Fishing Report Week Ending 7/28/13

 

Stick a fork in it.  The 2013 king season has prematurely ended.   I agree with ADF&G's decision to end the king season but my thoughts are they should have done it sooner.  The overall numbers are at a historical low but hopefully this action will allow enough fish to enter and spawn so our future runs will not be in jeopardy.

So, how as the fishing this past week?   It was fair.  The photo above is the last king retained in my boat for 2013.   That's Erik helping Charlene hold this beautiful 47" king.   Let me tell you, this was a special fish.  Not only was it caught on the last day of catch-and-keep, but Charlene has waited three years to catch a Kenai king salmon.   Probably the only thing that would have made this morning better is if her sister Holly had been there to share the experience.  Anyway, thanks for hanging in there, Char, and thanks Erik for telling her it would be just a matter of time before she caught one. 

Here's Team X after their half day trip on the last Super Tuesday of 2013.   From left to right are Adam, Corry, Jack, and Charlie.   Adam started the day off with a small king that was released.  Jack, ever the shy one, followed up with this nice fish.   I'm glad that I finally got Team X on board with a Kenai king.   But, let me say this, there is no justice in the world if Charlie doesn't catch one the next time he's here.   He's been more than patient waiting out a king bite and it has to be his turn next.   

Here's Adam and Corry with a few of the many red salmon they caught last week.

One last photo of Jack and his king salmon.  I used this picture not so much for Jack but for the guys photobombing in the back.  That's Mack and Carol Padgett getting in on the action.

The last time Kathy and Tom Fornshell came to Beaver Creek Cabins was ten years ago.  Kathy caught a gorgeous king salmon then but unfortunately this time all we could manage was one king bite.  We did go to the bank and catch a few red salmon though.  Not a bad plan B when the kings weren't cooperating.

Our good friends Bill and Linda "the Salmon Slayer" Boettcher came down with their visiting sons from Florida, Wes and Nick, to try their luck for king salmon.  Unfortunately, with the catch and release order we did not fish for kings but opted to bank fish for reds.   The fishing was not all that good for us; a total of 6 fish in a day and half.   Since Bill and Linda are Alaska residents we decided to switch things up and loaded up the dipnets and headed to the mouth to see if any reds were still coming in to the river.   The dipnetting wasn't too bad, as you can see in the photo above.  

Since king fishing is closed this next week I'll be targeting red salmon and silver salmon with my guests.   Overall, the red fishing in the lower river this past week was very slow.  I'm hoping a new pulse of red salmon will enter the river soon.  It's still a bit early for silver salmon but I know at least one that was caught while king fishing.  I think if we start targeting silvers this week we'll be able to find more.

Time will tell.   See you next week.