post Memorial ramblings

Fishing this past week has been slow, slow, slow. As far as I can tell it's a combination of muddy water and low numbers of fish in the river. The sonar count from the middle of May to now is just under 300 fish.

The last several years my Memorial weekend fishing has been fantastic. My group this year experienced just the opposite. However, they were FANTASTIC and truly enjoyed being on the water. We didn't see any fish caught but the wildlife viewing was unbelievable. We saw a lot of moose and eagles but perhaps the biggest event of the day was a 10 minute view of a grizzly bear walking down the gravel bar from the Pillars to Eagle Rock. The bear even decided to swim across the river which meant we could get a close up view. I told the guys that this was the third time in 22 years that I've seen bears in the lower Kenai River. One of the guys said, "this is the first time in 53 years that I've seen a bear." I wish the fishing would have been better but I know memories of a lifetime were made that day.

Pretty neat.

This week I do not have very many fishing outings (which the timing isn't bad considering the condition of the river) so will help my friends Andy & Jeremy remodel the Coho cabin. We've got most of the work done but need to apply paint and carpet. As soon as the work is done we'll have to go out and see if the river has cleared up.

Update on the saltwater fishing. Halibut fishing has been great and the salmon are starting to cooperate. Jane, Andy, Maggie, Jeremy, Joanna and I have scheduled a halibut trip with Capt. Peter on June 2nd. I'm taking my dramamine well in advance....