Alaska fishing: southcentral region

Species

Southcentral Alaska offers the widest variety of saltwater fishing and inland fishing in the state.  The Bristol Bay area is famous for exceptional rainbow trout.  Lake trout grow large in some lakes in the region.  Arctic char and Dolly Varden are found in many of the waters of the region.  Salmon runs are spectacular in some areas, and include king or Chinook salmon, sockeye or red salmon, chum salmon, coho or silver salmon, and pink salmon.  Halibut are seasonally abundant in Gulf of Alaska, Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound waters, as are various species of bottom fish.  Grayling and burbot are found in some streams, and lake trout and pike are commonly found in southcentral lakes.

Geography

The landforms in this part of Alaska are the most varied in the the state.  From the jagged Gulf of Alaska coastline, the land rises to the Alaska Range, and Mt. McKinley, the continent's highest peak. 

The Gulf Coast is generally mountainous, and is indented by massive Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet and the huge flows of the mighty Copper River.

The well-known Kodiak Island and its archipelago are part of this region.  This is the largest group of islands in the region, and the other major archipelago in the state (the Alexander Archipelago, which comprises southeast Alaska is the other). 

Inland, the land is hilly or mountainous with a few relatively flat areas like the Nelchina Basin.  The country is incised by major rivers, including the Copper, Matanuska, Susitna, Kvichak, and Mulchatna.  The Susitna River valley, sculpted by ancient glaciers, is one of the few with a broad floodplain. 

The coastal areas are wet with thousands of small streams, many of which bear salmon and other fish.  Inland, the coastal mountains intercept the moisture, leading to dryer conditions.  The inland areas have many lakes, the work of ancient glaciations that covered much of the state.

Weather

Alaskans living in the Interior sometimes this part of the state "the banana belt" -- a little wry humor, and understandable when comparing winters up north with this relatively moderate climate.  Summers here tend toward cool and moist, depending on the location.  Rainfall is more here than in the dry Interior, but substantially less overall than the wet panhandle.  Summer temperatures range from the 50's to the 80's, with coastal temperatures being cooler than more inland locations.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Information for the Southcentral Alaska Region

Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Division of Sport Fish
333 Raspberry Rd 
Anchorage, AK 99518-1599

Tel. (907) 267-2220

Area Descriptions for Southcentral Alaska

Anchorage fishing
Cordova fishing
Homer fishing
Kenai fishing
Kodiak fishing
Matanuska/Susitna/West Cook Inlet fishing
Prince William Sound fishing
Seward fishing
Upper Copper / Upper Susitna area fishing
Valdez fishing
Whittier Fishing

Area Descriptions for other regions of the state

Southeast
Arctic, Yukon and Kuskokwim

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Boating areas, Southeast Alaska fishing areas, southcentral Alaska fishing areas 

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