Two handed fun for chums

Although the Kenai doesn’t get a run of chum salmon, some smaller neighboring rivers do. On a rare day off, I like to take a drive to do some fishing for myself. This day back in 2018 was a success!

Ambitious eagle attacks trout

Gotta keep your head on a swivel up here

Steelhead

Part V and the final part of recycling website material for the blog we are going to chat a bit about fishing for steelhead on the peninsula.

Steelhead are considered the gentleman’s fish. A fish of a thousands casts, these fish boast big time power and athletic ability. A true sportfish. Typically not a trip for the casual angler. Expectations are never high on a steelhead trip and some folks are not okay with that. Run timing is everything. Each year can be a bit different. If timed right, the steelhead fishing on the peninsula can be incredible. Typically, we start to take clients on the upper Kasilof river for steelhead right around the first week of September. The run gets stronger as the month goes on but catching it early can be pretty amazing. These trips are fly fishing only and we practice catch and release with all wild steelhead. We cater to both spey fishing or indicator fishing. Both techniques work very well. The upper Kasilof is a very peaceful and beautiful float. I would describe the river as very pleasurable to fish. Easy wading, gorgeous runs to swing. The fish can be anywhere from 5 to 20 pounds and larger. With the Kasilof river being the shorter of the two rivers, these fish stay pretty hot and energetic throughout the system. Nothing like a big broad side smash from a sea-liced steelhead! The Kasilof is big enough for a full length spey rod and fits best with a 10’ 7wt if you are bead fishing. There are some smaller streams to walk/wade for steelhead around the peninsula where a single hand spey would be appropriate as well. Temps can tend to drop during steelhead season so bringing the proper layers is crucial for your visit. All of the fishing will be out of the boat so its best to come prepared with plenty of warm gear for this trip. Are you tough enough to take on some Alaskan steelhead. Feel free to give us a shout and we would love to help you find out!

Rainbow trout and dolly varden

Part IV of recycling my website material for the blog, we are talking about rainbow trout and dolly varden here on the kenai peninsula.

Alaska has some of the largest rainbow trout in the world. Largely due to their diet, the rainbows and dolly varden feast on salmon flesh and eggs and grow to enormous size and length. Alaska’s trout fishery is unlike any other trout fishery in the world. Something any trout angler needs to experience at least once in their lifetime. The Kenai is where we do the majority of our trout fishing. It’s cold glacial water provides excellent habitat for these fish. The dolly varden in the Kenai are both resident and sea run. Whereas our rainbow trout are all resident with some steelhead mixed in. Each year, Alaska fish and game closes the Kenai to all trout fishing from May 1st thru June 11th. June 11th is our trout opener and is when we can start legally targeting them again. Washed out flesh patterns, beads, nymphs, dry flies. Usually around the opener can be pretty good each year as long as you make it a point to avoid fishing around any remaining spawning fish. Otherwise, as the weeks go on into the summer, trout fishing in Alaska remains as good as anywhere else in the world. Epic days. Slower days. You just never know. It isn’t until the middle to late August time frame when things start really heating up. At that time, all the salmon are in the river and starting to drop their eggs. The kings will drop first. Fishing is all downhill from there as the remaining salmon species will soon follow suit. Both rainbows and dollies will key in on these eggs and it leads to some of the most incredible fishing you can imagine. Lots of action, lots of fish. Unforgettable days. These fish are very fly rod friendly. Spin gear is also a popular method as well. Either way we got it covered. As the season continues on through September and October, the trout are still aggressively feeding knowing that the food supply will be minimized soon. These are the times were a lot of big trophy fish are caught. They are in peak physical condition and are a little more eager to make a mistake as the season wains on. Multiple fish over 30” are landed every year. True giants! We love fishing and talking trout. We cater to the serious and casual trout anglers. The beauty with these fish is that they are always around to catch. Unlike salmon that migrate. This make our trout fishing a great activity for the whole family. If you would like more information on our trout fishery, please contact me and I would be happy to talk trout with you!

Kenai peninsula fishing calender

Rachel was kind enough to create this fish calendar for me to put on the website. I figured I would throw it on the blog as well. Cheers!

Kenai River 2018 - Year of the Silver

The summer of 2018 on the Kenai River will go down for me as the year of the Silvers. With the closing of sport fishing for sockeye back in mid July, the commercial fishermen were shut down for the year, opening the flood gates for an epic run of silver salmon.

These monsters started showing up at the end of July, and by the first week in August it was shaping up to be an incredible month. Needless to say, it was exactly that. Many of the fish being caught were over 15lbs with several in the 20lb range. Swinging large weighted pink flies was the ticket for us. Certain stretches of water would call for a light sink tip, but a standard 9’ leader with a weighted fly worked just fine. I did notice a significant difference in fresh fish hooked swinging as opposed to stripping. A swung fly out fished a stripped fly on the lower river day in and day out. As the fish worked their way up river, the slower stripping motion was the ticket.

With the Kenai River being so competitive, it was good to see everyone playing nice for a change. Probably because the fishing was soo damn good!

All and all, I can’t say enough about the run of big coho this year. Definitely a year to remember. With the big run, we are already booking for 2019 silver salmon on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers. A bunch of folks are coming back to fish with us, hoping to duplicate this years success. If you are interested in fishing with us, give me a call at 219-381-9001. Tight lines!