Troopers cite California angler for Monday motorized-boat fishing on Kenai

Alaska Wildlife Troopers cited a California man for fishing from a motorboat on the Lower Kenai River on a day the water is closed to motorized-vessel sport fishing, according to a Department of Public Safety dispatch. Kyle Heising, 65, of Fair Oaks, California, received the summons Monday, July 27. The department posted the dispatch Aug. 10, two weeks after the citation, under case number AK26072885.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations for 2026 close the water between the outlet of Skilak Lake and the Sterling Highway Bridge in Soldotna to sport fishing from any motorized vessel on Mondays from May 1 through July 31, with Memorial Day excepted. The closure does not apply to anglers fishing from nonmotorized vessels. The regulation sets the weekly closure; as a practical matter, it limits which days guides and anglers can fish from motorized boats on that stretch of river during the summer season.

That Monday closure falls within the summer sportfishing season and is one piece of a heavily managed river: king salmon fishing is closed by emergency order through Aug. 15, horsepower upstream of the Warren Ames Bridge marker is capped at 50, and back-trolling is prohibited.

The charge is an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.