Sportshow Schedule 2010

Hello to all.

Jane and I thought we would let you know the sportshows that we'll be at. Right now we are scheduled to be at the Minnesota Sportsmen's Show from January 13th-17th in St. Paul and the St. Cloud Sportmen's Show in St. Cloud, Minnesota from February 12th-14th. We may add more shows and we will keep you updated if changes occur.

The days are long at these shows so if you are attending please stop by and say hello. Also, we do have a limited amount of free admission tickets available. If you are interested send us an email.

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When Silvers Were King....Last Fishing Report of '09

My last trip of the year was on 9/26 and today I decided to take the boat out for the year. I asked Jane if she wanted to fish one last time and she didn't hesitate to say yes but it had to be at noon and it it could only be for an hour.
Perfect, I thought, because the tide would be coming in at about that time. We fished for about a half an hour and the first salmon bit my line. As Jane was reeling in a second salmon hit her line. A double. I landed Jane's fish first but we had trouble getting the hooks and the fish out of the net. So, thinking fast I decided to net my fish while Jane's fish was still in the net. What you see on floor of the boat was the result. We could have fished for another half hour but it didn't take us long to realize how perfect it would be to end the season right then and there. Wow, what a great way to say good bye to the Kenai for another year.

So, photo number 2 is Renae and Kevin who came back to fish one last time. Photo number 3 is Bill and Jason. Photo number 4 is Jason. And finally, photo number 5 is Bill and Jason. My hats off to Bill and Jason for sticking out during a couple of days of bad weather. One morning the thermometer read 24 degrees. It wasn't until 11:00 a.m. that the frost finally melted off of the boat seats. Another day it was blowing and raining very hard and they stuck it out like troopers. I guess it's growing up in North Dakota/Minnesota that has hardened them to all weather conditions. It doesn't hurt that the fishing wasn't too bad either.

This won't be our last post but it is the last fishing report. I titled this entry "When Silvers Were King" because '09 turned out to be an excellent silver year while the king fishing not as good as previous years.

It's time to winterize the boat and the cabins. As time permits we will be sure to give all of you an update.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/20/09

Overall the fishing was pretty good last week. The action was never red hot but we managed to limit out every trip but one. Of course, the trip that we did not limit out on was the trip that a seal took a fish off of our line. That's the fourth one this year and it's starting to make me wonder about the ratio of silvers to seals.

The top photo is Joe, Ron and Stef. Photo number two and three are of "Team Qdoba" from Anchorage. The final photo is of Kevin and Renae.

I've got my long underwear out in preparation of the week ahead. Termination dust is starting in the mountains and the morning temperatures are predicted to be in the 30's this week with the highs reaching the low 50's.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/13/09

Last week saw 5 great days of catching salmon and one day of fishing. On 9/9/09 Team Raisanan had a day on the river in which we saw more moose than silver salmon: 2 moose, one silver. Oh well, "you should've been here yesterday or the day after" applies but Jeff, Brian, and Lars still made my day enjoyable. It's great to have outdoorsmen who realize that getting out is as important as catching a lot of fish. Thanks guys.

The first photo is Ron with his biggest silver of the day. The second photo is of Ron, Stephen, and Joe. Photo three is from day two of Team Oregon's assault on the river. Photo four is Trooper Dan and Tamika. Photo five is Joe and Ron. And finally, photo six is Team Oregon consisting of Kathy, Peg (not pictured), Karen, Susie, Mel, and Kathleen.

I'm fishing nearly everyday next week so once again I hope the run of salmon and decent weather continues.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/7/09

The fishing and weather continues to be very good. The only disappointments was my back giving out (too many fish netted?) and to saying goodbye till next year to quite a few friends.

Pictured above is April with her 15lb silver. The next picture is Joe and Bea with their daily take. The third photo is April and Duane. The fourth picture is April, Duane, Lars and Dan.

If any of these people look familiar from previous post it's because they were here earlier in the year. Dan and Joe both decided that one trip to Alaska was not enough. You'll see more photos of Joe because he is here for three weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if Dan suddenly showed up for a third time this year.

