Chitina Dipnetting

ANGLER: fishonbruceAK

TRIP DATE: 6/19

REGION: Upper Susitna and Copper River area

WATER: Chitina Dipnetting

SPECIES: Reds and Kings

REPORT: Two buddies and I hit the Chitina dipnet for an overnoght stay on the Copper River. We were dropped off near the lower end of the rapids at about 6 PM whereupon for the next six hours the fish came in at a fairly consistent rate including two 45lb kings. By midnight, we had about 50 or so on the bank and then it shut down. By 5 AM we had eeked up to 66 fish (includding another king in the 30lb range) and saw no more after that. We called it quits at seven and headed back. The reports from the other over nighters was pretty much the same, a few limits or near limits, but then it stopped in the morning. A nice morning was then spent filetting our catch then back to Anchorage. The guides are saying then river is really coming up right now and that the increased flows may hold back the fish. Or maybe not... Fish On!!

Views from Ship Creek

Views from Ship Creek

I went out fishing again on Saturday to try for another Ship Creek King. The air was cool and a stiff breeze off the inlet made for another chilly evening. With this being the last weekend of the King derby, the crowds were thick. We were fishing from a boat, and were joined by probably a dozen others. Throughout the night, while waiting for a fish to bite, I took the opportunity to take phots of the action. It is near impossible to catch the full extent of action, espcially watching a very young girl reel in a twenty pound King. But as the fishing was slow, and the lighting superb, there were many oppotunities for a good picture or two.

We boated only one and saw maybe another dozen landed from boats and the lower Ship Creek banks.

Here's one of the dozen or so boats out on Saturday. The camo-guy eventually landed a nice 25lb king that put up quite a fight including a run in or two with the outboard.


A croweded but not quite shoulder to shoulder Saturday night out on Ship Creek. You'll see a wide range of folks ranging from a Cabella's decked out tourista, a family with strollers, the sourdough sipping beer in a lawn chair, kids playing in the mud, etc, etc, etc.

Now this was a unique situation. This kayaker was trolling around through various fishing holes and boat when he hooked up with this nice 15lb fish. He fought and landed it solo. I could't resist getting a shot of him with the city in the background.



Here's a partial picture of Mr Steve (a.k.a Stan) taken by me (a.k.a. Ollie) of a nice 30lb he tagged for the $500 derby fish.


A couple of the next generation fish slayers trying their luck out on Ship Creek mud. Didn't see them get any fish tonight but you know these two will bank plenty of fish in their lifetimes.

Being Father's Day, I couldn't resist a shot of this father/son duo.

Like I said, the lighting was great. Here's a group of angler's way down near the mouth. Definately getting late in the day.

Fifth King

The following is my post to the Alaska Outdoor Journal private angler's fishing reports. Before I get to that I must say that this has been a stellar year so far. Five Kings to the bank. I am sure this is my personal best for a year. The downside is that for all of that, I have only been able to put two in the freezer. At Ship Creek I have had four take downs, reulting in two fish on, both snags!! I have been using a double hook rig which is what I think has bee leading to the problems. The 2nd hook gets the fish in the side when I o for the set, then the mouth hook releases with no tension on it. I think I'll try going to a single hook rig for a while to see if that make a difference.


ANGLER: FishonBruceAK
TRIP DATE: 6/12
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Kings
REPORT: Hit the high tide this afternoon and saw several hookups with many jacks coming in before the high then fish getting progressively bigger after the tide. Six to eight kings to the bank in the 15 to 30 lb range. I got one too, good for about 15 pounds. Too bad it was foul hooked and I had to let him go. For all the griping about a lack luster year, that was my fourth king to the bank this season, fifth if you include a jack. Fish On!!!

What A Night

I went fishing on the Ninilchik for the midnight opener on Friday night/Saturday morning. A buddy and I got to the river about 10:30 PM and were happy to see several rolling Kings in multiple holes. The anticipation for the next ninety minutes was just about more than one could stand. At midnight we rigged up eggs for drifting through our chosen hole. No more than ten flips later, FISH ON!!! I landed a silver bright 20 pound hen. My buddy slipped up to my spot and caught the same drift as I had. Four flips later, FISH ON!!! His hook up quickly became fish two to the bank; a 22 pound buck. I glanced down at my watch. 12:06!!! We had just hooked up and landed two fine kings in six minutes. Both had their adipose, so now we needed hatchery kings. I brought two more kings to the bank (a 10 pound buck and a 14 inch jack) and lost a real nice one in the stick on the other side of the river. We kept the jack, but the buck was natural. My buddy brought two others to the bank, a 20 pound hen, and a near 30 pound buck. All had fins so back to the river they went. At about 1:30 we called it quits. Around us, we saw ten other anglers who between them had a total of two hookups (both by the same teenage boy) one of which was landed (a 10-15 pound king). One other angler walked by with a King in hand, but we saw no other fish than that. We definitely were in the right spot with the right gear for the night. The photo of the fish is after a night on the ice gutted and gilled at my buddy's place on the Kenai. We cooked some up that night over the campfire. Awesome!! Fish On!!

