The Kenai Peninsula's salmon streams are sometimes crowded, and for good reason. You can drive right to many of the good fishing spots and have a good chance of catching a salmon.
Boat launches, campgrounds and fishing-related services combine to make the peninsula "angler-friendly." If you want to take fish home, custom processors will vacuum-pack, freeze and ship it for you.
Many species of fish either reside in or migrate through peninsula waters: Coho, pink, sockeye and chinook salmon, steelhead/rainbow trout and Dolly Varden char, lake trout, arctic grayling; northern pike, Pacific halibut, lingcod, rockfish and sharks.
If variety is the spice of life, peninsula fishing is hot. Fly fish for sockeye salmon on the scenic upper Kenai River, with a snow-capped mountain for a backdrop. Launch a drift boat and fish for rainbow trout in the spectacular Kenai Canyon. On the lower Kenai, back-troll for kings, or cast lures for pinks or cohos.
Four streams on the lower peninsula offer salmon fishing -- Deep Creek and the Anchor, Kasilof and Ninilchik rivers. Much of this is good fly-fishing water.
The peninsula has lakes of all sizes, from lowland to alpine. Some are part of the Kenai canoe trails. Many lakes rarely see an angler.
Some saltwater fisheries are "enhanced" with salmon. Released as smolts, they return as adults, after a year or more in the ocean. These salmon provide enjoyable fishing along the Seward waterfront and the Homer Spit.
Anglers who want more elbow room can escape to the saltwater. Out of Seward, Ninilchik and Homer, charter boats go out after halibut and salmon.
