Last Week of June Recap

The last week of June proved to be one of much patience. Fishing was not exactly "red hot" but with perseverance and a good attitude we were lucky to land a few fish each day. These fish were caught by Volker from Germany and Neal from Florida. Way to hang in there Neal!

For any of you coming up in July try to remember to bring summer with you. Everyday this week I wore wool socks and about 4 layers of clothing. I think global warming is taking a break in Alaska this year.

Nice One Alex!

A couple of days of fishing got Alex this nice king yesterday. Patience and determination do pay off. Let's hope that his luck continues and rubs off on Neal today.

Team Hoffman

Wow, this week has gone quickly. I'm getting a fishing update posted while Keith is on the river.

It was great to have another MN group up this week. It always good to see old friends, meet new friends and get caught up with news from our home town!

The six guys patiently waited out some cool weather and slow fishing to turn in 3 kings on Tuesday. Four ventured out again on Wednesday and got 2 into the boat. Jerry, you were a good host to let the others get their fish before joining the club at the end of the day.

Travel safely and we will see you down the road. Thank you.

Chai's Second

We are a bit late in updating last week.

Chai finished up his week with a second nice king on Thursday, June 19. Everyone was waiting for George to get both grandpa's into the act on the generations sweep, but were excited that Chai was able to put a nice finish on the fishing.

Thanks for the great company guys!

Three Generations...Life of Riley!

Yesterday was a special day in the boat for Riley. He was fishing with both of his grandpa's, his dad and his uncle.

It turned out to be a three generation day. First up was Riley's grandpa Nikron, then dad Veechai and then Riley.

Grandpa George is still the great host for this group. He is out fishing right now, so I hope he completes the generation catch today.

Nice Morning

Keith and I met George a few year's ago when he and his co-workers planned an Alaska fishing trip. It turned out that George was a gracious host to his group. They got their kings, but George is still waiting.

His group hit the river this morning for the first king trip of this visit. Well, George is still the good host. His brother Jerry got this nice 45 inch king just 45 minutes into the outing. Way to go Jerry!

I hope the afternoon proves to be lucky for the rest of the group.

Team ABC Seamless 2008

Just a quick photo to end the week of fishing. Long time friends and avid anglers Jeff and Brian Raisenan are seen holding a couple of kings. Jeff is holding a "jack" salmon which to me is one of the finest eating salmon in the river. It's known as the veal of the salmon world. The fishing wasn't quite as good on Saturday but we had few chances to land a few more. Janice and Alisa fished as well but could not get a fish to the boat. We'll get 'em next time!

Finally!

When Jane and I bought Beaver Creek Cabins our very first clients were Thomas & Sylvia Federbusch from Germany. They have been back to Alaska almost every year since then and they always book a day or two of fishing. They're luck for kings has been terrible. On the other hand, they've had no problems catching silvers. This past week the fishing has been outstanding but I was still worried that we'd continue our streak of no kings to the boat.



Well, on Friday Thomas and Sylvia both caught king salmon and Thomas came through with the largest one of the day. Don't be deceived about the size of the fish in the picture. Thomas is 6'6" so any salmon will look small next to him. This fish measured 45.5 inches and weighed just under 50lbs.
With the two fish together their biggest problem is trying to figure out how to get all the fillets back to Germany. As Thomas said, "this is a nice problem to have."

Father and Son Limit

This morning I had Ed and Jim in the boat. It was cold, it was raining, but luckily the bite that started yesterday continued today.




Jim, the son, started things off at the Toilet Hole. When he got the salmon into the boat he said, "yeah, I forgot fishing can be fun."



Not long after Ed had a couple of bites and then lost one on the hookset. We moved down river to the Crossover and after several trolls Ed connected with a salmon that wasn't going to get away. After a fifteen minute fight we were back at the dock before lunch with a pair of 30lbs hens to clean. I can't tell you how much I enjoy it when a father and son come to Alaska to fish and see all the beauty in this State. I can't help but think about my own father in times like this. Here's to you dad for showing your son the great outdoors!

Icing On The Cake

Keith got the icing on his birthday cake yesterday. We went out fishing again in the afternoon and released another smaller male king, but decided to keep this 45 inch female.

Fishing always makes Keith happy!

