Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

St. Cloud Sportsmen Show Recap

2012-02-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

The 2012 St. Cloud Sportsmen Show is over and it was a great three days. We were moved into the new civic center this year which greatly improved the flow of the show. In the past the vendors were separated into two halls but now we were all under the same roof. I don't know if it was a combination of being in a new building, the right weather, or a lack of other activities in the area, but this year an attendance record was set. All I know it was a win/win/win for the promoters, vendors, and attendees.

We'd like to thank everyone for stopping by and especially Dan and Mary Meyer for driving all the way from Peoria to hang out with us. Not only did they help us with show, Mary even took a few pictures of the booth for me. Thanks for the photos Mary!

St. Cloud Sportsmen's Show

2012-02-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

The St. Cloud Sportsmen's Show will be held February 10th-12th. This is not a big show but that is exactly why we keep going back year after year. We find it's a great little venue for us to visit with people and share the reasons why we love Alaska so much.

The only day that we have extra tickets available for this show is Sunday. If you're interested in them drop us an email, beavercreekcabins@yahoo.com.

See you there!

New for 2012

2012-01-30T06:41:00.000-08:00

A new alternative for all our guests.

A service that I provide is cleaning your fish. After that, it's always been the clients decision of what to do next. Long time clients know what to do, but new clients always ask, "what do I do now?" My stock answer is to take the filets to Custom Seafood Processors (10 minutes away) and they'll vac, freeze, package, and ship your fish for you. The biggest reason I refer clients to Custom Seafood Processor is that Jane and I simply do not have the time to help people process their fish.

Enter Dave Anderson.

Dave, a Kenai River regular, has a tremendous mind for business and made the suggestion that we should provide a commercial grade vacuum sealer for our clients to use and we should sell the bags at a nominal fee. As the two gentleman would say in the Guiness commercials.......BRILLIANT!

Are we looking to replace Custom Seafood Processor or anyone else that processes fish? Nope. We're just providing an alternative to people who would like to take care of their fish themselves and do so in a professional manor.

The plan this year is to set up a processing station in the shed that houses our chest freezers. Jane and I are excited to make this available for your use in 2012!

Swans on the Kenai Peninsula

2012-01-23T04:23:00.000-08:00

If you are a birder, there's no doubt the Kenai Peninsula is great place to be. There's quite a range of migratory birds and the largest of them all is the swan.

There are three types of swans in the world: trumpeter, tundra, and whooper. The most common, and what you'll find on the peninsula, are trumpeter swans. Although the population is healthy today this has not always been the case. In the early 1900's trumpeter swans were nearly extinct. In 1932 there were only 69 wild trumpeters in the world. Today, through protective measures, there are over 13,000 swans and 80%-85% of them are in Alaska.

Swans pair with mates for life. Females will lay 2 to 7 eggs and as adults a male will weigh up to 28lbs and a female up to 22lbs.

In the fall swans leave their breeding grounds in Alaska and migrate to the western coasts of Canada. After a winter of feeding and growing they will make their return in the spring.

On your drive from Anchorage to Kenai make sure to keep your camera ready. Great viewing places for trumpeter swans are at Potter's Marsh on the Seward Highway (just outside of Anchorage), and Tern Lake at the junction of the Seward Highway and Sterling Highway. Once you're in Kenai an accessible place for swan viewing is at the mouth of the Kenai River along the Bridge Access road.

MN Sportsmen's Show 2012 Recap

2012-01-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

Jane and I just wrapped up our first sport show of the winter in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was a busy weekend, but not just for the sport show. On Saturday the expected attendance for the sport show was 10,000, followed by 15,000 for the Brad Paisley concert, and a whopping 80,000 for the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship. All of these events occurred in a five block area. I took the photo above walking out of the River Centre (where the sport show was held) looking up at Cathedral of St. Paul with the Crashed Ice course in the foreground.Here's another shot of the quarter mile course.

Finally, a shot of the poster advertising the event. As you can see, the Crashed Ice event is a combination of motocross racing and downhill skiing done on hockey skates. This is the first time this event has been held in the United States. Kind of appropriate since Minnesota calls itself "the State of Hockey".

Doing this sport show is always fun. We get to meet people interested in Alaska and we get to visit with a lot of old friends. It was great to have our annual lunch with Peter and we're always thankful for his help at the booth. Also, the last couple of years we've made it a point to go out after the show with Dave, Lory, Al and Fred. We find it more enjoyable to visit with these guys at a restaurant than at our booth. So, Dave and Lory, as if they don't have enough hobbies already, decided to become wine makers and be the next Ernest and Julio of Dayton, Minnesota. We are the lucky recipient of their product (photo above).

The booth has been stored temporarily until our next show in February. Looking forward to seeing more friends at that show as well. Until then....

Ahhhh....fer cute!

2012-01-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

I just watched an hour long program on the National Geographic channel called "Moose: Titans of the North." It mostly dealt with moose in Denali Park and the urban moose in Anchorage. It was informative and the filmography was second to none.

I started thinking about the moose we find on the Peninsula and there's no doubt we have both urban moose and the backcountry moose like the one's found in Denali park. The difference? Generations of urban moose have lived and survived around people and buildings. They can be dangerous, after all they are a wild animal but overall show great tolerance for people, pets, and vehicles. This is just the opposite for moose that are in the bush. They are skittish, often hard to find, and are more protective of their territory.

All the photos above were taken from the window of our cabin...definitely urban moose. You don't ever want to startle a moose, especially a mother and her calf, and this is good reason why you need to be aware of your surroundings when you walk out the door. Credits go to Jane for capturing these "ahhhh, fer cute" moments.

Kenai Profile: Dan and Mary Meyer

2012-01-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

If you've been following this blog since the beginning then you know Dan and Mary Meyer very well. We're coming up on our 1oth season of owning Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service and they have been with each of the ten seasons and sometimes even twice a season.

Dan and Mary live in Peoria, Illinois. After meeting them for the first time I could tell that Alaska was more than just a trip on their "bucket list." It started out as an anniversary, trip of a lifetime gift to themselves and quickly turned into an every year trip. Through the years not only did they fish and sightsee when they were in Alaska but they became interested in real estate. This past fall they finally pulled the trigger and bought property about a half a mile away from our cabins. So, not only have they become good friends, Jane and I can officially call them our neighbors.

One of our highlights of 2011 is pictured above. Dan is fighting the largest king salmon he's ever caught. There are no photos of him holding the fish because it was caught after the king salmon season closed and by law the fish could not be removed from the water. The smile on Dan's face was permanently etched for days. I'm glad Mary, Jane, and I were there to share in his excitement.

One thing that is real evident with these two is they love their family. From their daughters, son in laws, to their grandchildren, you can tell their very proud of them. Everyone would love to have them as grandparents and here is one of the many reasons why. When each of their grandchildren turns 1o years old, grandma and papa bring them up on their own trip to Alaska. How cool is that? Pictured above is Caroline and Alec posing proudly with their Kenai catch. Lucky for us they have more grandchildren which should keep us busy for another ten years (you're next, Ellie).

Dan is one of the most obervant fisherman that I've had in my boat. You can see him above intensely staring down the rod tips looking for a bite. He's pretty good at it. However, there's always a moment in every trip when Dan will let his guard down and be looking away and a fish will hit. "Dan, Dan....fish on!" I think he feels like he's failed because he wasn't watching the rod when the fish bit. Oh, we often catch that fish, but I think Dan feels like he let me or the boat down because he wasn't "on it". It makes me smile thinking about how many times this has happened and how bad Dan feels. Hey, Dan, it's all good.Fisherman are superstitious by nature and Mary is the queen on my boat. She has two fail safe truisms when it comes to catching fish. The first one is that fish will bite when a passing boat wake will rock our boat. Can't argue with that because we certainly have caught a bunch of fish when this has happened. I think it has to do with the the lures going side to side which entices a fish to bite. Not so sure about her second superstition and why it works. Mary is firm believer that eating a Kit Kat bar will trigger a bite. Mary is selfless person and will bring in the boat enough Kit Kat bars to make sure the entire boat will limit out. I think the key to the Kit Kat bar luck is you can only eat one when there hasn't been a bite for awhile. You just can't eat and eat them all day long. It's hard to argue with success of the Kit Kat bar and neither will my waistline:)

Dan and Mary......Jane and I feel very fortunate that you are more than just customers. We value your friendship and look forward to sharing your company.....even if you're Bear fans! See you soon.

Caribou 2011

2011-12-27T06:59:00.000-08:00

Digging through my file of photos from 2011 I sure found an abundance of caribou shots. For me, 2010 was the year of the bear and this year it was the caribou. If you're interested in a more detailed perspective about caribou and the Kenai Peninsula click here.

This photo was taken on Sport Lake road which is just outside of Soldotna.

This is Elvis, the King, taken near Mud Island on the Kenai River. I wish it wasn't raining and overcast because it's not often you get a glimpse of Elvis.

The photos above and below were taken near the Pasture on the Kenai River. This is a high traffic area for viewing caribou on the river.

It will be interesting to see what 2012 will bring for big game viewing. If I were a betting man the easy money would be on moose.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

Coho Ho!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Jane and I would like too wish all our friends and family a joyous season.

Sport Show Season 2012

2011-12-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars. Jane and I will be at the MN Sportsmen's Show, Rivercenter, St. Paul, Minnesota on January 12th to the 15th. We will also be at the St. Cloud Sportsmen's Show, St. Cloud, Minnesota from February 10th to the 12th. Details for each show can be found at www.cenaiko.com.

We have a limited number of tickets available each day so if you're interested in stopping by drop us an email. Tickets will be given out on a first come first served basis and when they're gone, they're gone. See you then!

How To Cure Salmon Eggs

2011-11-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of excellent fisherman on the Kenai River and a big key to their success is their bait. I watch guys like Mack Padgett, Will Jahrig, and Greg Davis (The Beaver Creek All Stars) consistently catch fish when others don't and it's not hard to figure out that they have the "right stuff". Sure they're savvy and know the river well but without a doubt they know how to cure eggs and that sets them apart from other fisherman. In this post I will explain the egg curing process I use and hopefully, in turn, help increase your overall fishing success. I happen to be on the pro staff for Pro Cure and favor their products but there are quite a few commercially made egg cures on the market and they're all very good. Besides Pro Cure there's Pro Glo, Pautzke, Cure All, Nitro, and Nate's Bait, to name a few. How to use their products are easily explained on their labels but like most recipes there's a certain amount of "tweaking" that can be done. Before a cure is used, in my opinion the most important step of the egg curing process happens before the cure is used and that is TAKING CARE OF YOUR EGGS. What I mean by this is after you catch a female salmon you need to bleed it. This is as simple as cutting one of the gill rakers and this takes a short amount of time to do. If you don't do this blood will pool around the eggs and the potential for contamination increases. This is a significant, after all, salmon smell in parts per billion and a contaminated egg will not get bit. Notice how clean the eggs look in the photo above. They came from a properly bled salmon.

After the eggs are bled, the next important step is to remove the eggs as soon as possible and start the curing process. One of my very successful guide friends says he won't cure and egg that has been dead for more than 6 hours. Sometimes this is not possible but I do use this as a general rule. Anyway, I remove the eggs from the salmon using latex gloves and place them on a clean surface. Once again, this is all about contamination. In the photo above you can see I'm using a garbage bag on top of my fish cleaning table. Next, I'll use a scissors and cut the eggs, making sure that there is enough skein (skin) to keep the individual eggs attached. Depending on what salmon I'm targeting the size I cut the eggs will vary. For king salmon it's the size of a golf ball, and for silver salmon it's the size of a quarter. Some people cure the whole skein but I find that the cure works into the egg better when they're cut to size and, in addition, it saves me an extra step of not cutting bait when I'm out fishing.

Next, I place the eggs in a gallon zip lock bag filling it about a fourth of the way up. At this point I add about 3-4 ounces of egg cure. If you want to "tweak" your eggs with additional scent this is the time to do it. You could wait until after the eggs have cured but I have found that the adding scent at this point allows absorption into the egg much better than applying topically later. Secret scents that are added include anise, garlic, or Pro Cure products such as Monster Bite or Kenai Cocktail. After your eggs are combined with cure and scent in a zip lock bag seal the bag leaving plenty of air inside and shake gently. Make sure to get the cure spread throughout all the eggs. Write the date the eggs were cured and if you used any scent other than the cure make sure to write that down as well. Place the bag in a refrigerator. After the first day flip the bag upside down. On the next day flip it back upright and on the third day flip it back down. Flipping the bag allows better absorption of cure and scent into the egg. Eggs cured this way could be used after a day, but they'll be wet. I find that three days is the perfect amount of time for a drier egg. Make sure to use these eggs within 10 days or freeze them (to be used later). Through trial and error I have found that after 10 days mold will appear and that is a recipe for a no fish day. So, that's it. This is how I do it. There are plenty of other ways to cure eggs (jar method, air dry method) but I have found this process works well for me . It's fast and convenient. Whatever method you use or cure try not be set on just one scent or color. On different days, different conditions, different times of the season salmon will show a marked preference for different cures and colors. Bring several different cured eggs when fishing and let the fish tell you what they want. Another thing that will improve your odds: make sure to change your bait often. I find the more bait I use the more I get back!Let me finish this post with this thought. Years ago I was taught how to cure eggs from a long time guide and through time have found the method taught to me was not very good. Back then I would start out each trip fishing both eggs and sardine wrapped kwikfish and after getting bit a couple of times on kwikfish would conclude that the fish didn't want eggs that day. However, always a keen observer on the water, what I thought was a kwikfish bite would be dispelled by the fact that I would notice certain boats who fished nothing but eggs consistently catching fish. I'm not shy when it comes to asking questions about fishing and luckily a few of these guys shared with me their knowledge about curing eggs. Taking in all the information I could, I found my catch rate improved dramatically . During this learning curve I found it ironic that the more freely a fisherman shared information with me the more confident they were are about catching fish. In other words, a tight lipped fisherman seemed to be afraid if others found about "their secrets" they'd lose their edge and never be able to have the same success again. So, here's paying it forward and sharing some of my guiding secrets. I hope what I've learned will help you have a more successful day on the water.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

Food, family, and football. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Kenai Rainbows

2011-11-15T12:28:00.000-08:00

Bet you thought this post was going to be about rainbow trout. See, I'm not always about fish, I do have a soft side too, but you won't see me posting pictures of unicorns and ponies.
Both of these photos were taken in September. Photo one is near Eagle Rock and photo two is taken from our dock. If you're an admirer of rainbows there's no doubt that September is the best month.