The $2,500 Salmon

ANGLER: fishonBruceAK
TRIP DATE: 6/6
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Kings
REPORT: I fished the high tide from a boat with a volunteer from the Ship Creek Derby (buy your tickets!!!) to tag kings for the jackpot. I hooked and landed a 28lb hen which we marked with the $2,500 tag. It was sad to release such a fine fish, but we did get a picture before she was set free. I had one more take down without a hookup. Saw one other fish on this morning. Perhaps things are starting to pick up. I hope someone catches her again. They will walk away with a smile and $2,500 in their pocket, assuming a ticket was bought. Fish On!!!

Snooker Kings

ANGLER: FishonBruceAK
TRIP DATE: 6/2
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Snooker Kings
REPORT: Ran into a new species of fish on Ship Creek. Its called the snooker King. Just about when you are going to call it quits, the snooker king will come and take a swipe at your eggs. No hook up of course, but just enough of a hit to snooker you into fishing for another half hour or so. I fished near the mouth at high tide on Monday night. About an hour after the change my bobber and a buddy's took a ride. We both went for the set and saw a nice king splash, but no hookup. His eggs were intact, mine were all but gone. We got snookered. Our action was the only excitement we saw all night long, other than watching another buddy falling (literally) prey to creek crossing along the grassy flats. At least he was wearing waders. On another note, I think I'll buy stock in a surgical glove factory. Those latex wonders are quite the hit at Ship, particularly when they are stained a nice shade of blotchy egg dye pink. Fish On!!

Ship Creek 06/01/2008

ANGLER: fishonBruceAK
TRIP DATE: 6/1
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Kings Yet To Arrive
REPORT: To quote the phrase from Dances with Wolves 'There ain't nothin' there Lieutenant'. Well not totally true. I counted about 70 or so anglers on the very lower reaches of Ship Creek. Floating eggs, eggs on the bottom, tossing pixies, even a fly or two and all I saw for it was one Jack King landed by some guy fifty yards downstream. Granted I only fished the hour or so of high tide on Sunday night, but the word of the day was, they aren't here yet. Despite the non-abundance of fish, it was a great night to be out on the water. A cool breeze off the inlet, folks laughing and joking about the no luck of the night, an underlying anticipation of what we know is to come sooner or later. I brought a friend with me for his very first trip to the Ship. Yeah, he was less than impressed by the lack of action, but the comaraderie of shared fish-less-ness and a relaxing time well spent on the banks of Ship, leads me to believe this won't be his last trip to our urban jewel. It won't be my last either.

Out of the Blocks for 2008

Here’s the lowdown for my first trip of the year. A buddy and I fished out of Deep Creek on a combo king/halibut charter on Thursday and Friday. The king fishing was slow on Thursday (2 out of 6 for the boat), but apparently had been good to great for the previous three days as evidenced by the photos on the charter’s wall. My buddy was one of the fortunate two, landing a 25 lb buck. Saw a few landed in other boats around, but it was nothing spectacular. Friday we got blanked for kings with only one hit with seeing only one landed on another boat. Our guide was saying this was a definite slow down with this being the first day being blanked after getting kings the previous nine. The halibut fishing was more successful with 11 for 12 on Thursday and 12 for 12 on Friday. Fish were running in the 20 to 40lb range. We saw a couple of larger fish on the racks at days end. I got a 20lb and 30lb Thursday and two 20lbs on Friday with my buddy getting a 15lb and a 40lb Thursday and a 30lb and 40lb Friday. The weather was simply awesome. We also tried fishing the Kasilof at Crooked Creek on Thursday night. Though I didn’t see it happen, one person reported catching (and involuntarily releasing after a long fight) a King using a yarn/egg pattern. We saw a few kings rolling. My buddy bested me again by catching (and voluntarily releasing) a nice 16 inch bow on an egg pattern whereas I got blanked. The water levels looked like they were receding after a slug of higher water. The island at Crooked Creek had low flowing water all around it, with signs of much higher water from a day or two before.

