Fishing Report Week Ending 7/11/10

The bite this week has been pretty good but once again the size of the "world famous Kenai kings" have been on the small size. Don't get me wrong, the fish have been beautiful but not up to the normal Kenai standard.

The first photo is Team Levin showing off the fruits of their labor. Sugar is proudly holding her king in the second photo. And the final photo is Sandy. Let me tell you a little about Sandy, not only is this the biggest king he has ever caught, it is also the first fish he has ever caught. Glad I was there to experience this with him.

At the end of the week the river started to muddy up a bit which slowed the bite down. As of today it looks clearer so I have high hopes for the week ahead.

One last comment to all of you from the lower 48. I hope you're handling the heat as best you can. On July 9th I walked down to the boat at 5:00am and I had frost on my boat seats. Pictured below is the armrest.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/3/10

This past week the trend of lots of bites and small fish continued. We did manage to pull out a few nice ones. Pictured above is Papa Dan with Caroline with her biggest king. Dan and Mary Meyer give each grandchild a special Alaska trip when they turn 10 years old and this year it was Caroline's turn. She was a lot of fun and had a great attitude every day. For those of you who would like to know, the final fish count was: Caroline 4.5, Dan 2, and Mary 1.5. We look forward to seeing Dan and Mary again this fall when the silvers are in. The bottom photo is Rick Baron with his largest king. During a couple of days fishing Rick Smith may have caught more fish but Rick B. will gladly point out that it's all about the quality and not the quantity. It was great to fish with Rick and Rick again and I look forward to seeing them down the road.

Happy Independence Day to all of you and I'll write again after another week of fishing.

King George....Fishing Report Ending 6/27/10

Another interesting week of fishing. The action was okay but the sizes of the fish were definitely on the side of small. As my friend Kyle said to me on the river the other day, "someone forgot to invite these fish to the buffet."

George took top honors for the week with the salmon pictured above. After showing everyone else the Kenai and what the king fishing is all about he has now officially scaled the mountain. His brother Jerry still points out that his king in 2008 is still the largest amongst their family. The bottom photo is Linette proudly posing with a 60lb halibut that she caught with her husband Mike.

See you next week.

Kenai Opens To Bait

Strange days indeed.

In a matter of a couple of weeks the Kenai River went from catch & keep, to no fishing, to catch & release, to catch & keep, to opening up to bait. The Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game has decided that the Kenai River reached the optimum escapement goal and has liberalized the fishery to bait. Needless to say my head has been spinning trying to keep up with the changes.

So, the report.

Fishing was challenging this week with only a few kings boated. I have to give a shout out to Jim, Tina, Paul, and Chaquita for their perseverance. With wet and cold conditions and a slow bite they definitely kept a positive attitude day in and day out. That's Jim in the top photo and Paul is in the second one. The third photo is Jon and Nathan and the final photo is of George and Jerry with some nice red salmon taken at the Russian River.

Hard to say what the Kenai will hold this week but there's no doubt that the red salmon are in full swing on the Russian.

Kenai Back To Normal!!!

The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game has announced that the Kenai River will be open to the taking of king salmon beginning Tuesday, June 15th. It will remain as usual with a slot limit of 46"-55".

Wow. It's amazing how dymamic this fishery can be. I'm scheduled for several trips this week so I hope to give you a report before too long.

Thank you George.

Kenai River to Reopen 6/12/10

I have received word from multiple sources that the Kenai River will reopen to fishing as of 6/12/10. It will be restricted and the only salmon that can be kept are 20" and under or 55" and over. All other fish must be released. The official announcement will occur this evening.


The Alaska Department of Fish and Game erred on the side of conservation and I applaud that. The fear was that the salmon would NOT return and the few that did needed to survive so that the run in 5 years would not be a complete disaster. The first few days after the closure was in effect the amount of salmon passing over the sonar remained small. This past week, however, the daily sonar counts have been 500 to 600 salmon. It's become obvious that the salmon were just late and needless to say the collective mood on the peninsula has improved 1000%.


On a personal note, Jane and I would like to thank George for praying to the salmon gods and keeping a postive attitude since the closure was announced. They heard you all the way from Florida.


Long live the kings!

Making Lemonade out of Lemons

What a great state Alaska is. Although we can't king fish on the Kenai there are plenty of other Alaskan adventures to experience. Clamming, hiking, saltwater fishing, red salmon fishing, trout fishing, pike fishing, rafting, bear and glacier viewing are among many alternatives to king fishing. Imagine booking a trip to Kearney, Nebraska to view the annual migration of sand hill cranes. Imagine if the cranes did not show. What plan B could you muster up in Kearney, Nebraska?


Jane and I have contacted all of our June clients and the overwhelming majority have decided that a "plan B" is great. A few plans have been adjusted but we will have the good fortune to see our customers and friends in the coming month. Although I won't be guiding my usual June schedule and the closure will affect any last minute fishing clients, Jane and I will be just fine.


Long live the kings!