Kenai fishing charter companies offer anglers the chance to tangle with some of the fish species swimming in the Kenai River. This world-famous angling mecca is well known for its salmon and trout. The world record rod and reel king salmon was caught on the Kenai nearly four decades ago.
While the king run is not what it once was, the incredibly fertile Kenai is home to healthy runs of sockeye, coho and pink salmon, in addition to king salmon. All of these salmon runs provide essential nutrition to the resident rainbow trout and Dolly Varden char that maintain a year-round residence in the Kenai River watershed.
Kenai River Lifecycle
Salmon begin their life cycle as eggs in the gravel. Opportunistic trout and char gobble them up whenever they can. Those that are fertilized grow into baby salmon. And from that point until they out-migrate as smolt, resident species prey on the newly hatched eggs first as alevin, then fry, then parr and finally smolt. The cycle is completed when the lucky ones that survived predation in both fresh and saltwater return home to spawn and die. The resident fish are there to witness the entire cycle and conclude by eating salmon parts of the deceased spawners. Parts of this process are on view when you book a Kenai fishing charter.
At Alaskan Fishing Adventures, we offer the chance for anglers to catch trout, char and salmon in the Kenai River. Depending on when you visit will determine what species of salmon are present. Being anadromous fish they are born and grow to smolt in the freshwater. Next they head to the sea to reach maturity, and then return to their river of birth to spawn and die. In normal years, the runs of salmon are spread out from May through October, with the order generally being king, sockeye, pink and Coho.
Kenai River Charter Experience
The Kenai is a glacially influenced, turquoise-colored river that flows from Kenai Lake down the upper river to Skilak Lake, then picks up again in the middle river at the outlet of Skilak. The highway bridge in Soldotna marks the start of the lower river. In total, the Kenai is roughly 80 miles long and each section has a distinctly different complexion. We generally fish the middle river.
Alaskan Fishing Adventures is one of your best choices for fishing the Kenai Peninsula. In addition to offering Kenai fishing charter trips, we also offer saltwater adventures from Seward and Homer, river trips on the Kasilof, and fly-outs to area freshwater hotspots. Based from two lodges on the Kenai River—one in Soldotna and the other in Sterling—we offer a centralized location for Kenai Peninsula adventures and Kenai fishing charter trips.
Contact Alaskan Fishing Adventures to talk fishing and see if a Kenai fishing charter is in your future.
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