Kenai River Fishing Guides
If you’ve never fished the beautiful turquoise waters of the Kenai River, you owe it to yourself to make the trip, at least once in your life! There truly is nothing like it. The Kenai River stretches 82 miles starting at Kenai Lake, then flowing through Skilak Lake and ultimately runs into the Cook Inlet at the Confluence. As far as the fishing goes, there are three different stretches of River that we fish; the Lower Kenai River, the Middle Kenai River and the Upper Kenai River. Each stretch of the river has its own unique characteristics and the fisheries adapt to them very well.
The King Salmon of the Kenai River have always been World Famous. It is not uncommon to catch a Kenai King in the 60 to 80 pound range, with the majority of the fish averaging between 30 and 50 pounds. Hooking into one of these massive fish, especially in tidal water, will be a fight you’ll never forget! The raw power and beauty of these fish are unlike any in the world!
If you are looking to catch a Kenai River King salmon, the first run generally begins at the beginning of May and will last all the way to the end of June. Shortly after that first run starts winding down, the second run starts picking up and will last all the way until ADFG shuts the season down on the last day of July.
The methods that we use to catch these giant fish are called “back-trolling” and “back-bouncing”. Back-trolling consists of slowly lowering a Kwikfish lure to the bottom of the river, setting the rod in the rod holder and watching that rod twitch as your guide slowly works it through the holding pockets of fish. Back-bouncing is similar but uses a weight and custom cured Salmon Eggs to entice these big fish into biting! Regardless of what method is used, the bite is fast and it is intense!
If you’re looking to add a Kenai River Kings Salmon Fishing Trip to your Alaska vacation, give us a call! We will put you on the fish!
The Kenai River has one of the most incredible Sockeye Runs in the world! The run timing is fairly consistent with the run on the Kasilof River, with the first fun of fish beginning to trickle in around the middle of the may and running through June, and the second run coming in shortly after.
The Kenai River Sockeye (Reds) Salmon generally average between 7-12 pounds and are some of the best tasting fish that you’ll find anywhere in the world. If you’re looking to fill your freezer, these are the fish that you want!
The method used to catch Kenai River Sockeye is similar to just about anywhere else in Alaska; we pick a spot along the river that is best suitable as a traveling lane and we wait for the fish to come to us. It isn’t uncommon for everyone to catch their limits in the first hour of the trip when the run is at its peak.
The Sockeye run also brings along with it one of Alaska’s greatest treasures; the bears! As we float and fish down the river, it’s common to see one of the many Alaskan Brown Bears or even Alaskan Black Bears trying to catch their fish as well!
If you’re looking for an aggressive fish, that shows up in big numbers… look no further than the Kenai River Silvers! Some of the fish are similar in size to King Salmon and are much more aggressive. The Kenai River generally gets a run of around 100,000 Kenai River Silvers, and they taste similar to King Salmon.
The Kenai River holds two different runs of SIlvers, the first run generally starts around the end of July and will last through the month of August. The second run of Silvers begins around the beginning of September and will last all the way until February. The Kenai Silvers in the second run generally range from 10 to 15 pounds, and as the river starts dropping in Late September, the fishing really starts heating up!
We use several different methods to catch these fun fish; Back-Bouncing, Back-Trolling, casting plugs, diver and bait and even topwater flies. When we can manage finding a school of these fish held up, it’s fun to experiment with different baits and techniques to see what we can get them to bite on!
People come from all over the world for a chance to catch a Kenai River Trophy Trout. The Kenai hosts a great population of resident Rainbow Trout and it isn’t uncommon to catch 20 to 40 trout each day. We’ve been lucky enough to catch several Rainbow’s that have cleared the 30″ mark and it is very common to catch these beautiful fish in the high 20″ mark.
Although you can catch these gorgeous fish nearly year round, their main diet is Salmon Eggs and Salmon flesh, so as we get later in the season and eggs start dropping, the fish start getting more aggressive and really begin to pack on the weight. The best chance at catching a Kenai River Trophy Trout will happen between August and October, right along side the second run of Silvers.
Trout fishing on the Kenai is very universal; from fly fishing enthusiasts to beginners, we can accommodate just about anyone. We generally float the river in our 20ft Willie drift boat and drift imitation salmon eggs and flesh flies to hungry and waiting trout!
Kenai River Fishing Trip Rates & Info
We offer fully guided Kenai River Salmon Fishing Trips from June 1st – September 15th. All of our trips are “all-inclusive”, meaning that we provide everything that you need except for your fishing license and King Salmon Stamp, if we’re fishing for King Salmon.
A little more information about our trips:
When to go:
- King Salmon – May 16th to July 31st
- Sockeye Salmon – June 15th to July 31st
- Silver Salmon – August 1st to September 15th
- Trophy Trout – August 1st to September 15th
2025 Rates:
- Our Half Day Trips run $225.00 per person, for a 4 hour trip.
- Our Full Day Trips run $275.00 per person, for an 8 hour trip.
If this is your first time visiting Alaska, please do not hesitate to reach out to us to chat about your trip! We love talking fishing, and even more so, love making your Alaska Fishing Trip become a reality! You can reach us by phone or text at 888.903.7473!
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WE’RE DONATING 5% OF ALL TRIPS BOOKED IN 2025 TO THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY.