TRIP DATE: 6/14
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Kings
REPORT: After 3 plus years in Alaska, I finally lifted my King salmon skunk monkey off my back. I fished the evening high tide, soaking eggs below the bridge. Just after the high tide I hooked up and landed a nice 21lb hen. Whew!!! I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get rid of the darn monkey.
TRIP DATE: 6/16
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Kenai at Bings
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: It was a drop dead gorgeous day on the river. I took my son out for his first ever salmon hunt with not much luck. There were plenty of filleted reds on the shore (we should probably stop chop and throw there too), so the fish had been there in good numbers, but not while we were. I did have four hookups, two were dorsal, one unknown, and one fair that shook off just as I was turning it towards shore. The water level is still down fairly low for Bing's, probably a good 3-4 feet. More fish will be coming for sure. Fish On!!!
TRIP DATE: 6/21
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: It has been good and steady but I have definitely had it better. Fished Tuesday night with about 90 minutes till the last ferry and finally landed a nice hen with about ten minutes to go. Crowds were still heavy and the sow with her two cubs showed up at the point on the highway side. She rousted about 15 anglers really quickly. Hit it again on Wednesday catching the 5th ferry. I had my limit in about 2 hours with plenty of action and fish coming through. My son caught his first salmon ever for which he got a nice round of applause from those around us. Went out again on Thursday, where it was great to begin with with two fish to the bank fairly early on but had to flog the waters for two more hours to finally land a fair third. Not quite at the point of more people than fish, but it is pretty close. A lot of limits are being caught in all the sweet spots, but a lot of folks are walking away blanked.
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Kenai at Bings
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: It was a drop dead gorgeous day on the river. I took my son out for his first ever salmon hunt with not much luck. There were plenty of filleted reds on the shore (we should probably stop chop and throw there too), so the fish had been there in good numbers, but not while we were. I did have four hookups, two were dorsal, one unknown, and one fair that shook off just as I was turning it towards shore. The water level is still down fairly low for Bing's, probably a good 3-4 feet. More fish will be coming for sure. Fish On!!!
TRIP DATE: 6/21
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: It has been good and steady but I have definitely had it better. Fished Tuesday night with about 90 minutes till the last ferry and finally landed a nice hen with about ten minutes to go. Crowds were still heavy and the sow with her two cubs showed up at the point on the highway side. She rousted about 15 anglers really quickly. Hit it again on Wednesday catching the 5th ferry. I had my limit in about 2 hours with plenty of action and fish coming through. My son caught his first salmon ever for which he got a nice round of applause from those around us. Went out again on Thursday, where it was great to begin with with two fish to the bank fairly early on but had to flog the waters for two more hours to finally land a fair third. Not quite at the point of more people than fish, but it is pretty close. A lot of limits are being caught in all the sweet spots, but a lot of folks are walking away blanked.TRIP DATE: 6/24
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: The hot weather induced river rise seems to have sent all the sanctuary reds into the Russian and to the weir. Saturday was fair to good depending upon where one sat in the river. I would say about one out of four people had limits with at least one out of four being skunked. The rest of us with onesies (me) and twosies had to flog for five to six hours to get what we got. I heard the rare story of quick limits. There seems to be a push of reds daily about 11AM-1PM. So for my first red run of the season, I went 11 for 15. US Fish and Game has been checking hooks daily, handing out several paper souveneirs. One of my fish I caught had a 2/0 octopus hook in the belly. Maybe he picked that up in the lower Kenai. Or maybe not... Fish On!!!
TRIP DATE: 6/30
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary
SPECIES: Sockeye
REPORT: I was able to get my three in little under two hours. The crowds are definitely lightening up, but then so are the fish. It appeared I was one of the lucky ones. Many empty stringers, or onesies/twosies. The fish are still a good color. Only one of mine was slightly pink. Someone said there was a bear at the confluence but I never saw it. My best guess is that the moderate trickle will continue to fade until the second run s hits in a few weeks. Fish On
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: The hot weather induced river rise seems to have sent all the sanctuary reds into the Russian and to the weir. Saturday was fair to good depending upon where one sat in the river. I would say about one out of four people had limits with at least one out of four being skunked. The rest of us with onesies (me) and twosies had to flog for five to six hours to get what we got. I heard the rare story of quick limits. There seems to be a push of reds daily about 11AM-1PM. So for my first red run of the season, I went 11 for 15. US Fish and Game has been checking hooks daily, handing out several paper souveneirs. One of my fish I caught had a 2/0 octopus hook in the belly. Maybe he picked that up in the lower Kenai. Or maybe not... Fish On!!!
