What do you guys know about this place. Thinking of taking a fishing charter out of there next summer for Salmon. What is the place like? The scenery is stunning. Is it white trash central or does it have a pretty good middle class? Just curious. Homes sure look expensive.

Soldotna stunning? Maybe along the Kenai

Seward or Homer more so

I'm totally ignorant of the place. I've seen photos from a fishing concession out of Soldotna and it looked beautiful. I just assumed the photos were from around Soldotna. I've never been there so I am just looking for a little info on the place.

Thanks

Asking if it's white trash without ever being there.... go [bleep] yourself

Sorry. Did not mean to offend. I'm a bit jaundiced. I've seen alot of rural places which have meth problems and that brings out a certain kind of people. For all I know, Soldotna is nothing like that. Just trying to find out.

PM sent.

Rob, listen to kroo. Seward is one of the most beautiful places. Take a charter out of there in early august about derby time and catch silvers rock fish and ling cod and halibut until your arms fall off. I wouldn't do a salmon charter out of soldotna. The kings are shut down most years, the reds are caught in dip nets or hoards of people and the scenery is okay. I've lived here most of my life and I will be fishing out of Seward in August. I was in homer last weekend and it was beautiful but not like Seward and not nearly as good fishing.

Thank you. Would it be best to fly in or can a guy take the Alaskan highway and get there?

Seward is on the road system. You can drive there from CA.

I too choose Seward....and pony up for the derby.

If you're going to Alaska fly into Anchorage, rent a car, and visit Seward, Soldotna, and Homer. They're all within an easy day's drive and the scenery along the way is spectacular.

Soldotna is not a white trash meth head town. I'd consider it a rural town with a wide mix of people and if you're there during the peak of salmon fishing it's a tourist town. Scenic? Not so much except along the river. The area, generally speaking, is flat with some rolling hills and lots of trees so there's not much in the way of views.

As far as homes go there's everything from tyvex covered cabins to log home estates. The town itself is relatively small but the population and homes are spread out over a wide rural area.

I left Alaska six years ago so take this with a grain of salt. The Kenai can be awesome for King fishing but timing is critical. There's only a few weeks in July where the bite is on big time and it can vary from day to day. Soldotna is roughly 20 miles from the Cook Inlet and the Kings are constantly moving through the river. There is no resident population (per say) of Kings that stay in the lower Kenai for any length of time. You have to be there at the right time to catch one as they're moving through and the number of Kings entering the river per day can go from low hundreds to two or three thousand. It's not like the ocean where you can absolutely positively find fish in the same spots on any given day.

The upside to fishing for Kings in the Kenai is you stand a chance to catch the biggest King you'll ever catch. The downside is there's no guarantee that you'll even catch a fish. I fished there for years and didn't get skunked, as far putting a king in the boat, but there's no way I'd ever tell someone you will catch a King today. When the run was peaking I could almost guarantee you'd get a bite but hooking, playing, and landing a 50 lb plus King isn't a given. With five people, including myself, on the boat it was a rare day when everyone boated a fish although it did happen on occasion. The best way to put it is the Kenai is a quality versus quantity fishery when it comes to Kings ... generally speaking.

Fishing the lower Kenai is not a wilderness experience. There's hundreds and hundreds of boats on the river when the fishing is hot.

Like I said it's been six years since I fished there and from what little I've heard the King fishing has gone way downhill.

Go to Seward or Homer and you will catch fish.

+1 to what Fishhead said. Homer, Seward and Soldotna each have their own individual charms. Visit them all and you will enjoy it, I promise you. Salmon fished there on the Kenai, true "combat" fishing. Not everyones cup of tea, but we had fun. Don't miss halibut fishing out of Homer, that was a blast! I would recommend Captain Greg or Silver Fox Charters. Both treated us well and we caught some very nice fish.

Thanks guys. Excellent info.

Some excellent restaurants in Homer...sorta a hippish/granola feel to the town.

Must eats ...

Duncan's in Homer for breakfast or lunch.

Ray's in Seward for a fine dinner.


(they used be veddy good and my favs)

I would go up in July for sure and Soldotna is a nice town. The only salmon fishing you will be doing down there is for reds. You can out os Seward and fish for silvers as well. Another spot these boys did not mention is Valdez they have one hell of a silver run and you can catch pinks until you turn blue in the face. The only problem with seward you are on a boat for 3 plus hours to get to the fishing grounds for halibut and it sucks! I prefer to go out of the ninilchik for Halibut no rock fish down their. Homer isn't to bad. You can alo go down to the resurrection river in Seward and snag for the reds when they are in. While your up thier if you get up their early enough in July you hit the Klutina and catch copper river reds.

We Hammered the buts and cod MUCH closer than 3 hrs out of Seward. Pro fish n sea....1st class outfit.

Well I'm happy for you I been out of seward twice and after fishing the ninilchik for Halibut never again will I set foot on a boat in seward... Homer is pretty good cause you can fish for a Salmon, rockfish and halibut. I forget the name of the charter out of homer we went with but 1st class operation and great fishing.

Don't forget the restrictions on halibut fishing with a charter. If they aren't willing to do rockfish, lings and salmon it wouldn't be worth it.

I have heard nothing but good things about pro fish n sea charters

Hence the term "Homeroids".

Have to admit escaping to Anchortown to see a
skirt and no ExtraToughs on a woman

Soldotna is owned by the horseshoe mafia


I know a guy that knows a guy

if you know that guy then Soldotna is paradise

Can your guy make the skeeters go away?

LMAO!!

Oops, one of them might read this thread, I better sit quietly over here.

Go to the pizza place on the highway near the weigh station flashing lights? Its called Magpies, Pete the original owner grew up in MN on the farm next to us. Great guy and better than any pizza down here! My wife says who would have ever thought that the best pizza she ever ate would be in AK ! Love the area, Love the sites, Love the fishing cant think of anything that I dont Love about Ak other than the trip getting there!

Who you fish with is more important then what port you go out of. If you went with Crackerjack out of Seward you more than likely would have had a wonderful time, if you went with Saltwater Safari I understand your disappointment. Seward has the full mix of halibut, rockfish, salmon and ling cod.

Crackerjack and Pro-Fish-NSea are basically partner charters and i've fished with both outfits, they are THE best charters in Seward bar none. Book a charter after July 1st and you can fish for and keep halibut, lings (1), rockfish, silvers and if you're really lucky, salmon sharks.

I'd skip the Kenai, the king runs down there over the last several years have been abismal to say the least.

Great place and region, but I find it a bit of a tourist trap during the spring summer seasons. Post Labor Day a very pleasant place to be.

Who better to ask than someone who lives in AK? A simple yes or no would be much more informative.

I liked that we had 8 rods on our boat (pro fish-n-sea) and we hammered fish almost all day. Everyone had a limit and they were super professional. I spent a bit more up front, but I was on a faster, nicer boat and it was worth it. Bring tip cash....you'll want to give it to them.

Ps, we passed boats that had LOTS of people fishing on them. Looked like a circus.

The root word Soldot may have come from Russian for Soldier?

Shemya, further out on the Aleutian chain, also comes from the Russian word for "unjust trial". Tell me. Spent my 20th year there.

1B

I had an overnight at Shemya a few years ago, after a task at the USCG Lorsta on Attu. Kind of remote, but good grub and rooms there.