Birthday Gift

Today is my birthday and every year it's a great day. If I'm not guiding, which I love, it's a day that Jane and I can go fishing ourselves. Five years ago Jane and I went out in the afternoon and we caught 7 kings in just over two hours. That was with no bait! By far the best couple of hours for only two poles being fished. Other years we've spend the day on the water and not had a bite.




This morning Jane and I went out for a couple of hours. The first troll we didn't have a bite. On the second troll Jane motioned to the pole over my shoulder and I assumed I had a bite. Nope. It was a momma moose and her calf swimming across the river. I see moose swimming quite often but never get tired of it. Of all the big game animals that we see moose are by far the best swimmers. You wouldn't think they would be with their long, skinny legs but they get across the river with ease.






Anyway, back to fishing. We made a couple of more trolls and I was thinking about heading back to the cabins to do some work. I figured we'd try it for the first few hours and then come back out in the afternoon. However, Jane had a bite and decided to give it another five minutes. I'm glad I did. Soon after my pole was buried in the rod holder so I set the hook and handed it off to Jane. I've caught a lot of fish in my life and I take pleasure in watching Jane reel a fish in. She doesn't think she has good fishing skills because she's relatively new to the sport, but she really does. After about ten minutes the king came to the net. I'm guessing that the weight was between 25-30lbs. It was a nice fish and we thought long and hard about whether we should keep it. With a 2 fish seasonal limit and a month and half of fishing left we decided to let it go.




We plan on heading out again later today. I'll see if I can get more "icing" for my birthday cake.

Patience, Persistance,Positive Attitude and the Pope's

Do you know that feeling when you first meet a person and it seems like you've known them your whole life? I was fortunate this past week to meet 15 people that I felt that way about. Mel Pope and his entire family came to our place before they set sail on a cruise ship to Vancouver. Jane and I had wonderful time getting to know this family.

So, about the fishing. The weather was tough and the fishing was hard but with patience, persistance, and positive attitude the Pope's came through. The first day we didn't catch a salmon (plenty of hooligan and a few trout). The second day the youngest fisherman, Robert Allen, came through with a nice salmon. He did a tremendous job of hooking and landing the fish. He said it was his first king salmon ever but I could tell he is an accomplished angler for being so young. On the final day we started out by missing a couple of salmon. Not always a good sign for my boat. We continued to fish hard and about eight hours into the trip William caught his king on the "funky chicken" lure. I'm proud of the fact that William hung in there for three days before he caught a salmon. Shortly after William's fish Bruce caught a nice one on salmon eggs. Not long after than Mel Jr., using salmon eggs as well, hooked the largest king of the day coming in at 45lbs. It was a nice battle and it was great to see Mel catch a fish on the Kenai other than a silver salmon, trout, or hooligan. The last hour of the trip we tried hard to get the final king of the day for Mel III. It didn't happen but it wasn't for a lack of effort.

What a great way to start June. And, by the way, Rebecca, you're still the Queen of the Hooligan.

Wednesday King

Good job, Robert Allen!

Members of the Pope family from FL have been fishing with Keith and Jeff this week. Fishing has been slow and the weather has been cool, but perseverance has paid off for 10 year old Robert Allen. After a day and a half of waiting it out he was rewarded with this 35 pound, 42 inch king.

Should've been here.....tomorrow!

On Saturday I fished Mike and Kathy (forgive me if I have your name incorrect because I'm drawing a blank) from the best lake in all of Minnesota, Mille Lacs. The weather was cool, the moose and eagles were out, but the salmon were hard to find. Zippo, not a a bite on our trip. We did see, however, two fish caught. Definitely a tough day of "catching" for the fleet.


About midday of our trip I received a phone call that the Kenai River would be open to bait fishing starting on June 1st (the earliest that I know of). The Alaska Department of Fish and Game felt that there are enough king salmon in the river to liberalize fishing methods. There's not doubt the catch rate will go up and as I've said in the past I'm three times better as a guide with bait. I'm a little bit uneasy with this decision, however. I tend to be more of a conservationist when it comes to king salmon so time will tell if this was good move by ADF&G to open the river to bait early.


So, after our day of fishing on Saturday I said to Mike and Kathy, "should've been here....tomorrow!" Timing is everything when it comes to this fishery.