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  • Kenai River Fishing Guide
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    Welcome to Kenai River Sport Fishing
    The Kenai River lies 120 road miles south of Anchorage and is the centerpiece of the Kenai Peninsula. Even though southeast Alaska may be the saltwater troller's paradise and southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay drainage is a top notch destination for those anglers who fish all over the world, in a way, it could be said that Kenai River Fishing is also the centerpiece of Alaskan angling. It's not as remote as other areas, but that's partly responsible for its well deserved popularity. It's mainly because the Kenai Peninsula and the Kenai River are - unlike most of Alaska - accessible by road that makes it the realized dream of Alaska fishing. It is a reality for those who logistically and monetarily cannot make the trip to Alaska's more glorified, and remote, waters.

    It wasn't until 1904 that the first railroad spike was driven at the seaport of Seward to begin the rail line that would connect Kenai with Anchorage. This began the period of the Kenai Peninsula's most dramatic change. Fish and game resources of the Kenai Peninsula bent under the pressure from inroads of development and the influx of people. The resiliency of the natural resources enabled them to survive human intrusion and development just as they had also managed to withstand prior events such as floods, great fires, volcanic ash fallout and the tremendous earthquake of 1964.

    Happily, for the Kenai River Fishing Guides, the fishing season on the Kenai River typically gets underway during the month of May. The four miles of water upstream from the Upper Kelley River are closed to all fishing to protect spawning rainbow trout. Downstream reaches are open to fishing, but it is king salmon, not rainbow trout, that draws anglers to the lower Kenai in May. The first waves of king salmon, aka. chinook salmon, begin to enter the river in mid-May and with them come equally large waves of anglers. From May through July tens of thousands of king salmon will enter the freshwater of the Kenai River. Although some kings will migrate far into the system, sometimes even entering very small tributary streams, the bulk of the kings stay in the lower river. It is here that a flotilla of power boats hunt for that huge trophy king salmon for which the Kenai River is world renowned. The few kings that venture into smaller tributary streams and those that migrate beyond Skilak Lake are protected by regulation.