The quality of salmon fishing in Alaska isn't so much a function of place as of time.
- Bristol Bay: This is the world's richest salmon fishery; lodges on the remote rivers of the region are an angler's paradise.
- Copper River Delta, Cordova: The Copper itself is silty with glacial runoff, but feeder streams and rivers are rich with trout, Dolly Varden, and salmon, with few other anglers in evidence.
- The Kenai River: The biggest king salmon -- up to 98 pounds -- come from the swift Kenai River. Big fish are so common in the second run of kings that there's a special, higher standard for what makes a trophy. Silvers and reds add to a mad, summer-long fishing frenzy.
- Homer: Alaska's largest charter-fishing fleet goes for halibut ranging into the hundreds of pounds.
- Unalaska: Beyond the road system, Unalaska has the biggest halibut.
- Kodiak Island: The bears are so big here because they live on an island that's crammed with spawning salmon in the summer. Kodiak has the best roadside salmon fishing in Alaska, and the remote fishing, at lodges or fly-in stream banks, is legendary.