TRIP DATE: 6/30
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary
SPECIES: Sockeye
REPORT: I was able to get my three in little under two hours. The crowds are definitely lightening up, but then so are the fish. It appeared I was one of the lucky ones. Many empty stringers, or onesies/twosies. The fish are still a good color. Only one of mine was slightly pink. Someone said there was a bear at the confluence but I never saw it. My best guess is that the moderate trickle will continue to fade until the second run s hits in a few weeks. Fish OnTRIP DATE: 7/7
REGION: PWS
WATER: Montague Island
SPECIES: Halibut and Cod
REPORT: Took a charter out of Seward. Good weather day if you had took your sea sick pills, if not you were miserable. Thank God I had taken mine. 4-6 foot swells with 2 foot chop on top made for a bouncy but manageable day. Skipper took us to three holes. The first we hooked into a bunch of Sea Bass and Rockcod. Second blanked except for one twenty lb halibut. I had a nice one on for about 30 seconds but it decided it wanted to stay in the water instead of heading to my freezer. We finally hit a chicken hole and loaded up on 10 to 20 pounders. Between two of us we pocketed two sea bass, a rock cod, three 10lb and a 20lb halibut. I heard a great line back on shore when our skipper was bemoaning our lack of success for bigger fish. Another guide said "Chicken taste a whole lot better than a skunk". Fish On!!
TRIP DATE: 7/8
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Slow day with many leaving without a fish. Three hours of fishing yielded me a blushed fish good for the smoker and a chrome bright blue back. My mom caught another blusher, giving us three for the day. The rainbows are in thick now at the cleaning tables. Toss an egg or two and watch for a 16-24 inch trout come zooming in from nowhere. Fish On!!
TRIP DATE: 7/15
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: A friend and I flogged the waters for about four hours on Sunday with abysmal results. The only action I had was a lightly blushed hen I had on about 15 minutes into the ordeal. Thank God she was a fair hookup and was gracious enough to come to the bank so we didn't go home empty handed. We probably saw ten fish landed in the four hours we were there ans that is not an exageration. I only saw three full stringers. All in all, it was a nice day with really nice folks to be fishing with. Congratulations to James D who landed his third child about a week ago. From what I heard, it was a nice sized buck. Way to go dad!! Fish On!!
TRIP DATE: 7/17
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Silvers
REPORT: Tried for Silvers on the Tuesday night flooding tide. We soaked eggs in the bend near the mouth for about the two hours before the high one set from surface on a bobber and the other with poppers from the bottom. We had one strike the entire time and did not see any other fish on or landed around us. Talked with a guy who had been down five nights straight and said it was pretty much the same story for all the previous nights. It's gonna be soon, soon, soon. Fish On!!
TRIP DATE: 7/21
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Resurrection Creek - Hope
SPECIES: Pinks
REPORT: Took the family and friends to Hope to catch some pink action. The fish were there in plentiful numbers until about an hour after high tide. After that, it was a moderate pace. We took five home for the smoker and let many others go. Fishing with pink flashy lures using a long drift through the schools. Saw a lot of different rigs catching fish, so it didn't really seem to matter what you threw, it was all about the drift. Amazing (almost embarrasing) how many people thought they were landing sockeye or silvers.
REGION: PWS
WATER: Montague Island
SPECIES: Halibut and Cod
REPORT: Took a charter out of Seward. Good weather day if you had took your sea sick pills, if not you were miserable. Thank God I had taken mine. 4-6 foot swells with 2 foot chop on top made for a bouncy but manageable day. Skipper took us to three holes. The first we hooked into a bunch of Sea Bass and Rockcod. Second blanked except for one twenty lb halibut. I had a nice one on for about 30 seconds but it decided it wanted to stay in the water instead of heading to my freezer. We finally hit a chicken hole and loaded up on 10 to 20 pounders. Between two of us we pocketed two sea bass, a rock cod, three 10lb and a 20lb halibut. I heard a great line back on shore when our skipper was bemoaning our lack of success for bigger fish. Another guide said "Chicken taste a whole lot better than a skunk". Fish On!!
