The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently released the Upper Cook Inlet 2026 salmon forecast. 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 …
2025 Fishery Summary
It’s that time of year. 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 …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/10/25
This really has been an amazing red salmon run. In fact, it’s been the best I’ve ever seen. Lots of fish means lots of happy fisherman. It also makes for one happy and worn out guide. Sunday started off with a bang. Tyler, Jacob, Terry, Faith, and Emily caught 30 salmon in about 3 hours. On Monday, I fished a …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/3/25
Flip, net, repeat. It was another crazy week of red salmon fishing. I started the week fishing with Skyler, Al, Tara, and Tiki. Beautiful weather, great company, and lots of fish. What’s not to enjoy about that? On Monday, I had wonderful morning getting to know Craig and Cathy. They are both successful tournament …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/27/25
Long time guest Chris Chesney texted me this week after seeing the red salmon sonar numbers. Is there any water in the Kenai or is at all fish? Great question. The following photos should give you the answer. On Sunday I had a boat full of repeat guests/friends. It felt good to fish once again with George “This is My …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/20/25
I’m sore. But, it’s a good kind of sore. It was a steady week of catching, netting, and filleting. I started the week out struggling to find schools of reds. We found a few, just not the right numbers. Mother/daughter Kelly and Stella pose with the days haul. On Monday, the morning started off slow, but by afternoon Chris, …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/13/25
It’s happening. As my mentor Jeff King would say, “Eatin’ is cheatin’ and sleep is the enemy. Welcome to the red season.” It’s still a bit early in the run, but the number of fish moving through has been strong. That’s for both red and king salmon. Yes, even king salmon. Because the historic peak of the run happens later …
2024 Red Salmon Recap
The best run of salmon in the Kenai River in 2024 was the red salmon run. Specifically, the late run of red salmon from mid July to early August. It was an incredible time to be fishing. Let’s review the data. The early red salmon run (Russian River) had an escapement goal of 22,000-42,000 fish. The final weir count …
Fishing Report Week Ending 9/1/24
This was the first full week of a reduced silver salmon limit. I was hoping that the run was late, but clearly ADFG made the right call. The fishing this past week was steady. Steady slow. Day 1, Blinn Week 3. Larry, Steve, Jo Ray, and Josh. The extra fish is a bonus red salmon. Day 2, Blinn Week 3. Robert started out with …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/11/24
Usually, the transition from red salmon fishing to pink and silver salmon fishing is seamless. Not this year. It’s been a struggle to find good numbers of salmon all week. Rising and dirty water doesn’t help either. I’ll start out the blog post with the first silver caught this year from the boat. I think Dennis …