July 14 – July 31 Kenai and Kasilof Rivers, Alaska

Alaska King Salmon

King Salmon fishing on the Kasilof River during the 3rd week was nothing short of awesome.  Happy clients and nice native Alaska Kings was commonplace.  Nigel found two big fish that were measured, photographed, and RELEASED!  Drift Away Fishing is always very excited when we can release big fish so they can spawn and spread their genetics for future generations of Alaska King Salmon fishing

 

There were a couple days of extremely high tides, which made for some tougher fishing, but the guides of Drift Away Fishing persevered and made rods bend.  As the week unfolded tides dropped, and the fish came charging in.  We ended the season with each guide getting several opportunities at fish and some legends were hooked, but did the big fish thing and kept heading up river to spawn.  It is very humbling to get spanked by a big powerful fish!  As always it is sad to see King season come to an end, but exciting to think about the next year to hurry up and get here.

Kenai River Rainbow Trout

Well the theme of great Rainbow Trout fishing on the Kenai River since its opening on June 11 has not slowed!  We are ecstatic about the quality of fish and numbers of fish hooked.  Most think that Rainbow Trout fishing in July is not that good…check out our photos, the proof is in the pudding.  Fact:  we can find big Trout and good numbers all through July.  Week 3 and week 4 displayed mid September quality!  We highly encourage you to fish with us during this time to see for yourself.  Our guests did not complain about catching world class Rainbow Trout when it was 70 and sunny!  The best part?  August and September are right around the corner, we still have openings in the end of August and early September.  Book now before it is too late!

 

Kenai River Red Salmon

As always the Reds are show pleaser and freezer filler.  Week 3 and 4 delivered great Sockeye Salmon fishing on the Kenai as usual.  If fast action and delicious Salmon are what you are thinking about then get on board for a great trip on the Kenai!  Better yet?  Why not book a Trout/Red Salmon combo trip on the Kenai River for the full mind melter experience.

July 1 – July 13   Early July on the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers

Kenai River Rainbow Trout Fishing

What a season so far! Early July has shown no signs of slow Trout fishing on the Kenai River.  When most think that this is a horrible time to fish Trout, we at Alaska Drift Away get creative, and are continuing to find nice Rainbow Trout and 20+ fish days!  One of the many perks is the lack of others fishing Trout during this time, so we have the river mostly to ourselves.  Fly fishing and float fishing has been equally productive methods to the madness.  If you like hard fighting fish on an amazing river, then get in on the action!  Here is some eye candy from the past 13 days; this should make a believer out of you…..

 

Kasilof River King Salmon

So far the Kasilof 2nd run of King Salmon seems to be right on par.  We are seeing some nice chrome fish entering the river despite the insanely high tides (23ft highs).

1-4 fish getting hooked a day has been the average.  Typically this time of year can be scratchy as we are still in the early part of the run, however this is also the time that some of the biggest Kings get hooked.  As we draw into the 3rd week, the mega tides are subsiding and we anticipate some good fishing.

June in Retrospect

From the Beginning

The 1st run Kasilof King Salmon fishing came out swinging in early June.  Most days several Kings were boated, and always a few got away.  The guides of Drift Away Fishing all thought that this was one of the better starts in the past few years, despite low predictions.

As we slid into the second week of June King Salmon were still making a steady push into the Kasilof.  Guides and clients were happy with the results.  One of the highlights of the first run was the lack of boats on the river.  With the Kenai River only allowing catch and release for Kings many folks were wondering how that would affect the Kasilof in terms of additional pressure. 

Mid June Rainbow Trout Opener

June 11 marks the opening of Rainbow Trout fishing on the Kenai River.  Out the gates the Trout fishing was great, probably one of the best Junes in years.  Drift Away Fishing was consistently catching well over 20 Rainbows a day and some days seeing 40+ fish!  On top of that the Kenai Rainbows were exceptionally fat, resembling fall size on many occasions.  Why more people are not taking advantage of an awesome experience and great fishery is a mystery to us.  It seems like the Rainbow Trout fight harder during this time, offering a thrill to the beginner to expert angler.

This is the End

It is typical that as June moves into the 3rd and 4th week the King Salmon fishing becomes spotty, however Drift Away Fishing was still seeing plenty of action.

Fish and Game shut the Kenai down to King Salmon fishing due to one of the lowest returns in years, as a result the Kasilof was limited to single hook artificial lure only. 

Even with a curve ball thrown at us, we were still able to entice the elusive King Salmon into biting.

Kenai River Rainbow Trout

The end of June showed no signs of the Kenai River Trout fishing slowing down.  The Rainbows remained active and fat.  As mentioned above, this was one of the best Junes in years.  As July approaches we are still enjoying great weather, hard charging Rainbows, and sharing experiences that last a lifetime!

Stay posted as Drift Away Fishing will be doing weekly reports for the rest of the 2013 fishing season!