King or Chinook Salmon Fishing on the Kenai River, Alaska
The Kenai River is
the greatest salmon fishing river in the world, holding nearly two dozen current
International Game Fish Association world records for three species of Salmon
and other fish.
Bank Fishing on the Kenai River
Bank fisherman on the Kenai river find success using a weight and casting with a
single hook or casting and drifting large spoons such as the Pixie Spoon
bouncing them off the bottom. This is a well proven style of fishing and is a
successful tactic for Kenai salmon. Another method is casting a #6 Vibrax
spinner upstream and reeling in just fast enough to keep the lure bouncing off
the bottom. Fly fishermen using attractor flies like the Glowbug or Alaskabou
have had their share of hook ups and my personal favorite, the Purple Egg
Sucking Leach, is a consistent performer. Bank fisherman beware, When salmon
fishing on the Kenai, especially for the King Salmon, no matter what the water
you are fishing, be prepared to run when you hook that big brute of an Alaska
salmon! These fish often make long runs that are known to exhaust the line from
a reel. This makes for the need to start a foot race just to keep from being
spooled.
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King Salmon
The chinook salmon is an anadromous fish that is the largest species in the
salmon family. It is a Pacific Ocean salmon and is variously known as the king
salmon, tyee salmon, Columbia River salmon, black salmon, chub salmon, hook bill
salmon, winter salmon, Spring Salmon, Quinnat Salmon and blackmouth. Chinook
salmon are highly valued, due in part to their relative scarcity compared to
other salmon along most of the Pacific coast.
The chinook is blue-green or purple on the back and top of the head with silvery
sides and white ventral surfaces. It has black spots on its tail and the upper
half of its body. Its mouth is often dark purple. Adult fish range in size from
33 to 36 in but may be up to 58 inches in length; they average 10 to 50 pounds
but may reach 130 pounds . The current sport-caught World Record is 97.25 pounds
and was caught in May 1985 by Les Anderson in the Kenai River in Alaska. The
commercial catch world record is 126 pounds caught near Rivers Inlet British
Columbia in the late 70's.