Kenai River Fishing

Fishing ala Bruce
So you want fish on the Kenai River. I have lot's of friends that come visit from outside who want to know what to expect and what to bring. This document is a run down of a typical one-day trip geared towards the angler who has a vehicle but doesn't have a lot of money for a guided service. Sorry, I won't tell you about where to go, because that depends on the time of year, how the run is doing, various fishing reports, if you will be in a boat or from the bank. If you want more specific info, email me and I'll see what I can do to help.

What to Expect - My typical day trip would target sockeye and rainbow, being drive and wade affair. Depending on where the fish are, we go get our limit on sockeye (three to six depending on the runs) then go hit a couple of prime rainbow spots. You can count on a long day with a 5 AM departure and return time of whenever. The sockeye fishing is not "A River Runs Though It" experience so get that idea out of your mind. It can be brutal hand to hand combat fishing, but when the fish are there, it can be an amazing experience. Typically the crowds are thinner for the end of July. The trout holes are much quieter.

Clothing and Like Gear - Your absolute minimum would be waders with felt bottom boots, day pack, bug juice, fillet knife, a few gallon size zip-lock bags, a camera, and whatever other do-dads you like to take with you while you fish (I talk about fishing gear later on). Breathable waders work just fine and are what I normally use. I wear shorts and wool socks under my waders and can fish all day without problem. I also pack a wool sweater and a rain jacket for the occasional rain shower.

Bears - Typically you should have at a minimum bear spray for bear protection. A lot of individuals at the popular fishing holes (i.e. the Russian) will have a sidearm, so bringing your own is not necessary. Just because I see a bear doesn't make me stop fishing. My rule of thumb is I keep at least twenty people between me and the bear as I'm fairly sure the bear would take out one of them before it ever got to me. At the less popular sites (i.e. the Canyon) someone in your party should be armed. The best defense however is staying together in a crowd and making noise. There has never been a documented report of a bear fatality with a group of four or more people, and with group of that size, attacks only come if you surprise a bear or disturb its cubs or food.

Fishing Gear
For the Sockeye I use
-A two piece 9 foot medium-heavy bait cast Shakespeare Ugly Stick
-5500-3 Abu Garcia bait cast loaded with 30 lb test mono, I use the same for leader
The absolute must is the 30 lb test mono.

For Rainbows I use
-9 foot 5/6 with Floating WF
-6 foot 10lb no taper leader weighted with split shot to bounce the fly along the bottom
I recommend you bring your own fly fishing gear in that FF is a rather personalized experience.

Terminal Tackle for Sockeye
-1/2 ounce or 1 ounce banana weight augmented with #0 split shot to bounce the fly along the bottom
-I use Russian River Coho flies or a 2/0 Octopus tied with a snell bait loop to hold a small bit a yarn.

Terminal Tackle for Rainbow
-#12 hooks with a trout egg beads are best
-Egg sucking leach or other egg pattern 2nd best
-Flesh flies if appropriate

Kings and Silvers - We are now talking some more complex tackle with bait loops, cured eggs, sardine wraps, poppers, spin-n-glows, pixies, quik-fish and other more unique items, so I won't really address that here. Plus, there are a lot better places to go than the Kenai if you are limited for time and money. If you want more info, email me.

The Flip - The flip is the key to successful bank fishing on the Kenai. When you see photos of people lining the banks of the river, what you are seeing is a ballet of fishing lines all vying for the chance to hookup a prized sockeye. The flip is simply this, flipping your line upstream and letting it drift downstream then performing a smooth flip of the line to do it over again. And again. And again. And again. The trick is to get a fish to get your leader in their mouth and when you do the flip at the bottom of the drift, WHAMMO - Fish On!!. The details are having about ten feet of line out with a 18"-24" leader between your weight and fly. Have enough weight to light bounce the sinker along the bottom (you'll feel a light tapping as it bounces along the bottom). Too much weight, you'll snag up, too little weight and you will be out of the area for the sockeye. Depending upon the location, you may need more leader, less weight, more line out, a faster flip, or some other variable you don't know of. The best plan for success is watch what others are doing. If someone is having good luck, check and see how they are fishing, how much weight they have, how far out into the current they, etc. And yes, there are "sweet spots" along the river. But as I mentioned before, if the fish are really in, it really doesn't matter.

