Fishing in Alaska is unlike fishing anywhere else. The rivers are big and powerful and so are the fish. When one of those big salmon bend over your rod and head out into the powerful current you’ve definitely got a fight on your hand. As such, most of the rods and reels you might be using in other places won’t be the best fit for fishing Alaska’s salmon. But not to worry, Alaska Boat Rental & Guide Service has you covered. You can select rods and reels based on the type of fish you plan to target and the method you intend on using – such as bank fishing or from a boat. The equipment rented here is the same equipment we use on our professionally guided fishing trips so you know you’ll be using the right gear.
Sockeye Salmon Rod & Reels
Sockeye salmon fishing can involve long hours of “flipping.” Sure, you can get by with a spinning reel or even a bait-caster meant for king salmon fishing. But if you want the right rod and reel for sockeye, you want an 8/9 wt. 10-foot long reel, outfitted with plenty of backing and 20# monofilament.
We use a combination of 8/9 wt., Shakespeare Ugly Stik fly rods with an Okuma 8/9 wt. fly reel. We also use custom 7/8 wt. Kenai River Red Rods manufactured by Okuma with the same Okuma 8/9 wt. fly reel. Both rods make an excellent choice.
This particular setup provides a well-balanced rod and is very lightweight making it the ideal choice for many hours of flipping for sockeye.
King Salmon & Silver Salmon Rod & Reels
King salmon can be massive fish. Every summer we’re catching king salmon weighing upwards of 50 pounds or more on a pretty regular basis. It takes a very capable rod to handle fish of that size and power in the Kenai River. We’ve standardized and recommend the Lamiglas X11 and Okuma Coldwater series reels with line counters.
Spinning Rod & Reels
Silver salmon and pink salmon are very aggressive towards almost any lure put in front of them. Locating some slightly slower moving water than the mainstream of the river, casting upstream, and retrieving while the lure is drifting downstream is a very effective method of targeting silver salmon and pink salmon.
An alternative technique is to use a pyramid weight and eggs. Spinning rods and reels are the best tools for fishing this technique.
At Alaska Boat Rental & Guide Service we standardized, once again standardized on Pure Fishing’s Ugly Stik. This is a well-designed lightweight rod with both strength and action.