Back in Business -- Kenai sockeyes and rainbows

The reds are showing up in the Upper Russian, and the river re-opened yesterday for rainbows...

Evidence of both:

The fish counts look great, hopefully it stays strong
Can't wait to get down and do some fishing for both

Talked with a neighbor....he limited out in under 2 hours

I'm hoping I can get away for a quick float from Sportsman's on Friday morning ...

Update:

Went down after work on Wednesday.

Caught my first 3 in 25 minutes. Filleted them and tossed them in the cooler. Went back out and caught my proxy 3 more shortly after.

Met a nice Military man and his wife who recently moved up here from Nevada. They apparently spent 2 hours fishing in my hole with no luck. I felt bad after catching 6 fish in front of them and showed them the way. They had 2 fish on the bank when I left and I'm confident they got their limit.

Was a great trip. Left Anchorage at 4:30. Was back in Anchorage at 11:30. There was a lot of road construction. The normal 1h45m drive was 2h in and 2h45m out.

This first run of reds is off to an amazing start. The river is high but I was able to spot them throughout.

If you go down this weekend, be careful. I watched two guys get into a pushing match over a fishing spot. One of these days someone is going to take this too far and someones going to really get hurt. Kind of sad really.

Good luck..

Limits! And now, back to regular responsibilities. Isn't it something, how a fat sockeye on a 7 wt fly rod can make you feel like a kid?

Update:

Went down after work on Wednesday.

Caught my first 3 in 25 minutes. Filleted them and tossed them in the cooler. Went back out and caught my proxy 3 more shortly after.

Met a nice Military man and his wife who recently moved up here from Nevada. They apparently spent 2 hours fishing in my hole with no luck. I felt bad after catching 6 fish in front of them and showed them the way. They had 2 fish on the bank when I left and I'm confident they got their limit.

Was a great trip. Left Anchorage at 4:30. Was back in Anchorage at 11:30. There was a lot of road construction. The normal 1h45m drive was 2h in and 2h45m out.

This first run of reds is off to an amazing start. The river is high but I was able to spot them throughout.

If you go down this weekend, be careful. I watched two guys get into a pushing match over a fishing spot. One of these days someone is going to take this too far and someones going to really get hurt. Kind of sad really.

Good luck..

Nice!!! Great report thanks!  Might consider floating the upper Kenai in my mini-x soon. 

The Kenai River is insane.  The Lower Kenai was the body of water I fished about 90% of the time until about 10 years ago.  I've turned the corner of the river to see a guy pointing a handgun at another person a few years ago.  It is SO bad now that I actually like it when the guides are fishing because they tend to be...uhhh...let's say be more aggressive about keeping people "in line" and though its crowded, its a more orderly fishery.  The past 3 years, i think I have been on it twice.  Once on a kayak and the other time from a powerboat.  Thats been enough for me on the lower river.

I'm a klutina guy now. It's about the same drive, better fish, free parking, less crowded.

I'm heading down tomorrow morning with wife & kids. Floating the upper... My first float as "the man"--I'm usually a passenger. Bought our raft last summer and I've only had it on the Gulkana, Willow, and Portage. Feel like I'm moving up to the big leagues with the Kenai.

Nervous as hell--Feels like a first date! And, as the man on the oars, I won't even even get much fishing action. Anyway, I hate the crowds and the aggressiveness of some of the people down there. I'd much rather be on the ocean, but the fam wants to go. Hoping my 6 year old hooks into something...and mom can do the work.

So if you see a raft looking slightly out of control and a father looking highly tense...make you way to the bank quickly.

-Jeff

I'm heading down tomorrow morning with wife & kids. Floating the upper... My first float as "the man"--I'm usually a passenger. Bought our raft last summer and I've only had it on the Gulkana, Willow, and Portage. Feel like I'm moving up to the big leagues with the Kenai.

Nervous as hell--Feels like a first date! And, as the man on the oars, I won't even even get much fishing action. Anyway, I hate the crowds and the aggressiveness of some of the people down there. I'd much rather be on the ocean, but the fam wants to go. Hoping my 6 year old hooks into something...and mom can do the work.

So if you see a raft looking slightly out of control and a father looking highly tense...make you way to the bank quickly.

-Jeff

  Go for it Jeff
 Drifting the upper Kenai is awesome. Have you ever been there as a passenger on someone else's boat. ? If not--be sure to keep to the right as you get near Jim's Landing. It can sneek up on you real quickly and be hard to get to if you overshoot. Let the current be your friend. And keep an eye out downstream for obstacles--there will be a few.
 If you are fishing for sockeye mainly--you will probably want to find a nice gravel bar and "flip" off that. It's a lot more productive than "flipping" as you go downstream. But you can get fish either way.
 Have fun ,be safe ,and take lots of pictures. Your 6 yyr old will have a ball. So will you and mama.

I'm heading down tomorrow morning with wife & kids. Floating the upper... My first float as "the man"--I'm usually a passenger. Bought our raft last summer and I've only had it on the Gulkana, Willow, and Portage. Feel like I'm moving up to the big leagues with the Kenai.

Nervous as hell--Feels like a first date! And, as the man on the oars, I won't even even get much fishing action. Anyway, I hate the crowds and the aggressiveness of some of the people down there. I'd much rather be on the ocean, but the fam wants to go. Hoping my 6 year old hooks into something...and mom can do the work.

So if you see a raft looking slightly out of control and a father looking highly tense...make you way to the bank quickly.

-Jeff

The river is high, Jeff, and that makes it an easier float.  (It's at 11.5 ft at Cooper Landing now, and fast at 7830 cfs.) You'll be fine.  I did a solo run early this morning, and caught all of my fish within an hour right at the downstream end of the small island that is river left just past the powerline. It was the first place I stopped after putting in at Sportsman's, and at 7 am I had this favorite spot to myself.  I'd recommend following either the first or third channel  just past there -- in other words, skip the center channel after the powerline as it's the most narrow and there will be guide boats pulled up at the entrance to make it even more challenging to thread the needle.  Keep to the main river stem, pass the two back channels that enter from river left because they're probably still full of sweepers. Keep your eye out for the rock wall on river left, as it's a good signal that you're about 20 minutes from Jim's Landing in this current.  After you pass the rock wall on river left, meander over to the right side and stay there until you see the take out at Jim's -- no risk of missing the take out that way. 

Limits! And now, back to regular responsibilities. Isn't it something, how a fat sockeye on a 7 wt fly rod can make you feel like a kid?

Like a fat kid with an ice cream cone! I LOVE IT! I will probably head back down tomorrow and catch another limit.

I will be in the Klutina area the weekend of the 30th. I'm pretty sure a nice loop in the end of my line instead of a hook will be landing fish then.