Looking for info or guides for fishing the Kenai in Alaska

[406flyfish]

We flew into Anchorage and rented a sprinter van and went up and down the Kenai. Plenty of places to fish. Check out the Russian.

Mostly did DYI, but booked a day on the Kenai then some flys outs out of Soldotna. We caught our limit within 30 minutes then spent the rest of the day catching silvers on streamers.

 

[Catchfish]

It really depends on what time of year you are coming up. Just don’t plan on King fishing the Kenai the run is terrible and it’s become normal for it to be closed. There is the chance it’s open to catch and release but it shouldn’t be.

If it’s early summer the Russian for reds will be your best bet then there is a lull where the king fishing should be taking place. Or local lakes systems for trout. There is a trout closure in natural trout stocks early in the summer too.

July and Aug main stem reds will happening better during the end but when it hits it hits. Trout fishing will be picking up then too as they devour king eggs.

End of August will be best for silvers into sept. Needs to book a saltwater day out of Homer, deep creek or Ninilchik for Halibut. Best chance to get on the water. Seward can be done and will have a better variety of fish, crazy Rays out of Whittier would also be a great option.

Give Explore Kenai a call Dallas is a raised local and her husband Dustin is a local firemen and is a fishing fool.

Explore Kenai

Kenai River Fishing Charter [email protected] 907.690.6477

explorekenai.net

 

[Alaska92]

Just general reasons. Flying in from midwest so airport access is good. Don't mind driving a little but prefer relatively good access vs needing a 4wd. I mean flights in eat up some time so driving longer distances is just a trade off on time too. I mean if it's much better other locations I'm up for it. Didn't really pick the Kenai other than proximity to Anchorage and showed up when I looked at some Salmon fishing charters. I'm a noob never been to Alaska.

The proximity to Anchorage is the problem. It’s super crowded when the fish are in. Dipnetting opens up for those of us that are residents in July. The crowding in the Soldotna/ Kenai area exponentially increases. As a tourist I would be disenchanted with the crowds if I was envisioning a serene Alaskan experience. I sure am, as a local. For other options, there are air charters on the Kenai Peninsula that will fly you across the Cook Inlet to the western side to few different rivers. There is Kodiak Island. There are multiple rivers out in western Alaska. If you stay on the highway system (as opposed to flying out somewhere) expect crowds. The Copper River is an option although on the highway system. Less crowded than the Kenai Peninsula. I’m certainly a bit biased because I live here. Tourists, tourism and Anchorage dipnetters have ruined the KP in the summer for a lot of us locals. Those of us that don’t make our living off of it. A lot of the guides on the river don’t live here. They’re non-residents. They don’t care. They come here for a short time. Make some money. Leave. I have lived here on the KP for nearly 30 years and have really watched this progress.

 

[Cgeb]

The proximity to Anchorage is the problem. It’s super crowded when the fish are in. Dipnetting opens up for those of us that are residents in July. The crowding in the Soldotna/ Kenai area exponentially increases. As a tourist I would be disenchanted with the crowds if I was envisioning a serene Alaskan experience. I sure am, as a local. For other options, there are air charters on the Kenai Peninsula that will fly you across the Cook Inlet to the western side to few different rivers. There is Kodiak Island. There are multiple rivers out in western Alaska. If you stay on the highway system (as opposed to flying out somewhere) expect crowds. The Copper River is an option although on the highway system. Less crowded than the Kenai Peninsula. I’m certainly a bit biased because I live here. Tourists, tourism and Anchorage dipnetters have ruined the KP in the summer for a lot of us locals. Those of us that don’t make our living off of it. A lot of the guides on the river don’t live here. They’re non-residents. They don’t care. They come here for a short time. Make some money. Leave. I have lived here on the KP for nearly 30 years and have really watched this progress.

Thanks thats helpful I appreciate your input.

 

[Alaska92]

Thanks thats helpful I appreciate your input.

Well…..I hate to be negative but it has really changed in Alaska as a whole but especially the KP since I first came here. I keep blaming it on the internet and marketing. I moved here pre-internet. The marketing and information available now is staggering. The Kenai was made famous by its King salmon run and primarily from the world record caught by a sport fisherman. Thanks to the information highway, the river quickly became bumper to bumper with boats when the King’s were in. Red’s were secondary back then. That has since swapped. The King runs have been severely diminished for the last handful of years, even to closure. Red's are what everybody is after now. The area becomes over capacity with people. Store shelves become empty. Traffic last July was backed up a handful of miles out of Soldotna coming from Anchorage. As a local it’s beyond frustrating. People moved here 30+ years ago because it was pretty quiet and peaceful. Those days are over, at least in the summer. As I type this, it’s about 5 degrees above zero here, the sun is out and it’s fairly quiet around here. The Kenai river is frozen over which it does not do every year. It’s pretty nice here right now.

