I got back from Alaska where I used to live for 16 years. I was up there visiting relatives, attending my wife' s 20 year HS Reunion, and of course FISHING for red and king salmon. My dad has a house right on the Kenai River in Soldotna and I did some king salmon fishing in the lower river and red salmon fishing right across the river from his dock. Caught 5 kings (largest 55 lb.) and about 40 reds. Filleted them all out, shrink wrapped and froze them, and then stuffed as many as a could in a big cooler to take home.
If anybody is interested in Alaska salmon fishing I would say the week I was there was perfect for the second run of both reds and kings. King season closes July 31 and my dad said it peaks the week before that. So the days I was fishing (July 19-24) seemed like prime time for the Soldotna area.
The silver salmon run starts a few weeks later and my dad trolls for them in the ocean at Seward and then later in the Kenai River.
Can give additional details on gear, costs, techniques, etc. if you are interested. Might eve post a few pictures.
Lefty-Sounds good. I have fished alaska 23 years and haven' t done the Kenai for about 14 years. Was it still a zoo on the river? We are thinking about a trip next year to the Nushagak then down to Soldotna for the kenai and Homer for butts. Just have great memories of those giant kings on the Kenai. My buddy caught a 75 pounder on that last trip and it' s hangin on his wall still. Love fishing Alaska and just have to make one more trip if I can save enough money.
Yes the Kenai drainage probably gets the most fishing pressure so it sometimes feels like a zoo. You don' t notice it that much when you are catching fish. Our red fishing spot on the bank was never crowded because we just hopped over with my dad' s boat when we saw nobody was in the spot on the bank.
The Kenai River is the only spot I know that you have the potential to get a king salmon over 55. I' ve netted a few 70 pounders but have never broken into even the 60s. Other rivers I' ve fished for kings produce smaller fish with something over 45 being a monster.
Since I knew my kids would not be interested in an all day trip for halibut I passed on the flat fish this time. I really wanted the kids involved so I stuck with fishing for 4 hours for kings in the morning (5:00 AM - 9:00 AM) and 3 hours for reds in the evening (2:00 PM - 5:00 PM). I was more busy getting snags loose, retying flies, and netting fish for three kids than I was fishing myself. It was a lot of fun!!!
Back from Alaska salmon fishing
