Ketchikan

Anyone who's fished Southeast Alaska knows that the number of fish caught sometimes feels almost unfair. Southeast Alaska's waters are some of the most productive on Earth because of a rare convergence of geology, forest ecology, and ocean physics, all working together to build a food web from the bottom up.

If you've never held a rod in your life and you're staring down your first charter trip, take a breath: you're in good company. Booking your first fishing charter is exciting and if you've never fished before, it's normal to have a few questions. Here's what you need to know to get ready, from the basics every beginner should pack, to the details specific to fishing Southeast Alaska's waters.

Southeast Alaska is home to all five species of Pacific salmon, King, Silver, Sockeye, Pink, and Chum. While they're all cousins, they don't look alike, fight alike, or taste the same. Knowing the difference is the kind of thing that turns a good fishing story into a great one. Here's a field guide to Southeast Alaska's Salmon to tell them apart, whether they're fresh and chrome-bright off the troll or starting to color up for their spawning run.

This Species Bucket List covers anything and everything you can catch in Southeast Alaskan Waters. We'll explore the trophy catches, the best table fare, the oddballs, and the ones we ask you to say a quick "see you later" to. Consider this your preseason cheat sheet to all Southeast Alaska has to offer.

Southeast Alaska is full of wildlife, and at Sportsman's Cove Lodge you are in the middle of it from the moment you arrive. Here is everything you are likely to see beyond the end of your rod.

Ketchikan is worth more than a layover. Whether you have a day before your float plane departs or one last afternoon before heading home, here is everything worth seeing, eating, and doing in Alaska's salmon capital.