Darn Seal

The last couple of days I've been fishing Robin and Jeff Argir from Brainerd, Minnesota. Fantastic weather and steady fishing for them.

Jeff came back from the fish processor this morning and said they had nearly 40lbs of fillets. He could catch one more silver before he left for Homer so we went out this afternoon for an hour or two to try our luck. It didn't take too long and Jeff hooked up a nice silver on the Fancy Pants lure. It made a couple of nice runs and we dropped our buoy and chased it down the river. We had the fish about 10 feet from the boat but it decided to head down stream. About 50 yards away I saw a swirl and thought it was his fish. Just then a seal popped it's head up and the line went limp. It knocked the fish off of the line. First time ever.

Most of you could guess the rest of the story. No more bites.

Dirty rotten seal.

Team ABC Seamless

Great weather and a great day for fishing. In the photo from left to right you'll see Steve, Wally, Brian, and Marshall. I can't quite figure out if I should call them Team ABC, Team Minnesota, or Team Raisanen. One thing I know for sure is these boys can flat out fish.

Top of the Food Chain

Last night Jane and I decided to try our luck fishing for silver's. The evening bite is not as consistent as the morning bite but it's the only time that we get to fish together. It was a beautiful evening, we saw a double rainbow, and the fishing wasn't bad. At least it wasn't for Jane. She caught her limit and I netted her fish (felt like a guide trip.....).

When we got back to the dock it was getting dark and a fog was rolling in. I quickly cleaned the fish and we jumped in the car to head home. We saw lights on in a cabin of a guest who was leaving early the next morning. We decided to say our last goodbyes and as we were doing so 50 feet behind the car a big ol' brown bear was casually walking behind the Chinook cabin. Boy, that sure gets the adrenaline pumping. That was the second encounter this summer for me. The first was in July but I didn't actually see the bear. It made it's presence felt down by the dock. He or she left behind muddy footprints and other things that come out of bears (no, I guess it doesn't just happen in the woods).

Now, I don't want to frighten any one about the possibility of bear encounters at the cabins. It is very rare. There are plenty of bears in the area but they are shy and try to avoid people. In fact, most of the time they hear you before you ever see them and they leave. Thank god. Moose, on the other hand, are like pets around here and are habituated to people.

I'm sure glad they're vegetarians.

Silvers Are Coming In Strong

No humorous anecdotes or observations to report but fishing continues to get better. What's nice is the average size is improving. To give credit where it's due, starting at the top and moving clockwise, Bob, Fran and Jane, next it's Konnor, Fred and Kevin, and finally it's Quinn and Steve.

Fishing Update, August 15, 2007

After July 31st there are no more guide hours on the river. Because of this a handful guides are getting out on the river before 5:00 am to secure their "spot". Some days we do this, some days we don't. What I have found through the years is if you don't get your favorite spot right away you'll have to grind it out to get your fish. That is what we did with the Peterson group on 8/15. I had a great time and the fishing was not too bad.

In this picture is Jared and Matthew posing with the days catch. One fish we didn't get a picture of was Jared's 40lb king. King's are a lot of fun when fishing with light tackle. Jared will attest to that.

Silver Update

Here's a photo of the Bennett family with with their silver's caught on 8/12. The fishing is improving daily but we're still a few days away from the peak of the first run. The upcoming week should prove interesting......

Silvers are beginning to show

A quick update on the fishing. The first part of this week the fishing for silver salmon was slow (non existent). We had a lot of activity in the boat because the king salmon, rainbow trout and dollie varden were willing to bite. The old adage that you can't catch what's not here applied to silver salmon but now as the week goes on we're starting to catch a fair amount on each trip. The size has been small but a few have reached 12lbs. The fishing should only get better as August progresses.

The End of the King Season

The king season officially ended July 31st and the photos above are fish taken on that day. Andy Hochmayr is on the left and the Victor family is on the right. Andy has quite the story about his last king of the year. I won't blog about it but you can ask me in person. Let's just say Andy is "Lord of The Rings/Kings." The Victor's put their time in the day before without a fish to the boat. On the last day their three fish came within the last hour of the trip. Once again perseverance and having the right attitude paid off.

Overall the king season was more of a roller coaster ride than I would have liked it to be. July is usually consistent fishing with a fair amount of large fish . Not so this year. Hot and cold and a lot of small fish. The reports that I read in the local newspaper said the fishing was "average" this year. I hope the fall fishing will be a bit better.

To all of you that booked a king trip with me......THANK YOU! Fishing will always be fishing but I hope your experience on the Kenai was an enjoyable one. I can tell you without hesitation that I enjoyed every trip. Many of you have already booked for next year and I know without a doubt that the "trip of a lifetime" will happen again for many of you in the not too distant future.

Well, time to get out my silver salmon gear. Updates will follow as the season progresses.