Wilderness Streams for Wild Salmon and Trout, Where the Only Other Anglers Wear Brown Fur Coats.
Whalers' Cove offers the best combination of fresh or saltwater fishing anywhere in Alaska! Our guests have the daily choice of either kind of fishing and can even take advantage of doing both if they would like!
Since our lodge is centrally located and we don't have to fly our guests out to saltwater or into a stream, it extends our clients fishing time as compared to other lodges.
Within 1 hour of our lodge, via our 22' Boulton Freshwater Guide Boats, we can utilize 45 separate freshwater streams and rivers. And within an hour's reach using a chartered float plane, we can fish in over 1000 freshwater lakes, streams and rivers.
The WCL Experience
All of our rivers, streams and lakes are crystal clear and pure, free of the glacial silt that is prevalent in mainland areas of Alaska. These systems support large numbers of schooling King, Coho, Sockeye, Pink and Chum Salmon as well as Steelhead, Dolly Varden, Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout. The streams are wide, gentle flowing and easily wadable with good access for fly, cast or spinning tackle.
The lakes in our vicinity have good shore access, but are generally more easily fished from a boat or with waders near the inlet or outlet streams. If you're an avid angler seeking that IGFA World Record, our professional guides are very knowledgeable and can lead you to your dreams and assist with certifying your trophy.
Freshwater fishing opportunities abound in the Whalers' Cove area. There are many secluded streams inside the bays of Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichigof islands. These clear waters are home to four species of salmon, plus rainbow trout, steelhead, cutthroat, and Dolly Varden. The productivity of these streams is one of the many reasons for the awesome natural abundance of this region.
Salmon are the main link in the food chain. They are essential to all life in Alaska. It is the salmon that connect the land and the sea. Returning to the waters of their origin, the salmon emerge from the sea in huge waves with each high tide. Whalers' Cove guides anchor our 19' to 21' Bayrunner or Boulton boats at the mouth of these secluded streams. We walk the riverbanks to pools of salmon stacked up on their upstream migration. We rarely see other anglers, but we frequently see brown bears feeding on salmon.
Spin and fly casting are equally successful. Experienced and novice anglers can enjoy fast action fishing in these fish-packed waters. The fish do most of the work. Fishing the lower parts of these rivers, we hook bright wild salmon that offer aggressive action. Hard fighting, these fish are on a mission to their spawning ground.
Since we are fishing on the home waters of the salmon, please note that the limits on keeping salmon are less than in saltwater. The amazing sight of the spawning streams, plus fast fishing action, is what fishing dreams are made of.
Fresh Water Tackle
All of our vacation packages include the use of fly, spinning and baitcasting rods and tackle. If an angler would like to use his own gear, we recommend medium-light action spin or bait-casting rods with 10 pound test line for salmon or light action for trout with 6 to 8 pounds test. As for the tackle, we use #0 - 2 spinners for trout as well as small chrome spoons and other chrome lures. For salmon, we use spinners in the #2 - 5 class with body colors of chrome, blue, fire orange, hot pink, chartreuse, pine green and brass. The guides secret weapons are bass bait like Wiggle Warts or other minnow representations for the lakes and deep hole in the rivers.
As for the flyfisher, the guides own 7 - 8 weight class rods with weight forward floating line. If you are an avid fly angler and would prefer to use your own gear, we recommend a 5/6 weight rod for trout or pink salmon or a 7/8 weight rods for the Kings, Coho, Sockeye and Chum Salmon. For line, we recommend weight forward floating for our streams, but also to bring an intermediate sink or shooting heads for the deep holes.
As for the flies, your guide has well stocked boxes that he ties for you. If you would like to tie your own, think wet and brightly colored for Kings, Coho and Pink Salmon. For Chum salmon, think sparse with pink or drab olives. Sockeye we just use yarn! Hook sizes on all flies for salmon should be in the #2 class. The best pattern for early season salmon in our area is the Egg-Sucking Leech with a purple body and fuchsia head on a size #4 hook that has been weighted.
Now the trout are a different story, again think wet since most of the trout are sea-going and have always survived on shrimp and other minnows. The trout of our region are caught on flashabou flies, drab olive colors with crystal flash for accents and assorted other minnow patterns in hook sizes averaging #6 - 8.