Angling for the big ones

Probably the most-frequently asked question I get from visitors is where do you go to catch the biggest or most trout, salmon, grayling, halibut or whatever. If I could guarantee the answer to that question, I'd be there right now with a rod in my hand. However, over the years I've developed some favorite spots along the road system that seem to produce regularly for me, so I'll list them here.

Halibut: I seem to catch the most halibut out of Homer, but they are generally pretty small--25 pounds or less. Charters out of Seward, particularly those that go all the way to Montague Island, seem to produce fewer fish but more of the fish seem to be in the 50-100 pound range. My absolute favorite in this regard is to take a combination halibut-salmon charter out of Seward in late July when limits of both halibut and silver salmon are possible.

Lake Trout: Lakes in British Columbia and Yukon en route to Alaska offer probably the best roadside lake trout fishing in the North. My favorites would include Tagish, Marsh, Atlin and Teslin lakes.

Grayling: Any clear-flowing stream along the Denali Highway between Paxon and Cantwell in Alaska. Walk a few minutes away from the road for best results.

King salmon: Blind Slough in Petersburg around the 4th of July. You'll have to take an Alaska Marine Highway ferry to get here, but it is the only place that I have ever been able to catch kings ranging from 20 to 40 pounds on every cast. Biggest kings in the world are in the Kenai River south of Anchorage in July, but this tends to be a very crowded fishery and bag limits can be very restrictive if biologists decide that the run of fish is small.

Silver salmon: Seward starting in late July and running through early September. You'll need to go out in a boat at the start of the run, but by mid-August it's possible to stand on the beach in town and catch silvers.

Pink salmon: Allison Point near the Alyeska Pipeline Marine Terminal in Valdez in July. Dry camp in the lot above the shore, step past your rig at any time of the day or night and catch a 3-6 pound fish on every cast.

Rainbow trout: This is a tough one from the road system as most the the premier trout streams are in the back country and require a floatplane for access. The Kenai River south of Anchorage is probably best...after the salmon runs are done, which means late September and October. Otherwise there are a number of stocked lakes near most of the more populated areas that routinely produce catches of small trout.