Fall Trout Fishing
Rainbow trout fishing on the Kenai River can be spectacular. Rainbow trout exist in large numbers in the Kenai River and they grow fat on salmon, which includes smolts, eggs, and flesh. In this seminar, the guides / owners of Alaska Drift Away Fishing discuss fall rainbow trout fishing on the Middle Kenai River.
The Kenai River is broken down into three sections: upper, middle and lower. Each section has its own rainbow trout fishing identity, water type, and preferred techniques for catching rainbow trout. Motors aren’t allowed in the Upper Kenai, so anglers float that section in rafts and drift boats, or walk in and fish from shore. In the Middle and Lower Kenai, anglers can use power boats, so you see a mix of power boats, drift boats, and rafts.
The Kenai River is home to king salmon, silver salmon, red salmon, pink salmon, rainbow trout and Dolly Varden char. The abundance of salmon, with total numbers of annual returning fish in the millions, provides ample food for the resident rainbow trout and Dolly Varden char to grow large.
The Alaska Drift Away guides love rainbow trout fishing and share techniques for landing big Kenai River rainbows, with discussion of boat and angler positioning. The first concept they discuss is that what you do in the first 10 seconds of hooking a big rainbow trout will influence your chances of landing it. They point out that the first thing they do is get the other angler’s lines in and rods stowed.
The next topic they cover about rainbow trout fishing is netting a fish. Be sure that the angler and person on the net are close together. Keep the net in the water to reduce spooking the trout and minimize the desire to stab with the net. Waiting patiently for a head shot, meaning head first into the net, results in more fish landed.
The next topic they cover in this rainbow trout fishing seminar is unhooking the trout, then getting measurements and pictures before releasing the trout. They advise to unhook the trout immediately to diminish the chance of getting line in the fish’s gills, then proceed to taking length and girth measurements. They recommend using a soft tape measure for girth and a measuring board for length.
When taking photos they advise that the fish is held out of the water for five seconds max. Put the fish back in the net for at least 30 seconds before attempting another photo and be sure to keep the health of the fish in mind. They assert that a healthy fish is more important than the photo.
Rainbow trout fishing is a passion for the guides at Alaska Drift Away Fishing and from the looks of the big rainbows in this video seminar, they are good at it.