 

[Alaska92]

Kenai River King Salmon - Circling the Drain

Apologies in advance for the long post. If you want to fast forward to the links at the end, here is the short version, I am hoping to drum up some public comments advocating for stronger conservation efforts for the imperiled king salmon runs on the world-famous Kenai River in Alaska. The...

rokslide.com

I know long time local (as in they live right here year around) guides that have totally shut down their King fishing trips which used to be their bread and butter. There are other species and activities that have had to be severely restricted and/or closed because of over use and over harvest up here. I’m going to go on a limb here and say primarily by non-residents. Generally speaking there aren’t enough residents and/or residents participating in these activities to over harvest the resources. We have big game species that are severely depleted now. Guided non-residents have a higher success rate than residents according to data. Closers and/or restrictions on those are here right now with more to come.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Call this guy. My wife and I fished with him 2 years ago and he was phenomenal. He grew up on that river and knows it extremely well

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Apex_2024]

I lived in Anchorage AK for 10 years and fished Kenai thousands of times. You can really call any guide there and be good, The Kings are stacked up if that's what your fishing for if its just reds or silvers, don't waste your money on a guide go to the Kenai and take the wooden fairy across the Kenai and walk down stream to the first turn in the stream, you'll limit our in a hour.

 

[Catchfish]

I lived in Anchorage AK for 10 years and fished Kenai thousands of times. You can really call any guide there and be good, The Kings are stacked up if that's what your fishing for if its just reds or silvers, don't waste your money on a guide go to the Kenai and take the wooden fairy across the Kenai and walk down stream to the first turn in the stream, you'll limit our in a hour.

This isn’t really up to date information. King fishing will probably be closed for the season there may be a small window of catch and release but it’s not looking good. You’re probably not going to catch any silvers at the Russian River ferry, you can get your Reds, and a guided trip will do some rainbow/ dolly fishing.

 

[johnnycake]

This isn’t really up to date information. King fishing will probably be closed for the season there may be a small window of catch and release but it’s not looking good. You’re probably not going to catch any silvers at the Russian River ferry, you can get your Reds, and a guided trip will do some rainbow/ dolly fishing.

And its going to be a zoo with the Board of Fish changing the default limit of reds to 6/day 12/possession starting 7/1 regardless of what the run numbers are.

 

[Catchfish]

And it’s going to be a zoo with the Board of Fish changing the default limit of reds to 6/day 12/possession starting 7/1 regardless of what the run numbers are.

I live here and absolutely hate the Kenai River anymore. I was never into King fishing, bumper boats on the river is not enjoyable. The crowded sections, rude people out to get there own has makes me cringe. I take my family one time a year choosing specific evening where I think less people will be out there. I know it’s a great place but to many people don’t respect it and it’s abused.

This is such an accessible river in the heart of south central it needs protections. I wish it would go to drift only, during the heart of the season.

 

[william schmaltz]

I’ve only been here a decade. To me it seems like the first 5 years were insane. Maybe because it was still new and I’d never even considered fishing within casting distance of someone before AK. It hit an insane peak right around 2019 when we had that FAT early run. Leading up to that, the gentleman that ran the Alaska Outdoor Journal had a Facebook page that was growing rapidly and was in the tens of thousands. He would post run projections and essentially live reports for all rivers in Southcentral. That third weekend in June in 2019 was the craziest crowd I’d ever seen. By tenfold. Pullouts below the ferry that would have 1-5 vehicles on a regular year had 50+ rigs and people parked on the road. No one had a clue what they were doing. There had to have been easily 100 people fishing the Kenai above the RR confluence. Just pure madness. After that weekend, that gentleman must’ve had a “what have I done?” moment and rode off into the sunset. Maybe the first and only “influencer” to ever realize the damage he caused and walk away. After he stopped hand feeding people, IMO, the crowds are down a lot.

Since 2020, I personally feel like the river is manageable. Opening weekend is always crazy with excited people and all the military guys that are new to town. But those guys mostly all give up after the first weekend. Several nights and early mornings during peak June run I’ve been the only guy on the bluff. I’ve stopped floating the upper river in June altogether. It’s easier to walk to less crowded places that produce than with a drift boat.

Middle river the same. Hardly anyone sport fishes relatively speaking. Red fishing can be a real exercise in frustration, especially on a skinny run. Dipnetting is the easy button and honestly more kid friendly. I bet 90% of the campground we like is dipnetters staying there in July. By the first week of August the campground has less than 10 rigs at it. Whole place to ourselves while the coho are running later on.

 

[Redmammut]

Local run operation from a guy that grew up in the area:

Home - Chugach Backcountry Fishing - Fish Like An Alaskan

chugachbackcountryfishing.com

 

[bluesulphur]

https://chadwicksfishing.com/
Andrew has treated me really well over the years. I've fished the Kasilof in 2020 and the Kenai last year. Sockeye both times. It's definitely something you could do yourself but if don't have all the gear ready it sure is nice just showing up and hopping in the boat. Flipping for sockeye isn't the most exciting way I have fished but when the run is high, it sure is productive.

