Planning Family Alaska Trip

[Redmammut]

For what its worth, my 3 year old loves ocean fishing. But he didn't love it so much when he was 1. we usually go on small private boats. The only thing a 1 year is good for is berry picking.

this is the State website for stocked lake info. it might help you plan your roadside fishing trips. :https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/SF_Lakes/

 

[akcabin]

I don't see any reason to not take the kids anywhere. We did n still do. Renting a motorhome from Craigslist and get a milepost book. You can make your own way as you go. Id suggest getting one now and research.
Sockeye salmon will start running in the middle of July. King salmon closed this year. A little grayling stream off the road a bit all by yourself might work fine. Tangle lakes area off east end of the Denali Hwy. Might see some caribou too. Blueberry everywhere.
Flight seeing, land on Denali mt. Glacier tours. You can rent ocean boats n go halibut fishing or hang out on ocean a few days.
Visiting a native village like Barrow, before new name, and watching the whaling festival.
It's Alaska, getting off the road a bit and enjoying some time in remarkable places. Or enjoy the other opportunities. Kinda too many to write, good luck n have fun

 

[richyrich408]

Trying to decide with either a Seward Ocean Charter vs a Kenai River Charter, any suggestions?


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[akcabin]

Seward is nice. I'd much rather go out of Whittier. Better scenes n less people. Deeper water though.
If you're thinking about the Kenai. King season is closed. But doesn't mean that you won't catch one. I would suggest going to the upper end. 10 pound rainbows way less people float down in float boats. Then get on a river charter. All guides are good but I'd try n get an Alaskan guide. Someone born here that loves to fish know more. And can suggest other places.
Aging as I write. Id go to Whittier. Halibut salmon glaciers whales n such and your not on the edge of the ocean. Better weather. Great family thing. Charters that cater to your exact needs everywhere though. You could land in Anchorage catch a bus or arrange with the charter for a ride down a highway voted one of the most beautiful in American. Maybe see some beluga whales. Go past portage glacier n get some ice for the cooler n beverages. Through the tunnel n on the boat. Less than 2 hour trip
I used to get out of those ports n Homer to. Buddy had a 22' Trophy. We'd go on meat runs for 3--4 days out. You'll feel pretty good about yourself coming back. But just cruising around from one fjord to the next. Looking at the glaciers, fish finder is just a blurr.
Hey that's just one thing. If you have time get a flight seeing tour in. Glaciers bears mountains wild scenery.
Hey its all a win.

 

[BroodBuster]

I’d end the trip with a halibut and cod charter. May as well fill the freezer while your there.

 

[Marbles]

I cannot think of anything in Anchorage that is a must see. The south east (Ketchikan, Sitka, Etc), or the Kenai, or Valdez would all be much higher on my list. Pick the spot you want to fish out of.

If not renting a car, you could take the train, drop down to Seward for fishing, then head up to Denali. You could hike Exit Glacier in Seward and see the Harding as well. Depending on the time of year, you could also snag reds in Seward in addition to a charter trip.

The train can also take you to Whittier.

 

[richyrich408]

Thank you everyone for your input!


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[Hayduke541]

Lots of really great advice in this thread. You just have to decide what is most important and go from there. It be hard (but not impossible) to do the Kenai Penn and go up North. If it were me I would fly into Anchorage than go North up to Paxton, Tangle Lake area and put the hurt on grayling. You will get a bit of the interior feel and see some big tundra type vista's. You will ho by Matanuska glacier and the pipeline. I thought both were cool the first time I saw them. Than I would head back for Anchorage spend a day or two before heading south. You could book a half or full day on the Kenai to float and fish for sockeye or trout/dollies. I found the trout trips to be more fun but I also killed a ton of salmon every year so trout was something different. You can than book the halibut trip out Seward, Deep Creek or Homer. My experience was slightly better size fish in Deep Creek or Homer than Seward but my two biggest both came from Seward on specialty charters. I never found halibut fishing to be super fun and more like a grocery chore. The Highway Angler book is an excellent suggestion.

 

[Ishisube]

Sounding like we will pass on Denali!

Good thing about looking at the mountain itself is that I've seen it both from north of Fairbanks and driving in Anchorage itself. Very visible from a lot of places in the state, and if you're still looking for more drives, the Denali Highway, not to mention the intersecting Richardson gets you a lot of Alaska viewing time, with the Denali having noticeably less traffic than the main routes.

 

[richyrich408]

Seward is nice. I'd much rather go out of Whittier. Better scenes n less people. Deeper water though.
If you're thinking about the Kenai. King season is closed. But doesn't mean that you won't catch one. I would suggest going to the upper end. 10 pound rainbows way less people float down in float boats. Then get on a river charter. All guides are good but I'd try n get an Alaskan guide. Someone born here that loves to fish know more. And can suggest other places.
Aging as I write. Id go to Whittier. Halibut salmon glaciers whales n such and your not on the edge of the ocean. Better weather. Great family thing. Charters that cater to your exact needs everywhere though. You could land in Anchorage catch a bus or arrange with the charter for a ride down a highway voted one of the most beautiful in American. Maybe see some beluga whales. Go past portage glacier n get some ice for the cooler n beverages. Through the tunnel n on the boat. Less than 2 hour trip
I used to get out of those ports n Homer to. Buddy had a 22' Trophy. We'd go on meat runs for 3--4 days out. You'll feel pretty good about yourself coming back. But just cruising around from one fjord to the next. Looking at the glaciers, fish finder is just a blurr.
Hey that's just one thing. If you have time get a flight seeing tour in. Glaciers bears mountains wild scenery.
Hey its all a win.

