July Alaska King Salmon Trip Lodge or Guide Recommendations

[Doc Holliday]

Looking to book a short trip to Alaska for mid-July. Me and my wife. Looking to do river fishing for primarily kings, and then other salmon species as well. Want to bring back meat so not interested in a catch and release situation.

Lodge would need to be something small scale and somewhat off the beaten path. Not interested in a big operation lodge with a bunch of people fishing for halibut, etc. Nothing wrong with that, have done it before and its great, just looking for something different for this trip.

Have also considered not doing a "lodge" and just renting a vrbo in Soldotna and then booking a fishing guide for 2-3 days on the Kenai....or something similar elsewhere in Alaska, just throwing that out there as an example.

Please let me know if you have any recommendations for a lodge or for an individual guide for a day of king salmon fishing in mid July. Anywhere in Alaska.

Feel free to send a PM. Thanks

 

[AKBorn]

There's a guy on here (he goes by Salmonchaser on Hunttalk, not sure if his tagname is the same on here) who has been guiding fishermen in AK for 20 years. Maybe shoot him a PM and get his thoughts...

 

[Nick Muche]

Grizzly Skins of Alaska

Fishing – Grizzly Skins

grizzlyskinsofalaska.com

 

[alabamahunt]

Look up Spencer Cook. I went in July of 2018 and he put me on a ton of them there were hundred schooling wherever he took me it was hard to get them to hit anything though. I think we caught 6. Super nice guy. Can’t say he’s THE best simply bc im not a Salmon fisherman lol. But I’m an avid bass fisherman and he definitely knows what he is doing and put us on the fish. Can’t ask for more than that

 

[Dexter Grayson]

Lived next door to this guy for 4 years. Watched him bring in Kings all the time.

Kenai River Alaska Fishing Charter Packages - Chet's Guide Service

 

[thinhorn_AK]

You can come pick my net and get so much salmon you’ll never want to eat that junk ever again.

You might try one of the guide services on the nushagak river.

 

[Danny Hoey]

Looking to book a short trip to Alaska for mid-July. Me and my wife. Looking to do river fishing for primarily kings, and then other salmon species as well. Want to bring back meat so not interested in a catch and release situation.

Lodge would need to be something small scale and somewhat off the beaten path. Not interested in a big operation lodge with a bunch of people fishing for halibut, etc. Nothing wrong with that, have done it before and its great, just looking for something different for this trip.

Have also considered not doing a "lodge" and just renting a vrbo in Soldotna and then booking a fishing guide for 2-3 days on the Kenai....or something similar elsewhere in Alaska, just throwing that out there as an example.

Please let me know if you have any recommendations for a lodge or for an individual guide for a day of king salmon fishing in mid July. Anywhere in Alaska.

Feel free to send a PM. Thanks

I'm heading up the last week in July. We rent an RV and drive down to Soldotna. No guide, just fish the Russian and Kenai. It's a fun trip that we have done a few times. Let me know if you would like any more details.

 

[wildwilderness]

Make sure you are allowed to keep Kings where ever you go. Most areas are closed. Also July seems too late for Kings unless they have a specific late run?

 

[william schmaltz]

It has been pretty typical that Chinook are shut down on the Kenai that time of year the last few years. They haven't even made the escapement goal the last couple years. Also the sockeye run has been garbage for sport fishing before late July the last several years. They seem hell-bent on removing every fish in cook inlet with commercial fishing nets the first couple weeks of July and then we all sit in suspense and fight for 3 weeks hoping the river makes escapement goals. Good times.
Fish Counts - Sport Fish - ADF&G (alaska.gov)

I would go to Bristol Bay. Someday I will have recommendations for you out there, but unfortunately still out of my budget.

 

[Russp17]

Looking to book a short trip to Alaska for mid-July. Me and my wife. Looking to do river fishing for primarily kings, and then other salmon species as well. Want to bring back meat so not interested in a catch and release situation.

Lodge would need to be something small scale and somewhat off the beaten path. Not interested in a big operation lodge with a bunch of people fishing for halibut, etc. Nothing wrong with that, have done it before and its great, just looking for something different for this trip.

