My college buddy/roommate Mark had a side gig catching and selling salmon he caught in Southeast Alaska. He sold his catch to restaurants, grocery stores, and individuals around the country.

I was on his email list and on a weekly basis I would get a notice of what was in season and what it would cost per pound to have it shipped.

One day, I get an email that said “Fresh Keta Salmon”.

Keta, what?

Never heard of it.

I called my buddy Todd, a retired Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist, to see if he knew. 

Todd said “it’s the dog or chum salmon. Keta is the scientific name of the salmon and the commercial fishing industry is starting to market it that way. It sounds a lot more desirable than a dog or a chum salmon.”

Ah, marketing…

The story of keta salmon reminded me of another fish marketing story, the Patagonian toothfish.

Never heard of Patagonian toothfish? Not many have. However, a lot of people have ordered it without knowing it.

Like the dog/chum/keta salmon, the Patagonian toothfish suffered an image problem. It’s a wonderful tasting fish, but it’s cursed with a not so desirable name. I don’t know who was credited with it, but someone said let’s call this fish a Chilean sea bass. 

With a new name, sales have gone through the proverbial roof.

It’s reached a point where strict harvesting regulations have been implemented to prevent overfishing. 

The popularity of keta salmon has not reached the same popularity of the Chilean sea bass or other species of salmon for that matter. However, since I first heard about keta salmon I’ve definitely noticed more and more of it in grocery stores. 

Are you curious if there are keta salmon in the Kenai River? Yes, there is a very, very small run returning every year. With thousands of river hours under my belt, I’ve netted exactly 4 dog, oops, I mean keta salmon…

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Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. 

All Upper Cook Inlet wild king salmon fisheries will be closed this year. The enhanced hatchery fisheries, which include the Ninilchik River, Kasilof River, Ship Creek, and the Nick Dudiak lagoon, will be open to king salmon fishing with restrictions.  In addition, limited saltwater king salmon fisheries will also be open for harvest as well. 

If you’re wonky about fish numbers, like I am, here are the forecasts for the Kenai River king salmon run. 

The early run (May/June) forecast calls for 2,325 salmon. The optimum escapement goal (OEG) is 3,900-6,600. 

The late run (July) forecast calls for 12,718 salmon. The optimum escapement goal (OEG) is 14,250-30,000 fish.

If there’s a positive takeaway from the 2026 Kenai River king salmon forecast, it’s that the numbers are improving. 

It begs the question, have we hit the bottom and are now in a recovery phase?

Time will tell.

Let’s move on to the good, errr, GREAT fish news. 

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is projecting a return of 7.6 million sockeye to Upper Cook Inlet. In their words, the run is “predicted to be excellent”.

Specifically, 4.45 million sockeye are forecasted to return to the Kenai River alone.

That’s a whole lot of fish.

It’s definitely a forecast that my doctor will approve of. During a routine physical last September, he told me to keep on doing whatever it is I’m doing.

I guess I’ll keep on not fishing for king salmon and keep netting over a thousand sockeye salmon in the summer….

See you next week.

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The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) has released a summary of the 2025 commercial fishing season in Upper Cook Inlet. 

The total harvest was 41% greater than the recent 20 year average. While king, pink, chum, and silver salmon numbers were down, red salmon numbers were up significantly. 

ADFG does not summarize the sport fishing season, but they do release sonar and weir counts for freshwater rivers and creeks. 

Here’s a review the Kenai River sonar numbers.

King Salmon

The early run king salmon forecast was 1,531 fish. The actual return was 2,541. This fell short of the  goal of 3,900 to 6,000 fish. If there’s good news about the early run of king salmon it’s that the trend is up. These are the best numbers since 2021.

It was better news for the late king run. The preseason forecast was 8,742 fish. The final number was 15,015 fish, which exceeded the recovery and optimum escapement goal. It’s the first time the goal has been reached since 2018.   

I unfortunately can not report on king fishermen success because the entire season was closed.

Red Salmon

The early red salmon run (Russian River), surprisingly,  has no forecast. It does however, have an escapement goal. The optimum run number is between 22,000 and 42,000 fish. The final count was 37,153 fish. Overall, the fishing was “just okay”.

