Kenai River

Salmon Fishing

Unforgettable Salmon Fishing

Unbeatable Alaskan Price Point

About Kenai River Salmon :

The Kenai River receives more salmon annually than any other river in the state or world. As of recently the Kenai is averaging 1-2 million sockeye during its 2nd run alone. The duration of our season is also longer than that of any other drainage in the state.

It’s possible to catch a salmon out of the Kenai nearly 10 months out of the year though they are only edible during the summer and early fall season.

The Kenai River receives millions of salmon annually and they count them using several different methods. Sonar counting is the most recently implemented method of quantification and provides a real time estimate with a great degree of accuracy. The sonar has observed up to 250,000+ salmon passing by in a single day.

Kenai Sockeye (Red) Salmon

Sockeye salmon are the “peoples fish” their run is the longest in duration of all of our salmon, they swim close to shore and have the highest daily bag limit as well. Sockeye start running in low numbers as early as May and will trickle in to the Kenai through September.

First Run sockeye salmon bound for the Russian River start to run in May, peak in mid to late June and taper off by July.

Late-run Sockeye that will stay in the main stem of the Kenai River will start to push in July and peak in great numbers later that month. In recent years late run sockeye have averaged 1-2 million fish in the month of July alone. They will continue to run in great numbers through mid August.

Peak run timing observes 100,000+ fish days annually entering the Lower Kenai. That’s about 4,000+ swimming by per hour and nearly 100+ individual salmon swimming by your feet every minute on average.

Kenai King Salmon

While the numbers of sockeye salmon are stronger than ever we mourn the decline of king salmon in the Kenai River. Kenai king salmon are the largest strain of chinook in the world but we loved them to death. The king salmon fishery on the Kenai River is closed for the foreseeable future, we now target hatchery kings on the Kasilof River.

More info on Kasilof hatchery King Fishing.

Kenai River Silver Salmon

Mid-August through October is silver salmon (coho) season. Silver’s are most commonly targeted with conventional tackle in the Kenai River. Trolling from anchor or casting and retrieving lures are the favored means of capture early season. Coho can be targeted on fly with great success later in the season. October is our favorite month to target silvers on fly!

Kenai River Pink Salmon

Pink salmon are usually inedible by the time they make back up their home rivers to spawn. They degrade quiclkly after entering the freshwater and their taste, texture, appearance suffer. While they are not good to eat they are great to catch and release.

During even numbered years pink salmon come into the Kenai by droves, the state doesnt specifically count pinks but they appear present by the millions.