Alaska Dolly Varden Fishing Spots

This spot in Ster­ling — at mile­post 82.3 at the Isaak Wal­ton Camp­ground — is where the Moose Riv­er meets the Kenai Riv­er, and the two rivers’ dif­fer­ing paces are dras­tic. The Moose Riv­er is very slow and wide, with almost no cur­rent — so much so that it feels more like a lake. The Kenai Riv­er, on the oth­er hand, flows fair­ly swift­ly in com­par­i­son, and the con­flu­ence can play strange tricks on your tackle.

Stop at Long Lake, at mile 45.2, to see a pop­u­lar spot for sock­eye salmon to spawn. Every year, 18,000 sock­eye salmon swim up the Chiti­na and Cop­per Rivers to spawn in Long Lake. This is a very unique run, salmon begin enter­ing the lake as late as Sep­tem­ber and spawn until April. 

This unique fish­ery, about 25 miles north of Anchor­age, is com­prised of a small, arti­fi­cial eddy of water that comes down from a pow­er plant and con­nects to the main stem, Knik Riv­er. The glacial-fed water looks murky and blue-gray, and there’s very lit­tle cur­rent. While you won’t find much soli­tude here, you can usu­al­ly find a spot to set up a lawn chair for some lazy fish­ing. There’s abun­dant park­ing, too, as well as restrooms.

80-site RV Park (no hook-ups) and camp­ground, with water, shared flush toi­lets (a lux­u­ry in Alas­ka camp­ing!), and pic­nic tables and fire pits at each camp­site. Very pop­u­lar fish­ing spot for rain­bow trout, red (sock­eye), and sil­ver (coho) salmon. Also a very active area for bears — some­times there are restric­tions on tent camp­ing and soft-sided trail­ers due to bear activ­i­ty in the area.

Lake stocked with rain­bow trout in the heart of Anchor­age. There are fish­ing areas from shore. This is also a pop­u­lar dog park.

This fish-filled creek rush­es out from Far North Bicen­ten­ni­al Park and through the cen­ter of town. Cast for rain­bow trout, Dol­ly Var­den, or sil­ver salmon-all with­in walk­ing dis­tance of your car. Throw on a pair of hip-waders and head up the creek or angle from the shore­line trail. Check with ADF&G for cur­rent reg­u­la­tions and where fish­ing is legal.

Sun­shine Creek flows into the Susit­na Riv­er. There is an access road off of the Parks High­way. Most pop­u­lar for fish­ing for sil­vers late August through September.

This spot, just north of Ster­ling, is pri­mar­i­ly a boat launch, but it also offers excel­lent sock­eye fish­ing. It’s locat­ed at the end of Bing’s Land­ing Road: There’s a park­ing lot, but when the fish­ing is hot, you can expect to park along­side the road, up to half a mile away from the boat launch site. (Anoth­er rea­son you might park on the road: The lot near the boat launch has a fee.)

Pop­u­lar spot in Seward to fish for sil­ver salmon in late August and Sep­tem­ber. Fish from the beach near the waterfall.

Wil­low Creek Con­flu­ence State Rec Area, near Mile 70.8 of the Parks Hwy, offers 140 camp­sites where Wil­low Creek meets the Susit­na Riv­er. Man­aged by Alas­ka State Parks, it fea­tures spruce for­est, flush toi­lets, a dump sta­tion, and fish-clean­ing areas. This busy camp­ground is ide­al for fish­ing, raft­ing, and explor­ing near­by Hatch­er Pass, with the town of Wil­low just min­utes away.

Fish for Arc­tic Grayling and Dol­ly Varden.

Small park­ing area at end of Sor­rel Road. Beach is oppo­site of down­town Seward across Res­ur­rec­tion Bay. Fish for sock­eye and sil­ver salmon depend­ing on the sea­son. Check with ADF&G for cur­rent regulations.