The late red salmon run was spectacular. The forecast for the entire Upper Cook Inlet was 6.9 million fish. That number was exceeded half way through the season. When it was all said and done the final tally was 12.1 million fish.

Of the 12.1 million reds in Upper Cook Inlet, the Kenai River had 4.25 million fish cross the sonar. It was a record run that exceeded the top end of the goal by 2.5 million fish.

I can’t think of enough superlatives to describe how great the red salmon fishing was this year. As a rough estimate, in a 3-4 week period I cleaned around 850 fish. Considering we practiced quite a bit of catch and release fishing as well, I easily netted over 1,000 fish. Numbers my back surgeon would not be happy to hear of….

Silver Salmon

ADFG does not have a goal, nor do they count silver salmon in the Kenai River. 

The consensus from friends and other river guides is that 2025 was an average run of silvers. Considering how weak the run was the previous year, I was happy for an average run.

Outlook For 2026

I think 2026 is going to be a great year, but I’m clearly biased. In a couple of months, the fish scientists at ADFG will be releasing their salmon run forecast. As soon as they do, I’ll be reporting about it here.

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In hindsight, closing down the entire season in March was clearly the right move.

Here are the dismal statistics.

The early run final sonar count was 1,365. The escapement goal was 3,900 to 6,600 king salmon larger than 34”.

The late run final sonar count was 6,630. The escapement goal was 15,000 to 30,000 king salmon larger than 34”.

I can think of just one word to describe the entire 2024 Kenai king salmon run: terrible. To give the run historical context, this was the worst run ever.

Not only did the Kenai River king runs struggle, so did all the wild runs in Southcentral Alaska. That being said, the entire peninsula was not closed to king salmon fishing. Opportunities to harvest existed in the rivers and creeks that are stocked with hatchery kings. Fishing was also allowed in the ocean where transitory Pacific Northwest king salmon are feeding before they return to their natal streams.

Success rates were mixed. The Kasilof River had a few excellent days, but it wasn’t consistent. It was similar fishing the ocean near Seward and Homer.

So, what does the 2024 season mean for king salmon opportunities in 2025? If I were a betting man, the easy money would be on the same restrictions being in place once again. We will know for sure when the forecast and management plan is released in February. 

Next week’s blog topic will be a recap of the 2024 red salmon season. See you then.

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Josh, Margret, Scott, and Norman started the week out. We didn’t “get them all” but we sure had enough opportunities to limit out.

On Monday, I spent a fun day on the river with four teenage boys (plus Grandpa Dan) from Peoria, Illinois. From left to right are Cleveland, Dane, Kaeden (Dan’s grandson), and Connor. They were very coachable kids which made my day easy.

On Tuesday, the run remained strong. Even though Kyle, Carter, Connor, Jacob, and Hunter were new to the Kenai red salmon flip, they had no problems mastering the technique. Out of 30 salmon, 2 were silvers. 
Since their fish boxes were filling up with red salmon, the next morning Team Texas focused on silvers. It wasn’t too bad. We caught two and then in the afternoon we went back to our waders to catch a few more red salmon. Here’s Luke with a gorgeous Kenai silver salmon.

On Thursday, I had a great day visiting and fishing with Team Brainerd. And, the fishing was pretty good too. From left to right are Don, Dan, Mark, and Paul. I will see them again Tuesday of next week.

On Friday, it was great to spend time on the bank (and the cabins) with Mike and Mary. Seeing them is like being at a family reunion with the side you like. It was a fun morning.

This could be my last red salmon day of fishing for 2023. If it is, I sure had a blast. That’s Leo and Max in the front. Katie and Jake in the back. This was what we caught in the morning.  

After a lunch break, we went back out to get the full family limit. Great job guys! Way to end the fishing week.  

For the coming week I expect less time in waders and more time fishing from the boat. However, we’ll pursue whatever salmon is in abundance.

See you next Sunday.

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JD Richey, whose blog appears in Salmon, Trout, Steelheader, recently wrote about a world record king salmon that was caught and released in August at River’s Inlet, British Columbia. If you’re interested, the details of the catch can be found here.

