UTERJanuary
Ice fishing: burbot, lake trout, pike
Set lines for burbot; jig lakers through the ice.
The Kenai to the Interior
Alaska freshwater fishing
What's biting in Alaska freshwater in October: steelhead and rainbow trout at their peak, with Coho (silver) salmon, northern pike and lake trout around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 9 fish here month by month, from Kenai River to Lake Louise.
Fall steelhead and the biggest rainbows
More running fresh water than the rest of the country put together: salmon rivers from the Kenai to Bristol Bay, rainbow and grayling streams, and thousands of interior lakes with lake trout, pike and burbot under ice half the year.
Kenai RiverRussian RiverSusitna valleyBristol Bay riversChena RiverCopper RiverLake Louise
Updated
Now · October
Fall steelhead and the biggest rainbows
Anchor River steelhead; Kenai trophy rainbows.
Rainbow troutSteelhead
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakLeavingAroundAroundAround
Steelhead
Anchor River and Deep Creek fall steelhead
Rainbow trout
Kenai River's biggest rainbows
Coho (silver) salmon
Northern pike
Lake trout (mackinaw, togue)
Arctic grayling
The water
Structure that matters
RiverCreek / streamLakeBridgeBoat ramp
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Deep winter under the ice
Burbot spawn under the ice; pike on tip-ups in the Mat-Su.
March
Long days, thick ice
Stocked lakes for rainbows and char through the ice.
April
Breakup begins in the south
Southeast steelhead; open water on the Kenai Peninsula.
May
First kings; grayling spawn at breakup
Kenai and Kasilof kings (check emergency orders); pike spawn in the interior.
June
Kings and the first sockeye
Chinook (king) salmonSockeye (red) salmonArctic graylingNorthern pikeLake trout (mackinaw, togue)Rainbow trout
Russian River early sockeye; rainbow season opens in Bristol Bay drainages.
July
Sockeye peak on the Kenai
Chinook (king) salmonSockeye (red) salmonArctic graylingNorthern pikeLake trout (mackinaw, togue)Coho (silver) salmon
Flossing rigs in the travel lanes; dipnetting for residents.
August
Silvers arrive; rainbows behind the spawners
Egg patterns behind the sockeye for big rainbows; silvers in every coastal stream.
September
Peak rainbows and late silvers
Flesh and egg flies on the Kenai and the Bristol Bay rivers.
October · now
Fall steelhead and the biggest rainbows
Anchor River steelhead; Kenai trophy rainbows.
November
Freeze-up
Last open-water steelhead; wait for safe ice.
December
First ice
Burbot and lake trout on the interior lakes.
Fish guides for Alaska freshwater
When, where and what to use, fish by fishArctic graylingBurbot (eelpout, ling, cusk)Chinook (king) salmonCoho (silver) salmonLake trout (mackinaw, togue)Northern pikeRainbow troutSockeye (red) salmonSteelhead
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