Life's simple pleasure for this fishing guide is being the first one on the creek and watching the sun rise. It's this calm moment before my work day begins that centers me for the rest of the day.
And, what a week we had of great sunrises. Not to be out done was this moonset at 5:00am. It's not often I get to see this.
When a fisherman talks about the weather, or celestial sights, you know that means the fishing was not good. I was scheduled for three trips this week and, unfortunately, I either called it off an hour into it, or I outright cancelled it. Why? The Kenai River is running high and dirty. The telltale sign is if you can't see your prop, the fish won't see your lure. I wish the conditions were better but the ethical thing to do is cancel the trip. At least there were other fishing alternatives to the Kenai River, and all my clients went and did other things.
A few of our guests went to Homer and fished the lagoon for king salmon (with success). And some went to the Russian River to fish for red salmon. Overall, the Russian River run has been slow this year and may never materialize. You couldn't tell by the day that Ron, Ben, Esko Bill, and Debbie (not pictured) had when they went there.
This was exciting. Jane and I were talking in the front yard and coming up our driveway were these two. It's not often that we have walk up inquiries, but this mamma caribou and her calf sure liked what they were seeing....
I ended this fishless week by taking in a Hobo Jim show with my friends Eric and Holly Taylor. They have heard of Hobo Jim, but they've never seen him perform. As always, on this night, Hobo did not disappoint. I'm truly amazed at the energy this man has at the age of 64. It seems like he would be at a point in his life where he would slow things down a bit (well, he doesn't do the epic all night, break a leg falling off a table, gig like he use to do at BJ's). But no, he still cranks out a high energy show five days of the week. He's truly an Alaskan legend.
A quick side story about Hobo Jim before I finish this fishing report. When I first started guiding on the Kenai, one of the oldest and most respected guides on the river, Chick Kishbaugh, offered me these words of advice. He said, "Hobo Jim has saved more bad days on the river than anybody. The sooner you can get your clients in to see him, the sooner they'll forget about not catching a fish." It was true then, it's still true now.
For the week ahead: I've got a few trips scheduled, but if the river doesn't turn the corner and start subsiding, I'll probably end up cancelling them. As I stated earlier in this post, it's the right thing to do when the river is blown out....see you next week!
Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service