The exact weight of the massive king salmon is not known, but it measured 55” long and the girth was 38”.  If you apply the gold standard of  fish weight estimation, length x girth x girth/750, the goliath weighed 105.9lbs.

They say records are meant to be broken, but since the angler released the fish, Les Anderson’s Kenai king salmon is still recognized as the official rod and reel world record. For those of you who don’t know about the record, Les’ fish was caught on May 17th, 1985, and it weighed 97.4lbs. 

  
Fisherman who love the Kenai River often discuss the possibility of it producing another world record king salmon. I’m on the side that believes it still can. The massive Kenai king in the photo above was caught in a research net by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in 2016.  Its weight was estimated at 91lbs. 

However, I am a realist about the king salmon runs on the Kenai River. It’s hard not to notice that the average size and numbers have been declining over the years.

But, I do believe the genetics are still there. With the protective measures ADFG has adopted, and reading about a monster king salmon caught and released in British Columbia, I am encouraged and hopeful for the future.

Long live the kings!*

*Every angler can do their part by releasing the big girls and boys and selectively harvesting fish in abundance.

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I knew we would have fun. 

But, how was the fishing this past week?

It wasn’t too bad for king salmon. Red salmon, on the other hand, was rather slow.

On Tuesday, I fished with Rad and Matt. It was the last day that a king salmon could be retained. Here’s Matt proudly showing off the largest fish of his life. I’m glad I could be a part of it.

On Thursday, I spent an enjoyable day on the bank with returning guests Mike, Nicole, Kris, and newcomer Jacqui. Here’s Kris with a hard earned sockeye.

Nicole caught the first red salmon of the day. Her husband, Mike, was the highliner and ended up with a three fish limit. Kris, and Jacqui, unfortunately, ended up with one. A lot different than when Kris was here three years ago. On that trip he was part of a crew that caught twenty four red salmon in an hour. It’s true when they say timing is everything. 

On Friday, I was reunited with Dario, and his friends Fernando and Tony.  Dario caught and released two king salmon, and Tony caught one. Sorry Fernando, we’ll get ‘em next time…

I ended the week fishing with Nick, Matt, Dan, Breanna, and Cassie. Cassie had the hot rod and caught the largest king of the day.  Matt claims the king he caught earlier in the day was a 90…90 grams that is. There are no photos to confirm or deny his claim.

While trolling for kings, Matt caught a bonus red salmon. It was a beauty.

And another bonus red for his dad, Dan.  Hopefully, on our next trip coming up this Friday, I’ll be able to take fish photos of Nick and Brianna too.

For the week ahead.

With continued low king salmon sonar counts, I won’t be surprised if the king season will be closed. The red salmon run seems to be a couple of days late, but I think the catching will start to improve every day. 

Come back next week to see how we did. 

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The hot fishing for the week was chasing red salmon on the peninsula.

When Chuck, Deb, Larry, and Brenda left our cabins last week, they traveled to Seward to fish for red salmon.

To say they were successful would be an understatement.  

It wasn’t just one day of great fishing, they had multiple days of great fishing. 

Closer to home, the red salmon fishing on the Kenai/Russian River is just starting to happen. With timing and luck, a few fish can be had. Here’s my neighbor Dan with a couple of gorgeous reds caught on the lower Kenai River.

Now on to the king salmon report.

From what I saw in my boat, and the other anglers on the Kenai River this past week, the fishing has been okay. That’s a modest way of saying if you put in your time, you had a chance at catching a king salmon.

Speaking of putting in your time, brother’s Brayden and Brecken spent two days on the water. Brayden was the luckier angler of the two. Hey guys, I enjoyed the company and I look forward to the next time we do it again. 

The highlight of the week happened on Friday when I fished with David and his daughter Daniella. I told David before the trip began that women and children out fish men on this river. Daniella proved my point by landing a beautiful 45lb king salmon. 

For The Week Ahead

Last week I stated that we needed a daily sonar average of 200 king salmon or restrictions would take place. That didn’t happen. Only two days out of seven did the count exceed 200. Ouch.

I’m a little perplexed that ADFG hasn’t put restrictions on the fishery. My guess is they think the run is late and more fish will show before the end of the month. That’s what happened on the Copper and Deshka River this year. ADFG must be “hoping” that’s the case on the Kenai River too. I’m “hoping” they’re right. 

