Kurt Byers' brother-in-law, Larry, shows off a Kenai River king (chinook) salmon he caught on a float down the river in 2008.
Trout and Salmon Fishing
Sunday, September 16
For an all-day trout and Dolly Varden char fishing adventure, sign up for a guided fishing float trip on the world famous Kenai River, Sunday, September 16. Alaska Sea Grant’s marine recreation and tourism specialist, Terry Johnson, has arranged for this all-day group outing.
We’ll car-pool early Sunday morning from the Alyeska Hotel to the launch point at Cooper Landing. Our outfitter will provide dory-style river drift boats (four anglers per boat), an experienced local guide, waders, rain jackets, and tackle. We need to bring Alaska fishing licenses, lunches, and warm clothing. Frost is a possibility in the morning so be sure to include hat, gloves, and wool socks. A one-day license costs $20 and you can get it online at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Licenses, Tags, Stamps and Permits Store.
Here are some things to know:
This is a trout and char, catch-and-release trip. We also may catch some late run silver (coho) salmon, and we can keep those. Fishing has tended to be pretty good on this part of the river, with anglers typically catching several nice-size rainbows and Dolly Vardens. No guarantees, of course, but this is the best bet I know of for good trout fishing. The silver salmon prospects are termed “sketchy” by the guide company.
The Kenai is a beautiful river in a beautiful mountain setting and worth the trip, even without the fish. Fall colors will be out, and we will be looking for mountain goats and brown (grizzly) bears along the way. Again, no guarantees, but I usually see mountain goats on the high ridges over that that stretch of river. Also, a large run of sockeye (red) salmon is now spawning and dying, so you will see lots of fish—and smell more than you’d probably prefer.
At this point it looks like there will be more of us than I’d anticipated, which has prompted a slight change of plan. We now are scheduled to go with Cooper Landing Fish Camp (907-595-3474). They have three options:
Kurt's brother-in-law, Larry (right) and buddies show their catch of Kenai River coho (silver) salmon in 2008. They fished from easily accessible riverbanks near the town of Soldotna.
4 hrs - $150
6 hrs - $200
8 hrs - $250
The short trip is mostly a scenic boat ride with a little fishing. The long trip is for die-hard anglers who want to catch as many fish as they can.
Please email me with your preferred trip at terry.johnson@alaska.edu. If there isn’t a consensus, we may split our group into two for different lengths of trips, provided that we can coordinate transportation. Also, when you respond, confirm for me how many participants you represent; in other words, you alone or will you have a spouse or other person with you who is not among those named above.
Weather is unlikely to halt the trip unless torrential rain renders the water too muddy to fish, which is unlikely.
If you haven’t already done so, please register on the Sea Grant Week “things to do” page, no later than Monday, Aug. 27, and also email me with your preference for 4-, 6-, or 8-hour trip and I’ll let you know a few days later what I have been able to work out.