Wad­ing access and boat launch. Grav­el park­ing area and boat launch are both avail­able for a fee. Check web­site for cur­rent rates. This is a small­er park­ing area than some near­by access points for the Kenai Riv­er. Depend­ing on the sea­son can fish for rain­bow trout, dol­ly var­den, salmon (King, Sock­eye, Coho). Check the ADF&G web­site for regulations.

Salmon fish­ing spot. See cur­rent ADF&G reg­u­la­tions. Whit­ti­er Small Boat Har­bor closed to snagging.

Access for fish­ing on the Knik Riv­er is via the Knik Riv­er Pub­lic Use Area. Depend­ing on cur­rent reg­u­la­tions set by ADF&G, this is a pop­u­lar fish­ing spot for pink and sil­ver salmon.

Fish for sil­ver salmon from the beach­es at Low­ell Point near Seward, Alas­ka. Check with ADF&G for cur­rent regulations.

Access point to fish the Kenai Riv­er between the Russ­ian Riv­er and Ski­lak Lake. Species found here include trout, dol­ly var­den, and salmon (kings, sock­eye, and sil­vers — depend­ing on time of year). There is a grav­el park­ing area and a boat launch point. Check with Alas­ka Depart­ment of Fish and Game for reg­u­la­tions and limits.

Fish for rain­bow trout at this small lake acces­si­ble via a ¹⁄₄ mile trail off of the McCarthy Road.

One of the most pop­u­lar areas in the state for dip­net­ters to fish the Kenai Riv­er in the month of July. There’s a large paved park­ing area, and camp­ing is allowed July 10 — 31 dur­ing the sock­eye salmon run. Restrooms available.

Access point to fish the Russ­ian Riv­er near the con­flu­ence of the Kenai and Russ­ian Rivers in Coop­er Land­ing. It also pro­vides park­ing for anglers using the Russ­ian Riv­er Fer­ry which is right next door. Fish­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for red (sock­eye) and sil­ver (coho) salmon, as well as dol­ly var­den and rain­bow trout.

Pop­u­lar loca­tion to fish the Kenai Riv­er from a raised plat­form along the water and to launch boats. Large park­ing area and boat launch are both avail­able for a fee. Check web­site for cur­rent rates. Vault toi­lets. Depend­ing on the sea­son can fish for rain­bow trout, dol­ly var­den, salmon (King, Sock­eye, Coho). Check the ADF&G web­site for regulations.

Locat­ed down Beaver Loop Road, just out­side of Kenai, Cun­ning­ham Park is a great, easy-access loca­tion for sock­eye and sil­ver salmon. The shore­line here is a mix of grav­el and mud, with the mud being more preva­lent below the tidal zone. That said, this spot is very tidal depen­dent, so you’ll have to con­tin­u­al­ly adjust your bait set­up as the water ris­es or falls.

There are rain­bow trout and dol­ly var­den in Eklut­na Lake. Check with Alas­ka Depart­ment of Fish and Game for regulations.

Great lake fish­ing near Seward for Dol­ly Var­den. Accord­ing to the Alas­ka Depart­ment of Fish & Game, fish­ing is best mid-May through ear­ly June and again in August and Sep­tem­ber. This lake is also a pop­u­lar ice fish­ing spot dur­ing the win­ter months.

This area opens to dip net­ting for sock­eye salmon only if escape­ment of salmon is beyond a cer­tain lim­it. Vis­it the ADF&G web­site for more information.

At mile­post 75 of the Seward High­way, you’ll see a large pull­out with a road you can fol­low even fur­ther to access Ingram Creek. Fish­ing for Kings is not allowed, but oth­er salmon, trout, and dol­ly var­den when in sea­son. Check the ADF&G web­site for lim­its and guidelines. 

Desh­ka Land­ing is a boat launch on the Susit­na Riv­er that pro­vides access to the Susit­na, Yent­na, and Desh­ka Rivers. The land­ing is open year-round (win­ter snow­mo­bile use) and is man­aged by the Desh­ka Out­door Asso­ci­a­tion, LLC.

