Last gasp for Kenai kings : King fishing a challenge, but reds, pinks, silvers enticing

Anglers hoping to wrangle a king salmon have just a few more days to land one before the fishery closes Saturday.

Jimmie Jack Drath, owner of Jimmie Jack Fishing lodge and guide service, said the king fishing on the Kenai River has been tough.

But "if you're going to catch one you got to catch one before they close," he said.

Anglers might have a chance if they fish the Kasilof River where the run is strong, he said.

The best bets for fishing this weekend are probably fishing for silvers on the Kenai River and going for the sockeye off of its banks, he said.

Fishermen who have salmon other than kings on their minds are in luck to net some of the red salmon in this season's surprisingly strong run.

As of Monday, some 670,000 sockeye passed Fish and Game's sonar in the Kenai River. This rush of salmon has been good news for fishermen who are allowed to reap the rewards of the run. Last week the department opened the dipnet fishery to 24 hours a day. This week it doubled the bag limit for sockeye to six fish a day.

There have also been reports of silver and pink salmon coming in.

Mary Thalacker of Kasilof said she has heard of silvers being caught at the mouth of the Kasilof River.

Same goes for silvers on the southern peninsula, with reports they have been caught at the entrance of the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon on the Homer Spit, out of Seldovia and near Deep Creek.

Thalacker said both the dipping and flipping for red salmon on the Kasilof is solid on the days there isn't a commercial fishing opening.

"If the commercial fishing is open then they don't do good that day," Thalacker said.

But there have been some big kings out there.

Seventy-two-year-old Joann Herring caught a 78-pound Kenai king on Saturday in a boat captained by her grandson, Keith. Her daughter Kathleen of Soldotna described it as "truly epic."

Shellea Trammell of Kenai caught a 75-pound king on Sunday in the Kenai River after a few hours of early-morning fishing with her friends and unofficial guide Seth Short.

She said it took about 45 minutes to get it on board and once she got close enough to net it took three guys to get it in to the boat.

Jerry Books of Soldotna also caught a royal fish weighing 72 pounds. There have been several other reports of salmon upwards of 70 pounds.

Brielle Schaeffer can be reached at brielle.schaeffer@peninsulaclarion.com.