Alaska Marine Highway System: Part 4, Prince Rupert, B.C.

2011-10-18T15:32:00.001-07:00

The Inside Passage is a protected waterway which is perfect for a person like me who is prone to seasickness. This is why I guide on a nice calm river.....However, there is one stretch between Ketchikan and Prince Rupert that is not protected by islands. As we passed through this area the ship definitely experienced a little bit of "rock and roll." It wasn't enough for my to feel queasy or to reach for the Dramamine. It was just enough for me to realize that how wonderful and smooth 95% of the trip was.

So, our final port of call was to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. It is known as the "Gateway to Alaska." I'm sure Canadians prefer to think of it as northern British Columbia's land, air and sea hub. It's definitely a bustling town with many fine restaurants and hotels. For some reason I thought Prince Rupert would be a dirty industrial, pulp mill kind of town, like so many towns in western Canada, so I was impressed with what I saw. It sure seems that I could spend several days here. This is probably in part due to the fact that that the Skeena River is here. The Skeena is a world class river known for its king salmon and steelhead run. My timing was off to fish this time, but next time......So, that's it. The end of our 34 hour Alaska Marine Highway excursion through southeast Alaska and northern Canada. I feel pretty comfortable that at our next sport show I can present this part of the state in an intelligent way (more than just book smart). It was definitely worth it for Jane and I to take this trip and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Alaska Marine Highway System: Part 3, Ketchikan

2011-10-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

After we left Juneau, the M/V Taku made stops in Petersburg (Little Norway), and Wrangell. Considering the stops were made in the middle of the night I chose to sleep in my comfortable two berth cabin. We arrived in Ketchikan mid morning to load and unload passengers and vehicles. We only had an hour off of the ship so Jane and I decided to take a short walk around the harbor area. Definitely another beautiful Alaska coastal town.

Here's a view of Ketchikan as we came into port. What I noticed the most was the whirlwind of boats and floatplanes. Unlike Haines, Ketchikan is definitely not a a sleepy little town. People seemed to be in a hurry to get to somewhere and fast. Maybe there was a "hot bite" going on. Not an unreasonable conclusion considering Ketchikan has the title of "Salmon Capital of the World".

So after our brief stop in Ketchikan the last leg of our ferry trip took us out of Alaska and down to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. My final post will be about this gorgeous town.

Alaska Marine Highway System: Part 2, Juneau

2011-10-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

After a beautiful four hour boat ride we arrived in Juneau. We spent the night and spent part of the next day traveling around the 45 miles of highway in and around our capital (population 30,500). Juneau is definitely different than I imagined and I mean that in a good way. The highlight of the stop was having breakfast with an old college roommate of mine from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Mark Stopha. We've kept up with each other off and on by email but the last time I actually saw Mark was just before he left on a Peace Corp mission to Sierra Leone in 1986. Naturally, 25 years later neither one of us has aged a bit. Ha!

In the afternoon we boarded the M/V Taku. This vessel can handle 370 passengers, 69 vehicles, and has 44 two to four berth cabins. It's was much larger than the M/V Taku and I'm sure it has to do with the fact that it's a 30 hour trip from Juneau to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Before leaving port we asked a man from Chile if he would take our picture. Not the best lighting but it's from the 7th deck (solarium) of the ship.

As we left Juneau I took a picture of the only glacier that we saw on the whole trip. This is the Mendenhall Glacier and it is known as Juneau's "drive up attraction." I guess I was expecting to see more glaciers on our ferry trip but the Alaska Marine Highway System is all about efficiency and how to get from one port to another as quickly as possible. What I didn't realize is if you want to see glaciers you need to travel to side bays and arms along the way. This is what cruise ships like Princess and Holland America specialize in. Nonetheless, this is not a "deal breaker" and by no mean was I disappointed with the scenery along the ferry route.

One last photo from Juneau before I move on to the next port of call. This is facade of the State Capital building in downtown Juneau. Much, much smaller than what I'm use to seeing on Channel 2 news.

Alaska Marine Highway System: Part 1 Haines

2011-10-18T10:06:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, Jane and I spend part of our winter working at sport shows promoting our business. The reality of working the sport show circuit is that we talk about all of Alaska and not just what we do. So, after years of "acting like experts" about Southeast Alaska and the Inside Passage we thought it was high time that we actually visited this area of the state. There are two ways to visit this part of Alaska: by plane or by boat. We decided to drive our vehicle to Haines, Alaska and get on a ferry and travel the Alaska Marine Highway System. The Alaska Marine Highway System has 11 vessels that travel over 3500 nautical miles. On an annual basis the ferry's accomodate over 300,000 passengers and 100,000 vehicles. Pictured above is the is M/V LeConte which we boarded for a 4 hour ride to Juneau. The vessel can accomodate 300 passengers and 34 vehicles.

We purposely arrived in Haines several hours before departure so we could explore. All I can say is what a great little town. We aren't the only one's who think that way. The writers of Outside magazine ranks Haines among the ten most desirable small towns in America.

I thought the Kenai Peninsula had quite a few bald eagles but the Chilkat Valley (Haines) has the largest congregation of bald eagles in the world. I don't know who counts the eagles but the population is estimated to be 3,500.

We stopped at the Haines Visitor Center to find out what else we should see while we were in town and we were told if we wanted to see brown bears we needed to drive down to the end of the road to Chilkoot Lake/River. I'm sure glad we did.

There were three brown bears working on the last few remaining chum salmon entering the river. It could easily be their last meal before a long winter of hibernation.

Just to give you an idea of how close we could view these bears, that's Jane's elbow in the upper left corner of the photo. This is the closest that either one of us has been to a brown bear and I'm not sure I'd want to be any closer.

After our bear viewing we boarded the M/V LeConte for a short 4 hour trip to Juneau. In my next post I will tell you about our time in Juneau.

The Dock is In

2011-10-03T12:12:00.001-07:00

People often ask how we take our dock out. It's pretty simple. Wait for a really large tide, disconnect the floating section from the permanant wood section and then float it up to higher ground and let it sit there until spring. It takes all of five minutes to do this.
This is what the wood dock looks like when there's a 25 foot tide. As you can see, half of it is underwater.
And, this is what the front yard looks like when we experience a 25 foot tide. Simply amazing.

Final Fish Report--Week Ending 10/2/11

2011-10-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well, the 2011 fishing season is officially over for me. I had a single trip this past week and the fishing was definitely on the slow side. Pictured above are Matt, Pat, Mike and Jake. Even though the weather and the fishing were marginal, their attitudes were definitely the highlight of the day for me. Thanks guys for ending my guiding season on such a positive note.

I did get a chance to go out and fish several times on my own this past week. Here's Jane posing proudly with a 15lb silver. On this particular day the weather was a bit cool but not raining. Jane asked if we could go out and see if there were any fish around. There were, we caught our limit, and the best part of the afternoon was the fact we were the only boat out on the lower river. It's times like these that make the Kenai River magical. I'm sad to see it end.....

Well, that's a wrap. You won't see a current Kenai River fishing report until May of 2012. Make sure to check the blog often because I plan to post on a weekly basis. Thanks for reading!

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/25/11

2011-09-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Part two of the Joe and Ron show. The beginning of the week the fishing remained hot but by Thursday the boat limit streak ended. I don't think that Joe and Ron seemed to mind having an off day and a half on the water. It's kind of hard to be upset with the fishing when the total silver catch for the both of them was 37. Joe summed it up well: you take what the river gives you. Indeed.....the Kenai was very generous to these two.

So, after struggling on Thursday I was a bit nervous about fishing Team ABC Seamless on Friday. It was me afterall that cancelled their trip a couple of weeks ago due to poor conditions and told them to come back down when the fishing improved. Talk about putting my neck on the line. Anyway, there's no doubt the old saying that "everyday is a new day" definitely held true for us. It was great morning of fishing as you can see on the faces of Tanner, Wally, Nate and Jeff.

The next day Wally opted out and perhaps that extra rod would have made a difference in getting the boat limit (I know Wally thinks that). We sure had plenty of opportunities to get all our fish but wound up being a couple short. I think 19 silvers boated for Team ABC Seamless over two days is pretty good fishing. Since Jeff limited out first both days I know he sure thinks so.

This last photo is for Tanner's mom and dad, Steve and Sherri Collette. It's hard having your son being so far away but after spending a couple of days in the boat with him I'm glad to report he's doing just fine. My guess is you'll have to come up to see him because I don't think he wants to leave any time soon.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/18/11

2011-09-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Usually the first photo on the blog is a fish picture but it wasn't too hard for me to decide to use this one. This photo was taken Thursday at 7:00am and it's a silhouette of a golden eagle with the moon in the background. This is another great example of never knowing what you'll see on the Kenai.

So on to the important stuff. The silver salmon fishing this past week has been the most consistent of the whole season. There wasn't a day that the boat didn't limit out and usually it was in time for a hot breakfast. The photo above is Joe Schnitzler and Ron Perez with their limit.

Here's another photo of Joe and Ron with their fish. I could post more photos of these guys because they fished four days with me but I figure two is enough. Next week you'll see more photos from Team Joe & Ron because they have three trips booked next week.

A great morning with Team Polycom/ACS (the group photo was taken after I filleted two fish). This is the second year these guys have worked in a fishing trip on the Kenai and although it wasn't a pink year I think they had just as much fun if not more. They certainly liked the fact that they could keep three salmon apiece.

Finally, here are Matt and Phil with their catch. It was a cold morning but the fishing sure made us forget about the temperature. Ending the trip on a double didn't hurt either.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/11/11

2011-09-09T11:12:00.001-07:00

The beginning of the week the fishing was fantastic. However, by mid day on Wednesday the river took a turn for the worse. Rising water levels and reduced visibility forced me to make a decision and I chose to cancel my trips scheduled on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Luckily I was able to reschedule most people for later in the month, this is good, and the group that I couldn't I sent them to a friend who guides on the Kasilof River. The rain has not affected the Kasilof nearly as bad as the Kenai and it makes for a great second choice. On to the report.The top photo is Gwen's husband Billie. If you recall from a previous post the banana mojo seemed to keep the fish off of Billie's line. Well, it was a bit different this time. Billie and Gwen were on their way back from Kodiak and decided to fish another day on the Kenai, sans the bananas. It was a good choice. The photo above is Billie, Gwen, April and Duane.

Here are the last two fish caught this past week. Duane had a bite and set the hook. April grabbed her rod and as she was reeling in she said that she had one on too. Good thing I brought two landing nets because we needed them both. It sure was a great way to end the day (see you guys soon!).

If you're a regular follower of this blog you're probably getting sick of seeing these two posing with fish. They can't help it if they like to fish. As always, great fun in the boat with Dan and Mary Meyer. It's sad to see them go and next year can't come soon enough.

The week ahead should be better than the previous week. As I write the water levels are dropping and visibility is improving. I hope our biggest obstacle is keeping the seals away from our fish!

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/4/11

2011-09-05T14:17:00.001-07:00

For most of the week the silver salmon fishing has been below average. Sunday, however, we were back to limiting out the boat. Hopefully, that will be an indicator for the the week ahead.

Pictured above are Kim, Taylor and Tanner Larson. I've known Kim for many years and he is good, good, friend of mine. He's been up to Alaska several times but this was the first time he was able to bring his kids with him. Fishing was a bit slow the day they were here but you would never know it by the smile on their faces.

Here's Tanner trying to get inside the mind of the fish. Good luck. Hey Tanner after fighting that fish I might want a refund for my tickets to the gun show! Actually, you did a nice job of reeling that fish in. Soon you'll be ready to tangle with a Kenai king salmon.

Here's the Beaver Creek All Star Team. Pictured from left to right is Duane, April, Mary, and Dan. Always a lot of fun to be in the boat with these guys.

Here's Judy "Nanook of the North" and her husband Bob posing with their catch. Judy had the hot seat two days in a row. I think it's her parka that made the difference.

I think the week ahead should better overall. The local fish biologist said that he predicts that the peak of the second run of silver salmon should start some time around September 7th-10th. Hope he's right.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/28/11

2011-08-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the week the silver fishing remained hot, but by the end of the week it slowed considerably. We still caught fish but not everyone caught their limit. Pictured above is Team New Hampshire (John, Jack, and Richard). You can obviously tell that Jack caught the largest one of the day.

Pictured above is Gwen of "Team Banana". On Sunday I was fishing Gwen and Billie and the bite in the morning was steady. Mid morning Gwen reached for a snack and pulled out a banana. Oh boy, the dreaded banana. For a couple of hours we didn't have a bite and then Gwen hooked on to this 15lb beauty. She said "so much for bananas". After that I wish Billie would have brought one because he didn't get another bite.

It's the ninth year that Dan and Mary Meyer have been coming to our place. There's always a certain mojo in the boat (Kit Kat bars?) when they show and the fish sure seem to cooperate for them.