Playing and Landing the Fish - Fish On!!! Those are the most awesome words a fisherman can say. Make sure you say them, because it lets people around you know that you have a fish in play. Typically, the flip will have set the hook enough so you don't need to do much more. Sockeye mouths are a bit soft so a super strong set will rip the hook from the mouth. The fish should not be taking much line. If it is, it is either foul hooked or your drag is set to loosely. Point your rod upstream and set the drag to stop the fish. Use the flexibility of the rod as the show absorber to keep the hook from coming out. A trick I have learned is that while I have my rod pointed upstream, I drop the tip into the water. What this does is it keeps the head of the fish down in the water making them less likely to fight. If you do this and it still fights, you most likely have a foul snag. For me, however, I never release of fish until I have someone or myself confirm the fish is foul snagged. To release a fish, tighten your drag all the way, point the tip of your rod at the fish and yank. This will release the majority of foul snagged fish. If it doesn't, you will have to muscle the fish to the shore to manually get the hook out for the release. If a fish is fair, by dropping your trip into the water with the pole pointed upstream, you can get the fish to practically swim right to you. Once I can see the fish and confirm a good hook up, I will get it as close to the shallows as I can, then quickly flip my rod down stream, while keeping tension on the line drag the fish ashore. This is not always easy or graceful because the fish will often make one last dart for the deep often between yours or someone else's legs, under a log, around a boulder etc. All of this is happening while you are trying to walk backs out of swift moving water on slippery rocks. I typically fall a few times a year. You do, however, get extra points if you fall and still successfully land the fish; double if you injure yourself in the process; and triple point if you go back to fishing after becoming injured. The fun really begins once the fish hits the shore. Grab the fish right behind the head and sink your fingers into the gills. If you collar the fish like this, it will not get away. My hands are big enough so that on most fish I can touch my finger to my thumb through the gills. I call this "scruffing" the fish, coming from how one would pick up a small puppy by the scruff. Grab a rock, a stick, a billy club, or whatever and whack the fish on the head. Not a light tap, not a nudge, not a slight knock - whack the begeezers out of hit. Think hitting it hard enough to knock one of its eye balls out. Blood will splatter, goo will be on your hands, fish line will be wrapped everywhere, your rod will probably be in the water, and you will be wearing a grin on your face as you have just put dinner on the bank.

Caring and Cleaning Your Catch - After landing a fish, I will rip a gill to allow the fish to bleed out. I'll keep the fish on a stringer in the water where it will keep nicely for all day long if need be. For cleaning, I generally scrape scales with a dull fillet knife. I then thoroughly rinse the fish.

Filleting - I have a special way I fillet that is a bit unconventional. My first cut is at the tail where I put a vertical slice to define the rear end of the fillet. I then cut the fillet from the tail along the backbone up to the rear most lateral fins on the bottom of the fish. You now have about 3 inches of meat (for your typical sockeye) dangling from the fish. I then cut along the top of the fish from the point I left off going forward to the gills. The knife runs along the back bone just so tip of my knife slides along the backbone. Be careful not to cut the ribs. You will feel the pin bones being cut. After this cut, I will make a cut top to bottom just behind the gill plate to define the front of the fillet. At this point the upper half of the fillet will pull away from the fish. I then take the knife and with long smooth strokes, I cut the fillet away from the ribs and cut the belly flesh to define to lower limit of the fillet. I work back to those rear lateral fins where I normally have to use a bit of force to break the cartilage connection between the left of right fins. This final cut at the rear lateral fins will separate the fillet from the body. I will generally then trim the jagged edges and remove fins.

Storing for Transport - I rinse each fillet briskly in the river to clean off any extra slime and blood, shake it off a bit in the air to remove excess water. then put the fillet in a gallon size zip-loc bag. Do not let the fillet stay in the water as it will degrade the flesh. Normally I can get about 3 fillets per bag. I then get them to ice as soon as possible. I just place the bags on the ice and head on home.

Freezing and Storing - The sooner you get you fish to the freezer the better, so after your three hour drive home don't poop out with a beer in front of the TV. Get those fish to the freezer. My process is I take the fillets from the zip-loc bags used to transport the fish home and give them another thorough rinse job with cold water. No matter how good of a job you did at the river bank, the fillets will be covered with blood and slime. This is OK for the ride home, but not good for the freezer. After rinsing, I pat the fillets dry with paper towels so there is no extra moisture on skin or meat. A vacuum pack the fillets and not on the bag the date and species of catch.

