Silver Salmon in Alaska

[troutgass]

I had a chance to go to Alaska July 26 to Aug 1st. We flew to Lake Creek about 45 minutes north northwest of Anchorage. I had been there twice in the past for the king salmon run but this was my first time for silver salmon.
The pink salmon were so thick you could catch one about every three casts if you were in the right spot. I probably caught over 100 pinks, but they say they are not as good to eat as the silver.

The water was running really high and muddy so we had a really difficult time finding them, but I was able to limit out most days.


We also had a chance to fish for pike in some of the lakes by there.
It was really nice to be up there out of the heat of Southern Utah and enjoy the scenery.

PM me if you would like to go with my group next year about this same time.[cool]
[signature]

[Got_Bait]

Nice report. I've never been to Alaska myself, but I have some friends that go to Lake Creek every year about the second week in June to drift fish for big Chinook.
How were you fishing for the Coho? Was that one in the top pic? She looks kinda dark for a Coho this time of year. I see that you got that Pink on a Blue Fox. I understand they are some of the least good eating salmon as well.
Also, it seems like kind of a goofy time of year for the river to be running so high. Lots of rain, or is it usually like that over there? It looks like one of your pics might have been missing, what was on there? Nice pike, are they good eating?
[signature]

[troutgass]

That is a Coho in the picture. It was just dark everywhere. It had been raining there for two weeks before I got there and really warm. They said that the rain melted more snow than usual off the mountains.

They say that Pike are good to eat, but I haven't eaten it yet. My friend is bringing them home. I will let you know when we eat them.
[signature]

[PBH]

[quote troutgass] I probably caught over 100 pinks, but they say they are not as good to eat as the silver. [/quote]

You should have tried them! When comparing Silver Salmon vs. Pink Salmon -- especially when you are getting fresh pinks -- it's kind of like comparing a filet mignon vs. a top sirloin.

I'd be willing to bet that those fresh pinks would have been better than those pike you'll be eating!


Next time you have the opportunity, keep a fresh silver, a fresh chum, and a fresh pink. Cook them all and compare them. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.




Nice fish.
[signature]

[riverdog]

Thanks for the post. I'm headed up for Prince of Wales Island in SE Alaska in 2 days and it got me psyched to do some salmon fishing. Silver salmon is firm and great for grilling. I've eaten fresh pink salmon and it's not bad. Doesn't taste like salmon to me so it's a nice break after eating other salmon for a couple days.
[signature]

[ChadMiller]

Great post...the pictures bring back a lot of memories. I used to guide for Riversong Lodge on the Yetna....right across from Lake Creek while I was in college.

The river looks extremely high....must have been some pretty good rains prior to your arrival. Was the fishing tough?

Chad Miller
ChadMillerFishing.com
[signature]

[Weekend_Warrior]

Right on man!!!! Pics from AK all turn out awesome! Way to get into them. I bet your arms are WAY tired!! You will have to tell us more about it when we fish the Boulder in two months. I go by different names on other forums. []
Kyle
[signature]

[troutgass]

You know I thought that those pinks looked really fresh and I told one of the guides that I would rather bring home a cooler full of pinks than half a cooler full of silver. Luckily I caught enough silver to take home, but I really should have thrown in a pink. I caught a few Sockeye but they were in really bad shape. I would like to catch all species of salmon and see if I could even tell a difference or which one I actually choose to be the best.

As anybody ever tried pike and how do you cook it?

Also Kyle I am looking forward to our trip to the boulders. Do you have a time frame yet of when you are thinking of heading up there? I want to be sure to clear my schedule up.
[signature]

[doggonefishin]

RE " I'm headed up for Prince of Wales Island in SE Alaska in 2 days"

I got back from there a few weeks ago. We only had time to fish the ocean, but we caught the begeebers out of the pinks and caught a good number of silvers as well. It looks like both of these runs will be strong at POW this year. You should have a great time.

FWIW, I have found the FRESH pinks to be delicious. We had this very discussion with our lodge hosts while up there. They were also of the opinion that pinks were underrated as table fare and very good to eat.
[signature]

[gonefishn]

Just some info on the pinks versus silver discussion. Pinks are typically more oily than silvers but they smoke up really good. They both taste pretty good anyway though. I moved to Anchorage (from utah) about two years ago and love it up here. The fishing is amazing, although this year the king run was very disappointing, pretty much all over the state. But the sockeye and other species are making up for it. If anyone is planning a trip up here shoot me an email and I will help out with any questions I can. Fishon.

P.S. Here is a pic from one sockeye trip to the Russian River. Not sure if its sized right.
[signature]

[Got_Bait]

[indent]Whoah that pic is amazing. Those are some big, fat, bright fish. June 24th huh? I didn't realize it happened that early for sockeyes. So did you catch them all on flyrod? Tell me how you did it. When I finally make it to Alaska, I want to be involved in a sockeye massacre like that one!
[/indent]
[signature]

[troutgass]

gonefishn...That was some awesome looking sockeye and on a fly rod. I would love to try that some day. Any relatively cheap lodging that way? Do you have to float plane in and out to get to that part of the Russian River?
[signature]

[gonefishn]

The Russian river is very accessible you can pretty much drive right up to it. Being that its so accessible means combat fishing though and when I say combat fishing its just like the horror stories you hear about, hooks flying everywhere and some not so smart people around, mix that in with some pretty aggressive brown and black bears and your in for some real fun. Now the Russian river has some pretty strict rules with what you can use as far as hook gap and sizes. There is also a 3 fish limit but sometimes the fish are in so thick that they raise the limit (like the pic shows) and you can catch 6 a day 12 in possession. The drive to the Russian is only about 2 hours from Anchorage so we go down at like 8or 9 at night get our first six and then after midnight we get our additional six. The Russian may be my favorite place to fish up here. Just some FYI there is a web site called AOJ and it has a lot of info for fishing up here highly recommend checking it out. Here is another pic to make you excited, this is downtown Anchorage (Ship Creek) and believe it or not this is a small one out of this creek.
[signature]

[Weekend_Warrior]

That is amazing!!! The winters must be brutal but fish like that make it worth it in the summer!!

TG-PM sent
[signature]

[troutgass]

Thanks for the info about the Russian River and the AOJ website. I have a friend in Anchorage that will let me stay at his place next summer so I plan on hitting some of the closer places that is accessible by car. FISH ON!
[signature]