Cook Inlet Halibut Fishing

From Mid May to July,  Great Alaska Adventure Lodge targets Halibut on the West side of the Kenai Peninsula, in Cook Inlet (often combining trolling for King salmon with bottom fishing for the tasty Halibut).   We use our fuel-efficient 23 foot open boat for quick runs to the grounds and lots of fishing space.  In the early season, the Halibut move into the shallower water to breed and we are often fishing in as little as 75 feet of water- with the snow capped volcanoes surrounding us and the sparkling waters of Cook inlet this makes for a truly memorable day of fishing.  The sandy bottom of Cook Inlet make for a unique day of bottom fishing...unlike the east side of the Kenai Peninsula, the bottom structure here tends towards halibut only, so 90% of the fish we catch on these trips are Halibut, with catches averaging 20 -45 pounds per fish.  Limit is two per angler per day.

With no marinas on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula between Kenai and Homer, for decades Alaskan's have been fishing these legendary waters by launching our boats directly into the surf...when Great Alaska Adventure Lodge  first began (then Great Alaska Fish Camp) we fished out of small car-topper boats, 14 foot inflatables and eventually our 20 foot river boats, launching behind our own trucks. The stories we could tell.....but times have changed!  We now fish 23 - 29 foot custom aluminum powerboats and utilize a launching service behind massive 4 wheel drive "uber tractors" known in the Pacific Northwest as Log Skidders.  The experience of getting in the boat and having the tractor back you down to the water and launch us is on you will allways remember.

In addition to the perfect sandy bottom,  Cook Inlet's raging tides make fishing here a truly unique experience.  The fish are nearly dormant between tidal cycles, with the current sometimes matching a rivers flow!  (Imaging up to 26 or 27 feet of water emptying out of an area covering roughly 47,000 square miles... in 6 hours!)  At times the flow is similar to the mighty Kenai.  Because of this flow, the Halibut become nearly dormant between the tide cycles, hugging the bottom and letting the current rage over them- but when the water slows the fish feed aggressively , knowing their time is short.  This aggressive feeding is what enamors this fishing to knowleadgeable anglers, who know that timing is everything.  Over the years we have found the best fishing on and around the "slack" tide, with especially good bites just before the water slacks and just before it reaches the "point of no return"  or the piont when we can no longer keep out gear on the bottom.  often time the best fish of the day is the last one!