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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The catching wasn’t hot and heavy for us. It was just good enough.

It had to be fish Karma.

Three years ago Nick gave me a custom color Brad’s K15 fishing lure. Since it was custom, I’ve kept it stored in my tackle box and haven’t used it since he was last here.

I broke it out and boy did it produce.

Nearly every salmon Nick caught was on that lure.

You know, if I could do it all over again I would have used that lure even more.

This is Brittany’s first silver on the first day. 

And, this was the morning catch on Day 1. However, we weren’t done for the day. 

After a three hour break, we went back out to fish the incoming tide. Not as much action as I was hoping for. Ken caught a bright red salmon that we kept and Nick caught another silver salmon. The final tally was six salmon on Day 1.

On Day 2, Brittany had the hot seat (it should be noted that Nick gave it up). Here’s the first fish of the morning.

After a little bit of lull, Brittany caught 2 more within minutes of each other. Limit!

Ken “The Electric Banana” got on board and caught the next three silvers. Another limit!

Unfortunately, Nick did not get a bite on Day 2. Still, the end results were pretty good.

On Day 3 the bite was slowest of the three days. We worked all day to get three fish. Nick had the hot seat and lure and caught all of them. Limit!

Thanks Nick, Brittany, and Ken for coming back to fish. I look forward to the next time we do it. 

I’ll end on this. I usually have a pretty good feel for what to expect when predicting the fishing “for the week ahead”. Not this time. I’m not sure if it was weather, tides, seals, belugas, or the run peaked as the reasons why the fishing was a bit slow.

Come back next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing has given us.

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Not only are we between the first and second runs, a rain event caused the river to rise over two feet in a short amount of time. A rising river means dirty runoff and debris. Fish (and fishermen) don’t like that.

That being said, it was still a pretty good week of fishing. 

Catching the first fish of the week was Kelly. Recently retired, Kelly and her husband Jeff drove an RV from Minnesota to Alaska. Fishing for salmon was on their bucket list.

Klair followed Kelly with his first salmon in Alaska. Klair and his wife Beth started their adventures on a cruise ship to Alaska with friends. The three couples are all celebrating their 40th wedding anniversaries together. 

This is what we ended up with at the end of the day. Not the numbers of fish I would’ve like to have seen, but the quality was impressive. Sorry, Jeff. You’ll get ‘em next time…

I had to include this photo on the weekly fishing report. On the same day I had Klair and Beth in my boat, the other two couples fished with Trevor. Smiles for all!

The following day I fished with Mark, Mary, and Ben. The action was steady throughout the day. The highlight was a 15lb silver for Mark.

Even though we ended up a couple fish short of a boat limit, it was still a good day to be on the river. 

For years I’ve been hearing stories from Boo about “the Canadians” that would come up and fish with him. Well, since Boo is now only running charters on the ocean, it was my turn to fish “the Canadians” on the river. Grandpa Albert got the trip started with a nice silver. 

Grandson Kolton followed up with another. 

When we called it a day, everyone at least ended up boating a salmon. Thanks Albert, Bailey, Kolton, and Eric. I enjoyed my time on the water with you all.

For the coming week I expect the fishing conditions to improve. The water levels are starting to drop, and the second run of silver salmon should be building.

Come back to the blog next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing has given us.

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Normal is good.

The steady action has been a welcome relief compared to what we experienced last year. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the second run of silvers mirrors the first run and is normal too.

On to the fishing report…

The past week I had the pleasure of getting to know Dave, Joe, Dan, Mike, and Steve. A great family and great fishermen made it an enjoyable week for me.

Since they were my only clients for the week, I’m just going to roll with the photos from their days on the river.

Dave, Joe, Dan, Mike, and Steve also worked in a couple of saltwater trips to round out their fishing adventures. If I were a betting man I would say this will not be their last trip to Alaska. 

I’ll end with this photo. The last morning of silver fishing a momma moose and her calf gave us quite a show. They were were literally a rod tip away. Moose on!!!

Come back to the blog next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing gives us.

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On to the weekly fishing recap.

Hot breakfast at Louie’s!

I often say every Kenai fishing guide’s dream is a a hot breakfast at Louie’s restaurant. Having a hot breakfast at Louie’s means your client’s caught their limit of fish early enough in the day that there’s still time to order breakfast. John and Kris, thanks for a memorable morning. The biscuits and gravy at Louie’s are about as good as it gets. 

