SOCKEYE SALMON (REDS)

What Salmon species gets the greatest fishing attention on the Kenai River? The giant King Salmon, right? Wrong!

The Red Salmon, as Alaskans call the Sockeye, is the winner by a huge margin. And with good reason too. An average King Salmon will weigh 40-50 pounds, whereas an average Red Salmon will weigh 4-7 pounds, but this small species is turbocharged and nitro injected. Pound for pound, if giant King Salmon fought like Reds, you couldn't land one with the tackle we use today. Kings fight a very strong fight; but Reds, pound-for-pound, are in a different league.

Many fishermen think a big Rainbow Trout is just about the best fighting machine they've encountered. They are grand fighters, but they are not the best fighters. I've said it elsewhere, and I'll say it again, a Red Salmon of equal weight, fresh from the saltchuck, will fight circles around a Rainbow Trout.

I remember my first experience fishing for Reds in the Kenai River. I had come to Alaska for business, and heard that the Reds were in Cook Inlet and about to enter the River. Locals told me it was an excellent fishery for beginners, and if I could get on the river when the run started coming in strong, I would expericence fishing like nothing I'd ever experienced before. How right they were.

I finished my business appointments on Friday, and hit the Kenai River early on Saturday. I was fishing at Centennial Park, right in Soldotna. Locals told me the fish had just arrived in the River the day before, and they were hot, hot, hot. So I rigged up like the folks at the Trustworthy Hardware store told me, and confidently waded into the River, shoulder to shoulder with locals. People right beside me were catching fish, one after another. I caught nothing. How frustrating!

I thought I was fishing just like them, but obviously they were doing something I was not. So I just quit fishing and watched. Pretty soon I saw it; they were not just drifting their fly downriver with the current, like I had been. No, they were drawing the fly back across the current at a fairly steady pace. And, they were waiting just a bit after casting, so their fly could sink right down to the river bed.

I started fishing again, and whammo, I had on my first Red. It was like no fish I had ever caught before! It was a big buck (male), and he jumped about 4 feet into the air right in front of me. I was so shocked at how high he jumped, I was totally unprepared for his next move. He jumped right at me, and splashed water all over me. Then he swam around the back side of me, and I was all in a dither trying to get turned around so the line was not wrapped around me. Too late. He hit the tight line and snapped my 20-pound leader like it was mere sewing thread. I stood there shocked and trembling, but more excited about fishing than I had ever before been.

I lost my next two Reds. They each jumped three times in less than three seconds, and managed to throw the fly out of their mouths. But I landed my fourth Red, and not long after another. I lost several more, and finally landed my third and last Red for that day. Fishing Reds has been a love affair ever since for me.

Red Salmon migrate into the Kenai River every year in great numbers. The migration starts in mid-May, but doesn't reach good (reliably fishable) numbers until late June to early July. The run of Reds into the Kenai River usually swells to between 20,000 and 80,000 fish per day by late July. The ADF&G (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) usually starts the Red season with a daily bag limit of three fish per day, but by mid season they usually increase the bag limit to six fish per day. Can the Kenai River bear such large sport harvests? Absolutely. ADF&G makes sure that several hundred thousand Reds escape upriver to spawn before the bag limit is relaxed, thus assuring that each year the spawning beds produce all the Red fry as they can bear.

Despite the great numbers of Reds harvested by sports fishermen each year, the sports harvest amounts to about one percent of their total harvest. Subsistence fishing accounts for about twice as many Reds, but commercial fishing accounts for a whopping 97 to 98 percent of the total harvest. You can release the fish you catch if you have no use for them, or if it makes you feel better, but the facts prove that it is a misguided feeling. Even if ADF&G were to double the late-season bag limits to an astounding 12 fish per person per day, the sports harvest would still be less than two percent of the total harvest. I don't advocate such a raise in bag limits, as it would surely promote wastage, but I use the example to illustrate the point that if the runs of these magnificent fish ever wanes, the real solution lies in curtailing the commercial catch. Fortunately, the runs are very healthy, and even this latter discussion is academic. What is not academic is that you can feel good about keeping your daily catch. You are not harming the future viability of the Reds in the Kenai River.

If you doubt my facts or are interesting in total Alaska salmon harvest data for all years of record, or you are interested in Alaska's "salmon politics" more information is available. Click here it see more on this topic.

Well enough of just talk. Lets get down to how you can catch these magnificent fish.

How to Catch Kenai River Reds--First and most obvious, you can't catch Reds unless they are in the River. Mature Reds spend most of their life in saltwater, and only a brief period in freshwater. You must fish for them when they are in the River if you hope to catch them. See the "tab" labeled "Salmon Timing" on this website to plan your trip.