Pop­u­lar for sock­eye in ear­ly August, and sil­vers from Mid-August with late runs through Octo­ber. From the park­ing area at the Jim Creek Camp­ground, it is about a 1.5 mile trail to the riv­er. This area is extreme­ly pop­u­lar for locals to explore on ATVs and dirt bikes.

This spot is par­tic­u­lar­ly good for any­one who’s mobil­i­ty impaired, since you access the riv­er by a flat, met­al board­walk — and the actu­al fish­ing area is also from the board­walk. This makes Moose Mead­ows one of a very few places where anglers can fish for sock­eye with­out hav­ing to be in the water — you can do excel­lent even from a wheel chair.

Fish for salmon from the rocky beach­es near the water­front camp­ground in Seward, Alaska.

Grav­el road from the Richard­son High­way leads to a point where you can access the Lit­tle Ton­si­na where it meets the Ton­si­na Riv­er. Arc­tic grayling, Dol­ly Var­den, sock­eye salmon, king salmon, and coho salmon depend­ing on the sea­son. Check with ADF&G for cur­rent regulations.

Upper Sum­mit Lake is one of the most beau­ti­ful views along the Seward high­way. Sum­mit Lake Lodge is at one end, open sea­son­al­ly May through Sep­tem­ber. Behind the lake is Ten­der­foot Creek Camp­ground. Fish­ing avail­able for Dol­ly Var­den and Rain­bow Trout.

Locat­ed about 15 min­utes from Seward on the oppo­site side of Res­ur­rec­tion Bay. There’s a camp­ground here and large park­ing area. Fish for reds and sil­ver salmon depend­ing on the sea­son. Check with ADF&G for cur­rent regulations.

Run­ning through the heart of Gird­wood, Glac­i­er Creek is a pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tion. You can fish, pack­raft, or sim­ply stop and admire the view on your walk through Girdwood.

Area to fish Res­ur­rec­tion Riv­er for Sil­ver Salmon. There are a few park­ing areas and camp­grounds along Nash road.

Salmon fish­ing area. See ADF&G for cur­rent lim­its and regulations. 

Camp­bell Creek Park E and W, off of Tudor. Coho salmon come up Camp­bell Creek each year. Check with ADF&G for cur­rent reg­u­la­tions and where fish­ing is legal.

Stretch your legs at this pic­turesque stream and per­haps drop in a line. At Dav­es Creek you’ll find good fish­ing for dol­ly var­den and rain­bow trout. Salmon can be seen spawn­ing here in mid-July through September.

MP 122.2 New Seward Hwy, off of Dimond Blvd. Coho salmon come up Camp­bell Creek each year. Check with ADF&G for cur­rent reg­u­la­tions and where fish­ing is legal.

This is a week­end only salmon fish­ery that is very pop­u­lar with locals. The creek is more of a slough, with thick-glacial silt mud.

Res­ur­rec­tion Creek right in down­town Hope offers some of the best pink salmon fish­ing in the region dur­ing the late sum­mer run. Known as a great spot for kids to hook their first salmon.

There’s a pri­vate­ly run camp­ground here and access to fish­ing on Wil­low Creek. There’s also a fish­ing char­ter oper­a­tor offer­ing guid­ed trips on the creek.

Kasilof Riv­er per­son­al use salmon fish­ery. Per­mit and fish­ing license required. Dip­net­ting avail­able to Alas­ka res­i­dents. Con­firm sea­son with ADF&G.

The Nick Dudi­ak Fish­ing Lagoon (aka The Fish­ing Hole) is a pop­u­lar park with both locals and vis­i­tors. The lagoon is stocked with fry that grow up to pro­vide sport fish­ing. The fish­ing hole has a hand­i­capped acces­si­ble plat­form and ramp. King salmon return mid-May to ear­ly July fol­lowed by an ear­ly run of sil­vers mid-July to ear­ly August and a late run ear­ly August to mid-September.

