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Landing the catch
Katmai National Park
Crow Creek Mine, Girdwood
Halibut Fishing
No visit to Homer is complete without trying
your hand at halibut fishing and the fish in these
waters are often enormous and make for hugely
exciting sport. Your guides are very experienced
to ensure you have a safe and comfortable day
on the water while they teach you the techniques
of bottom fishing, baiting your hooks and landing
your fish. The average halibut brought in to
Homer weighs around 28 pounds. Along with
great fishing and beautiful scenery you are likely to
spot seals, sea otters, sealions, puffins and whales.
Katmai National Park
In June 1912 a violent eruption of the Novarupta
Volcano turned a huge track of wilderness into a
landscape of ash-covered mountains, smoking valleys
and thousands of steam vents. The valley floor
became known as the Valley of 10,000 Smokes and
subsequently became the national monument now
known as Katmai National Park and Preserve. This
remote wilderness has a deserved reputation for
its truly spectacular mountain scenery and for the
richness and diversity of its wildlife. Katmai has the
world’s largest population - more than 2,000 - of
protected grizzly bears. At Brooks Falls they
congregate at the rivers edge to fish for salmon
while at Hallo Bay they are frequently seen feeding
on sedges along the shoreline.
The Bears of Hallo Bay,
Katmai National Park
Grizzly bear viewing in Alaska is renowned, but
Hallo Bay offers a wonderful opportunity to get
close to these magnificent creatures at any time
of the summer season. Reached by a thrilling light
aircraft flight from Homer, Hallo Bay is located on
the wild, remote and volcanic Pacific coast of the
Alaska Peninsula. There are no roads within nearly
500 kilometres of Hallo Bay which is surrounded
by nearly 17,000 square kilometres of the pristine
wilderness of Katmai National Park. The beaches
here are stunning but it is the superb coastal bear
viewing for which the area is renowned. Hallo Bay
offers a diversity of food habitats and has one of
the highest concentrations of bears in Alaska.
From May to early July they are engaged in
complex and fascinating mating behaviour, digging
clams in the inter-tidal areas and grazing on the
coastal sedges. In mid-July the first of the salmon
arrive, providing a feast and a change in diet. Bear
viewing takes place on foot in groups of four or
five guests, with experienced naturalist guides
making the experience highly personal and
informative, as well as safe. Accommodation here
is in simple weather-port tents but hot showers
are available and plenty of hearty nutritious food
is included. Guests should be reasonably fit and
prepared for some wilderness walking to make
the most of a stay in this exceptional place.
Catch of the day in Seward
The Bears of Brooks Falls,
Katmai National Park
Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park is world
renowned for its large population of grizzly bears,
attracted by the prolific numbers of salmon found in
the Brooks River. Special platforms overlooking the
river offer guests superb independent bear viewing
and park rangers are on hand to answer questions
and ensure your safety. Bears are typically seen from
mid June until the end of the summer, apart from
August when they forage for berries in the woods.
They stand at the top of the falls to catch the
leaping, spawning salmon whilst in September they
gorge themselves on dead fish, fattening themselves
up before winter hibernation. Accommodation here
is basic but the wildlife sightings are superb.
Salty Dawg Saloon in Homer
Alaska
Telephone: 01993 838 700
101