CHINOOK SALMON (KINGS, TYEES, BLACKMOUTHS, SPRINGERS)

Okay, so you understand that the Kenai River consistently produces the largest King Salmon of any river in the world. But just how big are these fish?

Average Kings from the Kenai River weigh about 40 pounds. The 50 pounders are merely considered good solid fish. Scores of 60 pounders are landed every year. Lots of folks have caught 70 pounders. A few 80 pounders are caught each year. Every few years someone catches one weighing over 90 pounds.

We are not talking about just a few fish each year. From May 15 to July 31 each year, the average number of King Salmon migrating up the Kenai River is over 50,000 fish. In 2005, the early run was over 12,000 Kings, and the late run was over 35,000 (by July 31 when the season closes). In 2003, the late run alone was over 52,000 Kings! That is a huge number of giant fish passing the fish counters at river mile 8.6. Sports fishermen harvest thousands of them from the River each year; in fact, the harvest is about one-third of the total.

Following is a table showing the largest sports caught King Salmon on record. Notice just how many of them come from the Kenai River:

THE NINE LARGEST SPORTS CAUGHT KING SALMON ON RECORD:

If the fishing is so good in the River, doesn't it stand to reason that the fishing is even better in Cook Inlet, before the fish enter the river? It is an extremely good question. And I know the answer, but I don't know why the answer is true. The answer is no. Scarcely 500 of these giant kings are harvested from Cook Inlet by sports fishermen each year, in contrast to 12,000 to 15,000 per year harvested in the River. I do not, however, know why the sports catch is so low in the saltchuck. I just know that it is.

Somewhat related but not causative is the statistic that commercial fishermen harvest more of these giant King Salmon annually--as supposedly untargeted, incidental "bi-catch"--during the commercial Sockeye Salmon season than all the King Salmon harvested in the River by sports fishermen. The commercial fishing is exclusively in Cook Inlet, as commercial fishermen are not allowed to fish in the River. Clearly, the gill netters are better at catching these prize fish in the saltchuck than are us hook-and-line guys. But I don't know just why. Perhaps someone who does know will drop me a line?

Why are the King Salmon of the Kenai River so big? The simple answer is because they stay "out-to-sea" longer than most other King Salmon from other rivers. Typically, the King Salmon fry will spend 1 year in fresh water. Then they migrate out to sea.

Some Kings will spend only 1 year in salt water, returning as sexually mature but very small adults, called "Jack Salmon." The Jack's are almost all males. They can successfully spawn and reproduce, so they are "undesirables" in the Kenai River, as they promote a population of runts. Hence, Alaska Department of Fish and Game allows sports fishermen to keep up to 10 of these "Jacks" per day, in addition to the regular King Salmon harvest. I personally recommend that you keep any Jacks you catch. We don't want them reproducing in the Kenai River. Why would anyone want to encourage a "runt" population by catching them and releasing them to spawn?

Still other adult salmon spend 2 years in the saltchuck, and return as 3-year old fish. These Kings range in weight from about 10 to 15 pounds, and are as big as the average Kings in many rivers in the lower 48 states. So far as we are concerned, these are still undesirable fish in the Kenai River. But, if you keep one of these, you are done fishing for King Salmon for the day, because they count against your daily and annual legal harvest. Hence, most of these fish are released unharmed to spawn and raise more of their kind. This seems a mistake to me, which could be corrected by proper slot limits in the allowable sports harvest. Next time you talk with your Alaska Department of Fish and Game representative, ask them why they don't change the rules on these fish?

Many of the adult salmon returning to the Kenai River spend 3 years in the saltchuck, and return as 4-year old fish. These Kings will weigh from 30-45 pounds, and comprise much of the lower half of the annual return, in terms of size class.

Many other adult salmon return to the Kenai River after spending 4 years in the sea, and return as trophy class adults. These Kings will weigh from 45-65 pounds, and constitute most of the upper half of the annual return, in terms of size class.

Finally, there are the giants, the few King Salmon that spend 5, 6, and possibly even 7 years in the sea, and return as monsters, the "Kings of the Kings," weighing in at 70 to nearly 100 pounds. These giants are not numerous, but there are enough that lots of 70 pounders are caught every year, and usually a few 80 pounders. Every few years, a 90-pound class fish is landed.

