver Salmon limits are 6 per person! Meaning you can fill the fish box with these delicious salmon species. In addition, Silver Salmon put up quite the battle. It’s also not uncommon to double and triple up on Silver Salmon when you troll into a school of feeding fish. This makes for high octane fishing when the bite is happening for both Silver Salmon and King Salmon.

Typically our Ketchikan, Alaska fishing charters pursue both salmon and halibut on a combination trip. With that being said, we fish the tides to target each species with the highest probability. Commonly fishing the tide change for salmon produces the best results! After limiting on salmon species we switch gears to halibut fishing.

Halibut fishing in Alaska consists of dropping down to the deep depths of 200-400 feet. June, July and August are the peak months for salmon as well as halibut. Jigging for halibut with glow in the dark squids and chunks of herring or pink salmon produce the best halibut catches. Often targeting fish in the 20-40lb range for the best eating quality. While targeting perfect charter fishing halibut we do catch the “barn door” halibut in similar waters. Talk about reeling up a piece of plywood is the best comparison. If your looking for a thrill of a lifetime, come to Ketchikan, Alaska in the peak months and book a salmon and halibut fishing combination charter.