Red Salmon (8 to 15 pounds)
State Record - 16 pounds

Fly rod: Using a fly rod is the easiest way to catch reds - and the most fun. You'll need a 7 weight rod at a minimum - a 9 wt is a better choice. A typical 10 pound red will break 20 lb test like a piece of string. They run, jump and do mid air cartwheels - a lot like hooking a monster rainbow so your drag had best be very good and very smooth.

Bait Cast or Spinning gear: It is a lot harder to fish reds with a spinning rod but some folks just prefer spinning gear. Bait casters are pretty popular and work fairly well. You'll want a medium rod and a good reel that has a bomb-proof drag. It should hold at least 150 yards of 20 pound test.

Reds are hard to hook as they are the least aggressive of all the Salmon. You'll need a few hours with a good guide before you can hook up consistently. Once you get it down, though, you can have 50 fish days!

Luckily the red runs tend to be counted in the millions so you'll have lots of fish to practice on. Most red runs peak mid to late July but on the Kenai there is also an early run in mid June.

Red salmon travel right along the shore line in 3 to 5 feet of water. This means that a fly fisherman wearing polarized glasses can see the fish! The casting distance is short and consequently you don't need to be a great fly fisherman to hook up.

Click on the pictures above to see some of our better fishing pictures  
and learn a bit about each of the species.

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