Some day some lucky sports fisherman will land one weighing over 100 pounds. Not only will he/she be the happiest fisherman in the world, the money he/she will make from commercial endorsements should easily top half a million dollars. Ahh, the stuff dreams are made of! (My personal biggest is 71 pounds, and I still dream of--and will catch--a bigger monster.)

How do you catch one of these trophy Kings?--I could write a whole book on this topic, but I think I can distill my knowledge into a few paragraphs. It may surprise you that I don't start off talking about proper rods, reels, lines, and terminal gear. Believe me, that is not where a successful trip starts. These are essentials, but not the primary essentials. Another Alaskan professional guide on the Kenai River,Greg Brush, has distilled the essentials so well I will give you his advice. (You can find his full article in the May, 2005 issue of Fish Alaska Magazine.) Here is a distillation of what Greg Brush had to say about the essentials (with a few expansions of my own):

If you truly want a trophy King, you must fish where trophy Kings are caught with some high degree of frequency. You cannot find a better trophy King fishery than the Kenai River. Period.

Trophy Kings don't exactly jump onto your hook. There are scores of places in Alaska where you can catch 10 to 30 pound Kings until your arms are sore. Most of these are fly-out fisheries, but they exist. If you want a trophy King, however, you need to think about giving yourself a fair chance. Leave yourself enough fishing time that you can release the 30 and 40 pound Kings and continue fishing for a bigger one. Too many Alaskan tourists book half-day fishing trips and are dissappointed that they don't catch that trophy of a lifetime. Every year some of these half-day clients do land trophies, but the odds are against it.

Timing is everything. Many different sources publish statistics on the average number of hours it takes sports fishermen to catch a King Salmon from the Kenai River. Some say 20 hours on a guided boat. Others say 11. Both could be good numbers, but they certainly are not the best numbers. It all depends on the time period in which you collect your data. The season is open from May 15 through July 31, but not every day of this time period has equal probability of success. The Kings come into the River in greatest numbers right about Neap Tide (the opposite of Spring Tide) for both the early run and the late run. That's right, they swarm into the river when the tidal range in Cook Inlet is lowest. If you use this simple fact to time your trip, you can hugely increase your odds of success. Your odds will be far better than the season-long averages. Of course, every other fisherman who has done his homework knows this, so if you want to book a trip with a guide during these times of maximum probable success, you will need to do it in early January before other fishermen get around to it.

To continue on the topic of timing, take note of the fact that none of the salmon in the Kenai River are resident species as adults. They are ocean denizens until it comes time to spawn, and then they enter the River at very specific times. If you visit the river at times other than when they are migrating, you can fish until your toes grow roots, and not ever get a salmon. If you want to catch salmon, use the run times provided in this website to plan your trip. If you have to plan your vacation at times when the salmon are not running, then don't waste your time trying to catch them in the rivers. You won't succeed. Seek them out in saltwater instead. You will find them there.

Go with a guide who consistently catches fish. In Alaska, you can become a guide without knowing much about catching fish. There is a huge difference between success rates of the best guides and the worst guides. If you find a guide who has openings during the height of the King Salmon run (right about Neap Tide), you should ask yourself why he/she has not been fully booked for months? It could be that he/she is just starting out, and knows little more than you about the River. Or, it could be that a very good guide had last minute cancellations, and you were just fortunate to call at the time the cancellation occurred. If you get a chance, peek at their booking log. Or ask how many years they have been guiding. You should get a good idea.

Last, use top notch equipment. These are wild salmon, and they are much bigger than the fish most of us are used to catching. It is almost a certainty that your old walleye rig is not up to the task. Buy the very best big-salmon outfit you can afford. Your rod should be an 8- to 9-foot heavy weight (20-50 pound line class). Your reel should be a casting reel--no spinning reels for these big brutes--filled with 30 to 40 pound test line. Your leader should be 40 pound test minimum, and many guides are more comfortable with 50-pound test leaders. You'll understand the need for such heavy leaders when you look inside the mouth of one of these toothy monsters. A 30-pound-test line will land them, but if you use a 30-pound-test leader you are dangerously close to losing a trophy fish. If you fish with a guide, use his/her equipment, and leave your outfit at home. The guide's equipment has stood the testing of many trips, and will perform properly for you. Can you be sure yours will do the same?