Ever gone ice fish­ing? Cari­bou lake is a great place to enjoy this cold and unique expe­ri­ence. You can spend a qui­et day to your­self, fish­ing for Dol­ly Var­den and Koka­nee. Or if you’re feel­ing more com­pet­i­tive, you can par­tic­i­pate in the Sno­mad’s (Home­r’s snow machine club) annu­al ice fish­ing con­test. (Either way, dress in warm lay­ers and be pre­pared to sit or stand in the cold!)

King salmon enter Deep Creek dur­ing late May and ear­ly June and con­tin­ue to spawn into ear­ly July. Watch for their dark red bod­ies in the rif­fles and deep­er holes. A very lim­it­ed fish­ing sea­son is pro­vid­ed dur­ing the ear­ly sum­mer for kings and steelheads.

This trib­u­tary of the Kenai Riv­er flows along­side the Ster­ling High­way, just north of Coop­er Land­ing (from mile­post 40 – 45). There are plen­ty of des­ig­nat­ed pull-offs along the high­way — like Quartz Creek Road, which leads to Kenai Lake, as well as the pop­u­lar access point at the Quartz Creek Bridge.

King salmon enter dur­ing late-May and ear­ly-June and there are always some fish spawn­ing in areas near the high­way dur­ing ear­ly-July. Wear polar­ized glass­es if you have them and watch for dark red kings in the rif­fles and deep­er holes. A very lim­it­ed fish­ing sea­son is avail­able on these streams dur­ing the ear­ly sum­mer for both salmon and steelhead.

This is one of the few spots along the road sys­tem where you might catch hal­ibut from the shore. Check out the beach, which sur­rounds the Land’s End Hotel, on the Homer Spit. Here, you’ll find a small park­ing lot, and the water’s only about 100 feet away.

SE on N Eagle Riv­er, SE on Eagle. Small grav­el area to fish from shore. Also pop­u­lar for ice fish­ing in winter.

Mile­post 17.7, Seward High­wayKe­nai Lake offered a flat tree­less path to trav­el in win­ter. This trail was one of two over­land routes to Sun­rise and Hope. (The oth­er over­land route was through Portage Pass.) Min­ers trav­eled by dogsled from Seward to Snow Riv­er and on to Kenai Lake. At the oth­er end of the 17 mile lake, trav­el­ers would fol­low Quartz Creek north through Tur­na­gain Pass along Canyon Creek to the gold rush towns of Sun­rise and Hope.  ...more

This riv­er flows past a prim­i­tive camp­site (first-come basis, free) and emp­ties into the bay. Only three miles long, the riv­er is fed by Lake Rose Tead, which is a prime spawn­ing area for sock­eye salmon. The riv­er also has runs of pink, chum, and sil­ver salmon, as well as Dol­ly Var­den. Fly fish­er­men love the chal­lenge of fish­ing in the tidal­ly-influ­enced low­er stretch of the riv­er; but spin­ner or fly cast­er, you’ll find good game in this stream,  ...more

When sil­ver salmon are run­ning up Mon­tana Creek by the thou­sands, fish­er­men are run­ning up the Parks High­way by the hun­dreds to go ​“com­bat fish­ing.” They stand elbow to elbow along the creek, cast­ing their lines and catch­ing every­thing from fish to coat sleeves. Up and down the creek, you can hear peo­ple holler ​“Fish on!”

This qui­et lit­tle pull­out is next to a small bab­bling brook filled with Dol­ly Var­den and Arc­tic Grayling. Dur­ing win­ter, the thick cov­er of wil­low along the riv­er is an impor­tant con­cen­tra­tion and feed­ing area for wil­low ptarmigan.

This is a great spot to fish for Dol­ly Var­den begin­ning in August.

Thou­sands of pink salmon con­verge on Indi­an Creek each July and August, just about fill­ing this shal­low, easy-flow­ing stream south of Anchor­age along Tur­na­gain Arm from bank-to-bank. This amaz­ing nat­ur­al spec­ta­cle occurs in one of the eas­i­est places to view spawn­ing salmon in the region: No steep banks, crys­tal clear water and fish so close they could almost be touched.