Once you settle on fishing dates, start gathering the proper gear. You'll need a stout salmon rod. I recommend one of the new graphite salmon rods, of 8 1/2 ft. or 9 ft. length, and designed to handle line weights between 12 and 30 pounds. Yes, the fish are only 5-8 pounds on average, but you are not "overgunned" with a rod of this stout measure. Trust me on this one. These are turbocharged fish, with nitro burning carburators, and they know how to use the swift, deep currents of the Kenai River to maximum advantage. And you will be fishing close to many other fishermen--making it essential that you control your fish.

Equip your rod with a casting reel if you have one. For such strong fish the level wind casting reel is a distinct advantage. Big spinning reels will work, but expect to lose more fish, and spend more time straightening twisted line after one of the big buck Reds strips out 100 feet of line off your spinning reel. Whether you use a casting reel or a spinning reel, fill the spool with no less than 30 pound line. Ridiculous? No. If you fish with 15 pound line, you'll snap your line about every second fish, and more than that if you are not an expert fisherman. Trust the voice of experience on this, even if it runs contrary to your better judgment.

Next, lets turn our attention to your terminal rigging. Start by tying a #8 three-way swivel to the end of your 30-pound line. To the far end of this swivel you will tie your leader, to which is attached your fly--bot don't do that just yet. Instead, tie a 15 pound test dropper leader of 12-inch length to the swivel end that strikes out perpendicular to the line and leader. To this dropper leader, attach a lead weight of about 1 ounce. Some fishermen use round lead balls on the dropper. Others use teardrop sinkers. Others use hollow-core pencil lead of about 1/4 inch diameter and about 4 inch length. I favor the latter, but scores of others are just as successful as me using the other weight designs.

Now, we turn to the fly and leader. If you are fishing in one of the "fly-fishing only" areas, your fly cannot have a shank to hook-point gap greater than 3/8 inch. Check the fishing regulations carefully, and don't forget this important point. The game wardens are unsympathetic if you forget. If you are fishing areas not having this restriction, use hooks with larger gaps. They offer phenomenal advantage against these turbocharged fish. I personally use regular 3/0 salmon hooks and turn them into "flys" by adding a bit of yarn to the snell. Not only are they far cheaper--and you'll lose a lot of them--but they are markedly superior.

Snell your 3/0 hook onto a 20 to 30 pound leader of about 48 inch length, using an egg-loop snell. If you don't know how to snell a hook with an egg loop in the leader, see how it is done here. Once you have snelled the hook onto the leader, your leader will be about 40-43 inches in length. Attach this leader to the swivel on the main line, using a Trilene knot, making sure the final length of your leader is right at 36 inches. Leader length is very important. If it is shorter than 30 inches you will seriously reduce your success rate. The same goes for leaders longer than 40 inches.

Now attach a bit of yarn to your hook, using the egg loop to hold the yarn. Less is better than more. I use a 1 1/2 inch bit of yarn, set half way into the egg loop, thereby leaving two 3/4 inch tails of yarn. My favorite color yarn is bright pink, but other fishermen swear by chertruse, or bright orange, or red. The truth is that color may matter when fish are scarce, but when there are 20,000 fish migrating upriver per day, the fish will strike any color. As always, presentation is far more important than yarn color.

Your rod, reel and terminal tackle are now ready to fish. Now you need to prepare yourself to fish. If you will be fishing off of one of the public "boardwalks," just go fishing. If you are lucky enough to have a place where you can wade into the river, then you need to put on your chest waders before you get into the water.

Wading is far better than most boardwalks. If you must fish from a boardwalk, try and find one that is very close to water level, or even slightly submerged. The City of Soldotna has installed several boardwalks, all 3 to 4 feet above the water, which makes it very hard to fish the proper technique for catching Reds. Let's assume you have chest waders, and have a place where you can legally wade into the River.

Reds run right next to the riverbanks. They will stay in water about 2 1/2 foot deep or deeper, so you don't want to wade out very far at all. Many novices wade out right past the migrating Reds, and fish the deeper water, while the Reds migrate upstream behind them! This is no joke. I see it all the time. So wade out no deeper than rivers edge unless you are in very shallow water, and then no deeper than about 30 inches.

Now we come to the hard part. Presentation technique is everything. Get it wrong, and go fishless. Get it right, and you will limit out.

Presentation--As I said before, presentation is everything. Subtle differences make the difference between an expert and a novice. Here is the list of things you must pay attention to: