The Rainbow Trout of the Kenai

The Fish That Fly Anglers Cross Continents to See: The Kenai River Rainbow Trout

There is a moment in late August or September on the Kenai River when the salmon are spawning in the crystal shallows and the big Rainbow Trout move in behind them to feast on eggs drifting downstream. In those clear, cold currents, under the long golden light of an Alaska afternoon, you can sometimes see the trout holding — fat, jewel-colored, impossibly large — before they take your fly. The Kenai's Rainbow Trout are not small; fish exceeding thirty inches and six pounds are genuinely possible, and they fight with an energy that belies their reputation as a gentle catch-and-release species. This is the side of the Kenai that most salmon-focused visitors completely miss.