Anchorage-based, Whittier-capable, Halibut-bound...I hope

Hi, I'm Jeff--just found and joined this site. I live in Anchorage, and have been kayak fishing a bit here, when possible. Got started a few years ago from an ocean kayak, fishing for rockfish with a friend in Kodiak. I love catching anything, but haven't had much luck yet from the kayak--most of my halibut, salmon, ling, and various rockfish experience is from fishing out of Kodiak with my father-in-law.

I got a good fishing kayak during a 2-year stint in DC, where I did some bass fishing on the Potomac, but not much more. Like many here, I'm fishing from a Hobie Outback. I've gone out of Whittier two or three times, but always from the boat launch in town on one-day trips--so I haven't gotten out all that far, and haven't caught much worth talking about.

Did an early trip in March from Seward out to Thumb Cove on the 'yak--no fish, but a blast at one of the public use cabins there. Got chased out of the next cove up by a pack of barking sea lions!

Anyway...as a visitor to the forum, I've seen many of the more recent Alaska posts and so decided to sign up and see if I can benefit from the collective wisdom here to finally get out and drag up a nice halibut, grab some silvers, or...frankly, anything worth writing home about! 

Hope to get to know a few of the folks up here--either online or in person at some point.

--Jeff

Welcome! If you want a good shot at halibut you need to go to cook inlet. It's pretty much guaranteed. Especially this time of year.

Seward, while beautiful is not a good spot for hot fishing if you stay inside the bay usually. It can be great for silvers if they come in.

Whittier it's the same thing.

Such a bummer cause they are awesome places to be and they are a lot shorter drive!

Welcome!! You found the right spot for info!! Sounds like you have been at it every bit as long as most of us here in AK on this forum. Maybe you could teach us a thing or two!!

Rimfirematt is pretty much spot on. I will give Seward high marks for variety.  I think halibut fishing can be almost as good as cook inlet but the "problem" is constantly cranking up cod, skates, and arrowtooth flounder from 300 ft down.  I get tired of that after about the tenth fish.

I may hit the upper Kenai soon. But I think cook inlet is the spot through mid July. Then other spots will hold Silvers.

Keep an eye on the forums for people's trips and come join us!


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Thanks guys. Appreciate the quick advice. I'm thinking, given my summer schedule and leave-time that any trips outside of Seward or Whittier are a no go. But I may hit you up over in the AK forum for ideas for getting into those lesser fish! As I said, so far, my experience with actually catching anything has been fairly limited--so it may do me some good to get the process/layout down for making landing any fish larger than a rock bass as smooth as can be. My Potomac experiences didn't require a lot of skill since the fish were so small and so shallow.

Welcome! You've found the right place; there are determined kayak anglers here who will be happy to share insights into local waters. I fish Seward and Whittier often. I'd rather be on the water than in the car most of the time, unless I need halibut in the freezer. Then, it's Lower Cook Inlet all the way.

Don't overlook the local lakes and the lakes to the North. Scale down with ultralight gear or a light flyrod and you can have a blast!

Ak fish and game has a good site with all the lakes. They also have a publication on the mat su lakes that lists hundreds of possibilities.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/fishing/PDFs/sport/byarea/southcentral/matsulakes.pdf


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