Board of Fisheries Meeting 2/23-3/8

The Alaska Board of Fisheries Upper Cook Inlet Finfish meeting is being held right now in Anchorage. The purpose of this board is to conserve and develop the fisheries resource of the state. What makes Alaska different than the other 49 states is that this is an open process with rule changes submitted by individuals, private organizations, and the department itself. This happens every three years and the seven member board will listen to testimonies and presentations for two weeks. Ultimately, they decide if proposals are adopted or rejected. It's not over stating things to call this ground zero for the FISH WARS experienced in our area. It's a contentious battle between subsistence users, sport fish users, and commercial fishing users.

If you click on this link you can listen to the Board of Fisheries process. Be warned, listening to testimony and deliberations can be a lot like touring a sausage factory. Sometimes it's just better to find out what the new rules are rather than knowing how they got there.

Since I won't be able to attend the meetings, I plan on listening to all things related to the Kenai River. Check the blog often because I plan on giving updates as they happen.




Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Ice Fishing Part 2

After posting about ice fishing in Alaska, I received a few photos from friends of mine with fish they've caught this winter. I might as well start out with the biggest and it's a photo of my buddy Andy with a monster northern pike.

This is Andy's son, Drew. A chip off the ol' block, wouldn't you say?

Here's Peter with a great eating size northern pike.

 Esko Bill with a sturgeon.

....a steelhead,

...and a monster walleye.

Thompson Kenny with a beautiful winter sturgeon.

Had to include a few photos of my old buddy Dave. Here's a nice eating size walleye. Pretty good multi tasking for an older fella to take a selfie and hold a fish at the same time....ha!

...and here's a HUGE perch. Uff da!

I'm sure a lot of my southern friends are confused about why anyone would want to ice fish. Well, quite simply, we do it because it's a lot of fun and it's not as cold as you would think. You either fish in an ice house that has all the features of a comfortable home (propane heat, satellite tv, bathroom, couches, etc.), or you wear the right clothing and fish outside. As my grandma Ina use to say, "there's no such thing as bad weather, it's bad clothing." That's sage advice no matter where you are in this world.




Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Ice Fishing

In an earlier post I asked for reader input about topics I should cover. An anonymous poster said I should write about ice fishing. Well, this post is for you.

A popular spot to ice fish on the Kenai Peninsula is Sport Lake. It's conveniently close to town (Soldotna/Kenai), and ADFG has stocked it full of rainbow trout, king and silver salmon (kokanee). If I've conditioned you to photos of large fish on the Kenai River, you'll probably be disappointed with this size of these fish. A large king or silver will be between 1-2 pounds.

Stocked lakes in Alaska usually equate to small fish and non stop action. Although there are a few large trout in Sport Lake, the previous description fits this lake to a "T". Above is a rainbow trout at the top of a 10" hole. This is a typical size fish found in a stocked lake. The bait of choice is usually salmon eggs on a small jig or spoon.

A rather petite silver (kokanee) salmon.

On this day I was out ice fishing with my neighbors. To the left is Evelyn, and on the right is Rusty. They're checking the depth and getting their lines baited up.

Here's Jane proudly displaying one of the many Sport Lake rainbow trout she caught.

Here's another photo of my neighbors. Rusty is on the left, Charlie is in the middle, and that's the Fish Whisperer, Barbara on the right.

Yours truly with a rainbow trout.  All in all, we probably caught over a 100 fish on this day and released everyone of them. It was a great day to get outside and spend quality time with friends.

I wanted to end this post with this photo. As I left the lake I looked over my shoulder to see this wonderful sight. It's never a bad thing being in the outdoors fishing with your children.





Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Super Bowl LI

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Today is the Super Bowl. I'm a bit impartial to the Stanley Cup but there's no way the commercials during the NHL championship can compare to the NFL championship. I also prefer Doc Emrick calling a game to Joe Buck, but I digress...

Who's going to win? I will pick the opposite of what my neighbor Barb is picking. When I asked her who she's rooting for she said, "offense". That means I'll take the defense.

Enjoy the day.




Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service