Fishing Report Week Ending 6/26/11

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!

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

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

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

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

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.