Alaska Fish
Alaska's three seas - the Arctic, Pacific, and Bering - together with its three million lakes and 3,000 rivers provide ample habitat for a wide range of fish. There's simply no better place to fish than in Alaska. Salmon and halibut are abundant and among the best salt water fish to eat. Catching the fish is a lot of fun, and so is eating them. There's nothing like a freezer full of fresh Alaska salmon or Halibut. Check out these great Alaska seafood recipes.
These are the typical species, providing year-round sport fishing opportunities:
Arctic char - freshwater/seagoing (anadromous), found in Southcentral, Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim, and Bristol Bay, where the largest char can be caught in lakes between May and July.
Arctic grayling - rare freshwater fish found in Bristol Bay and in lakes along Interior roadways.
Brook trout - a very rare, introduced species of freshwater fish that is found in some parts of the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim and Southeast.
Burbot - a freshwater fish caught in the summer and through the ice in winter, found in Tanana and Yukon rivers.
Chinook salmon - anadromous (as are all salmon), largest Pacific salmon, sometimes called king, found abundantly throughout all southern regions but fished for mainly in Cook Inlet and Southeast.
Coho salmon - a famed sport fish caught between July and September in the salt and fresh waters of Southeast as well as the Yukon River.
Cutthroat trout - a sea-run/resident fish found in Southeast and Prince William Sound.
Dolly Varden - one of the most sought-after fish, anadromous and freshwater, range from Southeast to the Aleutians as well as the North Slope drainages.
Lake trout - Alaska's largest freshwater fish, found in deep lowland lakes in the Arctic plains, mountain lakes in the Chugach and Kenai areas, and in the Brooks and Alaska ranges.
Lingcod - predatory fish that inhabit rocky shoreline reefs in the Aleutians, Kodiak, Kenai, and Southeast.
Pike - found throughout Interior areas accessible only by plane or boat.
Halibut - large flatfish harvested for sport mainly off Southeast, Kachemak Bay, Lower Cook Inlet and Kodiak.
Rainbow trout - prized fish native to Southeast and Kuskokwim Bay, found in Bristol Bay, Kenai, Copper River, Kodiak, and Upper Cook Inlet.
Sheefish - increasing in popularity as a sport fish, found in the Yukon River and in Minto Flats, Holitna and Selawik-Kobuk.
Sockeye salmon - fished for sport mainly on the Russian River in the Kenai Peninsula.
Steelhead trout - a rainbow trout that has spent a portion of its life at sea, a good candidate for catch-and-release, found in Alaskan coastal streams.