Late October on the Kenai River is prime time for big silver salmon. It’s also a great place to be right now because the rainbow trout bite well on flesh flies.
If you can handle the colder temperatures and still want to get out and fish, the last two weeks of October can be pretty dang good. The Kenai has less people fishing on it when the weather gets colder and the fish receive less pressure, which creates more opportunity for the adventurous angler willing to brave the cooler weather.
When you fish with Jason’s Guide Service you will have one or two MR Buddy heaters in the boat to warm your hands so you can fish all day. Time on the water is important because the bite turns on and off throughout the day for both the trout and the silver salmon.
Fall fishing on the Kenai River is legendary for a reason. As long as you have a line in the water you have a chance to catch and release that trophy rainbow trout-of-a-lifetime, or land that huge silver salmon which is going to provide a great dinner.
When you book a guided fishing trip on the Kenai River with Jason’s Guide Service you have a choice between a half-day guided trip or a full-day guided trip. The difference between the two is time on the water and where you can fish.
Booking a half-day fishing trip, whether it be for sockeye salmon, silver salmon, rainbow trout, or Dolly Varden char, allows you to get enough time on the water to target a species of fish, either the salmon, or the trout and char. The half-day trip doesn’t allow for enough time to do a combo-trip and target multiple species and it doesn’t allow enough time to use multiple techniques like fly fishing and spin fishing.
When you book the half-day trip you are booking a four-hour trip from boat ramp to boat ramp and need to book a species and technique and stick to it. We offer the half-day trip for family’s with younger kids, or people with friends or family that don’t really fish much but they want a guided fishing trip. The half-day trip is a great way to expose youth to fishing and make sure you get a little time on the water even if the rest of your party aren’t avid anglers. The other bonuses are the fact you get to float eight miles of the Kenai River and enjoy all of its beauty and maybe see some wildlife like bears, moose or eagles.
The full-day trip is a six to eight hour trip (your choice) down the Kenai River. The full-day trips are longer so we have more options on whatever stretch of the Kenai we fish. The full-day guided trips give you an opportunity, time-wise, to do combo trips for the salmon, rainbow trout, and char, and we will use fly fishing and or spin fishing gear on that outing.
We always recommend the full-day trips for people who want a better shot at limits for sockeye and silver salmon because sometimes it takes time on the water to make things happen or to give the migrating salmon time to get to the gravel bars you are fishing. The rainbow trout and Dolly Varden char don’t eat vigorously all day everyday. They have different feeding habits and times from day to day and more time on the water means better odds of fishing when the bite is on.
Both trips are great trips to book depending on your group, time schedule, and desires. Both trips give you an opportunity to see the Kenai River in all her glory and experience a taste of the good life in Alaska. The difference in the guided trips is time on the water to allow things to happen, where you fish, and the ability to try multiple techniques and fish for other species. You should book what ever guided fishing trip meets your needs and enjoy your ride down the Kenai River.
Every year the Kenai Peninsula has millions of visitors from all over America and the world. Fishing for trophy rainbow trout or one of the many species of salmon on Alaska’s Kenai River is on many of these people’s wish list. So, every year I get hundreds of calls from people coming to the Kenai River to fish for salmon, rainbow trout, and Dolly Varden char and a question I get a lot is, “Should I fly fish?” Then they tell me how little if anything they know about fly fishing, and want to give me their beginner resume if they have one.
My answer is always the same. You should try and fly fish if you want to, and we don’t care how much experience you have because it’s our job to teach you in a low-pressure fun environment.
When an angler comes to us with zero experience it means they don’t have any bad habits and that’a a good thing. Sometimes the journey of learning and flowing with the river as you run a dead drift from the boat is as exhilarating as hooking into a trophy rainbow trout or Dolly Varden char. The learning curve can be as rewarding as catching a huge silver salmon or sockeye salmon. Fishing isn’t always about catching the most, the biggest, the fastest. It’s also about the camaraderie and the pure enjoyment of being out in nature. Alaska’s Kenai River is one of the most beautiful places on the planet to learn how to fly fish so no matter what your skill level is, so don’t hesitate to book a fly fishing trip on the Kenai and enjoy the ride.
