Alaska · Arctic char and Dolly Varden (a combined total)
Can you keep a arctic char and dolly varden (a combined total) in Alaska?
Yes, with limits
Kenai River, Lower Mainstem (mouth to Skilak Lake)
Open year-roundSize
Up to 16 inches
total length
Daily bag
1
per person per day, Arctic char and Dolly Varden combined
Possession
1
total you may hold
Same hard 16-inch ceiling as this water's rainbow/steelhead trout rule - grouped separately from trout in ADF&G's own regulations, but numerically identical here.
What we left out on purpose
- King salmon, sockeye, coho, chum and pink salmon all carry real, currently-in-force numbers on this exact stretch (and king salmon fishing is closed in 2026 by emergency order) - none of this is modelled, since this site tracks trout at the Kenai River, not salmon, and salmon regulations here shift by in-season emergency order in a way this schema's season model isn't built to represent.
- Arctic grayling (5/day, 5 in possession, no size limit), burbot (2/day, 2 in possession, no size limit) and invasive northern pike (no limit, live release prohibited) are also listed for this exact stretch but not modelled - out of this site's tracked scope beyond the three species added to satisfy the internal-linking minimum.
- There is a Kenai-Peninsula-wide (and wider Southcentral-area) annual cap of 2 rainbow/steelhead trout 20 inches or longer per calendar year, with a mandatory-harvest-recording requirement - moot for this exact stretch since its own local rule already caps every rainbow/steelhead at under 16 inches, so a legal 20-inch fish can't be kept here in the first place. Not modelled as a separate rule for that reason.
- This entry covers the Lower Kenai River Mainstem only (the zone this site's tracked coordinate falls in). The Middle Kenai, Upper Kenai/Kenai Lake, Russian River and Kenai River tributaries all carry their own separate, sometimes very different numbers (e.g. Russian River sockeye at 3/day with no size limit, or Kenai Lake tributary rainbow trout allowing up to 5/day in stocked lakes) - not modelled since this site tracks the Lower Mainstem specifically.
Other species in Alaska
Where to try today
- Kenai River 5/10 · Decent