There were a lot of firsts this past week. Kip and Brenda, our first guests of the year, had a front row seat to all of them. On Tuesday, during the first troll of my first guided trip of the 2022 season, Kip caught and released the first king salmon of the year. That has never happened to me before. Bingo, bango, …
New World Record King Salmon?
It’s not often that I blog about another blog, but a recent post by a fellow guide/blogger caught my interest. 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 …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/18/21
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 …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/11/21
The king salmon action this past week was accurately reflected in the sonar count. When the numbers are low, the action will be slow. I only had a single trip on the calendar last week and managed to catch a king. Since I wasn’t on the water much, I checked with friends/guides about the action. Everyday a few king salmon …
Fishing Report Week Ending 6/13/21
Reds, reds, reds. 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 …
Fishing Report Week Ending 6/6/21
Last year, it took until June before a king salmon came to the boat. This year, we got it done in May. 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 …
2020 Fishing Season in Review
As the snow melted and the river became ice free, it was evident that the global pandemic would severely impact tourism in Alaska. I thought, “ oh great, the Kenai River will have an epic run of salmon and there won’t be any visitors to enjoy it.” Have I ever mentioned fisherman are optimists by nature? Looking back, my lofty …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/26/20
As I feared, due to low returning king salmon numbers, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed the season on 7/23. 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 …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/19/2020
If you like to catch and release king salmon, this was the week to be on the Kenai River. You really didn’t have a choice. On 7/13, ADFG issued an emergency order changing the Kenai River king salmon fishery to catch and release only. Even though the king numbers have been tracking below the preseason forecast, the fishing …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/12/2020
Between outboard engine repair work, and the Killey River dumping muddy water into the normal teal green Kenai River, I did not fish as much I would have liked to. For those of you who are new to the river, when the Kenai is muddy, it’s extremely difficult to get a king salmon to bite. It’s often better to find other fishing …