 

[johnnycake]

Leading up to that, the gentleman that ran the Alaska Outdoor Journal had a Facebook page that was growing rapidly and was in the tens of thousands. He would post run projections and essentially live reports for all rivers in Southcentral. That third weekend in June in 2019 was the craziest crowd I’d ever seen. By tenfold. Pullouts below the ferry that would have 1-5 vehicles on a regular year had 50+ rigs and people parked on the road. No one had a clue what they were doing. There had to have been easily 100 people fishing the Kenai above the RR confluence. Just pure madness. After that weekend, that gentleman must’ve had a “what have I done?” moment and rode off into the sunset. Maybe the first and only “influencer” to ever realize the damage he caused and walk away. After he stopped hand feeding people, IMO, the crowds are down a lot.

Pretty sure Michael Strahan (founder of AOJ, passed away a couple years ago) was a different guy than the fella who for at least a couple decades (he has a website/blog before migrating to Facebook) stopped doing his reports.

 

[william schmaltz]

Pretty sure Michael Strahan (founder of AOJ, passed away a couple years ago) was a different guy than the fella who for at least a couple decades (he has a website/blog before migrating to Facebook) stopped doing his reports.

Yes, Mike passed away. He was the owner of the still active Alaska Outdoor Forum. The former Alaska Outdoor Journal was different and under a different owner. After the website was shutdown in 2015, he created a Facebook where he shared fishing reports. People would send in essentially live fishing reports and he would post them. He also posted very good run charts comparing historical data and run timing. And he would essentially show people when the fish should be coming. The page had tens of thousands of followers and the posts would get hundreds of shares and comments. And the success of the page was directly reflected on the riverbanks. The amount of people after he decided to delete it in July 2019 is down a ton IMO. Could’ve been something unrelated like post Covid crap, but the amount of people on that page and the fact he decided to shut it down after after realizing the circus he created in June 2019, makes the most sense.

Popular Alaska Outdoor Journal website abruptly shuts down

After 20 years of posts about fishing and hunting in the Last Frontier, the Alaska Outdoor Journal ?website stunned longtime followers with its sudden closure in early January. The site's creator, Gary Barnes, said only that he wanted to "figure out what's next."

www.adn.com

 

[Apex_2024]

This isn’t really up to date information. King fishing will probably be closed for the season there may be a small window of catch and release but it’s not looking good. You’re probably not going to catch any silvers at the Russian River ferry, you can get your Reds, and a guided trip will do some rainbow/ dolly fishing.

You can catch all the Dolly's and Rainbows you want if you stand off the banks took a bare hook 1 inch up put a red or pink bead and stick a tooth pick in it and break it off so it doesn't slide. I caught 100's. I do not know or have a heard about any restrictions on any of the fishing in Alaska, when i was there even the Russian river we would limit on reds or silvers.

 

[johnnycake]

Yes, Mike passed away. He was the owner of the still active Alaska Outdoor Forum. The former Alaska Outdoor Journal was different and under a different owner. After the website was shutdown in 2015, he created a Facebook where he shared fishing reports. People would send in essentially live fishing reports and he would post them. He also posted very good run charts comparing historical data and run timing. And he would essentially show people when the fish should be coming. The page had tens of thousands of followers and the posts would get hundreds of shares and comments. And the success of the page was directly reflected on the riverbanks. The amount of people after he decided to delete it in July 2019 is down a ton IMO. Could’ve been something unrelated like post Covid crap, but the amount of people on that page and the fact he decided to shut it down after after realizing the circus he created in June 2019, makes the most sense.

Popular Alaska Outdoor Journal website abruptly shuts down

After 20 years of posts about fishing and hunting in the Last Frontier, the Alaska Outdoor Journal ?website stunned longtime followers with its sudden closure in early January. The site's creator, Gary Barnes, said only that he wanted to "figure out what's next."

www.adn.com

You're right. I got those two conflated.

 

[Carl Ervine]

Hi as the title suggests looking for info and past experiences for fishing the Kenai or suggestions. Probably a group of 2 to 4 I'm guessing guided for a couple days at least. Planning in advance for 2025. I understand this is a hunting site but I got to imagine plenty of fisherman here. If it matters were are in our 60's looking for comfortable not rigorous. As I get older I like my comfort. Thanks

Crazy rays is pretty good

 

[Snowwolfe]

The Kenai or Russian is never a slam dunk. Hit either when the runs are present and it can be wild with fish on every cast. But when the fish aren’t moving it can be painfully slow. Last year the Kenai had pretty high water for most of the summer. This can make it more difficult to navigate on foot. Especially where the confluence is and around Bings.
It can go from hot to cold or cold to hot in a flip of the switch and stay that way for hours.