Prepping Fish for Eating - No recipes here, just a couple of tips on physically preparing the fillet. Defrost the fillet while it is still in the vacuum bag either in cool water or on the counter top. Remove from bag and rinse with cold water to remove any excess slime. Now is a good time to pull the pin bones out of the fillet. The freezing process will likely have exposed the pin bones a little more than when the fish was fresh. I have found it easier to pull the pin bones after the fish has defrosted than when it is fresh. Trim off any undesirable parts of the fillet (i.e. bits of fin, cartilage) then dowse and rub with lemon juice. Most people cook with lemon juice anyway, so the flavor won't be a problem. Dowsing and rubbing with lemon juice I have found removes any (I know this sounds funny) of that weird "fishy" taste that one often gets with frozen fish.

In Conclusion - Well, these are my tips and tricks. If you surfed in here and have questions, post a comment or drop me an email. Tight Lines!!!

Slammin in the Snow

Smokin'

Smoking Salmon Ala Bruce
I love to smoke salmon though it is awfully hard to keep lit

A few folks have asked me how I smoke salmon, so I thought I would write up a blog to share what I have done.

The best suggestion for making great smoked salmon, is hit up a friend who has done a bunch of salmon smoking already. In my case, my smoked salmon sen sei is my friend Tim Stephan. A life long Alaskan, if it can be hunted or fished for, Tim has probably shot, hooked, cleaned, cooked and eaten it. Needless to say, I hold him in very high regard.
The picture below shows Tim filleting up a few salmon we dip netted together on the Kenai. Though we had a number of fits and starts that day, including engine troubles and me forgetting my dip permit and fillet knife, we did manage to put about eighteen fish in the freezer. Not a huge haul, but not bad considering the run was hit by an emergency closure just a day or two later.


Tim playing Fillet o' Fish

So the following is a step by step process I take to smoked the fish. I'll probably add pictures from a future smoking session.

Materials
Smoker - (duh) I use the Luhr Jensen Big Chief.
Five gallon plastic paint bucket and lid from a hardware store.
One bag each of alder and apple wood chips
A Room Fan
Two days to be around or near the house

Instructions
Wood Chips
-Into a kitchen size garbage bag, empty both bags of chips and mix thoroughly to ensure a good blend.
-Store these in a dry place

START OF DAY ONE
Prepping Salmon
Using the frozen fillets still in bags, lay out on smoker racks to determine how many fillets will fit. Make sure to account for spacing between pieces.
-Defrost salmon at room temperature. Defrosting too fast (e.g. food saver bags in warm water) will cause the salmon texture to be compromised.

Checking for proper spacing


Defrosting on the counter

Prepping Brine
Mix thoroughly in clean plastic five gallon paint bucket
-1 quart tap water
-1 cup kosher salt or sea salt (do not use iodized salt - it will ruin the
fish)
-Three cups brown sugar (firmly packed, loosely packed, whatever...)
-1/2 cup molasses (this item can be a substitute of a variety of seasonings i.e. honey, bbq sauce, orange juice, wine, whiskey, beer)
-1/2 tbs garlic powder (same as above, any spices you want to emphasize like Tabasco, pepper, thyme, whatever)

Typical brine ingredients

Light brown and foamy. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Cutting and Brining Salmon
-Rinse defrosted fillets thoroughly, dry with paper towels, DO NOT PULL PIN BONES AT THIS TIME
-Cut fillets into 4" sections

A defrosted fillet ready for cutting

Cut into pieces for normal smoked and strips for jerky

-Place salmon in brine making sure all meat surfaces are submerged.
-Cover loosely with lid and let stand for at least eight hours.

Keep the meat side down as much as possible

Curing Salmon
-Spray the smoke racks with Pam or some other non stick spray.
-One piece at a time follow these steps,
a. Remove piece of salmon from brine
b. Rinse thoroughly to remove slimy feel from back and front
c. Pat dry with paper towels
d. Place on racks
-Repeat until all salmon is on racks. Optimal spacing of no less than a 1/4 inch.
-If desired, sprinkle with ground pepper or some other spice of your choice.
-Place racks in a cool dry place (i.e. a garage)
-Let stand overnight

Tails and strips for the lowest racks. These have been sprinkled with pepper

START OF DAY TWO
Continuing Curing
-If the salmon is still damp place racks of salmon in front of a fan (medium breeze) for a couple of hours, rotating rack position to ensure even drying.
-The dried fish should be tacky to the touch and perhaps even a fine skin may have formed. This is called a pellicle. This is a good thing.