Here's the morning results for Vern and Nancy Gulliksen, Jane, and Lars. We sure enjoyed our time with the Gulliksen's and after purchasing property nearby we can now officially call them neighbors.

Here's Ron of Team BP. The other guys in the boat didn't want to be in the photo so that only makes me believe that there might be an outstanding warrant or two out for them. Ha! Just kidding. I had a blast spending the day on the water with Team BP and hope to see them again.

We are in the middle of some very large tide cycles this week and based on how the last couple of days fished I'm thinking that we'll have to put our time in to catch our fish. Every day is new so it should be interesting.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/21/11

2011-08-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hi ho silver! What a great week of fishing. Lots of silvers kept and lots of silvers released. The picture above is a father/son moment of Mac and me fishing the Kenai in the evening. Mac is on his way to college this week so it was nice to spend time in the boat with him. No doubt the kid has the Holtan luck.

Here's Lars Ohlin with a nice Kenai silver. This is the fourth year that Lars has been coming to the Kenai. For a young man he sure is becoming an old pro.

Verne and Nancy pose with a quick morning limit. They're scheduled to fish with me a couple of more times this coming week and regardless of the bite their attitude will make the day an enjoyable one.

Here's Myron, Dan, Ken and Tim proudly showing off their morning's catch.

Lars and Team Lehtola had no problems reeling in their fish. I think all the Minnesota blood in the boat proved to be too irrestible to the fish.

I think the week ahead should be steady fishing. Some days better than others but nonetheless it should continue to be very good.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/14/2011

2011-08-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

Fishing this past week was a little bit like the weather....sometimes hot, sometimes not so hot. All in all it was a great week to be on the water. Pictured above are four girl scouts that I fished in Senator Lisa Murkowski's Jr. Classic fishing tournament. Hey girls, thanks for the Tagalongs!

Not to be out done is Eagle Scout troop 389 from Mahtomedi, Minnesota. No doubt we had to work for these fish but it was a lot of fun hearing about what these guys have done in Alaska and what they have left to do.

Team Beavers from Oklahoma (two "outsiders" from Colorado came as well) proudly display their catch. It was a terrific day on the water but not quite as fast and furious as their saltwater trip the day before. Glad I could slow things down a bit for you so you could recover.

It was great to fish with Minnesota Dave and Missouri Dave once again. Great guys who make my day really enjoyable. Hope to see them again during the pink/silver run next year.

Finally, Bob and Sue Slaybaugh hold up a couple of nice silver salmon. Great weather and as they would say in Nisswa, "pretty good fishing".

The week ahead should be much like this past week. An early morning bite and then living and dieing with the tide cycles. Should be fun and challening.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/7/11

2011-08-08T13:15:00.001-07:00

The guided silver salmon season officially began on Tuesday, August 2nd. It was less than stellar. Let's just say on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we caught more trout than we did silver salmon. As my dad would remind me, "you can't catch what's not there."

However, on Saturday and Sunday the fishing improved dramatically. The fish were "there". The photo above is Dean and Nancy posing proudly with their fish.

Here's Toby kneeling next to the fish that he caught with his brother-in-law Ron. Toby will quickly point out that they caught more fish but decided to let 'em go so they could spend more time on the water. It's always fun to make it a day on the Kenai.

Here's Ron posing with a 14.5lb silver salmon. Very large for this time of year and it surprised the both of us when it came to the net.

Decided to add a photo of our silver salmon bycatch. Here's a beautiful 20" lower Kenai River rainbow trout.

Based on how the king fishing ended, the first week of silver fishing was as I anticipated.....sketchy. From here on out until September I expect the fishing to be consistent.

A Few Extra July Photos

2011-08-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post a few photos from the last ten days of July. Above is Susan with her "little" king. She was the first person in the boat and she was the first person to catch a fish that day. Do you think she was excited?

Here's Tony and Shelby with a mess of red salmon.

Gene is holding a nice red salmon he caught back bouncing for kings.Nothing but trouble for these three guys. Nice job on the reds, Bill, Dave and Carey.

It was interesting that when Wayne jumped in the boat he had to pull out a photo of a king he caught with me three years ago. Although this one didn't match the 58lber he caught back then, it was an impressive fish to catch without bait. The man is a perfect two for two on the Kenai. I told him he's on a roll and he needs to pack up and head to Vegas....

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/30/11

2011-07-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

Fish naked.

A couple of years ago Brett Johnson coined this phrase. In the middle of July during the peak of the king season the bite was on and Brett said, "I don't want any eggs on my hook, I want to fish naked." He was feeling it and in the middle of all the bait being fished in the river his bare spin 'n glo lands him a 56lb king. This past week we had no choice but to fish naked. You know what, through hard work, perserverance, and a lot of luck the bite was pretty good.

The photo above is my good friend Kathy Ingram. This fish measured 50"x30.5" and weighed in at 63lbs. This fish was the largest landed in my boat this summer and in her many years of king fishing it was the largest one for Kathy. It couldn't have happen to a nicer lady. By the way, thanks Peg for the nice assist.

Here's the Ragin' Cajun Gary Smith with a nice 39lb hen. I'm not so sure Gary was a fan of the color pink but when this fish hit his spin 'n glo he became color blind.

Here's Chris, Benjamin, and Davis with 3 nice fish all in the 30lb range. These fish came on the last afternoon trip of the king season and the only way it could have been better is if Paige would have gotten one too.

Dave Sporrer holds up a respectable king caught two minutes into the morning. If I had any disappointments this past week it's that the the Sporrer clan came up a little short this year king fishing. Oh, they more than made up for it with red salmon, but there's nothing like seeing Sarah, Amy, Ursula, David, Bill, Susan, or Carey wrestling with a large Kenai king. They all had bites and opportunities, and the did catch a few, but it just wasn't in the cards this year. A note to Susan.....I can only post a few photos at a time so I'll use yours next week.

Here's Team Xtratuf showing off their 35lb hen. That's Bob on the left, Trent who caught the fish in the middle, and Mike Hoops on the right. These guys were on their way to Kodiak and worked in an afternoon trip on the Kenai.

The 2011 Kenai king season is officially over and starting next week I begin fishing for silver salmon. A few silvers were caught last week but my educated guess is the fishing will be good but the catching will be somewhat difficult.

A final thought on the king season. I'd like to thank all of you who chose to hire me a a guide this past year. The Kenai was difficult, very good at times, and not so good other times. One thing that was constant every day is I enjoyed spending time with the people that were in my boat. Seeing a beautiful Kenai king is great but you are the reason why I love doing what I do.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/23/11

2011-07-25T14:25:00.001-07:00

Fishing this past week was up and down. There would be a little flurry of activity and then nothing for hours on end. There's no doubt that the people who fished full day trips had more "catching" success than the half day trips.

The photo above is Jeff "Long Live the Kings" Provost releasing a nice hen. Jeff and his wife Christie caught and released king salmon on every single trip. It was a lot of fun fishing with them and I look forward to seeing them again next year.

Andy Hochmayr is pictured above with a 42lb hen he caught in the Pasture. Glad Andy kept the hook in this fish because on his prior bite he set the hook so hard the sinker and the wing on the spin 'n glo came off his line. A lot of power and adrenaline in this guy but his smile says it all..."you didn't get away this time!" Andy was up with Trevor Millerbernd and after a two year absence and it was great to fish with them again. The only thing missing was Tony and hopefully he'll be back next go 'round.

Here's Gene Miller, Mike Stacken, and Dick Miller posing with their half day catch. Father/son moment number one this past week. Gene released two smaller kings this day and tried to outdo the "kids" in the group. Unfortuntately, the only keeper Gene caught was a red salmon. We tried real hard to get Ben in the group photo but four bites with none landed kept him on the other side of the lens.

Father and son moment number two this past week. Here's Gary and Jason Smith after a morning trip. Nice action and lively conversation made the time go by fast.

Finally, father and son moment number three. Here's Chris and Trevor proudly showing off their catch. I've had many father/son moments on the Kenai with my dad and with my son so it's always fun to be part of this experience.

So, the week ahead will be challenging. The red fishing should continue to be white hot, but the king fishing does not look promising. Due to lower than expected returns, the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game has issued an Emergency Order (EO) restricting the use of bait for king fishing until the end of season (July 31st). I expect we'll continue to catch kings, as you can see on the blog we do fine in May and June without bait, but the action will be below the normal final week of the king season.

Always the optimist, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good king numbers and for good weather for the week ahead.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/16/11

2011-07-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

This past week has been the most consistent king bite on the Kenai. We've been working the tidal area from the Crossover to the Pasture on a daily basis. Most fish have been caught on a spin 'n glo with eggs with a few caught on kwikfish with a sardine wrap. Pictured above is Arne, Jim and Mike with their Super Tuesday limit of kings.

Here's Jeff and Christy releasing a nice Kenai king. This is one of three they caught and released on Saturday afternoon. They told me they would get all the red salmon they need in the week ahead and just wanted to catch and release. Good for them and long live the the kings!

Here's Joe, Butch, and Jigs of "Team St. Paul" posing after a successful afternoon of fishing

Mike Stacken bounced out a nice king early Saturday morning. Mike was definitely due to score first.

Wally and Lisa (visibly happy and pregnant) show off a "quitting time" fish. The two hadn't had a bite all afternoon and with less than 5 minutes left in the day this beauty hit.

I anticiapate the week ahead to be strong. We are definitely hitting the peak of the second run of kings.

One last comment, the red salmon have hit the river in huge numbers. Let the madness begin.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/9/11

2011-07-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

The fishing this past week was steady. The best bite was either in the morning or with the incoming and outgoing tide. Most of the fish caught in my boat have come at the Crossover or Mud Island. Pictured above is Bill and Terry with a couple of nice fish caught on a spin 'n glo with egg and a sardine wrapped kwikfish. I didn't post Terry's second fish but he is officially tagged out for the season. Not bad, two trips, two Kenai kings.Here's lovely Jane (my bride) with a nice king caught on Sunday. This fish fell victim to a chrome and chartreuse kwikfish. Jane managed to catch this fish on her second troll and it took plenty of muscle to get it to the net.

Here's Phil with his king. The last time I fished with Phil was a couple of years ago. He was proud to tell me that he's batting a thousand when fishing kings with me.

Here's picture of Nikki Crawford with the largest fish she has ever caught. Glad I could be a part of it.

Like Nikki, here's Everardo with the largest fish he has ever caught. Team Apple Valley one upped Team Woodbury but I have a sneaky suspicion that they'll all be back to try it again. I had a great afternoon fishing with these guys.

For the week ahead I expect the king bite to improve. And, for you red fisherman, a few reds are starting to show so it will be a matter of time before all mayhem breaks loose.

Tight lines!

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/2/11

2011-07-03T14:49:00.001-07:00

The first part of last week the Kenai was closed to the use of bait. Inconsistent best described the fishing. One day there would be a decent bite and the next day was not so good. That all changed when the "no bait" restriction was removed on July 1st. There's no doubt the first day of bait was the best day of fishing to date. Many boats caught multiple king salmon. July 2nd was a good day as well but not quite as hot as the day before.

Pictured above is Tony Brown with a nice 48lb king salmon.

Here's a photo of Greg Maas with a 40lber. It only took him 4 misses before this one finally stayed on the hook.

In between the fishing action the wildlife viewing was great this past week. It's not often that I see a bull caribou on the river but it was as if this one wanted to get it's picture taken. We were in the middle of a troll and this one jumped in the river and swam right in front of our boat.

And, here's a bear track along the river bank next to our dock. That is as much as I want to see of a bear at 5:00 am.

Even though we are in between the first and second run of king salmon, for the week ahead I anticipate the bite to be consistent with a mix of small and large fish.

Fishing Report Week Ending 6/26/11

2011-06-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

Fishing was fair this past week. There's no doubt that you had to put your time in to catch a king. Every day we landed a fish and some days we caught two. There's been no consistency with the bite. Some times it happened in the morning, sometimes during the afternoon. Other days it would be on the incoming tide and then the next it was the low tide. One day all the action would be on a spin 'n glo and the next it was kwikfish. A bit frustrating but at least everyone stayed interested until the very end.

One thing that has been nice is the size of the fish. The photo above is Kasey with a 50lb buck.

Here's Kasey's brother in law, Eric, with a nice 30lb hen.

Here's Judy struggling to lift a nice 30lb hen.

Finally, here's Karl with a 28lb buck.

This next week I anticipate the bite to be about the same. However, on July 1st the Kenai opens to bait and the action, whether trout or salmon, should be the best of the year.

One last thing. Charlene gets the "Atta Girl" award for spending three days in the boat without a bite. That hasn't deterred her in the least and she said she is coming back to do it all over again.

She Said Yes!

2011-06-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday, June 21st, the summer solstice, a "first" happened in my boat. Eric Taylor and Holly Mower were fishing with me and during our backtroll near Eagle Rock Eric proposed to Holly. Eric, on one knee, gave Holly a ring and she said "Yes!" Here they are pictured above soon after the proposal. We were basking in the glow of what just happened and continued our troll down to Eagle Rock. I spied these two seagulls sitting on the rock watching our boat. I thought why not take a picture of these lovebirds to commemorate what just happened. Very nice symbolism of the finest kind.

Just after we pass Eagle Rock who do you think gets a bite? Holly of course. This bruiser weighed in at 45lbs and took about 20 minutes to land.

Could it get any better than this? Well, on the very next troll guess who else catches a king? Eric does. Being a gentleman, Eric doesn't want to upstage the bride to be so he catches one a little smaller. Pretty interesting that we were fishing for about 8 hours without a bite and just after the proposal was made and accepted we catch two kings.

