Fishing Report Week Ending 8/11/19

We spent more time this past week out of the boat than in the boat. That's because the red salmon fishing has been that good. We tried to find a few silvers, and we did, but the generous limit and action with red salmon was too hard to resist.

Here's Kris, John, Nate, and Del. We spent the first two hours of our day trying to catch silvers and found only one. We spent the next two hours fishing red salmon and caught twenty three.

It's been awhile since I last saw Orrin. He brought his buddy Tim along and before lunch they had their limit.

Taylor and Kris were in Alaska for their honeymoon, and the last thing they did before flying back to Wisconsin was fish on the Kenai. We targeted silvers first thing in the morning and Taylor found this one.

It was slow going in the boat, so we put on our waders and started flipping for red salmon. The action was steady.

If you read last week's report, you know I haven't been able to fish with Jane as much as I'd like. Well, we had an open afternoon, and I brought her and Kate out. Glad I did.

A great week of fishing ended with the Marlatt family. From left to right are Alyssa, Anders, Mike, Alex, and Meghan. Mike, and his wife Pam, fished with me two years ago during an incredible king salmon run. This year they wanted to try silvers (or reds, or whatever was in the river) and brought their daughters and sons in law with. It was fun, fun, fun...

Thoughts about the week ahead. I really don't know how long this fantastic run of red salmon will continue. I hope it's just long enough for a big ball of silver salmon to find their way into the river. I have some old friends coming in this week and I really don't want to tell them, "you should've been here last week..."

See you next week for a new report.

Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Fishing Report Week Ending 8/4/19

I was reminded by Jane that she didn’t get out fishing last year for red salmon. That was enough of a hint for me to find time to right this wrong. How's this for timing? A big school of red salmon moved through the lower river when we were out. It took less than an hour to catch our limit.

Speaking of timing, if you notice, they’re are no photos of king salmon this week. The final day of the season ended with a thud. Thanks Jim, Colin, and Michael for your patience in the boat. We tried hard and fished a lot of water but the mighty king proved to be elusive. To quote Jim, "you can't catch what's not here..."  Sad, but true.

Now on to something completely different.

The Beaver Creek All Stars were out in full force dipnetting for red salmon on July 31st, the final day of the 2019 season. Here’s Mack and Carol doing what they do best: recreating on the Kenai. 

It’s a deep bench for Team Beaver Creek.  I was invited to go dipnetting with these perennial All-Stars. From left to right is El Capitan, Greg, fish wrangler MJ, and the deck foreman, Ron. It was a well oiled machine and in a couple of hours we had all the fish we needed.

Thanks guys, for helping Jane and I put away a few fish for the winter...

With the king season in the rearview, August 2nd was my first day fishing for silver salmon. Team Sedlacek returned after a six year absence and it was good to see them all. Here's Jake with the first silver of the year. 

Silvers were a bit scarce on this day, so we changed things up and decided to get on the bank and target red salmon. Here's Summer, the fish whisperer with a jumbo red salmon. That's her dad, Lowell in the background with her brother Jake, and sister in law Phoenix.

The next day, I fished with Jake and his family. The silver action was a little bit better. Here's Ty with the first one of the day.

His sister, McKenzie, followed up with a nice one as well.

Heidi caught the next one. About fifteen minutes later she caught a second one. She officially is the first, of what I hope is many, people who limit out on silver salmon this year.

I've got a full week ahead of silver trips and I hope each tide brings in more fish. If the silvers prove elusive, we may switch things up a bit and go after reds. Come back next week to see how it all shakes out. See you then!







Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/28/19

Same old, same old.

King salmon fishing was once again tough this past week. A few were caught, but it was a struggle to find willing biters. The positive takeaway from the week is that the red salmon run is smoking hot. The run is coming in so strong that the limit has been doubled from three to six fish per day. Better get 'em why they're here!

On to the weekly report. That's Harold in the photo above. He's a high school classmate of mine so I think the ol' BHS magic is what got this king salmon to bite. At least that's the story I'm sticking with.

Here's Martin with a hard earned king salmon.

And his son Chris also logged a lot of time to catch this king salmon.