Ready for the smoker

Smoking the Salmon
-About 30 minutes before you think the salmon is tacky enough, plug in the smoker in an open area (not your garage). If the outside temperature is below about 10F (not likely in Seattle, not unusual for Anchorage, I would consider a smoker blanket. You can buy one (expensive) or make one (cheap) using a product you can by at lowers that looks like bubble wrap coated with thick tin foil. Use this to wrap the sides of the smoker. Make sure you leave a gap or cut an opening for where the chip pan goes in.
-Place fish inside smoker and wrap smoker in blanket if necessary
-Put strips and tail pieces on the lowest levels and leave there for the duration of smoking. These will come out more jerky like.

We're smokin' now!!

Adding Chips
-Immediately after place salmon in the smoker, heat up the empty chip pan till it could cause a second degree burn on your finger. Don’t test the pan with your finger as I did.
-Fill the pan with the chip mix (be careful, the pan is hot as I found out the hard way) and place in smoker.
-Refill the chip pan two times (be careful, the pan is hot and I’m a slow learner). Each pan takes about 60 - 90 minutes to burn.

Yes Timmy - that is snow in the background

Length of Smoking
-Probably eight to ten hours should suffice, for thinner fillets such as pink salmon six to eight
-You can always have a piece that you poke at after about six hours to test for flavor.
-Switch rack heights twice during smoking. -Finished salmon will be dark red in color, slightly curled, firm to the touch, and will have salmon fat oozing out. Tail and other thinner pieces will be jerky like. Thicker pieces may have a little "give" to them. Either smoke these longer or remove at the same time to have a couple of different consistencies.

Oh Doggy, my house stinks like a salmon smokehouse!!

Finishing
-Remove to cookie sheets.
-Let cool to room temperature.
-Fish can be eaten now, but the next couple of steps provide a good finish.
-After cooled to room temperature leave uncovered for about 24 hours in a refrigerator.
-Reseal fish in vacuum bags and store frozen for up to 12 months (as if it will last that long)

This process works really well if have very little to do other than reading or watching football, in that you are tending the fish rather often.

Beer helps.

In Conclusion
Yes this is a lot of work, and probably would be less expensive to just go buy the smoked salmon at the store especially after you consider the cost to catch, freeze, the smoke the fish. But what can't really be valued is the satisfaction of be able to do something not many ever get to attempt. And having family and friends ooh and aah over the results is absolutely priceless. Gee, that would make a good MasterCard commercial.

Fishing For 2007

The following are the collection of posts I put on the Alaska Outdoor Journal which documented my fishing adventures for 2007. My final count for this year was one King, two Silvers, three Pinks, thirty two Sockeye, two halibut, one sea bass, and my personal best 24" rainbow.

TRIP DATE: 6/14
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Kings
REPORT: After 3 plus years in Alaska, I finally lifted my King salmon skunk monkey off my back. I fished the evening high tide, soaking eggs below the bridge. Just after the high tide I hooked up and landed a nice 21lb hen. Whew!!! I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get rid of the darn monkey.

TRIP DATE: 6/16
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Kenai at Bings
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: It was a drop dead gorgeous day on the river. I took my son out for his first ever salmon hunt with not much luck. There were plenty of filleted reds on the shore (we should probably stop chop and throw there too), so the fish had been there in good numbers, but not while we were. I did have four hookups, two were dorsal, one unknown, and one fair that shook off just as I was turning it towards shore. The water level is still down fairly low for Bing's, probably a good 3-4 feet. More fish will be coming for sure. Fish On!!!

TRIP DATE: 6/21
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: It has been good and steady but I have definitely had it better. Fished Tuesday night with about 90 minutes till the last ferry and finally landed a nice hen with about ten minutes to go. Crowds were still heavy and the sow with her two cubs showed up at the point on the highway side. She rousted about 15 anglers really quickly. Hit it again on Wednesday catching the 5th ferry. I had my limit in about 2 hours with plenty of action and fish coming through. My son caught his first salmon ever for which he got a nice round of applause from those around us. Went out again on Thursday, where it was great to begin with with two fish to the bank fairly early on but had to flog the waters for two more hours to finally land a fair third. Not quite at the point of more people than fish, but it is pretty close. A lot of limits are being caught in all the sweet spots, but a lot of folks are walking away blanked.