Holy moly, what great luck. So, does anybody else want to increase their chances of catching a Kenai king? I'm just sayin'.........

Father's Day/Fishing Report 6/19/11

2011-06-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all.

This is special fishing edition and tribute to fathers and sons. This past week I had the pleasure of fishing Joe and Rafael Schnitzler. These guys usually come up later in the year but made an early trip this season before Rafael begins his training in London with Deutsche Bank. We had a great day on Wednesday and these guys had their fish by 6:45 in the morning. Always a great time catching up with these two and I look forward to Joe's return visit in September.

Here's another father/son moment enjoyed in Alaska. Digging clams can be fun but cleaning clams is another thing. Several hours into cleaning I can't believe these guys are still smiling.

Here's Mark and Lori with their fish caught on Saturday. I had a great time with these two and I'm glad I could be part of their "trip of a lifetime." Biggest fish for both of them, ever! It was nice to get a limit on the 18th and continue the standard set by my good friend George French and his family......thanks as always, Dad.

On Thursday Jeremy caught this scrappy Kenai king.

.....and, his buddy Darin hoists one up as well.

All in all the fishing was fair this past week. Not everyone caught fish but most at least had a bite. Sorry Dan and Temeka Brom, and Dan Meyer. Great attitudes don't always mean fish in the box. Oh well, at least I know that you guys will have another opportunity to get even this year. Eric and Charlene, you guys get another chance on Tuesday.

What do I expect for next week? The tides are starting to ebb, this is good, so I expect the bite to be steady and show an improvement.

Only time will tell.

Fishing Report Week Ending 6/12

2011-06-13T15:27:00.001-07:00

This past week was very interesting. Let me start out by thanking our neighbors, Mack and Carol Padgett, for sending me this photo of a momma moose and her newborn calf. They took this photo early in the morning as they headed out to fish for the day. I would have to say that Mack and Carol enjoy and utilize all that this river offers more than anyone I know. Life is good for Team Pabst... Anyway, on with the report.

Tuesday was perhaps the best day of the week for fishing based on the river wide reports that I received. Our boat had several opportunities but unfortunately could not land a king salmon. During the course of the trip we counted seven moose....a personal record for me! Scott and Holly said that if their friends ever ask them who is the best moose guide on the river they wouldn't hesitate to recommend me. Ha!

The rest of the week the fishing was so-so, in my boat, and the rest of the river. We managed to catch three and all were on the small side. They were released and the only photo taken was of the fish above.

I mentioned in the last report that I went out halibut fishing. I forgot to include a photo so here's one this week. Nothing large but oh-so tasty.

The water on the Kenai looks fantastic right now and the sonar counts have been strong. I have a full week of fishing ahead so naturally I like our chances.

Come back next week and I'll let you know how it went.

Water Clarity/Fishing Report June 5th

2011-06-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

This past week the fishing on the Kenai was awful. I cancelled a few of my trips and the only two that I went on were with my good friend Todd and his parents Bob and Janet, and the other was with another good friend Tony and his daughters Sam and Sidney. Prior to coming I told them that the river color had turned muddy and that means poor fishing. They both said they were coming anyway and getting out was just as important as the actual fishing. Needless to say there are no fish pictures to share with you this week.

I'm often asked what does it mean when the river is muddy and off color? Hard to explain but these series of photos will show you exactly what I mean. In the top photo the river conditions are perfect for fishing. See how bright my prop is and the green/teal tinge to the water? The next photo you can see my prop but it's definitely a murky brown. At this stage the river is still fishable but not ideal.

This last photo is what I would call "mud" and this is when I'll cancel trips due to "poor conditions." In this photo the water is more gray than brown but the visibility is poor. Yeah, I know it's fishing but I have logged way too many hours on this river to know that catching a fish during this time is like hitting the lottery. I would sooner send people to the ocean or another river where conditions are better to fish. You should know I practice what I preach and on Monday four of my guide buddies and I went to Homer to fish halibut. We probably caught 70 fish, nothing larger than 30lbs, but had an absolute riot out there.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand....one thing about mud in the river is it doesn't take too long to flush through. Usually it takes only a few days. Today I'm glad to report that the river is clearing up nicely and I expect the fishing to improve dramatically this week.

Stay tuned.....

Will Jahrig

2011-06-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

Big Willie. A Renaissance man. Larger than life. A man's man. Problem solver. It all applies to the guy sitting in the boat above and I can't say enough about him.

Will Jahrig may seem familiar to you. If you spent any amount of time at the cabins you've probably run into Will Jahrig and his wife Becky. They keep their boat on the dock and are out here fishing the river all summer long. Anyway, Jane and I were lucky enough to buy Beaver Creek Cabins from the Jahrig's nine years ago. From the dock to the cabins Will and Becky built this place from the ground up. They did a great job and we're both trying hard to continue their tradition.

So, the real purpose of this tribute is to show one of Will's many talents. He builds boats, paints them, and rigs them out. Last fall I was sitting in my boat on the dock and Will thought it was about time for my boat to be scrubbed up. It was definitely looking rough and it wasn't hard to persuade me to have it cleaned up for the 2011 season.

Here's a "before" shot of my boat stripped out and ready to be painted. Pretty ugly I must say.

Here's an "after" shot of the boat after Will got done with it.

And another shot of it from the side.

Every year I think about buying a new boat but it seems pointless when Will can make a Willie boat look brand new. I know cleaning it up once in awhile sure makes Jane and Peter (CPA and life advisor) happy. I know I am.

Thanks a lot big Will for fitting my boat in on your "off" time.

Memorial Day Weekend Fishing Report

2011-05-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is enjoying the long Memorial Day weekend. Make sure to take a moment to remember those who have served and those that we have lost.

I had a couple of trips this past week and I would say the fishing is starting to shape up nicely. On Wednesday I fished the Wynschenk family. What a great crew. The day started out with frost on the boat seats but by mid morning it was a gorgeous day on the water. We saw a moose, plenty of eagles but unfortunately not a king salmon. For about 10 seconds Alexa had one on but it just wasn't meant to be. It was the proverbial "fish that got away" day.

On Saturday I fished long time friends Grant and Jake Watts. Since I first started fishing with these guys Jake has grown about two feet. Jake has had quite a few king salmon on in the past and for some reason or another I haven't been able to net one for him. That changed on Saturday. Although not a huge king salmon for the Kenai it provided the first fresh salmon fillets for the Watts family (photo above).

The other report I have is for the Anchor river which is about an hour away from our cabins. You may recognize this guy from posts in the past or perhaps you recognize him from the hit TV series Alaska State Troopers, but my friend Dan Brom sent me two photos of king salmon that he caught this past week from the banks of the Anchor River. Nice, nice fish Dan and I look forward to fishing with you in a couple of weeks.

Dock Is In, Let The Fishing Begin.

2011-05-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

The dock went in on May 17th and wouldn't you know it a moose stopped by to see what was going on. Actually, some of the best moose viewing happens in the spring. The first green vegetation of the year pops up on the Beaver Creek banks and after a winter of browsing on saplings and bark this area becomes a magnet for moose.

Moose aren't the only animals hanging around here in the spring. I took these caribou photos on May 16th. They too were attracted by the new vegetation, and by the looks of things, the warm sunshine.

Now back to more important things.....Through the grapevine I have heard of a few kings being caught on the river. This is good. I have a couple of trips scheduled this week so the first official on the water fishing report will follow soon. I can't wait.

One last thing, a shout out to my mother who came up for Mac's graduation last week. We all had a lot of fun and hated to see the week end so soon.

McKinley Taylor Holtan

2011-05-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

For regular readers of this blog you know the topics can be boiled down to two: fishing and the Kenai Peninsula. Although most of these photos involve fish, bear with me as I brag a little about my son, McKinley.

On May 19th Mac will graduate from high school. Wow, where has the time gone? He is the class president and will graduate 10th in his class. He was accepted to several colleges outside of Alaska but has chosen to attend the University of Alaska Anchorage to study business. I think it's a good idea that he stays close. When he figures out the studying part of college, I'm all for it if he decides to transfer.

Here's Mac holding a silver salmon caught on the lower Kenai. You probably recognize this photo from the blog home page and from our website, http://www.beavercreekcabins.com/. At an early age he knew how to take a fish picture. Sun in your face, hold the fish away from your body, and smile!

Here's one of my favorite photos of Mac and me holding a northern pike that we caught in Minnesota in 1997. A few of the things that strike me about this photo are how blond Mac's hair is, how small he is, and where did all of my hair go? Sheesh, a lot can happen in fourteen years.

Mac, Jane and I congratulate you on all of your accomplishments, are proud of you always, and love you very much.

Kenai River Salvage Run 2011

2011-05-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

Every spring I like to dust off my one man pontoon and float the river. It's a peaceful time of year and the only other watercraft I'll run into are other pontooners, canoers or kayakers. At the very most I have seen two other people when I've been out. The river is just too low for powerboaters. However, in the next week or two the river will begin to rise and when that happens the big boats will start to come out and play.People that float the Kenai in the spring usually do it to connect with nature. Yeah, that has little bit to do with it for me but the real reason is pictured above. I am proud to say I am a dumpster diver. Every spring when I get the itch I tell Jane I have go do my duty and clean up the river one anchor at a time. Lures are child's play and they're fun to find but the holy grail of Kenai scavenging is finding an anchor. As you can see, I found three this year. No pun intended but the King of scavenging is my buddy Jeff King. He mostly searches around his boat launch but has no need to go any further than that. With his trusty metal detector he's been able to fill half his garage with stuff other people have lost. He's found lots of tools, rod holders, oars, and one year found a 15hp Johnson outboard. The two keys to his success are location and the fact that he gets out before anyone else can. That is why I float the river. I have to get to spots that other people can't get to easily.

So, I thought I'd include a few photos of the "nature" part of the float. Above is a cormorant mid flight. Below is the ever present bald eagle.

If any of my Alaskan buddies want to join me in the future I'd be happy to have the company....and the extra set of eyes to scan for more treasures.

2011 Season Has Officially Begun

2011-05-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks Jane and I have been working feverishly on getting the cabins ready for the season. After repairing a burst pipe from improper winterization (that would be my fault), fixing a leaky faucet and toilet, I'm pleased to announce that we are now open for business.

About a week ago I snapped these photos of the icebergs in Beaver Creek. Since then we have had the right mixture of sunshine and rain and they have disappeared.

This Friday I plan to take a break from working on my boat (I'll blog about this adventure later)
and float the lower river in my one man pontoon. I'll be looking for fish but my main objective is to recover lost gear. It's always a fun time and you know I'll be bringing my camera along for the ride.

2011 Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby

2011-04-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby will begin on May 1st and end on September 30th. This event began in 1986 and is the most participated fishing derby in Alaska. Quite lucrative too. Last year a 277.6lb halibut earned a lucky angler $40,610.

To participate in the derby all you need to to is buy a $10 ticket. You can buy this ticket at the weigh station or from your halibut charter captain. If you don't think you're a lucky fisherman who doesn't catch big fish then think again. It's not all about a big fish.

Here is a partial list of the prizes available.

$10,000 random drawing for any halibut over 60lbs released.

monthly prizes for biggest halibut.

100 tagged halibut with payouts ranging from $500 to $10,000.

lady angler and kid prizes.

$2.50 out of $10 derby ticket paid out for the largest halibut of the summer.

For a complete list of rules and prizes check out http://www.homeralaska.org/.

This past fall I had a lady in my boat that said she caught a tagged halibut. I asked her what the payout was and she said "zero". She pulled the tag out of her pocket (photo below) and said the tag had "2008" on it so she was out of the money. I still found it interesting to meet someone who caught a tagged halibut and to see what the tournament tag looks like.

I have unsuccessfully participated in the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby since it began in 1986. Every year I pause and think that I shouldn't buy a derby ticket because I've never caught a qualifying fish. However, there are enough stories out there about of people who chose not to buy a derby ticket and they caught a tagged fish or an extremely large fish. I'm a bit of a risk taker, not so much a gambler, but I will continue to fork out a ten spot when I'm out halibut fishing.

As I scratch my chin and type this post I'm wondering if this year will be my year. Time will tell.....

Kenai River Personal Use Dipnet Fishery

2011-04-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Fifteen years ago the Board of Fisheries Alaska created a personal use dipnet fishery on the Kenai River for Alaska residents in the month of July. The two areas they set aside to do this are from the Warren Ames bridge to the mouth for boat and shore dipnetters, and along the mouth of the Kenai for beach dipnetters. The limit was set at 25 red salmon for the head of the household and an additional 10 per dependent. They also decided that each dipnetter could retain 1 king salmon and 10 flounder.

When the Board of Fishery created the dipnet fishery on the Kenai they thought it would account for an additional 80,000-100,000 red salmon to be harvested. During the first few years that is exactly where it came in at. Today, however, the dipnetting has been averaging a harvest of 300,000 red salmon (the peak has been 400,000). This fills the freezer for over 80,000 Alaskan families.

This winter the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game released a report about the overall Upper Cook Inlet red salmon fishery. Sportfisherman account for 12% of the harvest, dipnetters 14%, and commercial fisherman 74%. Needless to say commercial fisherman are not too happy with their allocation shrinking year after year. But, as Dylan so eloquently stated, "the time's they are a changin'".

Here's a photo of Phil harvesting with a dipnet from the boat. The man is magic. You can see behind him a back up net just in case there are any problems. It's always good to have a backup because you never know if you'll get snagged on the bottom or have a giant king tear the mesh out of your net.

Here's a photo of a boat not exactly being safe. First of all, it looks like they are overweight with just the four men in the boat. On top of that, could you imagine each getting their individual 25 fish limit? That would be 100 red salmon averaging 8 pounds. That's 8oo extra pounds in their boat! I know for a fact that the Coast Guard rating would not support that load.

