Charters
The Gulkana River is a beautiful winding river. Its headwaters are
just a little stream that exits Copper Lake in the Wrangell Mountains and
travels over 300 miles to tidewater at Cordova. At tidewater, the
Copper River Delta is over five miles across and teaming with our famous
Copper River Reds and Kings.
The Gulkana River covers about three river miles for every mile on the
highway. On our five-hour charters we fish 5 to 6 miles of the river.
On our ten-hour charters we can extend that up to 23 miles of the river.
Oftentimes, various kinds of Alaska wildlife such as Caribou, Black and
Brown Bear, Moose, Beaver, Otter, a myriad of water fowl and a couple of
dozen Bald Eagles are seen and are enjoyed up close and personal.
Beginning in early June, Copper River Salmon Charters offers five-hour and
ten-hour guided raft trips fishing for the famous Copper River King
Salmon (Chinook) and Red Salmon (Sockeye) in the beautiful Gulkana River.
With up to three trips daily, the guides outfit every client with all the
essentials including your own fully insured and permitted professional guide
and rafts, all tackle, boots and PFD's. For your nourishment, we carry snacks
and beverages for the five-hour charters. We carry sack lunches,
snacks and beverages for the ten-hour trips. (No alcoholic beverages,
please!)
As you may know, Copper River Salmon are considered by many to be the
most prized and best tasting salmon in the world. The reason for this
is that these fish have a slightly higher fat content in their meat and,
like a good steak, the extra fat produces a brighter taste. If the
opportunity presents itself, do a comparison taste test with any other
salmon. It will quickly show what so many people have learned ~ Copper
River Salmon (Kings and Reds) are the top of the line.
Limits and Size
In the Gulkana River, King Salmon range in size from 15 to 45 pounds with an
occasional catch over 50 pounds. As in all our rivers in East Alaska, for
Chinook (King) Salmon the rule is catch and release all day
~ keep one per day and four per season.
The Sockeye (Reds) range in size from 4 to 10 pounds. For the
Sockeye Salmon, the rule is catch and release all day ~
keep three per day with no seasonal limit.
These rules regulations are subject to change by Emergency Orders of the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game, depending on their assessment of the
strength of the escapement up river.
Of course, some days anglers will limit out and some days fishing can be
challenging. I cannot guarantee your catch but I
can guarantee that our guides will do all they can to provide an
exciting and eventful day as they put our guests in the middle of them.
The rest us up to you and providence.