I wish I could have put the youngest of the crew, Jacob (third generation) on a king salmon. Even though that didn't happen this trip, the most memorable day this past week was fishing with him on the river bank for red salmon. Jacob expertly used a fly rod with a circle hook to catch his limit. He was hooking quite a few fish, but then he was struggling to find his last one. After twenty minutes of nothing, I decided to take a look at his gear. There was a sinker, a swivel, a leader, but no hook. That explained his cold spell. I tied on another hook and in a matter of minutes he caught his last fish. Martin, Chris, Jacob, thanks for the sweet corn, the Moose's Loose apple fritter, and the memories of good times in 2019. See you all again in two years!

Here's a pile of reds that the Sorenson, Janz, and Hefner clan caught. If you’re wondering why there’s so many people on the dock, it’s because I helped Boo Kandas with this group. Wish we could have found a few kings, but this was a heck of a Plan B....

It's been quite a few years (17?), but I finally got to fish again with Matt, his wife, sister in law and brother in law. Matt wanted to catch reds, and that is what we did. It took about an hour to limit out.

I finished the week fishing with Randy, Jake, and Leslie. We couldn't find a king this day, but we sure found the red salmon. Hey guys, it was a lot of fun.

For the week ahead I anticipate the king fishing to be the same: tough. I think we'll find some fish, but there will be no easy ones. Oh well, if that's the case, I'll be packing the waders and the red gear...

That's the report. Come back next week to see how the final days of the king season pans out.




Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Fishing Report Week Ending 6/23/19

I didn't think I'd be fishing for red salmon on the lower river this past week, but when another guide asked if I could help him with a family of seven, I gladly, but reluctantly, agreed. I asked if his clients knew that most of the red salmon were further up the river. He said they did but they still wanted to try the lower river. 

They were a wonderful family who just wanted to be out together and not in a crowd. The bonus would be to catch enough red salmon for a barbecue. Mission accomplished. 

As predicted in my report last week, the Russian River is still going strong. How strong? ADFG has raised the limit once more to an unprecedented NINE RED SALMON! Even though I have a group next week that are scheduled for three days of king salmon fishing, I'm strongly encouraging them to cancel a king trip or two and go to the Russian River.

What else is going on? Other than an hour of king fishing that didn't produce a strike, Jane and I have been staining.

The Steelhead cabin was long overdue for a touch up.

So was the dock.

I had these little fella's keeping me company while working.

I'm looking forward to the week ahead. Not only do I end my three month commitment to grand jury duty, I also have several days of fishing planned. Over and above that, this will be the last week of catch and release fishing for king salmon. Although the emergency order has been tough on local businesses (including us), it looks like ADFG will reach the lower end of their escapement goals. That is good news for the future.

See you next week for a new report.




Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Fishing Report Week Ending 6/16/19

Reds, reds, reds.

We're in the middle of a strong, June run of red salmon. For the next two weeks the red salmon fishing on the Kenai/Russian River should be fantastic.

How strong is the run? Try following this timeline. The Russian River opened to red salmon fishing on June 11th. On June 12th, the Sanctuary (staging area at the confluence of the Kenai/Russian River) was opened early. On June 14th, the limit on red salmon was increased from three to six fish. There's no doubt that ADFG prefers to liberalize a fishery, rather than restrict one.

Speaking of liberalization, we are not the only area experiencing a strong run of red salmon. The Resurrection Bay (Seward) red salmon bag limit was increased from six to twelve fish per day. If you want to fill your freezer for the year, and don't own a dipnet, this is where you'll want to be.

All good things must come to an end, and based on how the action was this past week on the lower Kenai River, I would say the best fishing is now past us. Sure, you can still catch a red salmon or two, but to consistently catch red salmon you'll have to follow the bulk of the run up river. The middle river below Skilak Lake, the upper river, and the Russian River proper are sure bets for action.

Caribou near Bridge Access Road

For the week ahead I plan on staying close to home and will start to target king salmon once again. Better water conditions, and steady king sonar counts should make for decent fishing. At least that's my story right now...

Before I say “see you next week” I want to wish all the fathers a Happy Father’s Day.  See you next week.  







Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Oncorhynchus Nerka*

Dead Red.

It's the beginning of November, all the salmon have died except for a few late silvers, and there's still a Halloween mood (read: candy) in the Holtan household. If you don't like decomposing fish photos, you should stop reading and looking at this post right now. If you're all right with that, I hope you enjoy what was captured this past season.

As many of you know, all user groups on the Kenai River faced fishing restrictions in order for the 2018 spawning escapment goals to be met. ADFG's final sonar count for the late run of red salmon came in at 1,308,498 fish.

