Alaskan bush-town road systems are usually a road to the airport and another to the dump. Once you reach an outlying village you charter an aircraft or arrange for a boat if you want to get to some decent fishing. Nome is an exception. It has more than 300 miles of gravel roads that lead to the top fishing areas on the Seward Peninsula. Fishing is good around Nome from June through September, with Dolly Vardens, Arctic gray-ling, northern pike and all five species of Pacific salmon available. Check the mouth of the Nome River east of town for salmon and char, the Niukluk River for silver salmon and grayling and the Kuzitrin River sloughs for monster pike. For salmon try Pixie spoons and Mepps spinners. Grayling bite most on small spinners and dry flies, including the Royal Wulff and Black Gnat. Northern pike take spoons, topwater plugs and mouse flies. A resident fishing license is $15, a one-day nonresident license is $10 and a seven-day nonresident license costs $30. Nome has commercial jet service from Anchorage. Car rentals, hotel accommodations and guides are available. Carefully check daily limits, slot limits and size limits for fish, particularly salmon. Contact: Nome Convention and Visitors Bureau (907-443-5535); Dean’s Guide Service (907-443-2332).
