Which Kenai the Soldotna gauge is reading
USGS 15266300 sits at Soldotna, below Skilak Lake and above the Sterling Highway Bridge that ADF&G uses as the top of the lower river. It reads the water the sockeye and coho crowds fish, not the fly water up at Cooper Landing. Because two big lakes sit upstream, the number moves slowly and climbs all summer as glaciers melt: the long-term monthly mean is about 1,400 cfs in March, 9,100 in June, 13,800 in July and 14,200 in August, then falls to 7,500 in October. No shop publishes a wading range for Soldotna, so the 7,000 to 15,000 cfs band on this page is simply the June to October run of those monthly means, 1965 to 2025. Above the band, bank fishing for sockeye gets hard because the fish ride the edge you are standing on; below it, you are into late fall trout water.
If you are going to the upper river, look at USGS 15258000 at Cooper Landing instead. Its July and August means are roughly 7,000 and 6,200 cfs, about half what Soldotna carries once the Skilak tributaries have joined.
Kenai Lake to Skilak Lake, drift boats only
ADF&G calls the 17.3 miles from Kenai Lake to Skilak the upper Kenai, and the booklet calls it the Middle Kenai for regulation purposes, which confuses everyone. Access runs down the Sterling Highway: the Cooper Landing boat launch at river mile 83 (Mile 47.5), Cooper Creek Campground at river mile 79, the Russian River Ferry and Sportsman's Landing at river mile 73.5 (Mile 55), and Jim's Landing at river mile 69.5 off Skilak Lake Loop Road. Motors are prohibited year-round from the Skilak inlet up to river mile 80.7, and between Kenai Lake and river mile 80.7 you may not fish from a boat after a motor has pushed it that day. Below Jim's Landing the canyon has Class II and III water that State Parks and ADF&G both warn novices off.
This is rainbow and Dolly Varden water. ADF&G says the best trout fishing is often in fall, when fish are eating salmon eggs and carcasses, and that sea-run Dollies enter in early July and keep coming into September before wintering in Kenai and Skilak lakes. Kenai Fly Fish, a Cooper Landing guide, runs rainbow and Dolly trips from June 11 through November 30 and treats the wild rainbows as catch-and-release only.
The Russian River confluence
The ferry crossing is where the upper river gets crowded. Area A, from the Powerline up to markers just below the ferry, is flies only from June 11 to August 20. Area B, from those markers up to about 300 yards above the Sportsman's Landing launch and including the first 100 yards of the Russian, is closed May 1 to July 14 and flies only July 15 to August 20. A legal fly there is one unweighted, single-hook fly under a quarter ounce with a gap of 3/8 inch or less, and any weight must sit at least 18 inches ahead of it. ADF&G's advice for sockeye is to cast 10 to 15 feet out at about 45 degrees upstream and dead-drift a Russian River fly, Comet or Green Lantern along the bottom.
Skilak outlet to the Soldotna bridge, and below
Below Skilak the river widens for 10.5 miles to Naptowne Rapids, about a mile of boulders that ADF&G tells only experienced boaters to run, and this 19.5-mile middle river is mostly fished by boat from Bing's Landing, Izaak Walton and the other launches. Mondays from May 1 to July 31, except Memorial Day, no one may fish from a boat with a motor on board between the Skilak outlet and the Sterling Highway Bridge.
The last 21 miles, from the bridge to Cook Inlet, are the lower river, and ADF&G says the bottom 12 are tidal. Late-run sockeye enter in early July, peak in late July and are mostly done by late August, with sonar passage above 20,000 fish a day in a good year. Coho show in late July, with the bulk from early August into early October; Vibrax, Pixee and Mepps are the standard hardware. Pinks come back in even years, and ADF&G points to Cunningham Park in Kenai as a place to find them.
2026: kings closed, coho held at two
ADF&G closed the early-run king fishery in the whole drainage from May 1 through June 19, 2026, including catch-and-release, on a forecast of 2,325 large fish, below the 3,900 to 6,600 optimum goal. It then closed the late run below the Skilak outlet from June 20 through August 15 on a forecast of 12,718, which would be the sixth lowest on record. A king hooked by accident may not be lifted from the water. In the upper river the booklet already reads closed to king fishing.
Coho: an August 27 advisory kept the bag at two fish 16 inches or longer through November 30 instead of letting it rise to three on September 1. Coho may be fished from the mouth to Bing's Landing through November 30, from Bing's to Kenai Lake through October 31, and in the Russian through September 30. A coho that size lifted from the water counts against your limit, and anyone who keeps a limit may not fish below the Soldotna bridge again that day. Rainbow and Dolly Varden limits in both the lower and upper sections are one fish under 16 inches, and above Skilak the tackle is one unbaited, single-hook lure or fly all year, with beads pegged within 2 inches of the hook or left free-sliding. The upper section is closed to all fishing May 1 to June 10.