Description
Departments
4 Fish Alaska Online
6 Alaska Traveler
8 Creel
10 Fishing for a Compliment
16 Gear Bag
18 Salmon Sense
20 Fly
24 Saltwater
26 Flyfishing
28 Conservation
78 Recipe
81 Ad Index
82 Final Drift
SPECIAL SECTION: 32
by Melissa Norris
Live in the moment but also plan for tomorrow. That’s Publisher Melissa Norris’s thoughts as we step into spring with fall fishing opportunities right around the corner.
ON THE COVER
Elwood Brehmer and Kristin Starr with a pair of fresh Ship Creek kings ready for the grill. © Molly Discher
36
Salmon Bait Alternatives by Jason Brooks
This may be news to some Alaskans, but Outside, far more Chinook are winding up in the fish box due to artificial lures rather than traditional herring baits. Jason Brooks highlights some of the bait alternatives that come in the form of hard plastic, metal, and soft plastic. No mess, no expensive packs of frozen herring…What’s not to like?
48
Kings of the City
by Elwood Brehmer
While the opportunity to fish for wild kings in southcentral Alaska is largely on hiatus, there is a run composed of hatchery kings that is undoubtedly the most accessible king fishery in Southcentral. The tidal fishery at Ship Creek has been pumping out salmon for decades, and for the most part, provides a reliable option for urban anglers to harvest a king salmon. Elwood Brehmer tells you how.
58
Drive-by Highway to Kodiak Salmon by Terry Sheely
Located on the edge of the Alaskan Gyre, not all that far from Alaska’s biggest city, but isolated all the same, the Emerald Isle has about a dozen roadside streams that at various times during the summer have different species of salmon, plus rainbow trout and Dolly Varden char. With just enough infrastructure, including B&Bs, grocery stores, rental cars, and sporting-goods stores, it makes a great DIY location for salmon fishing.
70
Freshwater Sight-Fishing by Andrew Cremata
Sight-fishing isn’t practiced all that much in Alaska, but in places and at times, it should be. Andrew Cremata grew up capitalizing on saltwater sight-fishing opportunities in Florida, and he brought that know-how with him when he moved to the Great Land decades ago. He applies those skills to pike, grayling, whitefish, and sometimes, lake trout.
