15 Fairbanks Fishing Trips Worth Booking

1.Fairbanks Ice Fishing Expedition in a Heated Cabin with Fish Cookout

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 461 reviews · 4 hours (approx.) · from $169Our pick

Fish through floor openings in a heated cabin near North Pole, with guides such as Noah, Trevor, Mike, Cody, and Riley handling bait, gear, and cooking. You may catch King Salmon, trout, Arctic Char, or grayling, then taste your fresh catch with reindeer sausage, hot cocoa, and a drink.

“Was a great experience! Noah was friendly and knowledgeable, knew a lot about the fish and how best to catch / cook them… would recommend!”

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2.Quick and Easy Ice Fishing at Chena Lake

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 173 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $159

Spend about three hours ice fishing at Chena Lake with guides such as Tyson, Michael, or Greg. Your rod, bait, seat, heated shelter, hot drinks, and fishing hole are provided. Underwater cameras and other tools may help locate fish, and your catch can be cleaned and grilled before you return to the meeting point.

“Fun! Fun! Fun! Easy to do and friendly guide that shows you every steps! Thanks Mike! So would do it again!”

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3.Aurora Borealis Viewing and Ice Fishing Adventure

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 116 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $229

Meet your English-speaking guide at 10 p.m. near North Pole for five hours of ice fishing and aurora watching. You fish from a warm cabin at Chena River Lakes, then eat freshly cooked fish, reindeer sausage, and hot cocoa while your guide helps with aurora photos. Bring cash for the $15 fishing license and arrange your own transportation.

“Great experience! Fishing in warm cozy cabin is so comfortable and relaxing. In the meantime, you get to eat the fish, reindeer sausage hotdog and a cup of hot coca. If feel too warm inside you can step outside for some fresh air, on good weather days you get to see northern light.”

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4.3 Hour Ice Fishing Experience

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 54 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $145Best value

Spend three hours ice fishing near Fairbanks with Reel Alaskan Adventures and guide Jake. Your guide supplies the rod, bait, heated hut, and hot drinks, then shows you how to fish through the ice. You may fish indoors or outside, catch species such as trout and burbot, and request that your catch be cooked.

“Amazing time fishing!! Not only did we catch about 30 fish, Jake cooked 2 of them for us and it was soooo good!! 10/10 recommend this experience! I would def do this again the next time I come visit! Make sure to purchase a fishing license for the day if you don’t already have one.”

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5.“Aurora Ice” – Ice Fishing & Salmon Dinner Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 42 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $239

Meet near Chena Lake at 9 p.m. for a warm-cabin ice-fishing outing with guides such as Tyson, Greg, Aiden, Trenton, and Spencer. Fish through the ice, watch the underwater camera, enjoy grilled salmon, trout, or char with potatoes, and look for the Aurora through panoramic windows. The lights and fish are never guaranteed.

“Greg was very knowledgeable about the Aurora and shared his experience in an informative manner. He explained the ins and outs of ice fishing and helped us all enjoy catching our dinner. Greg prepared the dinner and we had our fill of delicious fish. He also maintained a comfortable temperature inside the fishing hut.”

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6.Guided Ice Fishing Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 28 reviews · 4 hours · from $175

Spend four hours ice fishing near Fairbanks in a heated cabin at Chena Lake Recreation Area. Rod’s Alaskan Guide Service provides gear, bait, food, hot cocoa, and hands-on help from guides such as Noah, Mike, Colton, or Trevor. You fish, warm up, and may eat your catch after the guide prepares it.

“We had a great time with most of us catching fish. Our host/guide/chef Mike was terrific. This was such a unique experience for us Californians. I recommend both Rod’s (the company) and Mike.”

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7.1/2 Day Fairbanks Fishing Trip W/ transportation

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 18 reviews · from $185

Spend 4 to 6 hours fishing near Fairbanks with Reel Alaskan Adventures. Your guide provides rods, reels, flies or lures, waders, boots, snacks, and water, then teaches fly fishing or spin casting in a scenic state park. Guide Jake Barrette is praised for patient instruction and finding new fishing spots when conditions change.

“We went to a beautiful and peaceful place. Although I didn’t catch any fish, I still had lots of fun!”

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8.Aurora Ice Fishing

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 10 reviews · 6 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $265

Meet your guide at 8:30 pm for a small-group Fairbanks outing built around ice fishing from a heated hut. Tyson and Hunter have hosted some departures, and no fishing experience is needed. Gear, coffee, tea, and fish snacks are provided, but you need a fishing license. After fishing, you step outside to look for the Northern Lights, weather permitting.

“Tyson & Hunter were great hosts; a tasty salmon dinner in a reasonably snug cabin...with lotsa good info and appropriate fishing tales.”

