Alaska offers so many opportunities for salmon fishing that it's hard to decide. My friend Markus Leitner and I decided to go to Alaska at the end of August to fish for Silver Salmon (Coho). The Silver Salmon is known as the most aggressive among the Pacific salmon species.
After extensive research, we settled on the Tsiu River. The Tsiu is less known and not very long. It flows into the Gulf in the southeastern part of Alaska and originates from a glacier lake. The salmon run is strong and plentiful, and a few summer steelhead also migrate into the river. What particularly attracts us to this river is that it is not very deep and usually runs clear. We hope to be able to fish with a floating line or at most an intermediate line. The salmon are bright silver, covered in sea lice, and enter the river in a fresh condition. There are only two lodges on the river, which can only be reached by seaplane. We fly over Anchorage to Cordova and then take a small plane directly to the lodge.
During our landing approach, we spot six bears. Two are standing in the river, catching salmon, while the other four are seen in the reeds and on the hillsides away from the river. The guides pick us up with ATVs from the landing strip and take us to the lodge. We are warmly welcomed, introduced to the staff, and given instructions.
