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THE ATLAS · AK · FREESTONE

Kenai River

The best month to fish the Kenai River is August. The month to avoid is March. Right now, in August, it is worth going.

  1. January: 61 out of 100
  2. February: 61 out of 100
  3. March: 60 out of 100
  4. April: 61 out of 100
  5. May: 72 out of 100
  6. June: 76 out of 100
  7. July: 76 out of 100
  8. August: 95 out of 100
  9. September: 86 out of 100
  10. October: 74 out of 100
  11. November: 64 out of 100
  12. December: 63 out of 100
AUGUST: GO95/100
WHERE IT IS
LOADING THE MAP…

GAUGE 15258000 · COLOURED BY AUGUST

THE NUMBERS

Month by month

MONTHTYPICAL FLOWRANGE (P20–P80)WATERAIR HIGHRAINSCORE
January775 cfs654–1,07134.8°F61
February652 cfs538–78033.9°F61
March514 cfs418–64433.9°F60
April621 cfs418–80635.9°F61
May2,288 cfs1,937–2,70938.8°F72
June6,328 cfs5,118–6,73743.8°F76
July6,998 cfs6,149–7,62049.3°F76
AugustNOW5,771 cfs5,341–6,59551.9°F95
September5,406 cfs4,049–6,43148.7°F86
October3,833 cfs2,141–4,66243.6°F74
November1,784 cfs1,440–2,56538.6°F64
December1,106 cfs890–1,47136.1°F63
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM

Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 15258000 over 2006-2025. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.

The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.

Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 7755,406 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.

Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.

Regulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.