Tuesday was the first day I ventured out on the Kenai River to try to catch a fish. The target species: Russian River bound red salmon passing through the lower river. Hellooo! Winner, winner, salmon dinner. It only took me three flips(casts) to catch my first river fish of the year. Yeah!!! The rest of the …
2023 Fishing Season in Review
Let me start out by saying it was an awesome summer for temperatures in Alaska. We had three days in Kenai/Soldotna where temperatures broke 70 degrees. Three whole days! And, would you believe I wore wool socks every day on the river? Lower 48 triple digit temperatures versus wool socks. Hmmm, I think many of you reading this …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/6/23
Transition time. The red salmon run is up and down right now, and the silver salmon are just starting to show. It’s normal. We’re between the salmon runs and it’s hard to predict the action. On to the weekly fishing report. I fished a lot of long time guests/friends this past week. That never gets old. I was also …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/23/23
They’re heeeere…at least in the beginning of the week they were. The day after my last blogpost, the Kenai River red salmon sonar count jumped to 20K. The day after that, 54K. The numbers had been solid all week, but unfortunately the success rates didn’t always reflect that. It makes you wonder about the accuracy of the …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/16/23
This past week we were in the catch enough fish for dinner phase of the run and not the fill up the freezer phase. We caught fish every time we were out, but so far the run has been small. Since July 1st, the lowest daily count of red salmon crossing the sonar counter has been 2,598. The most has been 8,064. Very soon the bulk of …
Circles For Sockeye
After several holiday blogposts, it's time to get back to talking about fishing. Here we go... The Birth of a Movement In 2011, forward thinking Francis Estallila was in search of a better, safer way to fish for sockeye salmon on the Kenai River. The problem with this fishery has been the ratio of legally caught fish hooked in …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/14/22
It was a fun week of fishing. I got to fish with mostly returning guests, and with a couple of new guys. Overall, the pink salmon numbers seem weak, but still in catchable numbers. The silver salmon are up and down depending on the tide cycle. And finally, the red salmon run is done in the lower river. I started the week …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/31/22
Red madness. The red salmon run continues to be strong on the Kenai River. What made it even more enjoyable for me, is that I was able to spend the week fishing with old friends. I also made a few new ones too. Our biggest problem wasn’t finding fish. The biggest problem has been finding enough freezer space for …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/15/21
It was a seamless transition this week from red salmon fishing to silver salmon fishing. The red salmon fishing has been incredible, and the silver salmon fishing has been a lot better than I anticipated. I’m excited about the week ahead because the silver fishing will improve when the no bait restriction is lifted on August …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/8/21
Another awesome week of red salmon fishing with incredible people. I honestly think this has been the best stretch of red salmon fishing that I’ve ever seen. And, it’s not over yet. On to the fishing report. The fishing week began Sunday morning with Team Chesney. Once again, Martin, Chris, and Jacob put on a catching …