Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Nome,

Just found out my son will be doing part of his residency for optometry in Nome from May to August next year. We are planning to go visit him. We want to do it right and make this a fishing trip as well. My wife is dead set on halibut fishing, I would be happy catching Salmon. Is that to far up there for halibut. Thanks for any advice. Might make this a week in one place and then a week in Nome.

I don't think are many charters out of Nome, possibly none. You'd be better off stretching your trip a day or two and hitting Seward for a combo halibut/coho salmon trip especially if your trip is somewhere between mid-July to mid August. Just beware all the top boats will be booked up for the salmon derby well in advance.

I'm with you, much more fun to catch salmon, especially dime bright coho in the salt as they put on a good fight.

Don't know anything about the halibut fishing up there, but the salmon, dolly, and especially the grayling fishing is great. World class grayling fishing up there. Drive out of town 20-30 miles, walk a mile or so up or downstream, and it can be unreal. Watch out for the muskox! These pics were from late June.

Fat Bastard!
(The fish, Ptarm. The fish.)

My God that is a pig!!!

Just wow!

I don't think we caught one under 14" on that trip. It was actually kinda odd and didn't go unnoticed. In front of that big rock just above the fish's head was something else. When we walked up to it all we could see were fins moving around on the surface like sharks. Big schools of big grayling just milling around. Game on with dries and nymphs!

Also, every so often some fry/smolt must have pushed down river and when they did the dollys would go nuts slashing the surface. We would switch rods and swing smolt patterns to them. Those dollys jumped and ran like rainbows. I'd love to spend a summer up there exploring and I'm a bit envious of the OP.

A few more pics if you need any convincing that it's a trip that should be done.

What's funny is I just said that on Sunday and now I'm 4 days into a lower calorie diet and stepping up the exercise routine. I wish my wife wasn't a good cook and I didn't love food! Cutting out the suds for 4-5 weeks is gonna suck also. Don't want to blow a gasket yarding a moose out this fall. Geez an IPA would be good right about now!

A good friend always said "beer don't make you fat, it makes you lazy... now lazy, lazy makes you fat!

One of the best sayings I've heard in years!

Sweet Jesus those are crazy grayling.

We caught a BUNCH of salmon outside of Nome in early July. Find a stream going to salt and game on.

That's about as dead on as it gets!

The sockeye were just starting to show up in that system. Weighted treble hooks were the lure of choice for the locals hanging out at the bridge.

The best halibut fishing ‘around Nome’ probably involves getting yourselves out to Saint Lawrence Island....Savoonga and all. ......or not!!!! (But they’ve sure pulled some immense pigs out of those waters!) Salmon runs have been getting pretty sparse up Nome-way for the past several years. Looks to me like hitting up some of those chunky ‘salmon wolves’ that Ptarmigan posted might be the way to go.