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Legendary Species · Alaska

Dolly Varden in Alaska

Salvelinus malma[1]

11 Alaska waters whose agency species list names dolly varden. Each links to its water page (gauge, regulations, access map, guides and shops) and to the agency list it comes from.

  • 11waters list it
  • 1destination hub
Close-up of a male Dolly Varden's head held in a hand: a hooked lower jaw with orange tips and a dark blue-green head
A pre-spawning male Dolly Varden from the Canning River, Alaska (Randy Brown, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Alaska), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Alaska waters

Most fished first. A species missing from an agency list does not mean it is absent; this page lists only waters whose list names it (at least 5 are needed for a page).

All Alaska watersDolly Varden: every state

Identification

  • As a char, Dolly Varden have light spots on a dark body, while trout have dark spots on a light body.[1]
    What the source says
    “char have light spots (white or yellow to red) on a dark body”
  • Adult sea-run Dolly Varden are silvery with a faint green sheen and light orange spots.[1]
    What the source says
    “adult sea-run Dolly Varden are silvery with a faint green sheen overlain with light orange spots.”
  • Spawning males become brightly coloured, with red, black and white bellies and black gill covers.[1]
    What the source says
    “males become brilliantly colored with red, black and white bellies, black gill covers”

More on identifying dolly varden

Status, protections and rules

As each agency stated them on the date read; a rule applies only where its agency says so. Check the current regulations for the water before you fish.

  • ADF&G says Dolly Varden populations are generally stable throughout Alaska.[1]
    What the source says
    “Populations of Dolly Varden are generally stable throughout Alaska.”
  • Historical note: Alaska paid a bounty on Dolly Varden from 1921 to 1941.[1]
    What the source says
    “From 1921 to 1941, there was a bounty on Dolly Varden in Alaska.”

Water temperature in Alaska

Alaska Department of Fish and Game publishes no water-temperature line for trout anglers that we found. The lines below are the National Park Service's, federal guidance, not a Alaska rule:

  • Under the federal 68°F lineThat is under the 68°F at which the National Park Service, at Grand Teton National Park, recommends anglers stop fishing in the afternoon (“cease fishing at 2 p.m. when water temperatures are likely to exceed 68°F”). Water warms through the afternoon, so check again later in the day: “Carry a pocket thermometer to monitor water temperature.”
  • Stressful for troutAt 68°F the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says rainbow trout “start stressing”, and the National Park Service at Grand Teton recommends that anglers “cease fishing at 2 p.m. when water temperatures are likely to exceed 68°F.” Its advice: “Fish early in the morning while the water temperature is cooler”, “Play and land fish quickly to reduce exhaustion stress” and “Keep the fish in the water as much as possible.”

Sources: High water temperatures prompt fishing advisory in Grand Teton National Park (29 July 2022) (National Park Service); Up a climate-stressed creek (9 June 2023) (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

Destination hubs

Hubs that list one of these waters, or that a water page is near: each has guides, shops, licences and trip planning for the area.

Hatch & season charts

Sources

Every fact on this page is our paraphrase of the page cited beside it, read on the date shown. Rules and seasons change: check the agency's current regulations before you fish.

  1. Dolly Varden Species Profile, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Alaska Department of Fish and Game, read Oct 24, 2026.