Kodiak lures roadbound anglers
Island destination one huge chunk of prime fishing real estate

By ANTHONY J. ROUTE
Daily News correspondent

Kodiak Island is separated from mainland Alaska by Shelikof Strait to the west and the Kennedy and Stevenson Entrances to the north. Neither strip of saltwater is bridged with a road and therefore it’s easy for the roadbound Alaskan anglers to not include a vision of Kodiak among their angling destinations.

After all, as local parlance points out, Homer is where the road ends, and even the best pair of eyes will not spy the island of Kodiak lying some 150 miles distant. But while the road does end in Homer, literally, it picks up in a real big way when it begins again in Kodiak.

Kodiak’s reputation as the haunt for world famous brown bears, in most cases, completely supersedes any notoriety it may have as a fishing destination.

Even fainter is the idea that you could partake in some of the fishing it has to offer without the services of backwoods guide and the expense of chartering a floatplane. Savvy anglers, however, see Kodiak as one huge hunk of valuable fishing real estate that isn’t, and should not be, lumped together with all the other remote, roadless fishing regions in Alaska.

For starters, Kodiak does have roads. In fact there are nearly 100 miles of them, and anglers who take the time to get there will no longer consider Homer to be the end of the road.

Logistically, you can’t drive to Kodiak but you can hook up with a ferry and arrive their via the Alaska Marine Highway System. This you can do as a foot passenger or you can park your car or camper on the ferry and have it delivered with you. The other option is to purchase a ticket on one of the commercial airlines that serves Kodiak and then rent a car when you arrive.

Neither is as simple as driving, but then again, the fishing is a couple of steps beyond what you’d typically expect at your average roadside fishery.

If you have a penchant for sea-run Dolly Varden, Kodiak is your place.

Several streams have early season closures upstream from their bridge crossings. This lets plenty of salmon make it through bridge bottlenecks to upstream spawning grounds. The dollies that follow them looking for salmon egg meals are, though, fair game. This is a fishery without much pressure and is ideal for the angler who prefers light-rod, small-stream fishing.

Salmon are, of course, usually the high priority items and Kodiak has them in abundance. Pink and chum salmon return to the streams and nearshore waters beginning in July followed by silver salmon which will steadily roll in until October.

Traditional stream fishing methods work well for super-fresh, sea-lice-bearing salmon, but you can go one step beyond that. Miles of road follow the island’s coastline and fishing to the salmon while they are still in saltwater is as simple as pulling the car over and wading into the surf.

Try fishing Kodiak just one time and you will not likely ever again view Homer as the end of the road.