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Hello! I'm about 10 days away from taking my father and a few friends to Kenai for a week of fishing. I've been twice before, but this will be my first trip unguided. I have a few questions for those who have ever gone before. As well, if anybody has any questions for me, I'm more than happy to share what I've learned.
Here goes:
-I have fished almost exclusively in Soldotna on the Kenai for Reds. I did find one really cool place about 15 miles up river from Kenai where we did good but that's it. I'd love to explore other areas of the river where I may be able to catch Reds. Does anybody have any experience with this?
-How about other rivers. I know they are in the area but haven't ever explored them. Any ideas on where to start would be great.
-Silvers. I know the silvers are starting to hit the river the first couple of weeks of August. I've only caught one in the past during this time. Has anybody ever had success in early August for Silvers down river closer to the ocean?
I have done a couple of flyout trips across the cook inlet and plan on fishing one day over there on this trip. If anybody wants any ideas about this I can definitely help you out to get the best rate and know what rivers to hit.
Thanks guys! I'll be sure to post some pics. I've attached a few
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Your timing is about the same as my trip a few years back. We got there the second day the Reds ran the Russian River on the Kenia it's not a very big river but it was packed with reds. We fished flies and did fairly well. Got a dozen or so fish. Let them go early and ended up only getting one small jack after we decided it was time to keep some to eat. The river has seven foot ferns all over and there were bears in there so it was a scary spot for my first Alaska fishing venture.
Towards the second weekend I was there, the rep was a little creek called fish creek that came directly out of the ocean north and west of Anchorage. It only opened one day and we were there just as the tide brought the silvers in, it was hot fishing but crowded and shoulder to shoulder but we got some nice silvers to take home and eat.
Rest of the time we floated a river and caught hundreds of fish but couldn't keep more than we would eat that night. Didn't want the Bears to come into camp and we doubted the coolers would keep it good till we got out.
Anyway what we found was the salmon didn't really hit the fly so it didn't matter what it looked like you just drifted it into their open mouths and the current would hook them as it pulled the line and hook into the corners of their mouths. I liked the white wolly bugger with a bead head and a little flashy stuff in it. The fresh ocean fish did hit that one. Use a sinking tip line and some fairly good sized sinkers to float at the right level. Also the trout took an egg pattern fly or beads set up. The guys in Sportsmans warehouse in Anchorage will tell you how to set up for it. I wish I would have waited until I got there to buy my tackle because I ended up buying a bunch more there and that was the stuff that worked for me. Good luck. J
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Thanks for the reply SkunkedAgain. Great info. I would like to look into fishing the Russian River as well as the Kenai. We did really well with the Reds doing the technique you described. The silvers are my favorite though.
Brady
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Ever fished the Kasilof River? Close to Ninilchik, between Soldotna and Homer. You'd be right on Cook Inlet too, if halibut appeals to you.
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A really good resource on Facebook is Alaska outdoor journal. There are daily reports on fishing and where it's good. As with most rivers in Alaska it all depends on the flows in the numbers coming in the river. As was already mentioned the Russian River can be a very fun river to fish with Clearwater unlike the glacier water on the Kenai. The kasilof is another really good river and fun river to fish but again it depends on what is hitting the river at that time.
One of my personal favorites is going out of Deepcreek for the halibut charters and loading up on some butts. If you have the time and would like to go over to Seward, fishing in the inlet there as the salmon run close to the shoreline can be a lot of fun and you can use snagging hooks to get them as well. Nothing like fresh chrome silvers straight out of the ocean. Just as long as you do your research and ask around and what's doing well you will find fish. One thing to note that if you tie flies there is one called the Kenai krill killer that is pretty awesome. Good luck and have fun!
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The Kenai River seemed too big to me to fish without a boat and some local knowledge. It's an impressive stream that's for sure. I like those clear water rivers rather than the murky ones that I can't see the fish. Wish I was going with you. My brother and his three sons are headed up about the same time you're going. Hope it's good. Later J
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I very much appreciate the info guys. That Facebook page is awesome. Real time info and regularly updated. Thank you!
My previous trips we've stuck to the Kenai from the bank the entire time except for a flew fly out trips. Last year I bet we landed over 100 reds in a week of fishing. We went hard and the bite was pretty consistent.
One cool experience we had is when my wife came down and fished a short time with us. I had a call that I had to take and so she took my pole. Not 1 minute later she gets a fish on and it gets out in the current and starts peeling line. Within 10 seconds the fish had completely spoiled her. I was giving her a hard time as I got her set back up.
She then started fishing again and almost immediately hooked up again. This time she had her drag set and muscled the fish out of the current. Turns out she landed the only silver of the trip on the Kenai for us and a big one to boot. (See pics)
I'll post up pics each day we're up there. We get there on the 8th. Thanks again for the insights!
Brady
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Well I made it back and finally have a chance to report on how it went. We had a fantastic trip! We fished the Kenai 4 of the 5 days. The 5th day we did a fly out trip over to the west side of the cook inlet and caught a TON of silvers on spinners.
Anybody who has fished the Kenai for reds know about the kenai twitch. We used that method and it produced Reds, Silvers and Pinks. It was a great mixed bag overall.
Weather was good, only rained one day and was overcast slightly for the others. All in all we landed well over 100 fish, probably more like 150. Biggest fish was a nice silver that took me all the way to my backing on my fly rod. I thought i was toast but then it made a big run back up the river and I landed it. Epic!
The fly out trip was with Alaska West Air. Doug is a first class guy and does a great job. He got us on the silvers and they did not disappoint. Cartwheels, flips and huge runs describes fishing for these bad boys.
If anybody ever wants to make a trip to the Kenai pennisula please let me know. I'd be happy to give any info i can to help you out. I've done it 3 times now and am starting to get my mojo down. You can do this trip for less than $2,000 total, possibly $1500 if you don't do a fly out trip. That includes car rental, hotel, food, etc.
Thanks again guys for the help.
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Great report, thank you! Loved the pictures. Flyfishing for silvers in Alaska is the trip I would most like to do. Hope to make it sometime.
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Sounds like you had a great trip Brady. I am jealous.
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What hotel did you stay at? Was it close to the river Kenai?
Thanks for sharing info.
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We got a VRBO right on the river. It was $2500 for 5 nights. It was great. They had a deep freeze, a couple of kitchens, nice decks, 4 bedrooms and washer/dryer.
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Sounds like an excellent trip! Thanks for the report and can't wait to get it back up there myself. Fish on!
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