Super Tuesday was just that. After catching 2 silvers last Friday, Team Potvin came through with a boat limit of silvers. Kneeling are Jordy and Cade, standing are Jace, Brent, and Poppa Bill. It’s always special for me to have three generations of fishermen in my boat. 

On Wednesday, the early morning bite continued for John and Kris. Since I gave John a stand alone photo in this report already, I figure Kris deserved one too.  Such a beautiful silver salmon….

By 7am, we had 6 salmon in the box. If you’re wondering why Jane is in the photo it’s because John and Kris asked if she could join us. Jane had a free morning and gladly jumped in the boat. This could have been a second hot breakfast at Louie’s this week, but I didn’t want to be too greedy.

Thursday was Day 3 for Team Potvin. It wasn’t as good as Day 2, but it was better than Day 1. Thanks Brent, Cade, Jace, Jordy, and Poppa Bill. It was fun spending three days on the river with all of you.

The week ended with a strong morning performance from Dave, Joe, Dan, Steve, and Mike. Welcome to Alaska guys! This is Day 1 of a solid week of river and ocean fishing for the five of them.

Come back next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing gives.

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We’ve moved on to the bigger, more aggressive silver salmon. No more waders, just good old fashion fishing from a boat for fish that are willing to chase down a lure.

On to the weekly recap…

On Tuesday, Dan, Don, Mark, and Paul had a good day catching silvers. We also gave it an hour or two on the banks fishing for red salmon, but struggled to find any. This officially ended the 2025 red salmon season for me. It was a run for the record books and I’m not sure I’ll see anything quite like it again.

Wednesday was Day 1 on the Kenai River for old friends Mike and Mary. It took awhile but they got their limit of silver salmon and caught a couple of bonus red salmon as well. The photo above was from the morning. Two more fish were caught in the afternoon.

Day 2 was a lot slower for Mike and Mary. After two early morning silvers, the bite really slowed down. Even though the catching stopped, it is always a good time visiting with the both of them. I look forward to our next trip. See you guys down the road!

Friday was a repeat of the day before. Jace got one in the morning.

And Cade got one in the afternoon. That was it for whole day. We’ve got a couple of more days of fishing scheduled next week and the silvers better look out for these guys. 

The fishing week took a turn for the better on Saturday. A few more fish in the river and the use of bait made for a fun morning with John and Kris. The two of them are long time guests/friends and this was their first time fishing the Kenai River for silvers. I think they found a new favorite fish in Alaska.

For the week ahead I expect decent silver fishing. Historically, the first run of silvers will peak during the third week of August. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this holds true. 

Come back next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing has given us.

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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 large family so that meant two trips. The morning went well for Justin, Jennifer, Logan, Keeley, and Chase.

And, the afternoon was as good as the morning for Jason, Brenda, Ron, Myrna, Kaylor, and Keenan.

Tuesday was day 2 for Team Montana. With 67 red salmon in the freezer from day 1, the goal was to keep just 6, and release the rest. Justin, Logan, Kaylor, Jason, and Keenan kept me active all morning.

The second trip of the day for Team Montana had me active again. Ron, Myrna, Keeley, Keenan, and Logan also kept 6 and released fish until they had enough. 

On Wednesday, Ann, Corey, and Gus had no problems filling the stringers. It was nice to see Ann again. Two years ago she came to Alaska with my sister, along with three other friends. This trip was about family, and getting out of the heat in the lower 48.

On Thursday, Team Minnesota returned after a one year absence. They had little trouble remembering the Kenai red salmon flip. Great job, Dan, Mark, Paul, and Don.

The next day was an encore performance for Team Minnesota. The only thing different is we decided to target silvers early in the day (they cooperated) and then switch over to red salmon to fill out the limits. Paul and Dan are in the back, Mark and Don are in the front. What a way to end the fishing week.

The red salmon run is starting to slow down so I expect in the coming week to be fishing more for silver salmon. I look forward to the transition and the challenge.

Come back next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing has given us.

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There’s another thing I like about silver salmon. Year in, year out, it’s our most consistent fishery.

Well, that is until this year. It was tough fishing. 

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) monitors the state fisheries and the silver salmon runs in Upper Cook Inlet were in trouble this year. So much trouble that most streams and creeks were either restricted or closed to help protect future runs.

