Back Drifting Alaska’s Kenai River

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If you should find yourself in Alaska chances are that you've come to enjoy the scenery or perhaps do some camping and sightseeing. It is also a likely bet that you've come to do some fishing as well.

The Kenai Peninsula is definitely a good place for that. The Kenai and Russian Rivers confluence, in the heart of the Kenai Peninsula (some 80 miles south of Anchorage), is one of the most popular places in the world to catch King and Red Salmon and though the availability of those species is very high during the peaks of their respective runs, so is the competition.
Known as "Combat Fishing", to the uninitiated this can be quite a spectacle. Usually fishermen are arrayed less than 3 feet apart from each other, are standing out in the river in two to three feet of water, and are fishing that little stretch of glacial green directly in front of them. At times in my travels across the peninsula I have seen them lined up like this, along the emerald shore of the Kenai River where it meanders next to the highway, for over a mile. There is very little casting, the line set at a certain length and the angler simply pulling his line out at the base of his rod to keep it taught as he constantly dips his lure upstream a few feet then taking up the slack as the current drifts it past him. If he (or she) is lucky enough to elicit an aggressive strike from the salmon, there is no question as to the nature of his screaming reel. "Fish On!" is the howl this elicits, and hopefully all the surrounding fishermen are neighborly enough to bring in their lines and stay out the fighting angler's way as he commits to his own personal combat with what can turn out to be a 70 pound King Salmon. Not clearing an area and retaining fish that are other than mouth hooked is strictly frowned upon and likely to get you chastised by the locals and those in the know, even possibly turned into Fish and Game in the case of keeping snagged fish. This is serious business to most of those involved, and I highly suggest you play by the rules.

Although I have participated in this fishery it is not really my cup of tea. I prefer a smaller rod than this would normally require, enjoying my aquatic hunts with ultra light gear, and most especially avoiding the crowds. An excellent way to do that is to come to this area in the late summer and early fall; I suggest from late August to early October. I had the opportunity to take the trip of a lifetime just this last fall (2002) with my girlfriend's brother, Jay, who was visiting from the Mille Lacs region of Minnesota, and a good friend of his from St. Louis, Missouri: C.J.

They were in Alaska to visit us but were also very determined to fill their coolers. They had a pretty good run with the salt water charter guys that we had hooked them up with, but now it was time to get some fresh water fishing done. They had been asking me about someone to guide them (gratis) into one of the three million Alaskan lakes, or at the very least, to get some good info on bait, locations, and techniques. I, an ex mid-westerner who had been in Alaska ten years and had caught a grand total of one rainbow during my entire tenure, had nothing informative to offer. I was trying to convince them that the best way to do things would be to hire a pro to guide them down the Kenai, assuring them that they would not only catch fish, they would catch a lot of fish. When they started wavering, I sealed the deal by offering to go myself, as this was something on my short list of must-dos in Alaska and I had the time and money now.

It worked, and we soon found ourselves in one of the local watering holes of Seward asking who would be the right people to guide us down the Kenai. I sought out Bob Schaeffer, a Seward fly fisherman, guide, and columnist. Although we were not looking to avail ourselves of his excellent and very personalized services, he happily offered up that we should seek out the guides of Kenai Cache Tackle and Guiding.

Bob's trips are a little more one-on-one and are fly rod oriented, and although this did not appeal to the flatlanders in us I cannot say enough how well recommended are his services and what a fine guy he is. I do warn you, however, not to take up a pool cue in opposition to him. Be it Nine Ball, Eight Ball or Three Ball, he will walk out of the bar counting your money.

A quick call to Kenai Cache and a short but pleasant conversation with Genese Peterson (she and her husband, Darwin, own the shop) and the day after next we were on our way. Our plan was to take the full eight hour tour down the Upper Kenai River, about a ten mile stretch of water that runs from Kenai Lake to Skilak Lake through Cooper's Landing and, in parts, alongside the Sterling Highway. We were a tad anxious to be on our way and thus we found ourse

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Mike the madcap angler, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com

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Mike, the angler, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Leave your email next to the logo for FREE e travel newsletter.