Fishing Alaska - King Salmon

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Fishing Lodge Home Alaska Fishing Salmon Kings

Check out our current Special Package: 2024 June/early July Lodge Stay plus day Fly-Out float trip!


Preparing for your Alaska King Salmon Fishing Experience

Our lodge works hand-in-hand with area biologists to support maximum sustainability practices for King Salmon. 2024 Alaska King Salmon Regulations are typically known by early spring of that year. Note that king salmon are the most regulated of all salmon species in Alaska, state-wide. We encourage you to contact our regional biologists at (907) 746-6300 prior to planning your fishing trip at our lodge, or anywhere else in Alaska for that matter. If there are restrictions place upon king salmon, please view our lodge "king salmon conservation deal" below, which still secures fresh salmon fillets for all guests to take home whom are visiting June through July 13th! It's our little way of supporting king conservation while also providing our guests with fresh salmon to take home.

2024 King Salmon Conservation Bonus

Our lodge offers a unique conservation deal to assure all of our guests head home with salmon fillets for their friends and family. We do this also to support the current regulated king salmon fishery, which greatly benefits the future of this amazing wild salmon species. We are proud to be the only lodge in Alaska offering this. For guests visiting in June and July, we have the luxury of 3 other fish species to target in addition to king salmon. For groups of 2+ visiting us for 2+ nights during June and early July (through July 13th), we are applying our king salmon conservation deal to provide guests with commercial-caught silver or sockeye salmon (5lbs per group per day, and up to 20lb per group). Sockeye and Silver Salmon are both healthy, abundant fisheries in Alaska waters where retention of these species is a key management tool to balance their populations. The fillets we provide are fresh, cryovacked, de-boned and are of the highest quality. They will be tightly packed in insulated fish boxes that will be ready for you upon your return to Anchorage. No worries and no pressure to "fill the freezer." This guarantees our guests head home with salmon fillets to share with friends and family and guarantees full days of king salmon fishing experience for all that choose to catch and release. This allows a great option for those focused on a fun fishing experience. This maximizes your fishing time for kings while allowing you to do your part to support future king salmon populations. Note: If the Alaska Department of Fish and Game opens the current king salmon season for retention, our conservation deal will no longer apply. Please email us at wildernesplacelodge@gmail.com if you have any questions about our king salmon conservation package.
Alaska king salmon fishing lodge.
Nice king salmon on fly fishing gear at our Alaska lodge.
Alaska king salmon fly-in river fishing trips

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Alaska King Salmon Gear

Outfit yourself for your king salmon fishing trip. If you prefer to not bring your own fishing equipment, our lodge provides all you need to be as a complimentary part of our inclusive fishing lodge packages.
Spin fishing tactics for alaska king salmon.

King Salmon Spin Fishing

If you prefer spin or bait-cast fishing, there are a wide variety of tactics that we use to successfully catch king salmon in our clear-water river system. We fish spoons, spinner, plugs and a variety of drift rigs. Drift rigs, including Corky rigs and Spin-glow rigs are used by means of casting and drifting on the river-bottom in the deepest slots where kings hold in large densities. Both are rigged on a snelled Gamakatsu Octopus hook on a 2-3 foot 25# mono leader. The leader is attached to a snap swivel, which then is attached to the main line. We drop 2-4" sections of 1/4 oz. pencil lead from the snap swivel to sink the rig directly to the bottom of the river. Be sure to visit our Alaska spin fishing guide for more!. Be sure to visit our Alaska spin fishing guide for more!

Best fly fishing for Alaska king salmon

Fly Fishing for Kings

Fly Fishing King salmon is probably the most exciting sport fishing venue in Alaska. We are usually fly fishing kings from shore or wading from gravel bars to pursue these giant fish. Casting a fly to kings requires proper gear and technique. Water conditions vary greatly during June through early July. When fly fishing for king salmon, it is essential to have a wide array of fly lines, sink tips and shooting heads to achieve proper presentation. Consistent fly drift near the river bottom through deep water greatly increases your hook rate.

Fly patterns for Alaska pink salmon

King Salmon Fly Patterns

Be sure to visit our signature Alaska fly patterns page for more suggested pink salmon flies. Most of our King flies are weighted, either by wrapped lead wire mid-way on the shank of the hook, or by cone-heads, bead-eyes or dumbbell eyes. King flies are swung through fast current in deep holes, so the flies must get down. Weighted sink tips, weighted flies and short leaders assure a deep presentation near the river bottom where kings hold in the main channel. Many of our fishermen prefer tube flies that allow the use of Gamakatsu Octopus hook notorious as a very strong, sharp alternative that decreases the chance you will lose a big fish in fast water. Color and size trends change regularly with kings. Be adaptive. Proper presentation is key to success!

Peak Alaska king salmon fishing periods

Kings: Peak Fishing Dates

Follow the link to view our Alaska peak salmon run calendar. King salmon peak June through early July. View our Alaska peak fishing calendar to plan your ideal adventure. Native trout fishing is consistent throughout the summer season. As for other salmon species, when you visit our lodge determines which species are available in our river system.

King Salmon: Printable Planning Resources

Follow the link below for a simple sheet with our basic spin fishing lures our guides use to target salmon species on our remote river system.

Printable Spin Fishing Lures

We have created an assortment of some our our favorite fly patterns to target king salmon in our Alaska river if you prefer to tie some up prior to your trip!

Printable King Fly Patterns

For further information on trip packing, Alaska fishing regulations and river guides, visit our guides and resources page below.

King Salmon Gear Guide
Float trip with fly fishing for king salmon

Conserving Wild Pacific Chinook (King) Salmon

We feel a strong responsibility to conserve the largest, most amazing of Pacific Salmon species. King salmon are the largest in size of Alaska salmon and one of the most prized sport fisheries in the world. To do our part to conserve this precious resource in our river, we do what we can to encourage catch and release fishing. As a sport-fishing lodge, we feel it is our role to maximize your fishing experience for "sport", and to reinvest in the precious resources that provide for that experience. Therefore, we have created the King Conservation Project. Please see details at the top of this page for the current regulatory season.