Now that we have learned the basic pre-trip essentials that Greg Brush recommends, we can discuss terminal gear and fishing techniques. Lets start out with the terminal gear. We'll start out with how to rig the "fishing" end of your main line first.

Rigging Your Main Line--Once you have attached your fishing reel to the rod, and threaded the main line through all the rod guides, you are ready to rig the "fishing" end of your main line. First, slide a 1/4-inch plastic bead onto the main line. Follow it with a 3/8-inch nylon "slider"--to which you will later attach you fishing wieght or diver. Next, add another 1/4-inch plastic bead. Finally, tie on a size 3 swivel, using either the Trilene knot or the Palomar knot. Your rigged main line should now look like the picture to the right (click the photo to see a bigger view). The bead at the top prevents the nylon slider from jamming into the top eye of the fishing rod if/when you excitedly reel up too far. The bead at the bottom protects the knot from being frayed by the nylon slider. The swivel is the end of the main line rigging. The duolock quick snap shown at the bottom is tied to the leader, and is not considered part of the main line rigging. With the quick snaps pretied onto the leaders, the leaders can be changed quickly without having to retie any knots.

Rigging the Jet Diver or Lead Ball--The current in the Kenai River is quite swift. So you need a reliable way of keeping your bait or lure right down on the bottom as you fish these swift waters. Two ways work quite well: Luhr Jensen Jet Divers and lead-ball weights. You can attach either to the nylon slider on your main line. Here are pictures of both weight setups. (Click on the photos to see expanded views.) I like to use about a five inch leader for lead balls, and about a three inch snap and bead swivel connector for the Jet Divers. You can experiment with these lengths, but don't get them too long, because the Kings travel right near the bottom of the river. Note that I use duolock quick snaps or similar snaps on both ends, so I can change the weight arrangement without retying the dropper leader. Also note that the Jet Diver is rigged on a slider instead of hard fastening it into the line. This is far superior for playing a big King, as the Jet Diver is free to slide up and down the line instead of staying fixed near the fighting fish. This way you fight the fish directly, not through the Jet Diver.

Rigging the Lures and Baits--I've heard stories of huge Largemouth Bass being caught on hot dogs, of Brook Trout being caught on gummy worms, and Steelhead Trout caught on pink plastic worms. I have no doubt--given enough time--that I could catch a big King Salmon on each of these unusual lures as well. But it would take more time than I'm interested in investing in the venture. My advice is that you first start out with the "tried and true" methods that have proven to reliably catch Kings. When you finally become so good at it that you are bored, then try the hotdog.

Probably 95 percent of all Kings harvested from the Kenai River by sports fishermen are caught on an unbaited Spin-n-Glo, a Spin-n-Glo and salmon roe combination or on a Kwikfish lure--either unbaited or with a Sardine wrap. These are the four terminal setups I will explain, starting first with the plain Kwikfish and plain Spin-n-Glo, since only unbaited lures or flies are allowed during the early season for Kings.

Unbaited Kwikfish--Start with a K-16 or K-15 Kwikfish. Remove both treble hooks, because treble hooks are illegal in the Kenai River for King Salmon. Fasten a size 3/0 Siwash hook to a size 5 swivel. Then fasten the swivel and hook to the tail end of the Kwikfish. Leave the center screw eye empty, because only one single hook is allowed for King Salmon fishing in the Kenai River. That's it.

