08 Jul June Fishing Report
June on the Kasilof and Kenai did not disappoint! Great weather and solid fishing kept anglers stoke high. The Kasilof River sees the peak of the 1st king salmon run while the Kenai River opens for rainbow trout on the 11th. Folks looking to get in on both great king and trout fishing should consider the 10th – 17th of the month. As usual, the great captains that take our guests out on the ocean for halibut, salmon, and rockfish put limits in the boat almost every day.
1st Run Kasilof King Salmon
This was one of the best 1st runs of kings we have seen in a minute! Late May thru mid-June saw fantastic fishing. It is hard to say when the peak was as we hooked multiple kings a day, the fishing became harder after the 18th but still managed to hook a few each day. Life is good when we know going into the day we will be putting several kings in the net.
Mid-June ADF&G closed bait and enforced single hook artificial only. This was music to our ears! Most folks absolutely hate no bait, not us. Sure you have to be more creative, work a little harder, and nail timing bites, but that is the fun of it. We like challenges and the rewards are that much sweeter. On average when the season is projected to be no bait you see less guides which translates into being able to fish where you want when you want with the results you want
Kenai River Rainbow Trout
The opener on June 11th – 15th saw solid fishing up in the refuge of the Middle Kenai. Clear water and less available food than normal pushed the migratory bows downriver shortly after the 15th. This was not a problem and a change of scenery is nice.
An ice dam broke during January pushing most of the old eggs and carcass out with it. The early and warm spring had the majority of rainbows finishing up spawning before the opener which is always great. When folks target/catch spawners it shouldn’t be a shock that it hurts them from making more Kenai beasts. The clear water kept trout spooky and quite skeptical of patterns of the wrong size, color, and presentation. Smolt also migrated out sooner than later. This is why we saw the migratory fish move downriver. Does this make fishing harder? In our opinion no, you just have to cover more ground and be versatile.
The same patterns and places that historically catch and hold fish, worked as predicted, and we enjoyed hunting down one of our favorite species we target. Fishing Kenai bows never gets old.
Cook Inlet Halibut
We work with two exceptional charters that offer different experiences depending on what you want. They both limit almost every day and their customer service is top-notch. This is a great way to add diversity to your trip and freezer.