TRIP DATE: 6/24
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: The hot weather induced river rise seems to have sent all the sanctuary reds into the Russian and to the weir. Saturday was fair to good depending upon where one sat in the river. I would say about one out of four people had limits with at least one out of four being skunked. The rest of us with onesies (me) and twosies had to flog for five to six hours to get what we got. I heard the rare story of quick limits. There seems to be a push of reds daily about 11AM-1PM. So for my first red run of the season, I went 11 for 15. US Fish and Game has been checking hooks daily, handing out several paper souveneirs. One of my fish I caught had a 2/0 octopus hook in the belly. Maybe he picked that up in the lower Kenai. Or maybe not... Fish On!!!

TRIP DATE: 6/30
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary
SPECIES: Sockeye
REPORT: I was able to get my three in little under two hours. The crowds are definitely lightening up, but then so are the fish. It appeared I was one of the lucky ones. Many empty stringers, or onesies/twosies. The fish are still a good color. Only one of mine was slightly pink. Someone said there was a bear at the confluence but I never saw it. My best guess is that the moderate trickle will continue to fade until the second run s hits in a few weeks. Fish On

TRIP DATE: 7/7
REGION: PWS
WATER: Montague Island
SPECIES: Halibut and Cod
REPORT: Took a charter out of Seward. Good weather day if you had took your sea sick pills, if not you were miserable. Thank God I had taken mine. 4-6 foot swells with 2 foot chop on top made for a bouncy but manageable day. Skipper took us to three holes. The first we hooked into a bunch of Sea Bass and Rockcod. Second blanked except for one twenty lb halibut. I had a nice one on for about 30 seconds but it decided it wanted to stay in the water instead of heading to my freezer. We finally hit a chicken hole and loaded up on 10 to 20 pounders. Between two of us we pocketed two sea bass, a rock cod, three 10lb and a 20lb halibut. I heard a great line back on shore when our skipper was bemoaning our lack of success for bigger fish. Another guide said "Chicken taste a whole lot better than a skunk". Fish On!!

TRIP DATE: 7/8
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Slow day with many leaving without a fish. Three hours of fishing yielded me a blushed fish good for the smoker and a chrome bright blue back. My mom caught another blusher, giving us three for the day. The rainbows are in thick now at the cleaning tables. Toss an egg or two and watch for a 16-24 inch trout come zooming in from nowhere. Fish On!!

TRIP DATE: 7/15
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian River
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: A friend and I flogged the waters for about four hours on Sunday with abysmal results. The only action I had was a lightly blushed hen I had on about 15 minutes into the ordeal. Thank God she was a fair hookup and was gracious enough to come to the bank so we didn't go home empty handed. We probably saw ten fish landed in the four hours we were there ans that is not an exageration. I only saw three full stringers. All in all, it was a nice day with really nice folks to be fishing with. Congratulations to James D who landed his third child about a week ago. From what I heard, it was a nice sized buck. Way to go dad!! Fish On!!

TRIP DATE: 7/17
REGION: Anchorage
WATER: Ship Creek
SPECIES: Silvers
REPORT: Tried for Silvers on the Tuesday night flooding tide. We soaked eggs in the bend near the mouth for about the two hours before the high one set from surface on a bobber and the other with poppers from the bottom. We had one strike the entire time and did not see any other fish on or landed around us. Talked with a guy who had been down five nights straight and said it was pretty much the same story for all the previous nights. It's gonna be soon, soon, soon. Fish On!!

TRIP DATE: 7/21
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Resurrection Creek - Hope
SPECIES: Pinks
REPORT: Took the family and friends to Hope to catch some pink action. The fish were there in plentiful numbers until about an hour after high tide. After that, it was a moderate pace. We took five home for the smoker and let many others go. Fishing with pink flashy lures using a long drift through the schools. Saw a lot of different rigs catching fish, so it didn't really seem to matter what you threw, it was all about the drift. Amazing (almost embarrasing) how many people thought they were landing sockeye or silvers.

TRIP DATE: 7/27
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Bings Landing
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Fished Thursday night and Friday morning with three friends. I got three the first night and actually got blanked in the morning (all foul fish - arrgh). The crowds were just about as big as I've ever seen them and the fishing was moderate to good for Bings. Our total count was moderate yielding twenty four fish for four people for eight hours of fishing. The typical holes were fishing well, but there was a line of folks waiting for those spots. Be prepared for big crowds and moderate to good fishing for Bings. Water level is about 2-3 feet below normal. [AOJ: With the KENAI limit extended to SIX reds per day, anglers should expect LONGER waits for good spots to open up along the bank as it takes longer to fill their stringers. That's the one big negative about the limit going up.]