So I get a phone call. “I want to come up when the sockeyes are running hard; when is the best time?” Now this is six months to a year before the season opens. So I get out my trusty crystal ball and tell them exactly when the perfect time will be when the salmon will be in the river so thick you can walk from one shoreline to the other on the backs of those fish. Okay; that’s not going to happen. Even the best biologist in the world can’t answer that question, let alone a lousy psychic with a cracked and broken crystal ball.
So, all I can do is use my experience and past patterns to come up with a high-percentage outlook on when the optimum time is going to be for a particular species to be at their highest concentration in the system.
There are other variables to decoding when a particular species will be at the height of their concentrations as well as the ability to target trophy-sized fish. Let me give you some examples.
Basically, sockeye salmon and silver salmon have two good runs each year on the Kenai River where I guide. The first run of sockeye salmon run up the Kenai into the Russian River. This begins in early June. The second sockeye run starts in mid-July and runs hard through August. Both runs are controlled by a season opening date as well as a season closing date.
The first silvers show up in the Kenai at the beginning of August and arrive at the upper and middle river sections in good numbers typically around the third week of August. The second run is in full swing by the second week of September.
Success is dictated by timing and the size of the runs. Some years are better than others when it comes to the number of fish in the system. And, the runs generally come in waves with peaks and valleys. You can be on the river one day and have but a few hooks and the next day the waters are teaming with fish.
Trophy rainbow trout and char in the Kenai are a wild strain of fish that are in the system all year long. Big ones, the fish that are 26 inches or larger are definitely a seasonal phenomenon. The best times to target the huge fish are the last ten days of August until the end of October. The big trout are keying on the salmon spawn and this is what makes these discerning fish gullible for a tempting presentation.
So, is there a best time to target a species? Absolutely. That being said, your only option when planning a trip well in advance of arrival is to play the percentages and roll the dice hoping for sevens when you arrive. If you hit the runs perfectly we look like geniuses.
We’ve all heard the saying, “If I had a nickel for (pick your topic), I’d be rich.” Well, I might not be up to Warren Buffet’s level yet, but I could take the family out to the finest dining experience in Alaska with what my proceeds would be based on this one quandary.
If I had a nickel every time someone bought a ticket, flew to Alaska to target a species that was not even available to them, it would generate a pretty penny. It’s truly amazing to me how many individuals come here expecting to get into a particular species and they can’t due to the wrong timing.
My point here is that you must put the bullseye on your target species. Don’t book a silver salmon trip in June. Don’t book a sockeye salmon trip in October. And don’t think you’re going to have 30-inch rainbows jumping in the boat on the Kenai River if you’re there in July.
I could go so far to say that some periods of the season are better than others. You can find out all you need to know before hitting the “buy” button on that airline web site just by giving me a call. I’m a guide. It’s my business to know what works, when it works, and why it works, and this will ensure that you end up in the right place at the right time putting that perfect cast dead center into that target of that species you have decided to pursue. And everything else is just icing on the angling cake.
2020 was a year that had a lack of anglers on the river, the least ever in the last 10 years. That made for some of the most phenomenal rainbow trout and Dolly Varden fishing in as long as I can remember. I anticipate this will carry over into 2021 resulting in a lot of un pressured fish. We should make 2021 the year that we educate them with tactics and techniques they have yet to experience.
2021 forecast
If Nostradamus was a guide on the Kenai River here’s what he would predict for 2021 ye shall see, according to the Alaska Fish and Game there will be strong first and second run of sockeye salmon. The lack of pressure on the rainbow trout and Dolly Varden char in 2020 will make for some phenomenal fishing in 2021. The first and second run of silver salmon is predicted to be big runs this year as well, so the fishing on the Kenai River should be great from June 11 through October this year for all the species.
Capitalizing on a Salmon run
When there is a great salmon run anybody can catch a fish, but not everyone will get a limit. When it is a smaller salmon run everyone won’t catch fish, it takes experience and knowledge to put fish in the boat. To truly capitalize on a salmon run good timing and a good guide are a must, but timing is only as good as the guide you choose. So choose wisely.
