Fishing Report Week Ending 7/13/14

Here's the good and bad of it all.  King fishing is slow and if the numbers don't increase soon we will likely face restrictions.   Red fishing, on the other hand, is starting to ramp up and is getting better every day.

On to the report.  I was idle at the beginning of the week and it wasn't until Thursday that I had my first trip.   The photo above is a nice 25lb king that Bill Gunderson released.  He told me before he got in the boat he didn't want to keep any fish, he only wanted to practice catch and release.   It's amazing how the salmon gods listen to that kind of thinking and for that he was rewarded with the nicest king of the season to reach my boat.

Bill's friend Pete also said he didn't want to keep any fish and he too was rewarded with this king.  Not large, probably 10lbs, but hey, it was a king.  Sorry about the quality of this photo but it's the only one I have.

On Saturday I had the pleasure to get reacquainted with Gary and Tammy.   They booked me for a king trip and after a slow morning on the water I told them we should head down to the mouth of the river and give dipnetting a try (that's one of the many benefits of being an Alaska resident).   It wasn't fast and furious but we managed to get 45 reds.

We also went out on the bank to flip for reds.  Here's a nicely placed circle hook right in the corner of the mouth.   I thank my friend Francis for telling me about the effectiveness of circle hooks.  It sure cuts down on numbers of foul hooked fish

About the week ahead:  I'm on pins and needles.  I'm not worried about the red run at all but hopefully enough kings will find their way to the river to keep our season in tact.  Let's hope the next couple of tide cycles will bring in a few more kings.

See you next week.