The string of daily silver salmon limits ended this past week. I believe it was due to a combination of rising, muddy water, and being in between the mid August and mid September peaks of the salmon run. Oh, it wasn't bad fishing, it was just a lot slower than the previous week.
On Labor Day Monday I had the pleasure of guiding my neighbor Dan, and his friend Rod, who was visiting from Illinois. We had no problem finding a two person limit on this morning, but by the end of the trip the water started to change for the worse. I'm not so sure we would have been able to find enough fish for a full boat of anglers.
On Wednesday, it was good to be back on the water with Jason, Bill, and their friends Brian, and Bob. It was a great morning for getting caught up, but with rising water the fishing was awful. By 10:30am I made the call to end the trip until the afternoon tide came in. For the first couple of hours of our second trip of the day, we didn't have a bite. I was starting to think this would be the first shut out of the silver season. It was desperate times and when Jason requested the lure that he last used in 2010, our luck changed. His first fish was about 10lbs. Not long after, he hooked into this beautiful 16lber
Then it was Brian's turn to catch the twin to Jason's fish.
Bill followed with this nice 14lber.
Bob ended up catching the last one for the day. So, what started out as a day with nothing in the box, ended up with everyone catching at least one salmon.
Day two was a reward for these guys putting in a long, wet day the day before. As you can see, we had our dozen and we were back at the dock by noon.
Day three was a lot like day one, except for less rain. We definitely had to put our time in to find a few willing biters. Jason, Bill, Brian, and Bob, I really appreciate the time we spent on the water. Great conversation, some moments of great fishing (and not so great weather), made for an enjoyable time for me. Hope it's not another seven years until you guys come back...
I didn't have a scheduled trip on Friday, but with the water still being off, I was more than okay with that. I did speak to my neighbor Dan and asked him when Rod was flying back home. He said he was leaving on Saturday. Well, I told him I needed to work on my fishing gear and there's no better way of doing that then sitting on anchor with a couple of kwikfish swimming behind the boat. Did they want to come along? You betcha. In relatively poor fishing conditions this beautiful 12lb silver found Rod's lure. It was nice to send Rod home with another memory of the Kenai.
The water quality improved by Saturday morning and the river was back on track. Well, at least I thought it was. By 8:30am we had four fish in the box. We fished another seven hours to get three more to bite. Walt, Jeff, and Daniel are all veteran Kenai River fisherman. They know how special this river can be and it was great to swap stories about epic, and not so epic, days on the water. Whether you're in my boat, or your own, I know I'll see you guys again. Thanks for the day.
What do I think the week ahead will look like? I think we'll be able to find fish, but I'm not sure how many. I do know the second run peak is coming soon and it's just a matter of time until it's here.
Come back next week to see how we're doing.
p.s. My thoughts and prayers go out to my Texas and Florida friends. It's a very difficult time for you all.
2 comments:
If that's a slow week, sign me up!
JT
Itch, itch, itch!!!
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