Unbaited Spin-n-Glo--Start with a very high quality 6/0, 7/0, or even 8/0 salmon hook, such as the Gamakatsu or Owner brand. (Current fishing regulations specify that the hook must be single pointed, and only one hook is allowed.) Snell it to a high grade 40- or 50-pound test monofilament leader of about six foot length. If you don't know how to snell a hook with an egg loop in the leader, see how it is done here. I use Maxima clear line for my leaders, but other high grade brands are suitable. Now, add three 1/4-inch beads to the line. Then add a size 0 or larger Spin-n-Glo, with the tapered end threaded onto the line first--so the tapered end is closest to the hook. Then add one more 1/4-inch bead. This is the basic Spin-n-Glo setup for the big Kings. You can wind the six feet of mono leader around your hand, and secure the mono with a bag tie until it is ready to use.

When you are ready to use the Spin-n-Glo rig, you will need to look at the river's clarity. If you can only see into the river about one or two feet, use a short leader, say 36 inches overall, cutting off the excess three feet and storing it for later safe disposal. If the river is quite clear, with visibility on the order of three or four feet, use the full 6-foot long leader. There is no absolute rule here. You'll just have to experiment with leader lengths. Shorter is always better if you can avoid spooking the fish. You need longer leaders in clearer water because the fish are more easily spooked (by the Jet Diver or lead ball coming downriver towards them) when they can see further.

Spin-n-Glo with Salmon Roe--Start with the basic Spin-n-Glo rig described above. Cut off part of a skein of cured salmon roe, about the size of a half dollar. Push the hook point through the center of this glob of eggs, making sure it goes through the skin portion of the cured skein. Now, expand the egg loop and loop it around the glob of eggs, and retighten the loop. That's it. You're ready to fish. Change the bait every 20-30 minutes so you are presenting the freshest enticement possible.

Sardine Wrapped Kwikfish--Start with a K-16 or K-15 Kwikfish, modified as described above. Cut a small filet of Sardine, about one inch wide and two inches long. Split it halfway lengthwise. Lay the filet--skin side to the lure--over the center screw eye. Now wrap the filet with stretch thread to keep it firmly in place. That's it. You're ready to fish. Change the bait every 30-40 minutes so you are presenting the freshest enticement possible.

Now that your gear is ready, and you are fully rigged, we are ready to go fishing, and talk about four specific fishing techniques--Back trolling, back bouncing, dragging, and anchoring up.

Back Trolling--To back troll, the boat captain positions the power boat facing upstream, and applies just enough engine power to keep the boat stationary in the river's current. Lines are let out, and positioned 50 to 60 feet downstream of the boat. Then the skipper slacks off on engine power just enough to allow the boat to slip downstream at about 1 mile per hour or perhaps slightly more. The River's current is running at perhaps three to five miles per hour, and the boat is going downstream too, but not nearly as fast as the river current. Because the boat is trolling downstream, and backwards, it is called back trolling.

The terminal gear is most often a sardine wrapped Kwikfish or a Spin-N-Glo with eggs. A Jet Diver is used to get the terminal gear down to the bottom, and keep it there. Most guides love this method of fishing, because rods are placed in their rod holders, and if the terminal rig hits a big rock, the line will slack, and the Jet Diver will pop to the surface, freeing the rigging.

Back Bouncing--This method is exactly like back trolling, so far as the boat's positioning and control is concerned. The only difference is the terminal gear. For back bouncing, the Jet Diver is replaced with a round lead ball weight, usually of between 3 to 6 ounces. The fishermen hold their rods, and pump the rod tip up every few seconds sufficient to lift the lead ball weight off the bottom and then dropping the rod tip to let it hit bottom again. This pumping assures that the lead ball works downriver at the same speed as the boat, but also imparts a fish attracting action to the bait. Back bouncing is a lot of work, and it takes some skill to do it effectively. Once mastered, however, it is highly effective, and can out produce back trolling in the hands of a skilled practitioner.

Dragging (also called Drifting)--In certain reaches of the River, where flows are uniform and slow, dragging can be the best way to fish. To drag, you need a dropper weight, on about a 6-inch leader. The weight can be a round ball, but even better is a banana weight, like the ones used for ocean salmon trolling, only in this application one end remains free--it is just a dangle weight off a 6-inch dropper leader. Position your boat sideways in the current, and cast your line upstream. Allow your boat to drift downstream at current speed. Use your boat motor only to move across the current one way or the other, and to keep your boat sideways to the current. The current, being faster on the top of the River than on the bottom, will push the boat downstream slightly faster than your bait is drifting. Soon the boat will be dragging the bait downstream.