Specifically, on the Kenai River the silver salmon fishery was restricted to single hook and no bait on 8/1. The run struggled to build and on 8/24 the limit was reduced from 2 to 1 fish per day. A week later, on 9/1, the September limit was reduced from 3 to 2 fish per day. 

This has been the first time in my life I experienced an in season reduction of silver salmon limits on the Kenai River.

If there was a “silver” lining to the season, there was only one trip where we weren’t able to boat a silver salmon. We caught a few pinks that day so we weren’t fishless, but no silvers found their way to our gear.

The “not-so silver” lining is boat limits were hard to come by. On average we’d land 2-4 silvers in a full day. Let me repeat that last part…a full day. Call me spoiled, but that’s very un-silver like.

With 2024 in the books, my sights are now set on next year’s fishing. I’m cautiously optimistic for it and hope the actions ADFG took this year will insure a better fishing future. I can always handle an off year and rationalize it as “that’s just fishing.” However, considering we’ve had multiple years of poor king salmon returns, it’s hard not think that the silver runs could follow suit. Time will only tell…

In the meantime, I’m going to spend my winter dreaming of a river full of salmon from May until October. 

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I spent the final day with my college roommate and his friend swapping stories. The bonus was they caught their limit of silver salmon. 

I would describe the trip as the Kenai River version of a walk-off home run.

Without further ado, it’s time for the last weekly fishing report of 2024. 

The fishing week began the same way last week ended…..Martin catching the first silver salmon of the day. He did that three days in a row. Martin will be back next July with Chris and Jake and my bet is he’ll be the first one to catch a fish again.

It wasn’t the only silver salmon of the day. Chris caught the next one and unfortunately the last one. We had to end the trip a few hours early because of near gale force winds. Sorry, Jake, I know you wanted to catch a fish as much as I did. However, safety was more important than catching one more.

Wednesday was my last guided trip on the river. My college buddy, Don, started the morning out with a nice silver salmon. A perfect sized fish for an evening dinner.

Not much later, he caught his second one. We spent the next couple of hours without a bite and decided it was time for a hot lunch at Louie’s Restaurant.

It’s been a crazy coincidence this year that when a lunch break is taken at Louie’s the fishing improves. Dave is proof of the “Louie Luck”.  He didn’t have a bite in the morning, then after a a couple of hour break, he gets his limit. What a great way to end my guiding season.

With river fishing in the rear view, on Thursday we headed down to Homer to fish halibut with Boo. The ocean was too rough to venture out to the halibut grounds so we stayed closer to port and trolled for king salmon.

It was a good call.

No one got seasick and we were able to find 6 hungry king salmon.

A Homer Bob Ross moment…

It’s time.

The leaves have changed color, many have fallen, and the morning temperatures have been below freezing. With no more guests, Jane and I have begun the process of winterizing the cabins and boats.

It’s always bittersweet.

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This past week was a lot like the previous week. Long days on the water with only a few willing biters to be found. Patience was the key word. Luckily, the people who were with me had plenty of it.

The first group of the week, Jim, Rob, and Tony, were newcomers to the Kenai River. I had a lot of fun getting to know the three of them.

The second group of the week welcomed Martin, Chris, and Jake. They are regulars and have been coming to our place for nine years. I know them well. I always enjoy their company in my boat.

With the introductions being over, it’s time to move on to the photos of the week.

Here’s Tony starting the trip off with a dandy silver salmon.

Jim followed that up with another beautiful silver salmon.

Even though this silver salmon escaped the clutches of a harbor seal, it couldn’t get away from Rob.

Jim with his limit. 

On Friday, Martin started the morning off with a nice silver salmon.

Chris was next.

Jake followed with the last silver salmon of day. I find it really satisfying to be part of three generations catching fish on the Kenai River. It never gets old.

The above photo continues the trend of strange and unusual happenings on the Kenai River in 2024. Chris caught an ocean bright, red salmon on Friday the 13th. I was shocked to see a red salmon of this quality so late in the season. 
On Saturday, Martin once again caught the first fish of the day.

Later that morning, Jake caught the last silver salmon of the day. The top photo happened on 9/14/24, and the bottom photo on 7/28/2017.  Clearly, Little Jake is now Big Jake…

My guiding season is nearing the end and next week is the last of the scheduled clients. Come back to the blog on Sunday to see if we end with a bang or a whimper.

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