Fly fishing·Chinook / King Salmon·Soldotna and the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Every scheduled day is a fishing day, and barely the same water twice. Kenai and Kasilof river salmon, a Homer multi-species halibut day, float-plane fishing across Cook Inlet, lake trout, and Kenai rainbows. The itinerary shifts through the summer to follow the runs and any day can be substituted.
Day three in three of the four seasonal itineraries is Big River Lake or Crescent Lake in Lake Clark National Park, where you fish sockeye and silvers in the same water as twenty to thirty brown bears. It is a bear-viewing trip and a fishing trip in the same six hours.
King salmon fishing closes by state regulation on July 31, and charter halibut is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays under Area 3A rules. They say plainly that there is no guarantee of fish.
Boats: 17 and 20 foot drift boats with kicker engines, 20 foot riverboats built for the Kenai, and large stable six-pack boats for the saltwater days.
Seasons and durations
- Early season, 1 day: May 15 to June 10, from $575 per person
- Early season, 7 days: May 15 to June 10, from $3,275 per person
- Mid season, 1 day: June 11 to July 10, from $575 per person
- Mid season, 7 days: June 11 to July 10, from $3,625 per person
- Peak season, 1 day: July 11 to August 20, from $675 per person
- Peak season, 7 days: July 11 to August 20, from $4,025 per person
- Fall season, 1 day: August 21 to September 30, from $575 per person
- Fall season, 7 days: August 21 to September 30, from $3,625 per person
Days two through six sit on the same ladder. Meals are included if you stay at the Kenai Riverside Resort and not if you stay at the Cabins or the Suites, which have kitchens. Every price above is the Kenai Riverside Suites four-person column, the cheapest of eight lodging columns; the all-inclusive Resort tier runs about 9% higher.
Anglers over 16 buy their own Alaska sport fishing licence online, plus a king salmon stamp on king days. Filleting on the boat is included; vacuum-sealing, boxing and freezing is billed per pound at departure, and they recommend flying fish home as checked baggage in 50 lb cold-storage boxes rather than shipping. River boats take a maximum of 4 anglers, saltwater boats 6.
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