Experience is your catalyst for success
There are two ways you gain advanced knowledge on the Kenai River. Someone like myself who has spent a lifetime fishing and spent decades guiding on the Kenai River learned through my own experiences. Those that guide for me under my banner have both the benefit of their own experiences plus the added knowledge of my experience. There is no substitute for time on the water and trial and error, yet training with someone with my degree of experience can defiantly shorten their learning curve. Always choose guides that you know are strong in their knowledge and passionate about the never ending quest for perfection.
Being flexible on a guided trip
Control the controllable’s and be prepared for the unpredictable. When you book a trip no matter how much homework you do Mother Nature has a way of being unpredictable. The angler’s that are willing be flexible are the ones that usually have the most success. Because, the salmon run could be off, the river could be blown out, the water temperatures on a glacier river can fluctuate greatly, water levels could be high or low. These variables, and others mean adapting to achieve your goals. Make sure to choose a guide that is capable of adapting under any circumstance in using the gear weather it be fly rods, spinning rods, conventional tackle, or hand tied flies to ensure you get the fish to bite.
Jason Lesmeister, owner of Jason’s Guide Service, has 20 years of experience as an Alaskan fishing guide, ten of them on the Kenai River, so he is well qualified to help visiting anglers shorten the necessary learning curve for a successful trip.
He has just launched his new website, www.JasonsGuideService.com.The website was redesigned from the ground up and now contains helpful information about the fish to be found in the Kenai River, the best season for each, and the services and equipment Lesmeister offers.
When asked about the upgraded website, Lesmeister said, “I love everything about our new web presence. It’s going to allow me to provide more detailed information about the gear we use and what we are catching day in and day out. I will also be updating my blog on the website on a regular basis so you can read up on our guests’ adventures.”
Rainbow trout and Dolly Varden appeal to fishermen because they bite readily, put up an aggressive fight, and are plentiful all year. Red (sockeye) salmon, silver (coho) and other salmon species migrate up the Kenai River at certain times. Sockeye salmon peak from mid-July through the first week in August. Silver salmon fishing is best from the third week of August through the end of October.
Lesmeister’s Kenai River guiding service provides all the equipment you might need, including custom built 20 foot drift boats, G. Loomis, Sage, Lamson and Shimano rods and reels, and all tackle and baits. They will also clean fish and offer other expertise necessary for a quality trip.
Ice fishing the Kenai and surrounding lakes is also outstanding and Jason’s Guide Service is one of the few serious organizations serving this type of fishing and implement the latest technology to locate the fish and keep you warm on the ice.
Jason is headquartered in Cooper Landing, Alaska, and covers the entire Kenai River resource – Kenai, Soldotna, Sterling, Skilak Lake, Kenai Lake, and the Cooper Landing Area. Fishermen are encouraged to bring their cameras so they can post photos of their catch with the others on the website’s “Braggin’ Board”. It is a good idea to make reservations for prime seasons as far in advance as possible.
For more information, visit the website and send questions via the contact form or push the handy “Push to Call” button to initiate a direct call.
Contact:
Jason’s Guide Service
Mile Marker 48
Cooper Landing, AK 99572
(907) 351-3036
It’s March, and March is one of the best months of the year for fishing the Kenai in my world. March doesn’t have the hordes of spawning salmon, or salmon carcasses floating down the river. In the spring we have different hatches going off, alvin and smolt popping, leeches and lamprey swimming the river. It’s a magical time on the river to go and fish without the masses of people and the opportunity to fish more than just flesh and beads. Spring on the Kenai it’s where it’s at!! www.Jasonsguideservice.com
Ah it’s another Dolly my buddy said as he tried to get it off his hook as fast as possible so he could try and catch a rainbow trout. I was looking at the Dolly and he was a Toad. I love to catch the hard hitting and fighting Dolly’s. Dolly’s are absolutely beautiful in the fall, and can get huge just like the trout. Here’s a picture of a nice Dolly caught on a guided trip on the Kenai River, He enjoyed the battle from start to finish and gave him a proper release.
