Clearly working

The world famous Kenai River is known for throwing "kurve balls" at us all season, and that's what she's doing again.
The river is running low and clear, just about the opposite from a week ago (and yes, for all we know in another week, it will be mudded back up!)
That being said, Big Sky's chief guide Adam was able to lure in some easily spooked fish this week.
Like many rivers in Alaska, the glacial-fed Kenai will run higher and muddier when we see warm sunny weather that melts down the ancient ice sheets in the interior of the Kenai Peninsula at the headwaters of the Kenai River.
This past week, however, was rather gray, so our near 24 hours of daylight weren't heating up enough to cause much melt.
When flow is down, the river clears up, and while we want our target fish to see, we don't want the water to get too shallow or have them see too well.
Salmon have excellent vision, and being a sought after species everywhere (not just by humans) they're also smart and skitish.
Adam reported that this week the best fishing was early in the morning after the pressure had been off of for several hours. After that, well, that's when it really became fishing.
The good news is, with a steady stream of fish coming into the river, and a steady movement upriver, king salmon are starting to be seen well beyond tide water. This gives us a few more options in terms of where to fish, and can also spread out the fishing pressure.
The Kenai is still closed to bait as of yet, and we are eagerly awaiting an announcement from state officials to open it up, but until then, well, looking at this week's catch, I'd say we're doing alright!

The Zane party from Pueblo pulled in some great fish this week.

This two ocean year fish might not tip the scales like his big brothers and sisters, but we like to call these guys "barbecue kings." Got any guesses why that might be? Fire up the grill!

Even in the Kenai's clear waters this week, this guy couldn't hide.