Kenai Peninsula in mid June

[traveler]

Trips all set for June 15-25 this year. RV'ing the KP, can't wait to get back after a decade away:)

So heres whats planned so far;

Russian river reds

Kasilof or Kenai charter (or 2) depending on the king bite and which river is fishing better.

Seward and/or Homer halibut charter

possibilites I'd like more info/opinions on....

1. Kings from shore on the open weekend on lower peninsula river? (Ninilchik, anchor)

2. Seward reds...resurrection river? this is a new one to me, but I've heard/read about it, how viable is it?

3. Seward kings, trolling or snagging? I know, i know....but I got a couple snagging last time there and it's a meat fishery. And I'm hearing more about the troll fishery there, which wasn't happening last time we were up

4. Kasilof kings from shore? not sure if we're too late for these...seems like we might be

5. Trolling for kings out of homer/deep creek? charter, obviously.

Any thoughts on any of these fisheries are appreciated:)

[mwal]

Had a friend fish Kenai 1st week of July for Reds they did great. He does not bother with kings anymore. Last year they closed the sport fishing season as there were no kings. I believe then even closed fishing for them in the saltwater. They do not go after halibut so no report for that. You can go upriver on Kenai with guide for rainbows if Salmon are not in. I guess the King fishing has really collapsed the last few years. I have fished Anchor and Ninilchik/ Deep Creek for silver and steelhead in early Sept but never at the time you are going.

Mwal

[fivebucks]

Good for you Traveler. From what I know being up last year:

1. When they closed Kings last year on the Kenai there was talk it could be closed for years to come. I don't know about other rivers but the whole Cook Inlet king count was way down.

2. I heard about the Seward reds also. They were around only in small numbers when I lived in Seward. I am not sure but when I was there last year I thought that the main way to target them was through private property and you had to pay an access fee.

3. Can't help you here but I did see someone snag one last year.

4. From my memory of the early 90's the Kasilof kings were late May into early June. I don't know if they closed the Kasilof kings last year.

5. No help here. I did a combo charter out of Seward for rockfish, Ling cod and halibut. Nothing bid on butt but fun time on Ling and rockfish.

Have a great time anticipating your trip.

[traveler]

Thanks for the reply fivebucks. Yeah, I heard all the KP runs were poor...I haven't heard of any closures for this year, in advance anyway. They'll close them by EO at any time tho, and my king hopes aren't high. I didn't hear much about those lower rivers tho, so i thought possibly they were still OK.

Talked to a couple guides up there I kinda know/trust, and thier opinions run from glum to hopeful. Likely I'll book a couple days and hope for the best:)

You're not headed back up this year?

[fivebucks]

I would love to go back up again this year but after going up the last 2 years I would have a hard time getting it past the wife this year. She said I would not go without her next time. Well - she is going to Italy compliments of her sister right during the 2nd Red run in later July and I have a family reunion then. I don't want to say never but it looks very doubtful. Now if they have a record run like last year you never know...

[fishkid]

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2609134/russian_river#Post2609134

russian river around the time you will be up here can be pretty good my advice is hike further up the river and get away from the people. have a good pair of polarized sunglasses and look for them silver blue streaks in the water.

you can go try to snag kings where the waterfall dumps into the ocean in seward i have heard of some people getting them there. also for the snagging of the reds you go down nash road and then there is a sign that says fish on the beach go pay 10 bucks get to park and hike out onto the flats we would get out there just before high tide and then chase the tide out and cast into the channels. you can also just get a big heavy rod and launch your weighted treble hook into the ocean some times you can see the slugs of fish swimming around. belive the limit is 6 doing that stuff.

i would not waste my time on kings on the kenai or any of the lower rivers as said last year the returns were absolutly terrible. if you want to float and fish the kenai for something other then reds i would do a trout float trip. i know a great guide that guides it all on the kenai so pm if you would like his info.

