Holy cow. It was a wild and wacky week.
The lower Kenai River red salmon run went from white hot to ice cold.
And it happened quickly.
The week started with mayhem and chaos. In a couple of hours Dave, Lindsey, Ken, and Sue were back at dock with their limits. Always fun to see you guys…
The next day I was on the banks with Todd, Renee, Alec, and Mollie. I was scratching my head wondering where did the fish go? That’s Mollie above with her first red salmon.
The four of them fished hard in the morning and took a much needed lunch break at the cabins. This is Alec and Mollie with the results.
After lunch, we went back out and caught these.
Would the action improve on their second day on the river?
It did not.
We fished on the banks and decided to spend time in the boat too. Despite another solid effort we ended up with a couple of red salmon, pink salmon and a trout.
On day three we ditched the waders altogether and stayed in the boat. It was a steady day of bites from nearly every species swimming in the Kenai River. A salmon Grand Slam was caught (red, silver, pink, and king). That’s Renee and Mollie in the photos above. The four of them ended up keeping 8 more salmon.
Catching fish and seeing moose and caribou on the river can be exciting. I’d like to think it was the highlight of Alec and Mollie’s trip to Alaska.
But, it wasn’t.
Before they came to Kenai they got engaged. Congrats you two! Alaska is always special, but now it’s extra special.
Besides fishing with Todd, Renee, Alec, and Mollie, I was able to spend three wonderful days with long time guests/friends Kathy, Karen, and Susie. We gave it a go for reds in our waders and ended up with a couple of them. We spent the next two days fishing from the boat catching and releasing pinks and keeping a couple of silvers.
Here’s Karen with a nice silver salmon.
Susie, Kathy, Orvis, and Karen with the final silver salmon of their trip. Our conversations were great, the catching not so much….
I almost forgot about this trip. On one of the days I fished Kathy, Susie, and Karen, I snuck in Nere and Tatiana. It was a steady morning of bites and the two of them kept their limit of pink salmon.
For the week ahead I anticipate a building pink and silver salmon run. I haven’t completely given up on red salmon, but there has to be a large school moving through before I put the waders back on.
Come back to the blog next week to see how a grand river that owes us nothing treated us.
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/26/26