04 Sep Alaska Fishing Report: Sept 4, 2015
Alaska Fishing Report: Sept 4, 2015
It was a very unique August here on the Kenai River as a late surge of sockeye and late arrival of silvers made for a very different beginning to our fall fishing season. Normally by the 10th or so of August we have transitioned from sockeye fishing and are solely targeting the newly arriving silvers, but this was not the case this season. Silver salmon were largely a no show until mid-August when finally the first wave of silvers began entering the lower river. Meanwhile, the sockeye continued to arrive in large numbers on each tide and even as late as the third week in August, there were still catchable numbers of sockeye moving through the entire system. With the limit six fish, many people opted for the more dependable and plentiful limit of sockeye until just the last week to ten days when the silver fishing really hit full stride and we have not looked back since. Fishing primarily in the lower Kenai, we have been seeing lights out, limit fishing. The early run of silvers, while late, appears to be very strong and with each passing tide, more and more fish continue to arrive. It is hard to say how long these early run fish will remain strong but it is typically the first week to ten days of September when we see the early run wane and the arrival of the larger late run silvers pick up. Already now in early September, fishing remains strong or is only improving and reports of larger late run silvers are getting more frequent. These steady pulses of late run silvers should continue in earnest for the next several weeks. After seeing a very dry August the river did fall to lower than normal levels for this time of the year. It seemed especially low since we have been accustomed to very high water in August in recent seasons. Just in the last week, the lower water has finally begun to rise with the release of a glacial lake and also a good blanket of rain in early September (and more forecast in the near future). This will bring the river up and move some fish around, and one thing is for sure, there will be some great silver fishing opportunities available. This will also reset the trout table as the higher water changes their feeding patterns and where they live.
Silver salmon fishing on the fly out trips to the West Side of Cook Inlet has been outstanding, even into late August and early September. The Kustatan was still seeing tidal sea-lice silvers even in our last few trips. This is a very productive area for silver salmon and this was reflected in the excellent fishing we saw over there this season.
Enjoy the latest pictures and the many more to come!