Quite a few of our sportfishing guests will see me after a day of dipnetting and pooh-pooh the "sport" of dipnetting. They'll say it can't be any fun compared to fighting a salmon on a rod and reel. I usually tell them it's different fun and it's comparing apples to oranges. The thrill of it all for me is holding the net over the side of the boat and waiting for a fish to hit the web. When you feel the jolt, the adrenaline flows and you can't pull the net in fast enough to see what is in there. Is it a red, a pink, a king, a flounder, or dolly varden?

Can't wait until July.....

Harbor Seals

2011-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Harbor seals are just one of the many animals you'll find on the Kenai River. It's good and bad when we see seals in the river. If they're in the river that means that there are fish present. That's good. The bad is they are after what we are after and let me tell you they are fish eating machines.

A couple of quick facts about harbor seals. When they're mature they'll be 5-6 feet long and will weigh 180-285 pounds. They're lifespan is 26-35 years.

During the silver season is when we see the most seals. It's been my opinion that when there are fewer fish to be caught in the ocean they move into the rivers because "that is where the fishing is good." A trip doesn't go by that we don't catch a silver salmon that escaped a seal attack. I'm posting a few of the more obvious photos of salmon that have escaped but managed to find our hooks.

Other Species of Fish on the Kenai

2011-04-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

Often I am asked what do you catch other than salmon on the Kenai. Usually I respond by saying "dolly varden and rainbow trout." Perhaps this is because on every trip we have a chance to catch either of these species of fish.

However, once in awhile we will catch an exotic, or maybe I should say unusual, species or two. The photos above are of a starry eyed flounder. When we do catch this fish it's in the tidal area of the river (the first nine miles of the river) and it's always been in July. The flounder seem to be very lure specific and as you can see in the photo it's a sardine wrapped kwikfish.

This photo is of hooligan and give or take and inch they are all this size. Other names for this fish are eulachon or candlefish. They're called candlefish because if you dry them out you can actually light them like a candle.....honestly, they're that oily. Millions of these smelt like fish migrate through the Kenai River in late May into early June to spawn. They really don't bite a hook but when the school is that large it's hard not to snag one once in awhile.

Well, that's about it. That doesn't mean there aren't other unusual species present in the Kenai. Maybe one day you'll be on the boat and here me say, "Wow, I've never seen that before...."

Time to Move On....

2011-04-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

You heard it here first.

Time to move on. With great regret but with giddy excitement I'm here to tell you that I've made the decision to retire from guiding and pursue my first love and passion......blogging. The pay isn't the same but I do like the hours. I get up when I want, go to bed when I want, and I can wear whatever I want because no one can see me (I did put on clothes to pose for the photo above). Jane has liked the change because she says on most days I smell better than when I've been fishing all day. She likes to point out the that part about "most days".

One of the hardest parts about my new endeavour is renaming the title of the blog. I'm thinking about "Lirpa Sloof". What do you think? Comments?

The annual tradition continues.....

Why Pinks?

2011-03-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Why not?

Do you like catching fish until your arms fall off? Do you like betting your buddies to see who can reel their lure in WITHOUT HOOKING A FISH? Take a look at the action that's going on in this boat. I watched these guys hook pink after pink all afternoon long. Dad didn't even attempt to fish because at all times there were one, two, or three fish on. What a show they put on and what a great dad for taking the family out. So, why the bad rap? Well, it has to do with table fare. An ocean fresh pink grilled up after a day on the water is very good. However, when you freeze the fillets of a pink salmon the quality disappears. Based on the photo above do you think Will Robertson cares about that? It's all about the action, baby, all about the action.

As a fishing guide I can not fish with my clients so when my guiding day is over I like to go out in the evenings with my friends and chase a few pinks and silvers. Often this is a time when I try different lures, different techniques, and different areas to help me be a better guide during the day. It's a time that I often step out of my comfort zone and do things completely different. In my opinion, to experiment with my clients is unprofessional and when I'm hired for a fishing trip I want to be using proven techniques on proven spots. I feel this way because of an experience that my dad and I had many years ago. We hired a guide to show us how to catch walleyes in a lake we had never fished before. He tied on our lines a jig with a Bass Pro Shop salted plastic grub worm. It seemed a bit odd for walleyes but we trusted our guide because we felt he "knew what he was doing" and didn't question his choice. After a couple of hours and no fish he said that this was the first and the last time he'd try a jig and grub for walleyes on this lake. After that we switched over to more traditional live bait rigging and finally caught a few fish before the day ended. Much of this day was wasted because he wanted to try something new. Lesson learned: I will waste my own time but not yours.

So, back to the topic at hand. Here I am "wasting" time in the evening fishing for pink salmon in slough I rarely fish. Thanks Will for sending me this photo of Humposaurus Rex!

2011 Homer Winter King Tournament

2011-03-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

The 18th Annual Homer Winter King Tournament was held on Saturday, March 19th. 860 anglers on 248 boats caught 135 king salmon. Coming in first place with a 30lb king was Homer resident Mike Walls. His fish netted him a nice little check in the amount of $18,060.

This is a great little "cabin fever reliever" tournament that has been growing in popularity year after year. I've been part of this in the past and unfortunately I am one of those guys who said "it was just nice to be out."

Xtratuf Boots

2011-03-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Outside of my fishing equipment probably the gear I cherish the most are my Xtratuf boots. You must be thinking that I'm really scraping for topics but these boots are unbelievable in Alaska. Don't believe me? Next time you watch any of the shows on the Discovery Channel or TLC about Alaska look at what the locals are wearing. The majority are wearing Xtratufs. They are an Alaskan standard.

Why Xtratufs? Because they handle the conditions found in Alaska. They keep your feet dry, they're snug, and they rarely slip on wet surfaces. Would I wear them in the winter? Usually not, but they handle the other three seasons wonderfully. They come insulated, uninsulated, and in steel toed (for the crabbers and other occupations where your feet may get crushed). There are three styles: above the calf, mid calf, and the low cut "Alaska Sneaker." Cost? Not bad. They come in around $80 and unlike cheap rubber boots you can get many, many years out of them.

When a person jumps in my boat and they're wearing these boots I know that I'm dealing with an Alaskan. Only once in all my years has someone fished with me wearing Xtratufs and they weren't an Alaskan. Mike Hoops, who is master brewmeister in Minnesota, wears these boots for work. I believe Mike worked in Alaska years ago so he's kind of an Alaskan, and that's where he was introduced to Xtratufs.

Before I go I'll tell you about an Xtratuf moment that Jane and I had a couple of years ago. One of my guide friends was married in the middle of the summer. The ceremony was held at a lodge just down the road from us. It was a nice intimate setting on a perfect day. Part way through the vows I leaned over to Jane and whispered to her, "is the minister wearing Xtratufs?" Sure enough he was.

2011 Board of Fisheries Adjourns

2011-03-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

Fish politics.

On Saturday, after 14 days of meetings and public testimonies, the 2011 Board of Fisheries adjourned. This seven member panel meets every three years to review and possibly change the allocation of the finfish found in the Upper Cook Inlet. The competing interest include sportfishing, commercial fishing, personal use fishing, and subsistence fishing.

I'm glad to inform you that after 211 proposals sportfishing and personal use fishing will remain relatively unscathed for the next three years. On the other hand, commercial fisherman will see a reduction in their times alloted for fishing. Alaska's fishery is managed for "maximum sustained yield" and the times have been a changin' for the commercial fisherman in the Upper Cook Inlet. There's no doubt there has been an emphasis placed on sportfishing/tourism and rightfully so. Within the state of Alaska over 70% of sportfishing effort occurs in the Upper Cook Inlet. This is because of the quality of the fishery and accessibility via a road system. On the flip side, of the entire commercial fishing harvest in the state only 3% comes from the Upper Cook Inlet. It only makes sense who should have priority in the fishery and if you're reading this blog I know which side you favor.

Tight lines until 2014!

What Not To Do With Your Boat On The Kenai

2011-03-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

Water safety is very important to me, especially when I'm on the Kenai. I thought I'd share a few photos from this past summer of things not to do while boating on the river. If you look real close in the photo above there are two people in the boat. At the time I took the photo I thought that they were husband and wife but they could be boyfriend/girlfriend. Anyway, this is classic case of not knowing what the tide schedule is doing and this is common occurence on the lower Kenai. The people in this boat pulled up on the bank to fish red salmon. Apparently they didn't realize that the tide was still in when they started because when they finished the tide was out and their boat was high and dry. For at least six hours the two had to sit there waiting for the tide to turn. Hmmmm, I could only imagine what their conversations were like.

This picture was taken in August during the pink/silver run. What's going on in this photo is the anchor rope wrapped around the lower unit of the outboard motor (rendering it useless). Notice how all the other boats are facing the opposite way of this boat? I watched very closely and was ready to assist in case the boat took on water. That's what usually happens when your transom takes the brunt of the current. Fortunately these guys were anchored just off the main river on a slower seam and nothing but their anchor rope and ego were hurt.

This is my neighbor's boat and dock. Every year this happens and you would think he'd figure it out by now.....Hello? On a large tide, a dock that doesn't float is not where you want to tie your boat.

This photo was taken mid June and it's a bit fuzzy but it's a classic case of a guide who is either new to the river or only fishes it during the second run in July. Anybody who runs the river in May, June, August or September knows where the gravel bars are. Anyway, what happened is the boat was traveling full speed and bottomed out on a gravel bar just above Beaver Creek. It was a miracle that no one was thrown into the water and that the lower unit of the outboard still worked. Oh well, it all ended well. The boat eventually got off the gravel bar when the guide jumped into the water to push it into a deeper channel. I'm sure the the cold Kenai wade/swim will be a constant reminder to this guy about where not to run the boat next year.

That's it for my observations from 2010 about what not to do. I'm sure 2011 will prove to be just as exciting and fortunately, or unfortunately if you're the one getting hung up, my camera will be in the boat to capture the moment....

Bill Matthies

2011-02-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

I know this topic is not "all things related to the Kenai" although he has been to Alaska a couple of times, but today I wanted to write about Jane's father, my father-in-law, Bill Matthies, and the week that he had. On Tuesday a couple of things happened. In the morning Bill was interviewed by Alix Kendall of KMSP Channel 9 about ice diving in Minnesota. The five minute interview was informative and it was a nice tribute to his career. Then, later that evening, Bill was reappointed to the Civil Service Commission for the City of Brainerd, Minnesota. That makes 19 years of self less giving to the city in which he lives. Finally, at the end of the week and the creme de la creme, Bill was awarded the Diving Community Contribution Award by the Great Lakes Preservation Society (acceptance photo above). He jokingly said that all you have to do is get old to receive these accolades. Be that as it may, it is impressive and a fact that my father-in-law is the oldest PADI certified instructor in the WORLD. Way to go Bill!

I thought I'd share one quick story about my father-in-law and this has something to do with fishing. Several years ago in the fall, Bill picked me up at the Brainerd airport. I was flying in from Alaska to go fishing in Ontario for a week. When he met me he said he didn't get it that I would "take a break from fishing to go fishing." You have to understand this comment came from a non fisherman. Anyway, I said "Bill, when you aren't teaching commercial diving what do you do for fun? Dive, I bet." He agreed and I told him we both enjoy what we do and we're lucky. You know, as I think about that conversation I realize that doing what I do for a living is not the only thing that makes me lucky. Marrying his daughter and being part of his family makes me lucky as well.

Make sure to check back tomorrow to read about "all things related to the Kenai."

How To Smoke Salmon

2011-02-21T06:23:00.000-08:00

When sharing smoked salmon with others I am often asked what's my secret. I usually respond by saying that there is no secret. If you start with good fish you'll end with a good product (conversely, garbage in is garbage out). There is no one right way to smoke salmon but there are certain steps that should be followed to do it right.

First of all, you need to catch a salmon. What happens next is important. Make sure that the salmon is properly bled and the fish is kept cool prior to filleting. After filleting, keep the skin on and cut into desired chunks. I usually cut strips that are a couple of inches wide and five or six inches long. Shrinkage occurs during the smoking process so you don't want to cut your chunks too small. If you cut the chunks too large you won't have enough surface area for the brine to work in to the meat.

The next part of the equation is your brine. This is where differences occur depending upon taste. I use what Jane describes as generic brine that won't offend any taste buds. Here it is:

Kenai Keith's Famous Salmon Brine

3 quarts of cold water

1 1/2 cups of non iodized salt

1 1/2 cups of brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp garlic salt

3/4 tsp lemon pepper

9 tsp of lemon juice

9 bay leaves

Brine should be thoroughly mixed in a glass or plastic bowl (aluminum or wood should not be used). The brine should be kept as cool as possible and if you plan to reuse it make sure to refrigerate. Brine can be used 2-3 times and should not be kept for more than 1 week. Place your salmon chunks in the brine. How long you soak your fillets depends upon how thick they are. In general, I place red and silver salmon in the brine for 3 hours; king salmon for 6 hours.

After you remove your fillets from the brine, lightly rinse with cold water and place on paper towels or newspapers to air dry. This is an IMPORTANT part of the smoking process to air dry and allow a "pellicle" to form on the outside of the fillet (glossy look). Air drying should take at least an hour but depending on the humidity it could take longer. Your fillets will never be completely dry during this stage but most of the moisture needs to evaporate .

While your fillets are are drying it's time to get your smoker started. Whether you have an electric "Little Chief" smoker, a Dick Miller Super Delux, or whether you've made your own you need to preheat the smoker prior to placing the fillets in. Your smoker temperature should be between 145-175 degrees and the smoker wood chips should be smoking before putting your fillets in. I have found the best wood chips to use for fish are alder. It's mild and seems to impart the perfect amount of smoke flavor.

