Kenai fishing guide faces numerous violations
Published 1:30 pm Thursday, June 11, 2026
A pair of undercover Alaska Wildlife Troopers reeled in a fishing guide accused of over two dozen violations.
Documents filed by the State of Alaska June 4 in Kenai District Court charge Steven Frederick Stuber with 25 counts, including conducting fishing guide services without being registered, breaching the daily limits for halibut and sockeye and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
According to the court filing, Alaska Wildlife Troopers contacted the Alaska Redfish Lodge on April 23, 2025 to book a guided fishing trip. The troopers were later contacted by Stuber to book their trip from Aug. 6 to 9, 2025.
The State contends that upon arrival, the undercover officers were told by Stuber that he could schedule them with a charter, “or if they wanted to get more meat, they could go with him and catch ‘Stuber limits.’” They were told that Stuber limits were anywhere from 30-40 retained halibut, well above the limits in the area of two per person.
After launching from the Ninilchik boat launch with four other paying clients, the State contends that 15 halibut were illegally caught and retained, and Stuber’s 16-year-old son was observed wasting a sport-caught fish when he stabbed a skate several times before discarding it.
The following day, Stuber took the undercover officers up the Kenai River, dropping them off on the bank with his son. Both undercover officers and another man caught their limit of six fish for the day, with Stuber’s son then offering to let them catch his limit. The officers returned to the lodge several hours later and were told by Stuber that he would take them out after dinner to get another limit, according to the court document. The two officers caught an additional 12 sockeye, all over the daily limit. The officers said they observed Stuber’s son cut open a sockeye and use the eggs as bait, in violation of a prohibition on bait.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