[waysanders]

I snagged a lot of reds at the mouth of the resurrection river down Nash road@June 20, 2012. Two hours before and after high tide. Paid a guy a five bucks at a small shack and had all my own gear......well worth it. lots of locals are down there and just using a weighted treble hook I and my son snagged a bunch of beautiful salmon over a couple of days (50 pounds of cleaned fillets) and also an awesome trip out of millers landing for a limit of Halibut, yellow eyes and black rockfish. I would highly recommend either method to put some nice fish on ice.

Good luck!

[traveler]

Thanks for the reply waysanders. Tell me, was your trip with Millers on a 6 pack, or a larger boat, meaning more fishermen? What was the avg size halibut you caught with them?

[fivebucks]

I booked a combo trip out of Seward with In and Out Charters. The Ling Cod and Rockfish were great but the Butt were all ping pong paddles and chickens. We were on a 6 pack boat. We caught alot of halibut but just no size. It got kinda old reeling in the weights. You can rent an electric reel from these guys and I did for my wife. Next time I will get one for myself.

[traveler]

Yeah, thats the issue of course. I've caught my share of butts to 40 lbs or so, I'm looking to get an honest shot at some bigger fish. I don't know if paying more is the answer or not...the going rate in Seward seems to be 250-265/day, with a couple of the most highly reviewed/suggested at 325/day. Decisions, decisions...

[fishkid]

majority of the guides will bring people to the chicken holes to make sure they get the fish. i would call around and see if they can target bigger fish by fishing in different areas that tend to hold bigger fish. now if you do that you cant expect to catch alot of them..they are pretty hard to come by.

[traveler]

Yeah, I get that. I've caught my share of chickens on previous trips.

I've been talking to a few charters the past couple weeks. I just booked a higher end guy out of Seward last nite, now I'm looking at Homer. I figure with 2 trips I'm at least giving myself a good shoat at a bigger fish.

[fivebucks]

The anticipation and planning is almost as fun as the trip itself, at least it lasts longer. I hope you get to break the 100 lb mark and who knows you may get a barn door. Happy planning

[fishkid]

ya that should give you a good shot. generally there are more bigger fish in homer i believe

[traveler]

well I'm all booked with 2 (hopefully) top notch guys, one each in Seward and Homer. Throw in a flyover to Wolverine Creek for reds (same one jwmiller did last year...it's a popular trip:) and some time in Seward and at the Russian river for reds, and a drift boat float on the Kasilof for kings (yeah, a longshot prob) and it shoule be a pretty good fish box filling trip.

[fivebucks]

Traveler - just in case you didn't realize it, your AK trip is getting closer

[traveler]

Yup, couple weeks now is all Held off booking the Kasilof drift for now....advance eo's already going in effect....doesn't sound like anyone expects much of a king run anywhere. Except Kodiak...next time!!

[fishkid]

another thing to keep in mind..our winter lasted fairly long this year so all the fish are a week or two behind schedual. Going down to seward to hit the ocean all weekend this weekend and might possibly go try to snag some reds out of resurection delta....not quite sure yet though.

[fivebucks]

There is a chance I still might make it up again this summer the last week of July for some Kenai Reds. It is in the wife's hands so I don't know what will happen. I just gotta be a good husband and actually do some things on the honey-do list the next few weeks.

[live4chrome]

Traveler, I moved to soldotna and have been on a decent shore fishing pollock/halibut bite if you have a day and want to get out shoot me a pm

[live4chrome]

Traveler, I moved to soldotna and have been on a decent shore fishing pollock/halibut bite if you have a day and want to get out shoot me a pm

[traveler]

Thanks L4C, hope your move is working out well for you!

I'll be with my wife and 2 daughters this trip, so not much time for free lanch side trips, much as I'd like to learn about another new AK opportunity.

Also, with the king salmon "issues"...I scheduled 2 halibut charters so hopefully I've got that covered:)

I'm gonna shoot you a PM anyway and maybe we can exchange phone #'s and touch base during my trip ... a guy can never have too many friends in Alaska

[live4chrome]

Didn't receive a pm... would be nice to exchange reports

[traveler]

I tried to send you one, but it says you're over your private topic limit?

[bearplott]

Who are you fishing with? We are going out of Homer on June 13th with Captain Pete. Good luck!