After the air drying is complete and your smoker is at the proper temperature and your smoker is smoking, it's time to place your fillets in. During the first couple of hours you'll want to check the temperature and refill the wood chip pan at least two times. How long it will take to fully smoke your salmon will depend on humidity and air temperature. Some times it has taken me six hours and some times a full day. How you can tell when your smoking is done is by looking at the color (deep red/golden brown) of the fillet inside and out. This is a good time to try a sample. If you've never had hot smoked salmon right out of the smoker about the only thing that equals it would be chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven Mmmmmm, mmmmm good! The top photo is what a finished product should look like.

Let your smoked salmon cool down before vacuum sealing or placing in an airtight container. I wouldn't recommend freezing your smoked salmon because when it's thawed out its mushy. At that point it's only good for making into a dip.

That's it. Pretty simple stuff. If you have other recipes such as a cajun or teriyaki brine, feel free to post them on the comment section of this post.

St. Cloud Sportsmen's Show Recap

2011-02-14T17:12:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine has been posting a video blog of his fishing reports and after watching a few of them I decided I needed to do this as well. This is my first attempt at inserting a video on the blog so bear with me while I work out the kinks. I hope to be adept at recording and editing by the time the ice is off the Kenai River.

Last weekend Jane and I were at the St. Cloud Sportsmen's Show and it was great to meet all the people who are interested in coming to Alaska. It was certainly as fun, if not more fun, to spend time with those friends that have already been up. It was great to see the Miller's, the Stacken's, Alan Frerich, Al and Nick Witte, and especially Dan and Mary Meyer. Dan and Mary drove 7 1/2 hours from Peoria, Illinois to visit and help us at the booth. We certainly enjoyed their company and their unique perspective they bring as frequent visitors to Alaska It helped us present how special a trip to the Kenai can be.

Hope you enjoy the addition of video to my posts.

(p.s. Thanks to Will Robertson for the photo)

Managing Your Expectations

2011-02-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

Realistic expectations of the Kenai River experience is what this post is all about. I have had the good fortune of guiding many accomplished anglers from all over the world and I have also had the pleasure of guiding people to their first fishing adventure ever. A large component of making sure the trip is a successful one is managing the expectations before they take a step into my boat. This is usually done by phone, email, or in person at a sport show, and it's done well before the trip even begins. I want no surprises and I want people to know and understand what can and can not happen on the river.

Let me start by saying that a guide can not, nor should ever guarantee a fish. That is not what it's all about. Granted, you are on a guided fishing trip, not a scenic cruise, but the guarantee should be about an opportunity to catch fish and about the entire fishing experience. If we all have this understanding before we hit the water then the trip will be a success. It reminds me of a saying that one of my guide friends likes to use, "....if you sell the fishing, the catching will take care of itself." I've been amazed how often this statement rings true. The people that are happy just to get out actually outfish the people that define their entire vacation by whether or not they kill a fish.

Now the "opportunity" to catch fish is different for everyone and I always want to be crystal clear about the action that can be expected. For instance, if you come in May, June, or July to fish for king salmon I tell everyone to prepare of a long day on the water. If you come in August or September for pink and silver salmon you will have a lot of action. When it comes to king salmon fishing patience is a must and not everyone will catch fish on the trip. In fact, I usually explain that over the years a good catch rate for king salmon is 25%. That's one in four anglers retaining a fish! Oh sure, some days everyone in the boat catches a king, but there are also days when no one catches a fish. That's just the way it goes when you're chasing king salmon. On the other hand, it is very rare that we don't catch fish in August and September. Pink and silver salmon are great fish to introduce families to fishing because the catching is usually pretty darn good.

If you know me, you know that I like to talk and occasionaly get off topic (ha!) but I remember a conversation I overheard years ago at the local tackle store. It's a great example of managing expectations. This conversation was between someone new to Alaska and one of the oldest, most respected guides in our community. It went like this:

"Are you a guide? I'd like to catch a king salmon on the famous Kenai."

"Yeah."

"Can you take me out?"

"Yeah."

"Will I catch so many fish that my arms will get tired?"

"I guarantee you your butt will fall asleep before your arms get tired."

"I thought this was Alaska. I thought you're suppose to catch fish all the time."

"This is the Kenai and it's king season. If you want action, come in the fall."

A good guide will tell you what to expect truthfully. A poor guide will tell you what you want to hear and then make excuses all day long about why fish aren't being caught. It all boils down to ethics and hopefully during the "interview" of your guide you'll be able to to distinguish if he or she is being upfront with you or not. A little hint: if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

A few comments about the photos. If you follow the blog, I'm sure you've seen the guys in the top photo before. Jeff and Brian, "Team ABC", have done a lot of fishing on the Kenai and they have fished nearly every month and have experienced all the different run timings on the river. They have filled their coolers and they have also gone home empty handed. As you can see by the king salmon in the photo they didn't exactly set the world on fire. But, they had a great time (Brian will say he had a better time because his fish was bigger) and the best thing for me is they keep coming back. The next photo is one of those magical days that happens a couple of times a summer. Definitely not the norm on the Kenai. The final photo is a typical fish box filled with silver and pink salmon caught in August.

Red Salmon Forecast for 2011

2011-02-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

To quote our local newspaper, the 2011 forecast for red salmon is "sunny". Pat Shields, assistant area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game of Commercial Fisheries projects a total red salmon run of 6.4 million in the Upper Cook Inlet with a harvest expectation of 4.4 to 4.8 million fish. This is about a million more fish than last year.

Do I hear a "YEAH, BABY!" out there in cyberland?

Enough Snow For Ya?

2011-02-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

As I write this blizzard warnings have been issued from Oklahoma to Maine. For fun I thought I would post a couple of pictures that were taken right after I returned to Alaska from the Minnesota Sportsmen's Show. A side note: it was -39 when I left Minnesota, 25 above in Anchorage.

The first photo is my truck after digging half of it out. I took this photo after I stopped to catch my breath and I thought the "mohawk" look was interesting. The second photo was taken at the headwaters of the Kenai River at Cooper Landing on 1/27/2011. If you look close the guy in the back of the drift boat is actually fighting a trout and the guy in the front is about to net it. When they originally hooked the fish they were on the side of the boat where I could see everything. When they noticed me on the shoreline they decided to switch to the other side of the boat so I wouldn't see what they were catching. Fisherman are funny that way, aren't they?

Stay warm and make sure to take a break when shoveling.

Kenai Profile: Gary Blinn

2011-01-19T09:27:00.001-08:00

I decided to start a series of profiles of the many people that I have had the pleasure to fish with and get to know at Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service. I can only "profile" one person or group at a time so don't be offended if you don't show up in the first few profiles. I should let you know my intent is to continue to write about a wide variety of topics regarding the Kenai. This will continue to include current fishing reports, and will intersperse profiles of the people that have left a lasting impression on me.

When I came up with this idea the first person I wanted to profile was easy: Gary Blinn. I first met Gary 12 years ago when I was guiding for the legendary Jeff King. Gary, who calls Tennessee home, comes to the Kenai Peninsula every other year in August with friends, family, and associates to experience everything Alaska. Gary stays for three weeks and everyone else will come for a week at a time. They utilize all of our cabins and fish nearly every day. How great is that? Most everyone will fish the lower Kenai twice, work in a trout trip in the upper and middle Kenai, a saltwater combination halibut/silver trip, a fly in silver trip to Big River Lake, or an all day fly in silver trip to a super secret location on the southern peninsula. I think the guys at Talon Air blindfold everyone before they take them there. Anyway, the majority of the people that make the trip with Gary do so year after year. Many of them will be profiled at later date.

In addition to the great fishing trips Gary organizes, a highlight of each week is seafood night. Gary will put together an unbelievable dinner which includes king crab, salmon, halibut, and chowder. To accomodate the Texas contingency during the final week, seafood night becomes seafood/Tex Mex night. Jo Ray and Will are the expert grillers so they help Gary put together an incredible spread. The night usually ends with a campfire and music provided by the "Fishin'Musician" Jeff King, and Chuck "Rocky Top Tennessee" Sanders.

At the conclusion of the three weeks Jane and I are sad to see it end. I can't say enough about how much we enjoy spending time with Gary on and off the water. It seems he has the perfect blend of work and what is important in this world....family and friends. Speaking of family, I should also mention his brother, his son Justin, and his wife Laurey have all come up as well. Laurey always adds to the fun because she loves to laugh and enjoys getting the most out of life. What a great duo.

Gary Blinn, hats off to you! Know what I'm sayin?

MN Sportsmen's Show 2011 Recap

2011-01-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

Jane and I would like to personally thank Rick Zweig, Ron Sellnow, Ed Bauman, Dave "Fishin' With Dave" Anderson, Al Dombrowski, Fred Glidden, Ed Bunning, and especially Peter Medchill for all finding our booth and hanging out with us for awhile. It sure does make the show go by faster. We would also like to thank everyone else who stopped by to talk "Alaska" and we look forward to helping you create memories of a lifetime in the Last Frontier.

A Little Fun Before the Sport Show

2011-01-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

Just before the first sport show of the year I try to plan an ice fishing trip to Lake of the Woods which is on the border of Minnesota and Ontario. It's the 6th largest freshwater lake in the United States and has 65,000 miles of shoreline and over 14,000 islands. The reason I go is to have fun and to fish for one of my favorite fish to eat and catch, the walleye. Lately, this has become an annual trip with my friend John Ohlin and occasionally we'll add people that we feel will fit in with our personalities. After all, we are sitting in a 8x16 fish house staring down an ice hole for 8 hours a day and you sure don't want to do this with people you don't like.

I thought I'd share a few pictures of the adventure. The first photo is the house we were in for 3 days and the nearly 60 year old heated "Bomber" that transported us 8 miles out from shore to the fish house. The second photo is 4 out of the 60 houses that Wigwam Resort rents. The third and fourth photos are of the "Igloo" at Zipple Bay. This is a fish house/restaurant/bar that is operated by Zipple Bay Resort. It is located about 8 miles out from shore and has become a favorite destination of many ice anglers. You can get a bite to eat, have a beverage, watch a game of football and rent an ice hole to fish in for $5 and hour. As my dad would say, "that's a heck of a deal". Finally, the last photo is yours truly with an above average walleye.

As always, whenever I can fish it will be a great time. The catching this year, on the other hand, was so-so. The commraderie? Hard to beat. I can't wait until next year to do it again.

We're off to St. Paul tomorrow so hope to see you at the sport show.

Sport Show Schedule 2011

2011-01-02T08:07:00.001-08:00

As of right now we are scheduled to be at the following shows:

Minnesota Sportsmen's Show, St. Paul, MN January 13th-16th
St. Cloud Sportsmen's Show, St. Cloud, MN February 11th-13th

For directions and hours you can check out the show website at http://www.cenaiko.com/.

We have extra tickets for the shows and if you would like to come and see us send and email and we will leave them at the Will Call booth. As in the past the tickets will be given out on a first come, first serve basis and when they're gone.......they're gone.

Hope to see you soon!

Co Ho Ho!

2010-12-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jane & Keith Holtan
Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Bald Eagles on the Kenai Peninsula

2010-12-14T07:10:00.000-08:00

If you are a fan of bald eagles the Kenai Peninsula is the place for you. From the rivers, ocean bluffs, and lakes the chances of seeing one is 100%. This was not always the case.

In the early 20th century bald eagle populations were declining and the main cause for this was man. From habitat destruction, hunting, and the use of pesticides numbers dwindled across North America. In Alaska, it was estimated that over 100,000 bald eagles were killed from 1917-1953. The main reason was because they were seen as a threat to the salmon populations. Through time public awareness increased about the decline of our nation's symbol and finally in 1967 the bald eagle became protected and was officially listed as an endangered species. This protection has allowed the bald eagle to thrive and in 1995 the status was changed from "endangered" to "threatened" and by 2007 completely removed from the list. Today the worldwide population is estimated at 110,000-115,000 with over half living in Alaska. The comeback of the bald eagle is truly an amazing success story.

The above photos were all taken within 5 minutes of the cabins. Photo number one is at the mouth of Beaver Creek and the the Kenai River. Photo number two is an immature bald eagle at the Crossover gravel bar on the Kenai River. And, photo number three was taken at the dock at Beaver Creek Cabins. The two eagles are perched above a nest near the top of a cottonwood tree.

Bear Jokes

2010-12-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, last post I told you I was going to tell a couple of old bear jokes. Raise your right hand if you've already heard these......Here goes.

Bear joke number one.

The Park Ranger at Denali park is advising hikers to be alert for bears and to take extra precautions to avoid an encounter. Park visitors are advised to wear little bells on their clothes to make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows the bears to hear the hiker coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidently sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge. Hikers should also carry pepper spray in case they encounter a bear. Spraying the pepper in the air will irritate a bear's sensitive nose and it will run away. It also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you'll know if there are bears in the area. People should be able to tell the difference between black bear scat and grizzly/brown bear scat. Black bear scat is smaller and will be fibrous, with berry seeds and sometimes grass in it. Grizzly/brown bear scat will have bells in it and smell like pepper......

Bear joke number two. Honest, the first time I heard this Ronald Reagan told it (I wonder how old it was when he first heard it).

Two campers were hiking in the woods and they stumbled upon a brown bear. One camper reached into his backpack and quickly pulled out a pair of tennis shoes. "What are you doing" said the one camper, "you can't outrun that bear." The other camper replied, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you!"