You can cover much water very rapidly with this method of fishing, and it is extremely effective in areas where the current is not too fast; i.e.--mostly in slower sections of the lower 12 miles of the River. If you "drag" in current that is too fast, the bait zips by the fish before they get a chance to inspect it and inhale it.

Anchoring Up--In many other rivers, finding a nice King Salmon holding spot and anchoring just above it is a favorite way of fishing. From the anchored boat, the bait or lure is lobbed downstream into the holding spot, and the anglers sit back and wait for a "take down"--that exciting moment when their fishing rod bends down, and a big King is hooked. It works well on the Kenai River too. But it is highly unsportsmanlike to "anchor up" in many places and situations on the Kenai River. Why? Because it has so much boat traffic, and so many fishermen anxious to fish the good waters too. By general agreement, boaters do not "anchor up" in the River below the Soldotna Bridge, particularly during July. Back bouncing, back trolling, or dragging gives everyone equal opportunity, and is the best behavior in a crowded river. So don't anchor up and be a "hole hawg" below the Soldotna Bridge during King Salmon season.

Above Soldotna Bridge on light fishing days, it should be okay to set your anchor and fish a hole. But if you start seeing fishing boats go by and its occupants are giving you a disgusted look, take it as a strong clue that you should change your fishing tactics. Sure, you can hold anchor and ignore them. But, all excuses aside, you (and they) have to know that this is most unsportsmanlike behavior.

Later, during the Silver Salmon run, most boaters anchor up. Boat traffic is down to five percent or less of what it is during the peak of the King Salmon runs, and anchoring up is a reasonable way to fish under these conditions. Sometimes you will see a floating buoy just above a favorite fishing hole. It means one of two things:

Tying your boat off to the shoreline and getting out to fish the shoreline for Sockeye is always acceptable--provided you are not in one of the Shoreline Protection Zones.

River Etiquette--Because the River has so many boats on it during the height of the King Salmon season, certain conventions have evolved so that everyone gets equal opportunity, and so that a person who has a fish on can land it without interference from other boats. The first convention is that if someone in your boat hooks a King, all the rest of the same boat's fishermen immediately reel in their outfits and stow them out of the way, leaving an entirely clear deck for the happy angler to use as needed. Second, someone grabs the landing net, and holds it upright--a universal signal to other boats that your boat has a fish on.

The skippers of other boats, upon seeing the raised net, immediately give you wide berth, and those within the potential reach of your fighting King immediately get their fishing rigs out of the water so as not to entangle your fish.

If entanglement occurs so fast that it cannot be avoided, then the person whose line got entangled with the one the fish is on should immediately cut their own line. That is right--the happy angler has on a fish of a lifetime, and no terminal gear is worth potentially causing him/her to lose it. Good sportsmen will cut their line immediately, and consider it a gift. This is not idle talk. I watch it happen every day, and good sportsmen do it cheerfully.

Finally, once the initial surge of the fighting King is over, the skipper of your boat should move your boat out of the deep water being fished by other boats, and lead the King into shallow water along the sides of the River. Of course, the fighting King may decide not to be led into the side waters, and little can be done to force it there if it refuses. But it is always sportsmanlike to move out of the way of other fishermen if you can.

As for other good behavior, keep a sharp eye out at all times so you don't let your boat interfere with the fishing of other boats. This means, get into "synch" (synchronization) with the speed and movements of the other boats instead of trying to set a different pace. If you really want to fish differently, do so on the outskirts of the boats that are all fishing in synch. It may be great to listen to syncopated music, but it is definitely unsportsmanlike to be syncopated while fishing for Kenai Kings.

Okay, you hooked, fought, and netted a fish you think you want to keep, but have not really made up your mind yet. Leave it in the water, in the net until you decide. Once you lift the fish out of the water, the law says you may not return it to the water. (This is the ADF&G regulation regarding Kenai Kings, but it makes good sports sense for other species as well.)

