A recent conversation with a very experienced Alaska booking agent reminded us of a really unique aspect of our fishery at Alaska West that we sometimes take for granted – we have world class fishing for silver salmon and rainbow trout, at the same time, on the same stretch of river.
Silvers and Rainbows – What’s the Big Deal?
To have good fishing for silver (a.k.a. coho) salmon, you need to be able to target bright fish near saltwater. In most Alaskan river systems with good runs of silvers, the area ‘down low’ where the silvers are bright has a very low population of rainbows. To get to the good rainbow fishing in most rivers, you need to go way up river where the salmon fishing tends to go downhill.
At Alaska West, our camp is located 6 miles from the mouth of the river. From a few miles above our camp down to a mile or so from the river’s mouth, we have the really unusual combination of fantastic rainbow trout habitat (with an incredible population of residents), right on top of amazing fishing for silver salmon.
This makes for variety that’s unmatched. You can fish for silvers one day and trout the next. You can pull off the very popular ‘silvers in the morning, trout in the afternoon’ combo day. Heck, you and your buddy can tag-team a gravel bar – while he’s catching silvers in the slough, you can catch trout in the snags 30 yards away.
Different gear, different techniques, different fight, different pace…both world-class, both on the same trip, both even in the same water. It’s silvers and rainbows, living together at Alaska West!
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