Alaska need help

[TurtleHermit]

How do you catch fish in Alaska? I've been using the ubber sheet for peak times. I've tried shiners, spawn sacks, no bites on bottom rod or float tackle.

I can catch maybe one or two fish a day with either the lemon spoon or lemon crank bait that's it. And the fish is usually a trophy or a unique. So far I've fished there four days. Right now I'm at a sunny day, 5 AM, ubber sheet says 5-6 AM for chinook salmon, chum salmon, coho salmon, pink salmon, sockeye salmon.

To be honest I don't know where to throw at, I'm seeing fish breaking water and throwing at those spots but they don't bite, no clue how far I need to cast, what depth the floater needs to be, no idea what depth the bottom rod line needs to be clipped etc. Any advice is appreciated.

[Rayder]

try spinning fish pole with volbler #3,4,5,6) the best for catch,sorry english bad:(

[Maj.Tryhard]

I haven't done anything there with a bottom rod, but I caught plenty of fish on float and lures.

For floating I went down to the southernmost spot, where the deep water is. Stand on one of the little sand bar looking islands and cast as far out into the channel as you can, with a depth of about 60 inches.

For lures you can fish the same area, sticking near the bottom like when fishing for trout. You can also get a lot of action on a lure up at the middle fishing spot, around all the rocks at the narrow point. Topwaters seem to work particularly well there.

[Lenny Rat]

Like @Maj says, the big Chinook are only at the extreme high and low times in the area he stated. Shiners at 66" drop and 80-120' out with a float. Bottom rods do not work as well there as floats, in IMO.

You can catch fish in Middle Earth area at almost anytime. Stand at the big rock along the shore and cast across with walkers for topwater action. Floats with 1/0 - 2/0 and shiners at 24" drop work well. 3' craw cranks also will produce nicely.

I've also been finding that single spoons work well in Alaska.

[alohastone]

To me, Alaska is more of a spin-fishing location. I didn't have that much success with bobber fishing. Partly because I didn't try it that much, partly because of the strong current, which makes it pretty frustrating at times.

When it comes to lures, there's a lot of stuff that works in Alaska. You can always try the different crankbaits. Dull colours for sunny weather, brighter colours for cloudy weather. The shallow cranks with the #3/0 hook work for most areas, as most of them are not that deep. But you can use the bigger ones for fishing the main canal from the islands, going for the big Chinook, as Maj.Tryhard already mentioned. Stand on one of the islands, do a full cast left and right, reel it in with an occasional stop / twitch, and find out where they are sitting.

If the cranks don't work out, you can also try the Medium Spoons, a #4/0 JigHead (don't go too heavy. it can be hard to get them off the ground since the latest updates) with one of the nymphes attached, the different single spoons and of course the bullet spinners. Especially the X-Series bullet spinner is a beast in Alaska - as well as the X-Series single spoon.

To get an idea of the spot, have a look at this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebp_sThtIO0

It is possible to fish this spot with a float setup / bottom rods, but you'll have to experiment with those on your own. There is a bobber guide, but I don't know if it's still accurate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21suUwJpXaQ

Also, be aware that the big chinooks got nerfed lately. So don't expect to fill your net with only these. Sometimes you'll have a good day, and fill your net pretty quickly; sometimes you'll catch hardly anything at all.

Like I said, don't rely solely on the Chinook. Even in the non-peak times, there's plenty of fish to be caught. What I enjoy most in Alaska is going for the dolly-vardens and bull trout with topwater gear. The walkers and the poppers work great on the middle-earth spot, in between the rocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0jWgBUPBaE

On a partly cloudy day, you can start with the dollys from 5-8 am, catch up to 3 or 4 uniques, and then switch to the sockeye afterwards. If you throw a little bit farther, you can also go for the chum as well. Like with the chinook, a Jig + nymphes works great, the bullet spinners and single spoons do their job, and the shallow crank should work as well. But be aware of snags! It takes a while to get to know your route, and stay away from the snag points. But it can be very rewarding, having 8 or so unis in your net at the end of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOBTSsnrucs

Hope this helps. Tight lines to you buddy!