TRIP DATE: 7/8
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Slow day with many leaving without a fish. Three hours of fishing yielded me a blushed fish good for the smoker and a chrome bright blue back. My mom caught another blusher, giving us three for the day. The rainbows are in thick now at the cleaning tables. Toss an egg or two and watch for a 16-24 inch trout come zooming in from nowhere. Fish On!!
TRIP DATE: 7/15
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: A friend and I flogged the waters for about four hours on Sunday with abysmal results. The only action I had was a lightly blushed hen I had on about 15 minutes into the ordeal. Thank God she was a fair hookup and was gracious enough to come to the bank so we didn't go home empty handed. We probably saw ten fish landed in the four hours we were there ans that is not an exageration. I only saw three full stringers. All in all, it was a nice day with really nice folks to be fishing with. Congratulations to James D who landed his third child about a week ago. From what I heard, it was a nice sized buck. Way to go dad!! Fish On!!
TRIP DATE: 7/17
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Silvers
REPORT: Tried for Silvers on the Tuesday night flooding tide. We soaked eggs in the bend near the mouth for about the two hours before the high one set from surface on a bobber and the other with poppers from the bottom. We had one strike the entire time and did not see any other fish on or landed around us. Talked with a guy who had been down five nights straight and said it was pretty much the same story for all the previous nights. It's gonna be soon, soon, soon. Fish On!!
TRIP DATE: 7/21
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Resurrection Creek - Hope
SPECIES: Pinks
REPORT: Took the family and friends to Hope to catch some pink action. The fish were there in plentiful numbers until about an hour after high tide. After that, it was a moderate pace. We took five home for the smoker and let many others go. Fishing with pink flashy lures using a long drift through the schools. Saw a lot of different rigs catching fish, so it didn't really seem to matter what you threw, it was all about the drift. Amazing (almost embarrasing) how many people thought they were landing sockeye or silvers.TRIP DATE: 7/27
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Bings Landing
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Fished Thursday night and Friday morning with three friends. I got three the first night and actually got blanked in the morning (all foul fish - arrgh). The crowds were just about as big as I've ever seen them and the fishing was moderate to good for Bings. Our total count was moderate yielding twenty four fish for four people for eight hours of fishing. The typical holes were fishing well, but there was a line of folks waiting for those spots. Be prepared for big crowds and moderate to good fishing for Bings. Water level is about 2-3 feet below normal. [AOJ: With the KENAI limit extended to SIX reds per day, anglers should expect LONGER waits for good spots to open up along the bank as it takes longer to fill their stringers. That's the one big negative about the limit going up.]
TRIP DATE: 7/29
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary/Quartz Creek
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Took a group of three others to the Russian on Sunday. The fish are starting to get their. Lots more stringers being filled than I have seen in recent past. My guess is that it will only get better each day. With the limit being six for the lower Kenai and upper mainstem outside of the FFO zone, there definitely is less pressure on the Russian, but then again, you can only get three. The fish were coming in there typical spurts, yielding our troop a lot of fish on, many snags, and only three fair fish to the bank. Of course the weather was drop dead gorgeous. After a few hours, we headed towards Quartz and into some thunder head clouds. The rain started when we got there. We geared up and hit the creek in some of the hardest rain I have ever fished in. Even though we didn't hook any bows, the experience was awesome. Wading in a stream full of red reds, torrential rains, and 75 degrees temperatures. God help me, I do love it so.
TRIP DATE: 8/01
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Confluence
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Got Em' Two friends and I hit the confluence on Thursday afternoon. Typical day with fish coming through in schools about every hour. It took a while but we did walk away with 8 out of 9 for our group. Thin crowds because everyone else is at Bings.
