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With summer just around the corner, it won't be long before the first fisherman takes to the Kenai River in search of the next 96-pound king. Come July, boat after boat will zip up and down the river as fishing guides ferry anglers from fishing hole to fishing hole, ensuring their clients go back home happy. But more people than tourists are happy.

The latest cycle of guides graduated from the Kenai River Guide Academy on Friday, just in time for the July king salmon fishing season.

Since the academy began in March 2006, the mood on the river has improved. The guides know more about the local flora and fauna, they know where they and fellow guides stand in the local economy and also learn how to get along well with other users on the river. Even though a lot of the knowledge new and experienced guides obtain from the guide academy is geared toward the Kenai River, many can take the information they've gained and apply it to other water bodies around the state and the country. They also get a better knowledge of guiding ethics and boating etiquette on the Kenai.

Jack Sinclair, Alaska State Parks superintendent for the Kenai-Prince William Sound area, said requiring guides to attend a week-long immersion course is a huge commitment, but it ultimately makes for a better guiding experience and promotes harmony on the river.

"We've got a more educated and knowledgeable guide cadre starting to develop out there," he said. "Just by bringing these guides and potential guides together has made a more sound body of guides that know a great deal more together about their effect out there. And they make a conscious effort to do better, each and every one of them."

Since the guide academy was made a requirement to guide along the Kenai, complaints against guides have decreased. Sinclair said there were only nine suspensions last season versus 21 three years before.

Before the guide academy began, there was a perception that guides were a little too aggressive and tended to compete against most people out there. Now, Sinclair said, there's a lot more awareness among all the guides about the public's perception of them and how they can change that by being more courteous or more aware of what they're doing out there.

"We've really gone down in suspensions," Sinclair said. "There are less violations that are being detected, and my suspicion is they are doing a better job out there because we do have less of those happening."

So far, 273 Kenai River fishing guides have graduated from the academy. Gary Turner, Kenai Peninsula College director, said 183 academy graduates have guided on the Kenai River, 72 of the 273 graduates are nonresidents and 203 have been residents.

The academy is a five-day intensive course covering everything from anthropology to stream ecology, Turner said. During the last day of the course guides must pass a 100-question multiple choice test and a 30- to 40-minute oral exam.

Instructors include representatives from the Coast Guard, Alaska State Parks and Department of Fish and Game, as well as other guides.

"We're the only one in the nation right now," Turner said. "There are other states that are looking at our course as something they would like to also create.

"The main thing to understand is we don't teach them how to fish. These people should know how to fish," he said.

Even though some guides might consider taking the week-long course a pain, most agree they gain tools and knowledge they're able to apply when they go out on the river.

Annalea Lott, a fishing guide for Krog's Kamp, said the guide academy left her with catch-and-release methods she's able to utilize and impart to her clients.

"I'm a catch-and-release king fisherman," she said. "I always discuss the option of catch-and-release (with) my clients."

Even though guides are only required to take the course once, Lott said she would take it again if she could. Lott, who graduated last year, has been a guide on the Kenai River for four years, and said the things she's learned have made her more comfortable and confident on the river.

"I would like to see more sportfishermen take the course," she said. "I'm very glad that everyone, all the guides, are required to take this class, especially the new guides. It's a necessity."

Jessica Cejnar can be reached at jessica.cejnar@peninsulaclarion.com.