A creel survey to estimate angler effort, and catch and harvest of chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha was conducted on the Kenai River between the Soldotna Bridge and Cook Inlet from 16 May through 4 August 1996. The estimated angler-effort and harvest during the early (May and June) chinook salmon run were 130,180 (SE = 3,914) angler-hours and 4,166 (SE = 290) chinook salmon, respectively. The estimated angler-effort and harvest during the late (July and August) chinook salmon run were 238,495 (SE = 7,285) angler-hours and 5,984 (SE = 404) chinook salmon, respectively. During the early run, the recreational fishery was liberalized, allowing the use of bait, and during the late run the fishery was extended until 4 August in response to a large return. Unguided anglers exerted 51% of the total effort and harvested 31% of the total chinook salmon harvest while guided anglers exerted 49% of the effort and harvested 69% of the total chinook salmon harvest. In the recreational harvest and inriver return, for both runs, predominant age class was age 1.4, followed by age 1.3. The inriver return was 23,505 (SE = 376) chinook salmon during the early run and 53,934 (SE = 1,053) chinook salmon during the late run.