A few years ago I used this "tennis shoe" joke with a group of seven guys (all related). I was outfitting them with hip boots to fish the Russian River and when I got to the youngest guy in the group I told him he had to wear his tennis shoes. He said, "I thought we were wading in the water? Won't I get wet?" I told him he would but also told him there are lots of bears near the Russian River. I told him he didn't have to outrun the bear he just had to outrun his brother. We all had a good laugh with that one.

Kenai Brown Bears

2010-11-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

This past season we saw much more bear activity than we have in the past. It wasn't just Jane and I experiencing this but other home owners in the area said the same thing as well. It got to the point that the Alaska State Troopers went door to door informing people to be "bear wise" and not to leave a food source available to the bears. I'm proud to say that the troopers did not have to remind us to be "bear wise" because we always store our garbage in a shed and properly dispose of all fish remains. Yes, we do live in bear country and they will occasionally pass through our property (see dock photo above), but "encounters" are very rare. I always say the bears in our area are shy and they usually hear and see you before you will hear and see them. Most of the time the only way that you'll know a bear was nearby is finding their footprints (photo above).

That being said, this past year from July until the end of September, almost every evening at the Beaver Creek gravel bar anywhere from four to six bears would make their way to the river to feed on spawned out salmon (top two photos). The "Bear Show" was definitely an added bonus for many of our guests. One mid morning Gary Blinn and I were heading out to fish and for the longest time a bear was walking up and down the shoreline either looking to cross the river or trying to find a meal. That was a first for me on the Kenai. My bear sightings have always been during low light hours and I think this bear didn't get the memo that it was nap time.

So, here's a few facts about bears. Brown Bears typically live along the coastal areas of the State where they have access to spawning salmon. Grizzly bears are smaller than brown bears and live in the interior or northern parts of the State. The biggest reason for the size difference is food; more food near the coast, less food in the north and interior. On the Kenai Peninsula brown bears are considered "threatened" because of the development in the region. In 1999 the population of brown bears was estimated at 250-300 (sorry, that's the most recent estimate I could find). Hard to say what it is today but my guess is there are a lot more.

When guests ask me about bears in the area it always opens up the door for me to tell a couple of bear jokes. The jokes are older than dirt but they still get a laugh. In my next post I'll share them with you.

More Caribou Photos

2010-11-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of more photos of caribou that I found on Jane's camera.

This week we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving. Try to remember that it's not all about having a great meal and watching a football game or two but rather a time to reflect and to be thankful for family and friends. Be safe and enjoy the day.

Kenai Lowland Herd of Caribou

2010-11-16T12:57:00.000-08:00

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I always seem to talk about moose that I see on the Kenai so it's about time that I give caribou the respect that they deserve.

Caribou are the most abundant big game animal found in Alaska. Although the Kenai Lowland herd is estimated at 80-100, statewide the estimate is 950,000. Because of the small size of the Kenai herd hunting is not allowed.

From spring until fall the best places to view and photograph caribou in our area are the Kenai Flats (Bridge Access Road), Marathon Road, Kalifornski Beach Road, and the Sport Lake field on the Kenai Spur Highway. Of course, you also have a pretty good chance of seeing a caribou while fishing on the Kenai.

An interesting fact about caribou is that both male and females have antlers. The females have much smaller antlers than the males. If you look at the photos above the top photo is a male while the photo on the bottom are females.

A final fact, and probably less interesting, are caribou (and moose) are part of the deer family

Why Do People Fish?

2010-11-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

There are a number of reasons why people fish. Some do it for recreation, others do it to put food on the table. Some do it to be with friends or family and others do it to relieve stress. The guy above does it for all these reasons.

I couldn't resist taking this photo of Grant during a king trip this summer. He's probably not too happy that his son Jake and I conspired to take this photo but I thought Grant captured the ultimate pose in relaxation (and napping!).

Sunrise On The Kenai

2010-11-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's only fair if I post a sunset I should also post a sunrise on the Kenai.

This photo was taken in the middle of August. I can remember the morning because it was one of the first mornings after the record of 30 plus days of rain that the sun actually came out. As I was snapping the picture the people in my boat all grabbed their cameras and starting taking pictures as well. Sam said, "well shoot, if the guide is taking pictures of the sunrise than it must be special."

This past summer it was.

Sunset on the Kenai

2010-10-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

One thing I really like about silver fishing in the fall is that almost every evening I get to go out and fish. Some times I'm by myself, most of the time with Jane, but often I'll invite along people that are in the cabins for one extra try at catching a silver salmon.

This photo was taken in September around 9:30pm. Anybody care to guess who's in this picture? A brand new Kwikfish or Vibrax spinner to the winner.

The High One

2010-10-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

I took this photo yesterday in Trapper Creek. Mt. McKinley, or as the Athabaskans called it Denali (The High One), has an elevation of 20,320. It has a larger bulk and rise then Mt. Everest. Because it is so large it creates it's own weather and nearly 75% of the time the mountain is not visible. The reason I'm posting this picture is because it is more uncommon than common to see Mt. McKinley and I happened to be at the right spot at the right time. Kind of reminds me of king fishing on the Kenai.....

That's A Wrap....2010 Season Officially Over

2010-10-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

On October 6th our dock came in so the season is now officially over. It was only fitting that during this last act of the year a moose decided to see what all the fuss was about.

2010 was a challenging year for us on and off the water. Not only did we have our own cabin broken into and a fire in the Chinook cabin, we had to endure a closure of king fishery in early June. That aside, it was great to see many returning guests, family, old classmates, and to meet so many new people. The good certainly outweighed the bad and 2010 was definitely successful.

from Jane and I, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I will continue to post on a weekly basis so please keep checking in. Have a great fall.

Fishing Report Week Ending 10/3/10

2010-10-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

The Jane show.

No clients this past week so Jane and I went fishing as often as we could. We would hit the prime time of the day and we caught fish every time we were out. Not limits but we did have good action. If you notice in the background of the photos above not a single boat fishing around us. This is what makes the fall magical to me. A good bite, decent weather, and spending quality time with Jane. I'm amazed that it use to be me that would ask to go fishing but now she's the one doing the asking. I've created a monster......poor me.

So, keeping with my normal format, photo one, two, and three are of Jane. The only thing to point out is the size of the silver in photo one (and also the new hat that Jane knitted). It had to be the largest silver caught in my boat over the past ten years. I didn't have a scale but I would estimate it at 18-19lbs. I did have a tape measure in the boat and it came in at 32 inches.

The dock comes out this week and so does my boat. Hopefully in between winterizing the cabins I'll be able to slip out to fish a couple of more times. It's a long time until May so I'm trying to get in all the time I can get on the river. If I don't get out and have a final fishing report I will provide a recap of the season. Let's just say it's been an interesting one on and off the water.

Later.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/26/10

2010-09-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

The thermometer read 27 degrees this morning. We are definitely in our late fall/winter pattern.

This past week I only had a couple of trips on the river and I'm glad to report that the fishing has been good. The top photo is Team Finland which consisted of Ollie and Aarno. I wish my grandmother could have been in the boat that day to serve as an interpreter. Ollie actually had a very good command of english so the day wasn't full of hand gestures and exaggerated facial expressions. Photo two is a late posting of Cliff and Val with a couple of fish that they kept (sorry for the delay). They had a very good morning and let go close to a dozen fish before calling it a day. The final photo is Sue. Wow, what can I say about this photo. Sue's smile absolutely captures the moment.

My guiding season officially ended this past week with Team Finland. This doesn't mean that I'm through fishing the Kenai for the year. The dock and my boat will be in until October 6th so look for updated reports of Jane and I trying to catch a couple of fresh fish for dinner.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/19/10

2010-09-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well, the weatherman was partially right this week. Clear skies in the afternoon and evening but thick fog every morning. It made things a bit tough getting out to my favorite spots. No complaints from anyone about the slow boat ride or about the lack of sunshine because the fishing was very good once again.

The top photo is Carl and his lovely bride Mary with a stack of fish. When they jumped in the boat they told me that they aren't fisherman. Could have fooled me. Photo two is Team LaFlamme (Kim, Todd, and Alec). Let's just say there is never a dull moment when they're around. Photo three is Team Northern California (Tim, Steve, Todd, and Brian). These guys are fly guys but managed to work in a day on the lower river for silvers. They weren't disappointed. The final photo is Dan and Mark. They too are fly guys who worked in a day of silvers.

It looks to me like the weather and the fishing should hold out for awhile longer. We are nearing the end of our season and do have openings so if you're still interested in coming you should make plans as soon as you can.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/12/10

2010-09-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, what incredible weather we're having. The forecast for the next five days is sunny with temperatures in the mid to upper 60's. By far the best stretch of weather the entire season. If there is a downside to the bright skies is that silver salmon are extremely sensitive to light. What this means is if we don't catch all of our fish by mid morning the bite drops way off. We still manage to catch fish as the day wears on but not as many as during the low light hours. Overall this past week fishing has remained steady and I'm hoping it continues until the end of the month.

The top photo is Dan and Mary Meyer. Jane and I always feel like our season is about over when these two leave. Great fishing and great company during their stay. Now if I could only stop eating Kit Kat bars.....Photo two is Mira with a gorgeous 14lb silver. Photo three is her husband Zach with a couple of beauties. The final photo is Team UN. Arlene (Trinidad) and Thor (Norway) were a blast to have in the boat. After visiting with Thor I can definitely tell I'm of Norwegian descent.

If you're coming to fish this week make sure to bring plenty of warm clothes for the morning and your sunscreen for the afternoon.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/5/10

2010-09-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

On September 1st the limit for silvers on the Kenai increased from two to three. We limited out nearly every day and when we didn't it was because it was decided that we had more than enough for the fish boxes heading home. Overall, the fishing hasn't been red hot but it has been very steady. This makes for a wonderful day on the water.

If you have followed the blog over the past couple of years you will probably notice that a few of these faces look familiar. Photo one is my favorite fishing buddy, John Ohlin, with the all too familiar Lars, his son. If you notice, Lars has grown a lot through the years but one thing that hasn't changed is his hair. Mickey Dolenz would be proud. Photo two is Carrol, Sue, Mary, and Dan with a nice haul of silvers. Photo three is Robyn, Aaron, and Al with a limit. Photo four is Al "The Polish Hammer" in another photo with a couple of dandy fish. Just a side note, Al is from Minnesota and we both went to college together at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. I haven't seen him in over 27 years so it was nice to get together and get caught up. We definitely plan on not waiting another 27 years to see each other again. The final photo is Team Tautges and Team Crow posing proudly with their limit of fish.

All in all, Jane and I really had a great time this past week visiting with some old friends and making a couple of new ones as well.

p.s. The leaves are starting to change. I hate to say it but fall is well under way.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/29/10

2010-08-30T12:37:00.001-07:00

The sun came out this past week and the silver fishing continues to be very good. A couple of changes I've noticed is that pink run is over and the amount of seals chasing fish has increased tenfold. Most fish caught at the end of the week had seal scratch marks on them. I'm hoping there are plenty of fish for all of us in September.

Jane and I were sad to see Gary Blinn and Team Blinn 3 leave. I'm pressed for time to wax eloquently about their time here so stay tuned for a future post about the "Blinn Experience" and what exactly happens over a three week period.

Photo one, two, and three are from Team Blinn 3. Photo four is Phil and the gang back at the dock in time for a hot breakfast.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/22/10

2010-08-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

Another very good week of fishing except for one day with Team ABC on Saturday. Granted, we caught all the pink salmon we wanted on that day but the silvers were a bit elusive.

The top photo is Steve Morris posing with the days catch. Photo two is Team Sinclair. Photo three is Will and Brian. The final photo is Jeff of Team ABC holding up one of three nice fish for the day.

Jane and I went out fishing today and the bite continues to be strong. Hope it continues for the week ahead. This last bit of information is for Dan. Area rivers are just starting to pick up so your timing should be spot on.

Silver Fishing Is On Fire!!!!

2010-08-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Literally.

A full report will follow in a few days but the fishing was on fire on 8/18. Mac, Ken, and Sam were out with me in the morning and we ran into a pretty good school of fish. We catch our last one at 9:30 and decided to head back to the cabins. About 50 feet from the dock I get a phone call from Jane and she frantically yells "the hot water heater is on fire, I got to call 911". I didn't know if she meant our own cabin or the Beaver Creek Cabins. I gun the boat to the dock and all four of us start to sprint towards the cabins. We see smoke bellowing out of the Chinook cabin and Jane is running into the cabin with a fire extinguisher. I grab the closest extinguisher I can find and Mac, Ken, and Sam head into the cabin with Jane. I wasn't far behind but the last to enter. When I get into the cabin we are all in the kitchen/utility room area using all the available extinguishers. Mac, thinking quickly shuts off the gas line leading into the hot water heater. Just as we get the flames out the Kenai Fire Department showed up and made sure that there were no flare ups. Ulitmately we came to the conclusion that the thermostat was stuck and would not shut off. It burned a hole through the floor of the cabin but did not burn anything else. I called our plumber friend who came and installed a new hot water heater within hours and Mac, Ken, Sam, Reese, and Joey all stayed in the cabin that night. It still smelled a little smokey but they said it added to the Alaskan adventure.

How lucky can you get. If Jane wouldn't have been in the cabin cleaning and if we didn't get our limit in short order, the Chinook cabin and the office/freezer room would have been up in smoke.

Sooo, after everything settles down we go back to the dock to snap a few photos of the fish. I can't say enough and can't thank these guys enough for being in the right place at the right time and not hesitating in a crisis situation. From left to right is Mac, Ken, and Sam. Thanks again guys, definitely heroes in our book.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/15/10

2010-08-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

Another great week of fishing with the Blinn Group #1 providing all the action and entertainment. The pink salmon fishing was constant and the silver fishing was up and down but consistent throughout the day.