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Bings Landing
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Fished Thursday night and Friday morning with three friends. I got three the first night and actually got blanked in the morning (all foul fish - arrgh). The crowds were just about as big as I've ever seen them and the fishing was moderate to good for Bings. Our total count was moderate yielding twenty four fish for four people for eight hours of fishing. The typical holes were fishing well, but there was a line of folks waiting for those spots. Be prepared for big crowds and moderate to good fishing for Bings. Water level is about 2-3 feet below normal. [AOJ: With the KENAI limit extended to SIX reds per day, anglers should expect LONGER waits for good spots to open up along the bank as it takes longer to fill their stringers. That's the one big negative about the limit going up.]
TRIP DATE: 7/29
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary/Quartz Creek
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Took a group of three others to the Russian on Sunday. The fish are starting to get their. Lots more stringers being filled than I have seen in recent past. My guess is that it will only get better each day. With the limit being six for the lower Kenai and upper mainstem outside of the FFO zone, there definitely is less pressure on the Russian, but then again, you can only get three. The fish were coming in there typical spurts, yielding our troop a lot of fish on, many snags, and only three fair fish to the bank. Of course the weather was drop dead gorgeous. After a few hours, we headed towards Quartz and into some thunder head clouds. The rain started when we got there. We geared up and hit the creek in some of the hardest rain I have ever fished in. Even though we didn't hook any bows, the experience was awesome. Wading in a stream full of red reds, torrential rains, and 75 degrees temperatures. God help me, I do love it so.
TRIP DATE: 8/01
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Confluence
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Got Em' Two friends and I hit the confluence on Thursday afternoon. Typical day with fish coming through in schools about every hour. It took a while but we did walk away with 8 out of 9 for our group. Thin crowds because everyone else is at Bings.TRIP DATE: 8/5
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Lower Kenai/Jim's Landing/Russian
SPECIES: Reds and a bow
REPORT: Took a group to a friend's lower Kenai property not far from Moose River on Friday and Saturday. Friday between four of us, we put eleven on the bank. Action was moderate with plenty of snagged fish. I did get to catch and release a beautiful bow who seemed just about as thick around as its 24 inch length. On Saturday at the same spot, we hardly saw a fish for six hours, landing only two, with about a dozen or so other fouled or quick on/quick off. Saturday night we tried Jim's Landing, which was dismally lacking in fish. None on stringers, and only carcasses from the drift boats off loading there. The few fish we saw from the drift boats were berry red. Sunday we hit the Russian where three of us put five on the bank in three hours. Though they were bright, they were not very big.
TRIP DATE: 8/25
REGION: Kenai Peninsula & Anchorage
WATER: Kenai Near Funny River
SPECIES: Silvers
REPORT: Four of us went fishing for silvers. The rig or the day was K13 quikfish with sardine wraps. We banked three, one of which looked like it had a close encouter with a boat prop and was tossed back. Had a beautiful ~12 pound that got tail snagged that we had to net to dehook and release. Nice fish. Too bad it tail slapped the lure. When we filleted the two keepers, one of the fish had little blisters all throughout the meat, so it too was discarded as not edible. Haven't seen anything like that before.
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Lower Kenai/Jim's Landing/Russian
SPECIES: Reds and a bow
REPORT: Took a group to a friend's lower Kenai property not far from Moose River on Friday and Saturday. Friday between four of us, we put eleven on the bank. Action was moderate with plenty of snagged fish. I did get to catch and release a beautiful bow who seemed just about as thick around as its 24 inch length. On Saturday at the same spot, we hardly saw a fish for six hours, landing only two, with about a dozen or so other fouled or quick on/quick off. Saturday night we tried Jim's Landing, which was dismally lacking in fish. None on stringers, and only carcasses from the drift boats off loading there. The few fish we saw from the drift boats were berry red. Sunday we hit the Russian where three of us put five on the bank in three hours. Though they were bright, they were not very big.TRIP DATE: 8/25
REGION: Kenai Peninsula & Anchorage
WATER: Kenai Near Funny River
SPECIES: Silvers
REPORT: Four of us went fishing for silvers. The rig or the day was K13 quikfish with sardine wraps. We banked three, one of which looked like it had a close encouter with a boat prop and was tossed back. Had a beautiful ~12 pound that got tail snagged that we had to net to dehook and release. Nice fish. Too bad it tail slapped the lure. When we filleted the two keepers, one of the fish had little blisters all throughout the meat, so it too was discarded as not edible. Haven't seen anything like that before. 
