The first day of the guide week was like the last day of the previous week. It was wet and only a handful of silvers were being caught on the lower river. Here's Joe with the morning haul. I was underwhelmed with the catching but was reminded that three silvers are better than none. Way to keep a positive attitude guys, even though your guide had a lot higher expectations.
The next day felt like old times for a couple of reasons. The first is I was guiding long time guests Judy, Bob (yes, he made the photo and was the first to limit out), Joe, and Rafeal. The second is the silvers were biting they way they're suppose to.
The fishing remained hot the next day. I had the pleasure of fishing with former Kenai residence Ernie and Bonnie Rimer, who brought their daughter Easton and son in law Andrew to see their former hometown. I have a strong hunch that when it's time to retire these two will return to their roots.
On Friday the bite started to slow down a bit. Still, not a bad effort on a great weather day. I'm glad Bob and Judy ended their 2016 trip to Alaska by catching fish. See you guys next year!
Saturday was the last day of fishing with Joe and Rafeal. The early morning bite wasn't happening so Rafael decided to grab a spinning rod and cast a Vibrax. I told him I hadn't seen a silver caught on a spinner in three weeks. That was all he needed to hear to prove me wrong. This silver put up one of the most acrobatic fights of the season. That was a good thing but there was some bad catching this fish. At one point during the battle, Rafael lost his rental car keys into the river. Ouch, bummer deal. Rafeal spent the next four hours on the phone trying to find a solution to this problem.
Not wanting to end his vacation on such a sour note, Rafeal said, "screw it, let's go fishing." So we resumed our trip. It didn't take away all his headaches of dealing with a rental car company, but it was nice to be in good weather and to be able to catch a few more silvers.
The final day of the week I had the pleasure of spending the morning with these two Texans. Rick and Vern worked in a fishing trip before flying out for a week long bear hunt. They'll be staying in our cabins on their return and I'm sure they'll share a few stories about their adventure. Can't wait to hear them.
So I'm sad to report that leaves are starting to fall off the trees and frost is appearing on my boat seats These are signs that my guiding season is almost over. I'm not guiding every day this week (my first break in a long, long time), but plan on being on the water every day. In between the scheduled trips, Jane and I will be going out. Our freezer is low and it will be nice to have a chance to sock away a few salmon for the winter. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the silvers will be there because Jane is one tough customer if she's not catching fish. Ha!
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