Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska The Kenai.....

Figure I'd ask our resident experts... Wtf happened? Thanks

Well,,,,,, where do we start.. us sports fisherman blame the commercial guys.. the commercial guys blame the sports guys.. the reality the state should of shut down the Kenai to king fishing 6-7 yrs ago. Also add 4yrs of Walker administration and the head of fish and game at the time being a commercial guy did not help our cause at all. But in typical Alaska fashion everyone is about me, not the resource. The state needs to do what it did this year for the next couple yrs. also a lot of blame could be pointed at the Chinese fishing fleet running illegal tackle out in the ocean.

Ok I'm drunk. I'll re read this tomorrow... Grin 😀

Bro, you’re always drunk...Tylenol! 😬😎

79S forgot to mention the subsistence dip netters that blame the anglers and commercial fishermen.

This circus is a 3 ringer!

Most of the problem can be blamed on whiskey as the commercial fishing lobbyists buy lotsa whiskey
for our legislators in Juneau.

It is not actually a subsistence fishery, but rather, personal use... a category with no legal standing. That fishery has shifted peak run timing significantly as the heart of the run has been removed each year for a great many.

Much like in Texas it sounds like the F/G is a bit behind, but probably blame to the legistlators for lobbyist pressure.

We should have shut down the deer season in our county for a couple of years, got to where I never saw more than a couple of deer in a total year. They finally responded and we have more and better deer than I've ever seen.

Same with redfish. Almost had to shut it down totally.... but they have rebounded quite a bit due to tight regs that should have been done years before they were.

And now same with spotted sea trout...

Of course my luck has always been this way, finally come to AK and as a fishing guide and they close kings.. LOL. BUT the really important thing is not my pocket book or paying our bills, its the reality of save the resource. And usually if you act in a timely manner it can be done without closing a season, but by reducing the use of that resource instead. In this case it has to be this way to attempt to save the resource and its a good thing thats well overdue!

The king problem is based on the fact the resource is managed for reds. Commies cannot kill reds without killing innocent bystander kings in large numbers. Sport fishing is far more selective.

And SF is quite possibly more lucrative to the community. Probably been 15 years since I've done it for salmon. Almost as big a waste of valuable time as watching PGA play.

I haven't used my personal-use dip net in several years, either . The down side of that is dip-net Kenai reds are generally bigger and better tasting than Kasilof reds, tho last year the Kasilof ones were very nice fish indeed, unlike the previous year when they were slim in both depth and thickness.

My 60' gill net is far better for production - that is limited to the Kasilof run..... assuming I can fish during the last several days of the scheduled PU-gill net season. That usually depends on weather. Picking offshore net from an 18' Grumman canoe can get interesting. . The last several days of the season ( just before comm-fish opens) is when the Kasilof fish start arriving in real numbers. I set my net on the mud flats out off the beach, from the beach, for better production and no real competition from nets 100' away on either side for as far as one can see as is the case with beach squatters. I believe I was almost certainly the first to do so, years ago, other than the ones who used boats to set, pick, an pull. At least I'd never seen anyone else do so before I did it. The following year there were several. People took notice that I was catching several times the fish that the sand people did. Still not crowded tho. Just real mud-messy.

Very few kings are caught by PU fishers with either dip nets or gill nets. I caught one of @15 lbs on the Kenai dip netting from the boat once. It's those fuggin Commercials, high seas Chinee (generically speaking), and river guides.

Not liking to address, redress, or undress too many fish at once, I broke last year's effort into two days, pulling the net at or before high tide each day, and just about equally dividing the catch as well. Processing 15-17 fish per day is way more better at once than 35. Even without beer. Or especially without beer.

I had planned on just about 25 total, needing 8 or 9 to reach that on the second day, but there were some sneaky Petes down at the leadline when I went to pick the second time so I pulled early, an hour before high tide. Nailed my allowed 35 count on the nose. That doesn't often happen with a gill net.

We just traveled down through that area to Homer for the first time last week. Beautiful country, but sure lots of people. I could see that sports fishing was obviously big business in that area. Managed properly it should provide a good income for a lot of locals until the end of time....to bad the powers that be dont see it that way.

Good thing you came early, while you could still get in.....

Left turns sans traffic lights are still possible. In a few weeks I generally make as many turns in whatever direction necessary (read possible) to get to a light.

Back streets in town are good....

Just curious, that place used to be "the place" for trophy kings, I know it fell off the charts. Watched a show last night, they were citing orca and salmon sharks as a big problem... Appears salmon on the west coast has really hit the shiiter as a whole...

There are still big kings in the Kenai. But with restrictions in place with the king fishery by the state we won’t see any big one caught which is a good thing. That is a concern that the big kenai kings are gone, but as said earlier their are big kings in the kenai well according to the experts with the state.. I have heard the set net guys have caught some monster kings. But the state has two plans they are thinking about implementing that will restrict the set net folks with the type of gear they use.

That river is my second home and I love being on it more than anywhere else. The numbers are definitely down from the glory years, but it's still one of the greatest rivers on the world. There is still a god chance of catching the biggest king of your life every time you let a line out, and better than great odds of catching a trophy rainbow every day of the season if you're so inclined.
Large and plentiful Silvers from July thru November, and a god run of reds that's pretty predictable.
As far as why the numbers aren't there anymore, its a complex issue. Chinook numbers are down all up and down the west coast. Kings go out to sea and stay at sea the longest, and the biggest ones stay out 5 or even 6 years. That's a long gauntlet to run of commercial nets and pirate fisheries. Add in poor ocean conditions, and boom, smaller and less fish are making it to the redds to spawn.
Sport and guided anglers have done their part also. Beating up on fish on the spawning beds or even at the staging holes at some of the creek inlets. Selectively choosing to take the biggest fish to take pics of, and choosing females for their egg sacks hasn't helped either.
AF&G wishes that the kings would go away completely. It would make their lives so much easier, as then they could manage the river for Sockeye only and not have to worry about the escapement goals and rules.
For those who said the river should be shut down, no way. Then there's no incentive for people to fight for and protect those great fish. Catch and release, as they have already mandated to start the season this year is the answer. Studies show that VERY few die from catch and release, but it still allows the guides to work and money to pump into the area. Sure, lots less people decide to go fishing, but I think that's great. I caught more and bigger fish last season than any other I've fished, and enjoyed lots more room on the river too.

I personally had a 52" king in my hand last year. And saw others caught (and released) that were similarly large. So yes, there still are big kings in the Kenai

Good post 358

what weight is a 52 inch king?

They vary quite a bit, but the one he is talking about was a beast of a fish! Chunky kings will be 40 at 40" give or take, but maybe only 25 if skinny. 358's was much, much over 40... IMO...

Somewhere between fifty and seventy pounds, depending on girth. Girth is extremely important for an accurate weight in that size class fish; each additional inch of girth adds nearly 5 pounds of weight. My guess without having seen the fish but knowing kenai kings intimately would be an honest mid to high sixties with a girth of 31”-32”. A toad of a fish, especially in 2018.

The fish was released, so no, I didn't get a weight on it. and I didn't have a soft tape out and ready, so I chose not to hold onto it longer than necessary to get it either to get the girth measurement. But it was the deep in the chest, so I'm calling it a solid 60 + fish.