All that fish talk last week at the Mat-Su sportsman show got Matty and I itching to go fishing. Although a bit cold, the Kenai River can produce fish all year depending on what your targeting. Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden, and Spawned out Silver Salmon can all be fished through the winter months in Alaska. We were using 7 weight fly rods, attached was an arsenal of various leech patterns that seem to always produce fish. Later on in the summer the bead pattern is the most popular, after the summer spawn the painted beads no longer are as effective as imitating live bugs and leeches.
It feels as if spring may finally be arriving with temperatures climbing to 36 degrees on the river. We spent 7 hours digging the boats out of the snow, for 4 hours of fishing. There is no easy way to do things this time of year just the “hard way”. We caught a total of 10 Silver Salmon, which would be a great number even in the peak of the silver run. If you’ve never got a chance to fish the world famous Kenai, it’s definitely one river for the bucket list.
