Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Red river

The good news is, most of our clients this and the past week will need new freezers when they get home, the bad news is, they're going to need to get new freezers!

The Kenai River sockeye, or red salmon, continue to pour in and we've been sending folks off with boxes of the coveted fillets.
The krill-eating red salmon have most succulent and rich flesh of all the of the Pacific salmon species, and while king and coho are good in their own right, red salmon is what us real Alaskans will fill our own freezers with.
We've markedly reduced our feffort for king salmon as of Tuesday as state officials have limited use of bait river-wide. While king fishing is not frivolous, with an option to take six reds a person, with bag limits often reached before 10 a.m., the option has been pretty clear.
Additionally we've seen steady hauls coming off of the saltwater for our clients going after Cook Inlet halibut, and combination saltwater fishing trips out of Homer have been catching a few silvers too.

Here's a few nice kings caught last week.



Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Here they come

Are you ready to Sock-
eye?

Ooops, sorry about the lame pun, but the Kenai River is going nuts with sockeye, or red salmon. According to the Department of Fish and Game, over 231,000 (yes, that is three zeros on the back) of the prized reds passed the agency's sonar on Sunday.
Fishing has been steadily heating up for kings over the last two weeks as well.
This is the beginning of go time here on the Kenai.
King fishing has been strong in the lower river using a variety of tactics. We've been fortunate to have good water conditions.
At the time of the posting, regulations are still restricting the use of bait through most of the river.
The surge of reds will be spreading itself out through the river in the coming days. As of Sunday there was hardly a bank angler to be seen without a Kenai River red salmon splashing on the end of their line.
Consistent numbers entering the river will make for consistent fishing through out its length. We expect to begin getting clients on reds this week.
The Devores.

Nick's nice chromer.

A hog-snouted 50 pounder.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Happy Fourth from Big Sky

We sure hope you had as nice a Fourth of July as we did here on the Kenai.

We'll start this week's report with a clarification, as the rumor mills sure do get working whenever our state managers make any in-season decisions regarding fishing: the Kenai River is not closed.
In short, for the time being, the lower Kenai River is open to king salmon fishing with use of bait, while the middle section, including our shore-front, is currently closed to fishing with bait or retainment of kings between 20 to 55 inches. Anything smaller can be kept, as can anything bigger, though if you have one bigger on the line, please do start screaming, you're going to need a net!!
We really encourage both our incoming and prospective clients to give us a call if they have any questions regarding in-season regulation changes, and not to buy into the rumors that can spread on online fishing forums etc. the regulations can be hard to understand, and even archaic for those unfamiliar with the river, it's understandable that there will be misinterpretation. 
We're very involved here though, and are on a first name basis with most the local Fish and Game biologists. Often we know what will be coming down the pike before the press release gets out, or at least have an idea.
Likewise, we're more than happy to answer questions while you're with us, as some of the regulations can be a bit tricky.
In short, however, the recent measures taken by Fish and Game really don't have a major impact for us.
We've been having our best success in tidewater, and will continue to fish there through the next week.
Action is steadily on the rise, and water conditions are improving. The river has pretty nice clarity at the moment, not too dirty but still good color.
Heavy rains and cool weather in the mountains should keep that coming, and continue to help push the river levels up.
There's still a reasonable snowpack left in the mountains too, so a good hot spell could really fire things up. 
Enough jabber, let's get to some of the goods!


Bubba knows, always kiss your Kenai king for good luck.

Dempsey and a 50 pound chromer.

Kurby's buck.

The Youkey brothers.

Larry fights his 11th hour Kenai king.

Not too bad for a little Sunday afternoon jaunt with friends. We like to get out and play a little ourselves. 




That fish changed his mind about getting in the net, but it was too late.

A quiet afternoon in camp. Mama duck is doing a good job this year of keeping her brood safe from the eagles.