Alaska is known as one of the salmon capitals of the world, and king salmon is one of the rarest and most sought after catches here. The king salmon, also known as chinook salmon, is not an easy catch, which is why fishing aficionados expect quite a battle with this strong and feisty fish.
The chinook salmon range is a rather large area around the pacific that goes from Ooregon all the way to the Bering Strait. However, one of the most protected places for king salmon fishing is the area right around the Excursion Inlet where our lodge is located. In this area, the Alexander Archipelago in southeast Alaska, there’s a constant yearly yield of kings during the fishing season. Populations here can be larger than those fished along the Alaskan rivers themselves.
While fishing around the Alaskan panhandle of the Alexander Archipelago and the waters of the Excursion Inlet and Glacier Bay, you can find amazing catches where average King Salmon sizes vary between the 20 to 50-pound range. King salmon feed aggressively along the Alaskan coast, and they are usually fished from regular fishing boats.
There are almost as many tactics for fishing King Salmon as there are fishermen, so don’t be afraid to experiment and follow your instinct!
Getting this amazing and thrilling catch is the highlight of any trip. However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when you are fishing for King Salmon, and a couple of tips you should take into consideration when going for the catch of a lifetime.
Salmon around Doc Warner’s fishing lodge’s calm waters, and the nearby inner passages are quite plentiful. Since there is plenty of food for them, Kings, as well as many other species, grow huge around these parts.
Use Bright Lures
When fishing King Salmon, use bright lures or even salmon roe or herring to get the best chance of a good bite. Some fishermen have attested having had better catches to using bright tones of yellow, blue, or red lures given that they trigger more aggressive behavior in fish. However, this may vary depending on your own experience, of course.
Tying Salmon Mooching Rigs
You should also use a salmon mooching rig. Mooching a fishing hook is as simple as securing a rig and lowering it to a certain depth using a downrigger, then trolling at a fair speed to draw more attention to the bait and improve the chances of a bite.
It’s important that your mooching rigs are properly set up. Luckily, Doc himself spends the off-season making mooching rigs to be used by anglers who come to visit our lodge to make sure they’re ready to go when the time comes to get the catch of a lifetime.
If you’re planning to go for a big salmon catch this year, you can contact us to set up the perfect fishing trip where you’ll have the best chance to try for this rare catch. Just off the coast of Juneau, along the Excursion Inlet’s junction with the Icy Strait and beyond, you’ll have a great opportunity for some big salmon fishing, along with the rest of the species unique to our northern Pacific waters.