Here's hoping my back, the weather, and the fishing continue to hold up.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/30/09

BIG SILVERS. The silver fishing continued to be very good this week. What was most noticeable is the average size has gone a couple of pounds.

Robyn Argir (pictured above) has wrestled in the largest silver of the year tipping the scales at 17lbs. When the fish was first hooked I thought we had a seal, or a king. We had quite the battle and Robyn did an outstanding job of bringing the fish to the net. Way to go Robyn.

Photo number two is Lars with a couple of 13-14lb "Dan Cole" fish. Photo number three is Phil, Debbie, Kamal and Scott with their morning haul. Photo number four is Jeff, Robyn and Peyton. Photo number five is Lars and Peyton with a couple of nice fish. The final photo is Craig, Diane, Joshua and Jeremy.

Tomorrow is September 1st and the limit for silver salmon will go up to 3 per person. You may want to keep that in mind if you're still looking to fill your freezer for the winter.

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/23/09

The fishing continues to be very good. Lots of silvers and lots of family and friends visiting us.

The first photo is my kid sister, Heidi, with the largest silver to the boat this season. Photo two is Derek with a nice silver (Phil and Debbie not pictured). Photo three is "Team Raisanen" with their annual assault on the fishery. Photos four through six are "Team England", Graham, Geoff, and Ian. And the final photo is "Team Minnesota" consisting of Ron, Jim, Bill and Peter.

I look forward to the week ahead and hope to keep the seals away from Tom's fish!

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/16/09

The silver fishing continues to be hot. We are at the peak of the first run but unfortunately the Kenai River is once again starting to flood. We still are catching our limits from the boat but the flood has impacted the bank fishing for silvers. The crest is predicted for Wednesday.

The first picture is "Team England" which consists of Geoff, Ian, and Graham. The next photo is Jim and Ron (growing up Jim was my second father). The next two photos are of Denver and Jerry. The final photo is the Parke family. Normally I'm not a superstitious person but after several snafus in the boat I realized that it was August 13th. The Parke's had a great attitude that day and I'm glad the salmon cooperated with us (except for the one I dropped in the river!).

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/09

The silvers are in!

The first week of August has been good for the soul. The silvers have been coming in steady and they have been more than willing to bite. In addition, we've been catching a few kings that were immediately released and quite a few rainbow and dolly varden trout.

My apologies to the Kennedy family for not having their pictures posted. The pictures you do see are of Dan and his grandson Alec, and Missouri Dave and Minnesota Dave.

It sure has been a fun week and the run of silver salmon should only get stronger.

Week Ending 7/31....King Season Is Done for '09

Wow. What a strange, strange king season.


The last week of the year the king numbers were down to 300-400 a day and the river was at flood stage. This made for difficult fishing but we managed to boat kings on a daily basis but not on every trip. Definitely a year for the record books but for the wrong reasons.


I apologize to the guys that do not have photos on this post. Turns out my camera was not working properly so many of you are not featured in this report. The lucky anglers pictured are Stan, Russ, Stan, and Pat.

The reds are still coming in strong and the fishing has been very good for them. In addition, the silvers are starting to show and we are even catching them off of our dock. Hopefully the silver season will be a "normal" one with lots of action for all.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/26/09

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The best because I'm guided a lot of friends but the worst because the king fishing was not as expected for this time of the year. As far as I can tell there were two factors that kept the catch rate down. The first was the low numbers of kings entering the river. The second is that the river is at flood stage due to rain in the mountains and the increased melting of the glaciers that feed into the Kenai. This has produced high and muddy water, a bad combination for fishing.

The few fish that were caught include Sarah, Dave, Ursula, and Adam. In addition, there is a photo from the halibut trip that Jane had taken with the Sporrer/Johnson/Dawson group. A definite positive this week is the red fishing with most groups limiting out daily. Also, the minus tides produced great clam digging for many of our guests.

Four days left in the king season. I hope mother nature will be kind..........