Photo number one is Team Haskins which consists of Rebecca, Lily, and Joe. After a week of Alaska fishing Lily became quite skilled and accomplished at reeling in salmon and halibut. Photo number two is John who put in a lot of time to catch a silver. Photo number three is Team Blinn #2 which consists of John, Vernon, Ryan, Jim, Al, Orville, and Randy. Missing is Steve Morris and I'll make sure to get a photo of him during the week ahead. The final photo is Elizabeth with one of her many silver salmon that she caught this past week. I saved Elizabeth's photo for last because on the final day she caught a huge humpy and when it came to the boat she said. "that's not a hump, that's a mountain!"

Stay tuned for a report from the Blinn #2 group at the end of this week.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/8/10

2010-08-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

The silvers are definitely in. The pinks are in as well and will only get crazier as the month goes by.

The top photo is Team Blinn featuring Gary, Shawn, Stacey, and Tyler with a limit of silvers. The next photo is the fish box that Dave and Norm contributed to (photos of Dave and Norm will appear later). The next photo is Team Austria featuring Manuela, Lisa, Christoph, Nicki, and Gary. The final photo is Bev and John hoisting up a couple of dandy silvers.

I have a mandatory day off tomorrow and it's going to be hard to wait for Tuesday morning.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/31/10

2010-08-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Kenai king salmon is officially over. We had some good "catching" days and not so good "catching" days but the fishing was GREAT. Thanks to all of you who joined me on a trip or two on the world famous Kenai River. Sharing this river with so many good people is what makes it easy for me to get up every morning at 4:00am.

The last week of the season was fun for me because I was fishing full day trips with Team Oregon and Team Canada. Team Oregon consisted of Karen, Peg, Karen, Susie, and Ray. Team Canada consisted of Jim "aka Fuzzy", Kirk "aka Cut Plug", Ty "aka Fortuneless Fortune Cookie", Rocco, Rick, and Jake. For Team Oregon let's just say I may have to have a bag of cheetos and Orvis the Bear on my boat every season. Now to the photos. The top photo is Karen with her beautiful king salmon. Photo two is her dad Ray. The next photo is the good luck charm Orvis. Photo four is Susie and Ray with a couple of nice kings that where taken on a day that we actually had sunshine.

I suppose you're wondering where the photos of Team Canada are. The boys had been to Seward before they came here and they had over 700lbs of fillets to go back home with and decided that their Kenai trip would be about fishing and not keeping. It was kind of nice to release fish on the river and have surrounding boats applaud us for doing so. Wish I would have taken a few pictures of their fish but I find when we are on catch and release mode I don't want to stress the fish any more than I have to. Overall the numbers of fish released did not match their 2008 trip, but they still had a great time.

One last note, yesterday I took Kathy, Peg, and Lou out for an experimental day of pink/silver fishing. We casted spinners behind a few islands and caught quite a few pinks, a couple of dollies, and one silver. It should be a good start to the new season.

2010-08-02T12:10:00.001-07:00

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/25/10

2010-07-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

This past week was a great week of king fishing. Although not everyone caught fish the average size and the numbers steadily improved from the previous week. Let me start out by saying that I didn't have enough room for all the photos so my apologies to you if I left you out. The top photo is Sarah who takes top honor for the largest fish for her family. The second photo is my wife Jane who finally got out for her first official king trip of the season. This was her largest fish ever and boy did it give her a battle. The third photo is Eric, Jamie, and Glenn with a trio of nice fish. I should mention that Rick was the fourth on the trip and he had a couple of opportunities to limit the boat out. I guess he'll think twice next time about bringing a banana on the boat. The next photo is Dave with a nice chromer to end his week. The following two photos are Ursula and David with a couple of nice fish as well. The last photo is Ron and my old pal Gary Rudisell. Once again Gary was a perfect two for two. Two king trips and two kings. I think he needs to parlay his luck and head to Vegas as fast as he can.

This next week is the last week of king fishing. The way things are going I hate to see it end. For all of you that are coming in August, we've already boated our first pink and silver salmon. It looks like our fall fishing is shaping up to be a strong one.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/18/10

2010-07-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

So many pictures but only so much space. The fishing this past week has been very good for kings. The size is improving and the amount of action is getting better every day. The top photo I'm assisting Justin with his 50 inch, 62lb king. Justin fought the fish for over a half and hour so he needless to say he was a little wiped out and needed a hand lifting it up. The second photo is Jeff and Clark of Team ABC with a nice female king. Photo three is Steve, father of Marshall of Team ABC. The final photo is Sara with her first king ever. A great week of fishing with a lot of great people.

As far as the red fishing is concerned, fishing has been outstanding with everyone in the cabins catching their limits. Sara, Dave, and Carey left the dock and returned in 30 minutes with their 9 fish. Sara said it may have been a new record for them. There's no doubt she'll be trying to beat their new record this week.

I've got eggs to cure for the week ahead so I'm outta here....

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/11/10

2010-07-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

The bite this week has been pretty good but once again the size of the "world famous Kenai kings" have been on the small size. Don't get me wrong, the fish have been beautiful but not up to the normal Kenai standard.

The first photo is Team Levin showing off the fruits of their labor. Sugar is proudly holding her king in the second photo. And the final photo is Sandy. Let me tell you a little about Sandy, not only is this the biggest king he has ever caught, it is also the first fish he has ever caught. Glad I was there to experience this with him.

At the end of the week the river started to muddy up a bit which slowed the bite down. As of today it looks clearer so I have high hopes for the week ahead.

One last comment to all of you from the lower 48. I hope you're handling the heat as best you can. On July 9th I walked down to the boat at 5:00am and I had frost on my boat seats. Pictured below is the armrest.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/3/10

2010-07-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

This past week the trend of lots of bites and small fish continued. We did manage to pull out a few nice ones. Pictured above is Papa Dan with Caroline with her biggest king. Dan and Mary Meyer give each grandchild a special Alaska trip when they turn 10 years old and this year it was Caroline's turn. She was a lot of fun and had a great attitude every day. For those of you who would like to know, the final fish count was: Caroline 4.5, Dan 2, and Mary 1.5. We look forward to seeing Dan and Mary again this fall when the silvers are in. The bottom photo is Rick Baron with his largest king. During a couple of days fishing Rick Smith may have caught more fish but Rick B. will gladly point out that it's all about the quality and not the quantity. It was great to fish with Rick and Rick again and I look forward to seeing them down the road.

Happy Independence Day to all of you and I'll write again after another week of fishing.

King George....Fishing Report Ending 6/27/10

2010-06-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Another interesting week of fishing. The action was okay but the sizes of the fish were definitely on the side of small. As my friend Kyle said to me on the river the other day, "someone forgot to invite these fish to the buffet."

George took top honors for the week with the salmon pictured above. After showing everyone else the Kenai and what the king fishing is all about he has now officially scaled the mountain. His brother Jerry still points out that his king in 2008 is still the largest amongst their family. The bottom photo is Linette proudly posing with a 60lb halibut that she caught with her husband Mike.

See you next week.

Kenai Opens To Bait

2010-06-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

Strange days indeed.

In a matter of a couple of weeks the Kenai River went from catch & keep, to no fishing, to catch & release, to catch & keep, to opening up to bait. The Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game has decided that the Kenai River reached the optimum escapement goal and has liberalized the fishery to bait. Needless to say my head has been spinning trying to keep up with the changes.

So, the report.

Fishing was challenging this week with only a few kings boated. I have to give a shout out to Jim, Tina, Paul, and Chaquita for their perseverance. With wet and cold conditions and a slow bite they definitely kept a positive attitude day in and day out. That's Jim in the top photo and Paul is in the second one. The third photo is Jon and Nathan and the final photo is of George and Jerry with some nice red salmon taken at the Russian River.

Hard to say what the Kenai will hold this week but there's no doubt that the red salmon are in full swing on the Russian.

Kenai Back To Normal!!!

2010-06-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game has announced that the Kenai River will be open to the taking of king salmon beginning Tuesday, June 15th. It will remain as usual with a slot limit of 46"-55".

Wow. It's amazing how dymamic this fishery can be. I'm scheduled for several trips this week so I hope to give you a report before too long.

Thank you George.

Kenai River to Reopen 6/12/10

2010-06-11T15:50:00.001-07:00

I have received word from multiple sources that the Kenai River will reopen to fishing as of 6/12/10. It will be restricted and the only salmon that can be kept are 20" and under or 55" and over. All other fish must be released. The official announcement will occur this evening.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game erred on the side of conservation and I applaud that. The fear was that the salmon would NOT return and the few that did needed to survive so that the run in 5 years would not be a complete disaster. The first few days after the closure was in effect the amount of salmon passing over the sonar remained small. This past week, however, the daily sonar counts have been 500 to 600 salmon. It's become obvious that the salmon were just late and needless to say the collective mood on the peninsula has improved 1000%.

On a personal note, Jane and I would like to thank George for praying to the salmon gods and keeping a postive attitude since the closure was announced. They heard you all the way from Florida.

Long live the kings!

Making Lemonade out of Lemons

2010-06-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

What a great state Alaska is. Although we can't king fish on the Kenai there are plenty of other Alaskan adventures to experience. Clamming, hiking, saltwater fishing, red salmon fishing, trout fishing, pike fishing, rafting, bear and glacier viewing are among many alternatives to king fishing. Imagine booking a trip to Kearney, Nebraska to view the annual migration of sand hill cranes. Imagine if the cranes did not show. What plan B could you muster up in Kearney, Nebraska?

Jane and I have contacted all of our June clients and the overwhelming majority have decided that a "plan B" is great. A few plans have been adjusted but we will have the good fortune to see our customers and friends in the coming month. Although I won't be guiding my usual June schedule and the closure will affect any last minute fishing clients, Jane and I will be just fine.

Long live the kings!

Kenai River Closes to King Salmon Fishing 6/5/10

2010-06-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

By issue of Emergency Order the Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game has closed the Kenai River to king salmon fishing from 6/5/10 until 6/30/10. Normally at this point in the run about 3100 fish will have entered the river.....this year we are at 739. Closing the river at this time is the right thing for the the health of the river, but disappointing to those who planned a trip of a lifetime. Keep in mind that if the run does improve the Emergency Order can be lifted and fishing will resume.

Jane and I are in the process of contacting our June clients. We are offering alternatives to king fishing such as red salmon fishing, trout fishing, pike fishing, and clam digging. Also, if you haven't already made plans to fish in the saltwater for halibut, we would be happy to assist you in finding a captain.

Keith & Jane

p.s. I wasn't planning on posting a picture but as I was preparing this post a momma moose and her two calves were standing in the front yard. Hard to resist.

Post Memorial Day Fishing Report

2010-06-02T12:24:00.001-07:00

Slow.........

Low fish counts and low water visibility led to a weekend of slow fishing. Luckily the weather was near perfect, the clam tides were good and Hobo Jim started his summer concert schedule on Friday and Saturday. Above are Samantha, Sidney, and Shelby Brown posing proudly with their hooligan. Dad Tony did not want to be in the photo until he caught a king salmon......I guess we'll wait until Tony comes back in July to fulfill his wish.

The overall first run has been disappointing. Since May 16th the cumulative count was 675 king salmon. Officially this is the worst May since the sonar began counting in 1988. 2002 was the second worse run with 895 king salmon. Just to give you an idea of what is "normal" just two years ago the May run was 2590. The highest May recorded was in 1988 with 5574 king salmon.

Overall the fishing community on the Peninsual are holding their breath with this run. There have been many years when the count started slow and then a couple of tide cycles later everything was alright. Time will only tell how this run will shape up. On the up side, there have been reports of red salmon being caught at Bing's Landing and a few reds already up in the Russian River system.

Pre Memorial Day Report

2010-05-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

My group on Tuesday canceled and I was hoping to give a first hand report about the start of the run this year. So far my only reports have come from a few guys that have been out and they've described the bite as fair.

Today was my official first day and within the first hour Pat caught this beautiful 35lb female Kenai king. We caught it at Fall In Hole on an orange spin 'n glo. That was it for our action today. I spoke with a Fish and Game officer later in the morning and he told me he counted 14 boats on the river and 4 fish had been caught. Not a bad percentage considering the low counts on the sonar. What a great first group and a great first day and my egg curing season has officially begun!

I'll be guiding the next 3 days so expect another fishing report soon.

Red Salmon Gear

2010-05-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

A question that Jane and I are often asked is what gear do I need to fish red salmon? If you are a person that prefers a fly rod a 7wt or 8wt is a good fit for Kenai red salmon. If you are a conventional fisherman a 7ft to 8 1/2 foot medium to heavy action rod with either a spinning reel or a baitcasting reel will work fine. The line that I prefer is 17lb test monofilament for my mainline. Some people use heavier line in the "combat zone" or a braided line but through the years I have found 17lb to be a good weight overall to catch red salmon. The terminal gear that you'll need will be sinkers, I prefer split shots because you can add or subtract weight instantly, a crane swivel to prevent line twists, a leader from your swivel ranging from 18" to 36" using 25lb-30lb monofilament, and a Coho/Russian fly or 2/0 hook with yarn attached to it. Other equipment you will need are chest waders or hip boots. Red salmon run within a few feet of the riverbank and you'll need to be out in the water and how far out will depend upon the fish. Miscellaneous equipment but not essential would include needle nose pliers, a stringer, a net, polarized sunglasses, bug repellent, and sunscreen.

That's it. Pretty simple fishing gear. If you don't have this equipment there are plenty of stores in our area that will sell you everything you'll need to catch a red salmon (my personal favorite is Trustworthy Hardware).

I suppose you are now asking yourself "when do the red salmon run and what techniques do I use to catch them?" Have no fear. I will address these topics in the not so distant future.