Click photo to read story Anglers use a variety of methods to fish ... Tony Route casts while fly-fishing from a float ... Skiper Stacey Mitchell alerts client John Pfaff to ... Anglers battle a silver salmon on the Little ... A fisherman walks with his silver salmon catch ... Fishing on ALASKA.com

A class act
Kenai college opens fishing academy this summer

(Published: April 10, 2003 )
So you've always wanted the perfect excuse to give your significant other when you wanted to spend a few summer days on your favorite river fishing. How about this: "It's a college class." It's not a tall tale or a fantasy. Thanks to the Kenai Peninsula College, you can legitimately claim you're enhancing your education while fishing this summer. The college is offering the Kenai Fishing Academy for the first time beginning in June. Weeklong courses will be offered (more...)

Valdez variety
Prince William Sound offers abundant saltwater options

(Published: April 10, 2003 )
The late Sophie Tucker once said, "I've been rich, and I've been poor. . . . Rich is better." To paraphrase Sophie, I have fished Cook Inlet, and I have fished Valdez. Valdez is usually better. I say that after having lived in this gateway to Prince William Sound for 10 years, and fishing the Sound extensively on both charters and private boats from Valdez. In addition to being one of the most beautiful places on the Alaska road (more...)

Great Gulkana
It's worth the drive to catch the kings

(Published: April 10, 2003 )
The Gulkana River is a place I love to fish. It's also a place I hate to fish. In and of itself that sounds like an oxymoron, so let me briefly explain. I love the river because it is easily accessible, flowing adjacent to the Richardson Highway from Paxson Lake southward to its confluence with the mighty Copper River near Glennallen. Unless rains wash it out, it flows clear and clean, its currents safely navigable by both floaters and (more...)

Little Su, big fish
Mat-Su river yields plenty of kings, if you know the secrets

(Published: April 10, 2003 )
It had been one of those warm, sunny days when the weather was awesome but the fishing was not. In fact, it had been somewhat slow. We hadn't had a single strike after three hours, and as the air warmed the need for a nap seemed to envelop me like a warm cocoon. Then I remember wondering why my rod tip was no longer moving in a mesmerizing gyration from the oversized Kwikfish working against the current but instead (more...)

Reel in some cash
Southcentral derbies offer big prizes for big fish

(Published: April 10, 2003 )
Clayton McDowell picked a good time to land a monster halibut. In addition to packing his freezer with hundreds of pounds of flatfish, McDowell's 347-pound catch last July earned him more than $48,000 in the annual Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby. McDowell's $48,675 was by far the largest payday in the 17 years of the derby. In 2001, Homer's Tom Barkman brought home $33,514 from the derby. "It was a really big payout," said Linda Winters, halibut derby coordinator for (more...)