Week Ending June 21st

The run and the catch rate for Kenai king's this past week has been difficult. The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game has amended its forecast and now says the first run of king salmon will be below the historical average. I will agree. We had a few chances this past week but could not put a king in the boat. Each day we would see about 6-10 kings landed but in spite of that my clients maintained a positive attitude and enjoyed their day on the water. Thank goodness for good weather, moose, eagles, and the occasional boater running aground on a gravel bar to keep us entertained.

The saltwater fishing for halibut continues to be good and the Russian River red salmon run continues to be strong. This year has been more important than ever to be flexible and to spread out your fishing adventures to cover other areas. Luckily my clients this week planned in advance to not only fish the Kenai, but Homer and in Seward as well. Somewhere in their week they'll have one of the best fishing trips of their lives. My fingers are crossed that it will be the Kenai.

Red Salmon Fishing Is Hot!

The Kenai/Russian River red salmon fishing is fantastic. Today, the Dept. of Fish and Game increased the limit from 3 to 6. Jane and I decided to see if the reports were true and I can tell you that they are. Fishing was very good and the average size salmon was above normal. This run should continue to be strong for the next week or so.

The Kenai king fishing remains slow and a few fish are being caught daily by the fleet. Every tide and every day we are all hoping that the bite will increase. Oh well, at least the weather has been great!

June King

So, here is the first king caught in June. Team Texas consisting of Zach (pictured), Tim, and Dana patiently put a day in to land this fish. Not the largest fish but it certainly was a good fighter. Zach was hoping to bring some fillets back to Texas but instead decided to barbecue this fish for dinner. Hard to beat a fresh salmon right out of the water.

The early run of king salmon is starting to shape up. Yesterday 205 salmon came through the sonar and the cumulative run since May 16th is 2,117. It's a safe bet that the Department of Fish an Game will be able to meet their escapement goal which means the river will open to bait soon. Hard to say exactly when that will happen but when it does the catching should improve considerably.

Stay tuned....

p.s. to Robert Allen, this fish was caught 50 feet from where you caught your fish last year.