If you decide to release the fish, remove the hook quickly, if it is easily reached, and release the fish from the net without lifting the fish out of the water. Some folks think that any part of the fish still in the water means it has not been lifted out of the water. Legally this might (or might not) be true. But reality demands that the fish's head remain underwater except for a very brief time. Remember that all the time you have a fish's head out of water, the fish is suffocating. You can hold your breath for about 3 minutes without passing out. But if you had been strenuously exercising--literally fighting for your life--just prior to holding your breath, you'd possibly die within 3 minutes instead of just passing out. Your fish is already very seriously stressed; don't exacerbate the stress by suffocating the fish too. Keep the fish's head below water, except for the few seconds it takes to grab the hook with pliers and get it out, then get the fish's head back under water.

Sometimes it is better to leave your hook in place and cut the leader. If the hook is deep in the fishes gullet, or it looks like it will tear vital tissue by being removed, simply cut the leader near the hook and let the fish go with the hook still imbedded.

If the hook has torn the gills or other vital organ, and the fish is bleeding profusely, harvest it--it is the right thing to do. Sure, the fish is smaller than you'd hoped for, and it means you are finished fishing for the day--you cannot take more than one King per day. But will a true sportsman release a doomed fish just so he/she can seek a larger one? I think not.

Processing Your Fish--So, you have netted, examined, and landed a fish you want to keep. If it is a trophy you intend to send to a taxidermist, take photos immediately, if the real appearance of your fish matters to you. Good photos will help the taxidermist match the true colors of your trophy. If you don't intend to send your fish to a taxidermist, all the more reason to take pictures--so you preserve on film what will fade in your mind. Do it while the fish is in its best color. Once it lays in a cooler or fish box for several hours, it will not look the same, or as nice.

If your fish is going to be food for you (instead of being food for your taxidermist after he skins it), there are several steps you can take to assure it is the highest quality food. The first is kill the fish immediately--either by bonking it on the head with a fish whacker, or by inserting a knife blade into its brain. The first method is far more sure, and less dangerous for you. The less the fish flops, struggles, and gasps, the more of its ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) is preserved, and the fresher it will taste.

The second step is to cut the fishes gills, to drain all the blood out of the meat. You would never think of killing a cow, deer, elk, moose, or pig for food without bleeding it; yet many people never realize it is equally important to bleed a large fish. The difference in the quality of the fish is astounding if you immediately bleed it. Quicker is definitely better. If you wait long enough for the blood to start to congeal in the blood vessels and flesh, you need not bother.

The third step is to gut, gill, and chill the fish as soon as possible. Do it right away if you can. If not, do it as soon as possible. Where length slot limits are in effect, the law does not allow you to cut up a King Salmon while still on the river, "in such a manner as to prevent measurement of its length." This regulation means you must leave its head and tail intact but it does not prevent you from gutting the fish and removing its gills.

Most Kenai King Salmon are too big to fit into coolers, so do the next best thing available to you: Put the fish on ice in the fish box of your boat if it has one. If not, at the very least, wet a burlap bag and cover the fish with it. Evaporative cooling from the wet bag will preserve your fish much better than leaving it uncovered.

I don't see anyone hanging big Kings over the side of their boat on a stringer. But I do see many Sockeye and Silver Salmon hanging in the water on stringers. The popular myth is that the Kenai River is so cold it keeps the fish preserved almost as well as a refrigerator. This is, however, untrue. Check the U.S. Geological Survey's records of summertime water temperatures in the lower Kenai River. The usual temperature range of the river water in July is from lows in the 50s to highs in the 60s. These are hardly refrigerator temperatures! The sooner you can cool your fish down to 32 degrees, the better it will taste later. So, given the option of storing your Sockeye or Silvers on a stringer in the River, or dropping them into a cooler on a bed of ice cubes, chose the cooler. Your palette will thank you.

(What follows is mostly for out-of-state visitors who need a fish processor to take care of their fish, although it may apply to some Alaskans as well.) Once you have caught, bled, and cooled your fish, you still need to process them for long-term storage. If you chose to use one of the several commercial fish processors in the area, here are a few hints to help you get the most for your money and a satisfactory product as well: