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If You Fish the Kenai Area, Get This!

Fishing Alaska's Kenai Peninsula by Dave Atcheson Who must have this book: Anyone who fishes the Kenai Peninsula, resident or visitor. Who should have this book: Anyone looking for ideas for an Alaskan fishing trip. ISBN: 0881505501

If there ever was a perfect recipe for an area fishing guide, this is it. Beautiful photos, great maps, fantastic stories that bring the areas to life and just plain great advice. Atcheson, has created the mold that I wish others would copy for other states and regions I fish. He covers the whole gamut of fishing the Kenai Peninsula. He is not exhaustive, he picks a handful of representative locations, fishing styles and target species. Then he gives away his fishing secrets like an old and trusted fishing buddy. In fact in his intro he says the book’s first objective is to tell you where to fish. He claims doing this will improve his fishing Kharma, and I hope it is working.

He doesn’t spell out exactly what hole to drop which lure or fly into, but he does give some great suggestions. He rates each of his locations on fishing quality, scenery, and wilderness experience. And in an area where 90 percent of the fishermen are going to 10 percent of the fishing areas, he gives you some great alternatives to being shoulder to shoulder on the Russian or Kenai. He does cover those areas as well, but he suggests other options like hiking up to the Russian Lakes and fishing their outlets.

Whether you are a tourist planning a trip to the Kenai or a resident of South Central Alaska, you should get this book. It has a lot of great options that get overlooked in the shadow of the Kenai, the Russian and saltwater charters. For example, hiking into a lake with a float tube.

Overview

The book is divided into several sections; planning, lake fishing, river and stream fishing, saltwater and few short pages with recipes. The planning section is very brief, which is fine. The book shines when he blends his personal stories with information on equipment, techniques and locations.

His lake section seems to be unique in its coverage. I have not read any other book on fishing Alaska that has dedicated some much time to lake fishing. Also, he suggests many things that most visiting fishermen do not try, like canoe/portage circuits through the Swan Lakes area. It is obvious that he has looked for many different fishing experiences in the area. Some suggestions are covered more fully than others.

Like I said, this is not the most extensive book in the world, but the sites covered are gems. Many are not the run of the mill spots that show up in every guide. That and the authors personal stories make this a definite winner. If you are going to fish the area, pick this one up.

Author

Dave Atcheson has lived on the Kenai Peninsula since the mid eighties and apparently has made the most of it. He has worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and his writing has appeared in several sporting magazines. I don't know of any other books he was written, but I would welcome one.