Jason’s Guide Service does not fish king salmon on the Kenai River due to low numbers and poor returns. The Chum salmon return in such small numbers that we don’t choose to target them either.

The species we seek are the Sockeye, Silver, and Pink salmon.

Sockeye salmon are the first salmon to come into the river in any abundance and are a hard fighting, delicious fish to catch. The sockeye are caught from the bank with fly rods or in a boat back-trolling crankbaits.

The traditional way is to fish from a bank with a fly rod doing what we call, The Sockeye Swing. The sockeye salmon will also hit crankbaits when fishing the right water.

The best times for sockeye salmon are June 11-June 30 for the first run and July 15- August 15 for the second run. The average sockeye salmon weighs between 7-10 pounds and is hard fighting fish, great for sport and the dinner table.