DIY on Kenai peninsula in August

[Rawmeat]

My wife and I are headed to the Kenai peninsula the first week of August for our first fishing trip. We have charters for a day of Halibut, a day of silvers on the ocean, and a day of salmon on the river by boat.

We are staying up there for 12 days and on five of those days we really don't have anything planned besides hiking and just checking things out. So I am thinking maybe we could get some spin rod fishing in on some the rivers around there. We aren't really into catch and release so I am just trying to figure out if it is worth packing some fishing gear. We would even enjoy just catching some Char.

Anyone have any experience up there?

 

[sethkuhl]

My wife and I are headed to the Kenai peninsula the first week of August for our first fishing trip. We have charters for a day of Halibut, a day of silvers on the ocean, and a day of salmon on the river by boat.

We are staying up there for 12 days and on five of those days we really don't have anything planned besides hiking and just checking things out. So I am thinking maybe we could get some spin rod fishing in on some the rivers around there. We aren't really into catch and release so I am just trying to figure out if it is worth packing some fishing gear. We would even enjoy just catching some Char.

Anyone have any experience up there?

YES bring it. it will be no mystery where people are catching fish (look for people) Should not be a mystery how they are doing it either (watch them swing about 10 yards of line slapping the water. If you are a touch fisherman grab some glass beads that look like salmon eggs and go about coopers landing in the river catch dollys all day. Leave the salmon alone though as it is off limits and they are dumping their eggs for the next generation. Some of my best memories fishing in Alaska were not with guides. Check out the ferry at the russian river also (watch out for bears)
Seth

 

[Bambistew]

No shortage of places to fish, or fish to catch in August on the Kenai. Study the regs closely where you want to fish. Some are artificial only, most are no retention of rainbows, most are open to salmon.

The "hot" spot that time of the year will be the Kenai river itself. The smaller rivers to the south are mostly closed to salmon minus the Kasiloff, which is pretty much winding down on the red run by then. Decent trout fishing on the rivers further to the south, but check the regs.

The upper Kenai and Russian will be hot fishing for salmon the first week of August (Kenai lake and below). The pinks will be starting to trickle in some rivers, including the Kenai, and Resureciton by Hope, and some other smaller rivers...

Trout fishing will be starting to heat up, but won't be that great until later on when the fish start dropping. About the only thing to have dropped by then are the early run of kings and the early run in the Russian. Don't be afraid to sing flesh flies in addition to beads. Again check regs on bead setup.

I would bring a 9ft - 7wt fly rod over spin casting setup. Bring Chest waders over hippers.

Lastly, if you haven't booked a room yet, do it now... There is likely very few left at the moment.

I'm starting to think about fishing myself. Only 2 more months until the snow melts. ugg...

 

[Rawmeat]

Thanks for the help. Maybe I should have given a little information about our fishing experience.

I have never fly fished in my life. We usually throw some spoons at northern pike when the ice comes off the lake, we catch cats on the river, or catch trout and small mouth on some of the stocked dams. We are not avid fisherman by any means, but I hope to get into it a lot more in the coming years.

I have the guided river fishing planned earlier in the trip hoping to learn from the guide, although this will be by boat. We are traveling all around the Peninsula. A few nights in Seward, Soldatna. Homer, and Moose Falls.

Fishing on our unbooked days probably won't be the main priority. I am also a photographer and we plan on hiking a lot. But I am thinking I will bring some fishing gear in case I can learn from others while there and want to give it a try myself.

Oh, and I already have all the lodging, fishing charters, and tours booked as of last week. I couldn't believe how many hotels were already full

 

[Gary]

Where is your guided float trip taking place? If its on the upper Kenai, ask the guide to show you what gravel bars can be reached from the road. There are quite a few pull-offs that afford good access to good fishing. By August the trails from the pull-offs to the river will be well defined.
"Char" are hard to find - dollies not so much - they are everywhere.
You can probably catch some fish on spinning gear, using beads and a strike indicator (bobber), but fly tackle will improve your chances. Again if you're on the upper river, the guide will probably supply the needed tackle. You don't need to learn "fly casting" as you can get by "flipping". Again ask the guide, they get lots of clients that don't know anything about fly fishing.
Have a great trip and have fun.

 

[Rawmeat]

Where is your guided float trip taking place? If its on the upper Kenai, ask the guide to show you what gravel bars can be reached from the road. There are quite a few pull-offs that afford good access to good fishing. By August the trails from the pull-offs to the river will be well defined.
"Char" are hard to find - dollies not so much - they are everywhere.
You can probably catch some fish on spinning gear, using beads and a strike indicator (bobber), but fly tackle will improve your chances. Again if you're on the upper river, the guide will probably supply the needed tackle. You don't need to learn "fly casting" as you can get by "flipping". Again ask the guide, they get lots of clients that don't know anything about fly fishing.
Have a great trip and have fun.

Thanks for advice. Our guided river fishing is actually on the Lower Kenai out of Soldotna on a motorized boat. I can see how the fly rod would be advantageous for constantly flipping the lure up the river. I just don't think I will be investing in any fly rod gear at this point, because I really don't know how much time we will have for diy fishing. From what I am reading now, they use flys with a weight a few feet above or Mepps spinners. The glass beads with a bobber for the trout.

 

[Gary]

Thanks for advice. Our guided river fishing is actually on the Lower Kenai out of Soldotna on a motorized boat. I can see how the fly rod would be advantageous for constantly flipping the lure up the river. I just don't think I will be investing in any fly rod gear at this point, because I really don't know how much time we will have for diy fishing. From what I am reading now, they use flys with a weight a few feet above or Mepps spinners. The glass beads with a bobber for the trout.

Best advise is to pump the guide for info for any DIY fishing you'll be doing. 99.9% of the beads used on the Kenai are plastic. If you get to do any DYI fishing, be sure to review the regs - they can change according to where you are on the river. Ken's Tackle or Trustworthy Hardware are good places to get tackle of info, in Soldotna. Cooper Landing check Troutfitters or Kenai Cache.

 

[406Family]

+1 for trustworthy Hardware here in Soldotna. It’s a great little store that always has the best prices on fishing gear. If you decide to invest on a flipping stick, that’s the place to go. The Russian River falls is a nice easy hike. Hang out there long enough and you get some good brown bear pics.