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9.Half-Day River Fishing Excursion

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 10 reviews · 6 hours (approx.) · from $210

Float 3 to 4 miles down the Chena River, fishing from a raft and wading at productive spots. Your guide supplies rods, flies or spinning gear, waders, boots, snacks, and local insight. Ash, Trenton, and Greg have led recent trips. Hotel pickup is offered in Fairbanks, and groups are limited to 10.

“Our guide was excellent; so glad he brought an extra thermal layer (fleece) in the boat for me to borrow when it got even colder than expected on our rainy day! Mosquitoes were awful, but other than that it was a super-fun fishing experience where ai caught 3x and my husband caught 2!”

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10.Half-Day River Fishing Excursion

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 9 reviews · 6 - 10 hours · from $210

You’ll spend about 3.5 hours fishing the Chena River with an English-speaking guide, using provided fly or spinning gear. Hotel pickup, waders, lunch, and safety equipment are included. Guides such as Trenton, Ash, Greg, and Jake have helped guests target grayling and northern pike, with catch and release throughout.

“Didn’t catch a lot of fish but the guides were very informative and helpful. Would have preferred to have a closed casting reel instead of spinner reel as I’m used to that and I feel like I wasted a lot of time trying to get the hang of the other rod. Not the time for new learning. They could have one available for old timers like me! The weather was perfect and we saw a moose on the way to river. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience! Greg and Jake were our guides.”

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11.Chena Lake: Aurora Borealis Viewing & Ice Fishing Adventure

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 7 reviews · from $239

Meet your English-speaking guide at Chena Lake Recreation Area near North Pole, Alaska, for five hours of heated-cabin ice fishing and aurora watching. Riley and Cody are among the guides named for this experience. Your price includes gear, bait, cocoa, reindeer sausage, and one freshly caught fish cooked for you.

“We had a great experience! Our guide was experienced and knowledgeable. Fun evening!”

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12.Aurora Ice Fishing Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 5 reviews · 6 hours · from $330

Join guide Tyson from 1st Alaska Tours for a six-hour evening ice-fishing trip from Fairbanks. Hotel pickup, gear, bait, a warm fishing hut, and a fish snack are included. You may catch your dinner and see the aurora, but northern lights sightings depend on nature.

“Tourist guide is so passionate and try go outside to find aurora many times. Finally we see the 1st aurora and catch 1st fish in us life. It will become important memory in the future. And he was good cooker and the fish taste so fresh. Thanks for this tour guide.”

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13.Guided Fishing Excursion in Fairbanks (Full-Day)

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 5 reviews · 10 hours (approx.) · from $340

Spend about 10 hours fishing the Chena River in the Chena River State Recreation Area, with hotel pickup, gear, snacks, and an English-speaking guide. The gentle class 1-2 river passes through the Chena and White Mountains, with chances to spot moose, eagles, beaver, and waterfowl. Fishing is catch and release, and a license is extra.

“We are giving only 3 stars because this trip wasn’t what we expected for an 8 hour day of fishing. Firstly, it is catch and release, so nothing to take home after fishing all day. Secondly, it is advertised as lunch is provided, but it was basically a child’s size lunchable and one bottle of water-this would have been fine for a half day trip, but not all day. That being said, our guide Caleb was great! Knowledgeable and very personable. We enjoyed having him as our guide and the scenery was beautiful as well. These trips would be much better if you were able to take fish home with…”

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14.Ice Fishing Day Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 5 reviews · 6 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $255

Start with hotel pickup at 11:30 am and travel to Chena River Lakes Recreation Area for about five hours on the ice. Your English-speaking local guide provides equipment, snacks, lunch, and instruction. Bring a fishing license, and note that the group is capped at 10 people.

“The event was supposed to last 7 hours, which included travel and knocked it down to 5 hours but the guide took our poles away after four hours so we spent the last hour just sitting there. Also, the cabin was nice but we were packed in there. Twelve people to a cabin plus the guides. The guide also kept trying to up sell us on other tours and had a bit of an attitude.”

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15.Ice Fishing in Fairbanks

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 4 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $155

Meet at Chena Lake Park near North Pole at 1:00 pm for a three-hour ice-fishing outing. Your guide provides the rod, bait, heated tent, and hands-on help, then cooks your catch on-site. Michael is one guide named in the feedback, and a daily nonresident Alaska fishing license is required before you arrive.

“I had such a fun time going ice fishing with this tour. The tour guides were extremely friendly, and they took care of setting up the fishing poles and removing caught fish. The ice fishing tents were also easy to find on the lake. I also loved the fish they cooked and served us at the end of tour. 10/10 would recommend! I also appreciated how close the tour’s location was to the Fairbanks. Make sure you buy your daily AK fishing license online before the tour.”

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