Alaska King Salmon Fishing - Happy Valley Saltwater Chinook from Cook Inlet & Deep Creek area

Alaska Outdoor Journal's Photo of the Day!

Happy Valley Saltwater King!

The first migrating king salmon of the year for Southcentral Alaska arrive along the beaches of the Kenai Peninsula in lower Cook Inlet in mid April and run through the end of July. And for those anglers who have spent all winter anticipating the coming spring and the opportunities to wet a line again, the Anchor Point to Deep Creek area is made to order for those with a ocean-capable boat.

Gary Bartelson made the trip down from Anchorage and launched at the Anchor Point tractor launch, then worked his way north towards Happy Valley - a popular trolling spot that produces "feeder kings" (which still have one or more years to grow before spawning) and also offers a good place to target those mature fish headed for Deep Creek, Ninilchik River, Kasilof River and the Kenai River. So you never know what size of fish you are likely to catch on a trip down there.

As you can see by the size of this one, its final destination was probably the Kenai River. Gary did a good job of diverting it to his freezer, don't you think?

Photo Courtesy of Gary Bartelson

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