The optimum escapement goal (OEG) for the Kenai River late run red salmon is between 700,000 and 1,400,000, so the goal was clearly met (although many in the community dispute the 2018 counts and feel they are overly inflated). Many factors will determine how many of the of the 2018 offspring will return as adults in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Since I plan on guiding during those years, I hope the management plan was successful.

I'm always amazed at what salmon do for an ecosystem. Researchers have found that dead salmon feed 137 species of microbes, stream invertebrates, mammals, and birds. Not to mention, what it does for keeping vegetation green. I'm not sure what ate half of the salmon above, but my money would be on a bald eagle.

For those of you who don't know how to identify the sex of a salmon, the female red is on the left, and the male is on the right. In their spawning phase, female red salmon will be more bullet shaped, while males will have a hump on their back.

I'm not sure I could ever do this on purpose. Here is a dead red salmon perfectly balanced on my anchor line.

"If it weren't for all this dead stuff, there wouldn't be any alive stuff in this river" said an old grizzled Alaska sourdough. I have to agree with him. The whole salmon cycle of life is fascinating.





*scientific name for sockeye (red) salmon



Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Fishing Report Week Ending 6/22/14

Spent the past week fishing the Russian River.   ADFG has reported that the red run at the Russian is strong and at its peak. Don't get me wrong, fishing was mostly good, but as the week wore on the fishing got slower and slower.   Last Sunday a school of salmon would move through numbering 20-30 fish.  Today, the school, if you could call it that, would have 2-3 fish.   When the run is strong you stay put. When it starts to tail off you need to move and move often.

I mostly fished with Dan Meyer this past week.  That's Dan in the photo above patiently waiting for the next school of salmon to come through.   I'm not sure if the people standing above him were worried about his flipping technique (avoiding a hook in the head), or if they thought Dan would get all the fish in that spot. Whatever the reason, it's always nice to have a little distance while fishing the Russian.

Here's a couple of salmon that were put on a plane to Peoria (Dan's hometown).

My preference when fishing the Russian River is to leave around 3:00am so I can be fishing by 4:30am.  I have found the river is less congested and the people who are willing to fish that early understand the rules of the road (etiquette).   It's a great time to be there.  A couple of times this past week I could not be there until afternoon. The photo above is what you're faced with if you don't get out early in the morning.

And, this is another shot looking downstream.   Social, ain't it?

For the week ahead I have no concrete plans of where I'm fishing.   I've heard reports that the Kasilof River has been doing well for red salmon so I may check that out.   All I know is this looking for places to fish stuff will be ending soon.   Unless ADFG makes an announcement soon, the Kenai River will reopen to king salmon fishing on 7/1.   It will be nice to get back in the saddle again.

See you next week.

Fishing Report Week Ending 6/15/14

The Russian River midnight opener was exceptionally good this year.   Most anglers got their three fish limit in short order.    The following day, which is when I went fishing with the Bangen group (Team NoDak and Montana) the action slowed but remained steady.  I was hoping for different results considering ADFG has predicted that the Russian River red run would be strong for the next couple of weeks.   Oh well, it's still fishing and you never know what it can be like day to day.

Here's the Bangen group flipping away in the early morning light.   As you can see, for such great reports it wasn't terribly crowded.   And, if you're familiar with the area, you can see the water levels are low which means the current is not too strong.   By the end of the day we released quite a few foul hooked fish and ended up with three legally caught red salmon.

Come Saturday morning it was finally time to get the dock in for the season.   This is the latest that I've ever put it in. It's not that I didn't want to, it's just that the tides were not large enough to float the dock out in April and May.    If you notice in the photo above I had an extra set of hands.  That's Dan Meyer who's helping (and swatting mosquitoes).  Dan and Mary came in Friday night and are here for a week.

Sunday morning (Father's Day) Dan and I decided to run up to the Russian River to see if there were any reds moving through.    As we were walking the trail that's adjacent to the river Dan spotted several fish jumping. On closer inspection we could see school after school of red salmon swimming upstream.   It did not take long to get our limit. In fact, we were done early enough to enjoy a hot breakfast with our wives, Jane and Mary.   Wow, what a difference a couple of days can make.

I'll close this post by updating the Kenai River king salmon early run. Right now the run is nearly a thousand fish more than ADFG predicted.  If the trend continues we should land somewhere in the middle of the 5300-9000 escapement goal.   This is definitely one time when I'm happy that ADFG biologists got it wrong.