25 Sep August 2018 Fishing Report – Good Weather & Great Salmon and Trout Fishing
August brought a healthy run of silvers along with food and stoke for our hungry trout friends. The weather also cooperated making this month spectacular. August is one of our favorite months as we typically see good weather, great salmon and trout fishing, and not as many people on the water.
Kenai Rainbow Trout
Early August historically fishes very strong, but with the lackluster return of red salmon, the food source was low and inconsistent creating tough trout fishing. When anglers line the banks of the Kenai for the annual return of red salmon that run July into early August they are supposed to throw the carcass, eggs, etc of the salmon back into the river. This is meant to keep bear issues down and puts a ton of food in the water for trout and smolt. When red runs are normal-ish trout can be found in large populations below red salmon anglers gorging on food and can easily reach fall size proportions.
As mid-August neared (historically a tough time for trout fishing) we really had to ramp up our game and dig deep. This time of year bows are spread out over 50 miles of water searching for food as the red salmon run dwindles and the Kings are just beginning to start spawning. This year mid-August was even tougher since there has been a small food source for the trout since mid-June and by this point they were angry.
The end of August thankfully showed signs of life for Kenai bows. Fortunately, this year was a pink year, even-numbered years pink salmon enter the Kenai bringing around 1million of their friends, creating a strong source of food for trout. The pink spawn began around the third week of August and began a slow and steady trickle of productive trout fishing. As August began to fade into September we saw a nice steady increase in productivity and a solid foundation for an absolutely incredible September.
Kenai Silver Salmon
There were no complaints about the 1st run of silvers on the Kenai River. They showed up on time, were above average in size, and finished strong. We started hitting fish consistently around the 10th of August and we’re still finding good fish through the end of August. It is always awesome when the runs show up and stay strong in numbers for the duration of the “normal” run. Besides the numbers, the silvers ran large, 10-12lbs was average, above the 8-10lb that is common.