Have also considered not doing a "lodge" and just renting a vrbo in Soldotna and then booking a fishing guide for 2-3 days on the Kenai....or something similar elsewhere in Alaska, just throwing that out there as an example.

Please let me know if you have any recommendations for a lodge or for an individual guide for a day of king salmon fishing in mid July. Anywhere in Alaska.

Feel free to send a PM. Thanks

If you want to fish the Kenai your time frame is ok. However, fishing on the Kenai has been poor, catch and release or closed. The good thing is you could sockeye fish that time of year. For most other king runs in the state they are in June or early July.

 

[Catchfish]

I would not bother hoping to fish the Kenai for Kings, the guides are so good they have destroyed the early and late run basically. The Kasilof River that direction has an enhanced run with hatchery fish and is a safe bet. Fishing is from a drift boat and the river is quieter and more enjoyable in my opinion.

 

[Wapiti1]

Scott King out of Dillingham Lake Road Lodge. The king runs have been down a bit that last time I talked with him, but the other runs have been solid along with char. Not sure if he has trout or shefish.

Jeremy

 

[chinook907]

The only substantive in-river king fishing in July is in the Kasilof, Kenai, and Nush drainages.

The Kasilof is surprisingly low use in July, and you'll be fishing from a drift boat.

The Nush is much more remote , but you'll likely have more people fishing around you and you'll be in a power boat.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Scott King out of Dillingham Lake Road Lodge. The king runs have been down a bit that last time I talked with him, but the other runs have been solid along with char. Not sure if he has trout or shefish.

Jeremy

Probably trout, never heard of sheefish in that area.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I’d much rather do a float trip for massive rainbows and high volume graylings and char them just buy some salmon or get somebody to send a freezer full of it to you.

The salmon thing is ridiculous, after the summer. Down in Bristol bay folks are throwing it away under the cover of darkness and feeding it to their dogs, sending it down to their families in huge amounts because they don’t want as much as they got.

It’s always amazed me, so many people subsistence fish with nets on the beaches when in fact they have zero desire to subsist on salmon so there’s just a ton of waste. I got a free chest freezer a few years back from a guy with the deal that the freezer was mine but I had to deal with the fish in it (it was packed full of freezer burned reds).

 

[Wapiti1]

Probably trout, never heard of sheefish in that area.

Yep. I asked him and he's got salmon, trout, grayling and char. That's probably enough to keep one busy.

Jeremy

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Yep. I asked him and he's got salmon, trout, grayling and char. That's probably enough to keep one busy.

Jeremy

For sure, there’s probably a pike or 2 tucked away if one really wanted one.

 

[deerlick]

Alaska kingfishers on the nush. Robert kratzer

 

[Salmonchaser]

The honest truth: King fishing has crashed all over Alaska including Bristol Bay. The fabled Nush was horrible last year though there were a few good days. Lots of guides were catching/keeping jacks. Many lodges are talking about voluntary no kill on kings.
Sockeye fishing was great, yes you can make them bite.
Rainbows, char, Grayling were all very good throughout the region.
Silvers were variable . Some systems my clients quit after four or five hours just exhausted from catching fish. Others they worked hard all day to hook a dozen.
Im booked but I can steer you to a couple of low key places, pm me if I can help.

 

[Jeremy Martin]

I am a guide and own a campground and guide service called Salmon Grove on the Klutina River in Copper Center, Alaska. If you want world class size kings in class 3 whitewater glacial river that is free of silt. You MUST fish the Klutina River my friend. There is not a river or fishery in the world like it. We are easy 5 hour drive from Anchorage and there are numerous accomdation options. Fact is you will not regret it I promise you, Just ask for Jeremy and I will create a memory you and your wife will never forget in a million years. We have the BIGGEST kings and this area has NO crowds. You wont sit in a boat like on the Kenai or other places. You will be casting with custom built rods (by us!) and battle that monster on your own with my professional help. No shit man, dont even waste your time or money. Just call me up at 907-822-5822 we can at least talk shop about it. You can find us also at klutinariver.com or on IG and Facebook under Salmon Grove