Whittier sound interesting, any recommendations for guides/charters? Little ones will stay back with mom for the day.


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[Hayduke541]

Whittier sound interesting, any recommendations for guides/charters? Little ones will stay back with mom for the day.


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There isn't much to do in Whittier for the family. Most of the town lives in an old 3 story WWII building. It is a cool experience to go through the tunnel though. Seward has a tourist area with shops plus the AK Sealife Center is fun and great for kids.

 

[Ishisube]

Whittier sound interesting, any recommendations for guides/charters? Little ones will stay back with mom for the day.

Lot more to do in Valdez for the family and it's a short ride of the ferry from Whittier, past the Columbia Glacier and sea lions. Anywhere on salt water in Alaska you're going to find plenty of guide trips available. Usually sea otters hanging around Valdez too.

 

[akcabin]

Lots of family stuff in Seward. Not much in Whittier

 

[Bbddalton]

The delta clear water has the best grayling fishing and they’ll eat anything.

 

[ptarmigan]

Homer is a great place to go for a halibut charter. Things to do around town as well. Seward is nice, long run for fish though, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if the weather is good. The Sealife Center is there also, which would be good for the little ones.

You could stay in Sodotna and fish the Kenai for sockeye, or do a combo float for kings and sockeye on the Kasilof. That's what I would do. I know several good guides that would probably put fish in the boat for you.

I'd skip Denali NP and head up the Glenn making my way to Paxson on the Richardson. The Glenn offers some spectacular scenery on your way to Glennallen. Drive in the Denali Hwy to Tangle Lakes. There's some cabins there you can rent from the lodge, as well as canoes. Great grayling fishing (and lakers from shore potentially) and beautiful scenery. If your vehicle rental allows, drive west from there (paved to the Mclaren River, dirt most of the way to Cantwell from there) and come out in Cantwell, then head south to Talkeetna.

Depending on your dates, there's some fishing to be had. On the Parks Hwy you have Troublesome, Byers, Montana, Sheep, and Willow creeks that all have great trout fishing depending on water levels and timing.

 

[richyrich408]

Keep it up everyone, great info. We just booked our flight from Seattle to anchorage the day after Father’s Day. Going to look at lodging next.


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[ptarmigan]

Keep it up everyone, great info. We just booked our flight from Seattle to anchorage the day after Father’s Day. Going to look at lodging next.


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Your timing would be perfect for South first, then North later. Sockeye will be slow, halibut should be good. Up North (Tangle Lakes) the ice will be just going out around the 3rd week of June. Best time for fishing up there! Parks highway streams will all have rainbows.

 

[richyrich408]

Well booked our first leg of the journey with an Air BNB in Chugach state park. Its next to the South Fork Eagle River Trail to Eagle and Symphony Lakes hopefully will hit the trail and get some Artic Grayling action. We will spend 4 days there and commute into anchorage to see some sights before moving on to the next locations. Sequence will depend on ocean charter availability but Seward and Soldnta and Girdwood will be our other locations to stay in. Figure we can take advantage of our time pretty well by using those locations as home bases and driving to our activities.

 

[Htm84]

Well booked our first leg of the journey with an Air BNB in Chugach state park. Its next to the South Fork Eagle River Trail to Eagle and Symphony Lakes hopefully will hit the trail and get some Artic Grayling action. We will spend 4 days there and commute into anchorage to see some sights before moving on to the next locations. Sequence will depend on ocean charter availability but Seward and Soldnta and Girdwood will be our other locations to stay in. Figure we can take advantage of our time pretty well by using those locations as home bases and driving to our activities.

Little fun factoid for you. The last fatal brown bear mauling in the muni took place a stones throw from your air bnb. They never found the bear either. Anyway that areas super cool. I don’t know what dates your trip is but if I recall the eagle and symphony have a pretty late opening day to fish. Like mid July or something. I could be misremembering though. Tons of peaks and just cool country to explore. Second pic is looking up towards the lakes a few days ago

 

[richyrich408]

Little fun factoid for you. The last fatal brown bear mauling in the muni took place a stones throw from your air bnb. They never found the bear either. Anyway that areas super cool. I don’t know what dates your trip is but if I recall the eagle and symphony have a pretty late opening day to fish. Like mid July or something. I could be misremembering though. Tons of peaks and just cool country to explore. Second pic is looking up towards the lakes a few days ago

Good to know… was definitely bringing or buying bear spray for the trip but maybe I’ll bring along the 44 mag as well. Thanks for the tip on symphony lake, yes it looks like it opens the day after we leave. We will find some other fishing opportunities nearby. I have heard maybe the hatchery.


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