Unlike many other rivers in Alaska, where you rarely have a chance to catch a King Salmon weighing more than 30 pounds or so, when you fish the Kenai River you have the very realistic chance to catch a real trophy King Salmon. Trophies are of course measured in different ways. Our children's first King Salmon, regardless of size, were trophies to them and to US! Any King over 50 pounds is worth bragging about, and would make a beautiful mount, and any King over 75 pounds officially qualifies to go in the State of Alaska trophy salmon record books!
75 Pound Trophy Kenai River King Salmon
Mounted by Mike Dinkel, American Trophy Taxidermy (907) 262-7950
When the day comes that you catch YOUR trophy king salmon, you'll want to be prepared to preserve your memories in the form of a trophy mount. Be ready anytime you fish the Kenai River by having your camera, video, tape measure and a scale within reach. Photos and video clips along with measurements of the length, girth and head circumference will be a great aid to the taxidermist making your mount. The photos in particular will help him capture the color and personality of your fish--no two Kings are alike! We also recommend taking your King Salmon directly to the taxidermist if at all possible, in whole form, as soon as possible after catching it so he can take his own measurements and photos as well.
We have one of the best cold water fish taxidermists in the world right here in Soldotna near the Kenai River. American Trophy Taxidermy, owned and operated by Michael and Karen Dinkel offers a complete selection of fish taxidermy services including skin mounts of your fish or reproduction mounts for catch and release fishermen (or for those who already ate the salmon and decided after the fact to get a mount done!).
American Trophy Taxidermy 1-907-262-7950 has 20+ years experience mounting cold water fish such as our giant Kenai River Trophy King Salmon and larger than life Trophy Rainbow Trout. They are especially qualified to present the fish of Alaska which have many unique characteristics including their large size. They are able to offer you a wide selection of presentations for your fish and can ship the finished mount anywhere in the world. Another advantage of having your trophy mounted here in Soldotna is that American Trophy Taxidermy can deliver the meat from your fish to local processors, so nothing is wasted from these beautiful creatures.
If you are in Soldotna stop by and see their fish displays and one of the largest fish taxidermy studios in the state. They are located at 44264 Sterling Highway in Soldotna, Alaska, 99669. Telephone (907) 262-7950.
The exquisite Dolly Varden mount shown above is not a skin mount, nor a fiberglass replica, it is in fact a hand carved wooden replica of a Dolly Varden that Mike Dinkel produced for well-known and avid Rainbow Trout fisherman Steve Larson of Kenai River Log Cabins. Mike donated many of the extra hours it took to produce this magnificent piece of artwork as a unique wedding gift to Steve and his wife Dawn who operate Kenai River Log Cabins and Alaskan Quality Log Homes on the Kenai Peninsula. The rainbow shown below is also Steve's, another fine mount from Mike Dinkel and American Trophy Taxidermy (pardon the photo quality, we'll upgrade it soon!).
A couple of final notes on "record catches": To make the state record books with a trophy King over 75 pounds you'll need to take your fish to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game office here in Soldotna for official scaling and recording or "sealing" as they call it. Also, be aware that while its always best to bleed your salmon immediately after the catch to ensure the highest quality meat, you may want to skip this step if you have a fish entered in a competition or near the state record to ensure maximum weight at the scale.