That’s it for this week. Come back next Sunday to see if the fishing got better, or worse….tight lines everyone!

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Just barely.

On May 31st, after a three year hiatus, I was reunited with Chuck and Deb. On this visit, they brought their friends Larry and Brenda.

Not too long into the morning, Larry expertly reeled in the first king salmon of the year. It measured 38” and was quickly released. Although it didn’t beat his personal best, it was a great first fish to open the season. 

With the first king salmon of the year out of the way, my expectations were high the next day when Chuck and Deb joined me for a second trip. Great weather and great conversation, but unfortunately no fish for our efforts. Hey guys, I wish it were a different outcome, but I look forward to the next time we fish together…

On Wednesday, it was Jerry, Allan, and Steve in the boat. It was a quiet morning on the river, but that all changed after we took a lunch break at the cabins.

On the second troll of the afternoon, Jerry caught this beautiful 42” king salmon.  We tried to get better photos, but the salmon was restless and swam out of Jerry’s hand before we could take more. 

I ended the week fishing with Jack and Steve.  After twelve hours of fishing over two days, we ended up with moose photos, but no fish photos.

I guess it just wasn’t in the cards. We saw several fish caught around us, which was encouraging, but the salmon proved to be too elusive.

This was a first trip to Alaska for Jack. Steve last visited Alaska twenty five years ago. I’ve got a hunch they will both be back soon.

Thought I’d share this last photo with guests that are coming this summer. Vehicle rentals have been difficult (and expensive). For many, a UHaul moving truck is the only option. If you haven’t firmed up a rental vehicle, you should do so immediately. 

For The Week Ahead

The lower peninsula streams and near coastal waters were recently closed to king salmon fishing.  That is often a precursor to what will happen on the Kenai River.  We will need to average 200 fish crossing the sonar counter each day for the next week, or restrictions will occur. On an up note, red salmon are starting to show in the lower Kenai River, the Kasilof River, and Resurrection Bay. It won’t be long before the famed Russian River will start to see a surge of red salmon as well. Hey, if we can’t fish king salmon, red salmon are a heck of a plan B.

Tight lines until next week.

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The 2020 Kenai king salmon season is now officially in the books. It was not pretty. Hopefully, ADFG’s actions will ensure strong future returns.

On to the fishing report.

The only king salmon trip I had this past week was on Tuesday. Joining me was long time friend of Beaver Creek Cabins and Guide Service, Bill J, along with his friends Warren, Jay, and Jared.

It wasn’t exactly the action I’ve come to expect for the third Super Tuesday of July, but it wasn’t bad. With perseverance, we were able to catch and release two nice Kenai kings.

Jay caught the big king of the day. After a fifteen minute battle, this 45lb king made it into the net. Jay was quick to tell me that this is the biggest fish he has ever caught.

And here’s Jared measuring our other king of the day.  It was 38lbs. Like Jay, Jared said this was the biggest fish he’s ever caught. 

The rest of the week I chased red salmon. Mostly with rod and reel, but I did take my son, Mac, out dipnetting. From left to right is Mac, his girlfriend Madison, and their friend Daniel. It’s safe to say they won’t need any more fish for the freezer this year.

Mary Jo and John put their time in to get their limit of reds. Also on this trip were Joe “The Red Whisperer”, and Nancy.  With a nickname like that you know Joe caught his limit (and released several others).  Nancy, well, she got one.  At least she wasn’t last. That honor goes to yours truly. Usually I can pick up a few reds when I’m flipping with my clients. Not on this day.

I finished the week fishing with Glenn. It rained, and it rained, and the fish were few and far between.  We ended up with seven hard earned red salmon over a two day period.  

Thought I’d include a photo of another big game animal common to our area. For some odd reason, this caribou really liked running down Beaver Loop Road. At least it was on the right side of the road.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, another moose photo to end a post. What’s not to like about a moose photo?

For the final week of July, instead of king salmon, I’ll be switching over to red salmon trips. It could be a bit early, but any day now the silver and pink salmon will start to show. I can hardly wait.

See you next Sunday with a new fishing report. 

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