TRIP DATE: 7/29
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Sanctuary/Quartz Creek
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Took a group of three others to the Russian on Sunday. The fish are starting to get their. Lots more stringers being filled than I have seen in recent past. My guess is that it will only get better each day. With the limit being six for the lower Kenai and upper mainstem outside of the FFO zone, there definitely is less pressure on the Russian, but then again, you can only get three. The fish were coming in there typical spurts, yielding our troop a lot of fish on, many snags, and only three fair fish to the bank. Of course the weather was drop dead gorgeous. After a few hours, we headed towards Quartz and into some thunder head clouds. The rain started when we got there. We geared up and hit the creek in some of the hardest rain I have ever fished in. Even though we didn't hook any bows, the experience was awesome. Wading in a stream full of red reds, torrential rains, and 75 degrees temperatures. God help me, I do love it so.

TRIP DATE: 8/01
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Russian Confluence
SPECIES: Reds
REPORT: Got Em' Two friends and I hit the confluence on Thursday afternoon. Typical day with fish coming through in schools about every hour. It took a while but we did walk away with 8 out of 9 for our group. Thin crowds because everyone else is at Bings.

TRIP DATE: 8/5
REGION: Kenai Peninsula
WATER: Lower Kenai/Jim's Landing/Russian
SPECIES: Reds and a bow
REPORT: Took a group to a friend's lower Kenai property not far from Moose River on Friday and Saturday. Friday between four of us, we put eleven on the bank. Action was moderate with plenty of snagged fish. I did get to catch and release a beautiful bow who seemed just about as thick around as its 24 inch length. On Saturday at the same spot, we hardly saw a fish for six hours, landing only two, with about a dozen or so other fouled or quick on/quick off. Saturday night we tried Jim's Landing, which was dismally lacking in fish. None on stringers, and only carcasses from the drift boats off loading there. The few fish we saw from the drift boats were berry red. Sunday we hit the Russian where three of us put five on the bank in three hours. Though they were bright, they were not very big.

TRIP DATE: 8/25
REGION: Kenai Peninsula & Anchorage
WATER: Kenai Near Funny River
SPECIES: Silvers
REPORT: Four of us went fishing for silvers. The rig or the day was K13 quikfish with sardine wraps. We banked three, one of which looked like it had a close encouter with a boat prop and was tossed back. Had a beautiful ~12 pound that got tail snagged that we had to net to dehook and release. Nice fish. Too bad it tail slapped the lure. When we filleted the two keepers, one of the fish had little blisters all throughout the meat, so it too was discarded as not edible. Haven't seen anything like that before.

Three Years Down

Today is a momentous day. Today is the thre year aniversary of our arriving in Alaska. As a matter of fact, as of right now as I am writing this was probably about the same time we were scurrying around the Anchorage airport looking for one of the few people we actually knew in Anchorage at that time, our real estate agent. Thanks Mary, You showed us from the very start what it means to "be a little Alaskan".

So what have I learned over the last three years.

I have learned that the chaff will be seperated from the wheat.

I have learned that the fish that cannot be landed actually can.

I have learned that there is cold, really cold, obscenely cold, and cold that will kill you.

I have learned that friendships are truly golden, and that gold is best refined through fire.

I have learned that the darkness of winter illuminates more about oneself than the light of summer.

I have learned how wonderfull my wife is and how much more wonderful she becomes each day.

I have learned value in waiting.

I have learned how to ride on a snow machine, a dog sled, and a four wheeler, and maybe some day will learn how to drive each of them.

And I have learned that I want to stay here forever.

Out of the Gates for 2006

The first big fish outing of the year was both a bust and a bang. I went with five companions to charter a boat out of Ninilchik, about forty miles north of Homer. Having to be there at 6AM was made a bit easier by the generous loaning of another friends cabin for Friday night.

We spent a little time that evening exploring the property and soaking up the views of Kenai Lake, spying on a dozen or so Dall sheep in the cliffs above us, and enjoyed a few barely pops in front of a fire in the cabin’s awesome stone fireplace. The fire was necessary because the temperature dropped into the thirties that night.

We woke at 3:30 AM to light rain. After filling our thermos with hot coffee we headed out. As we cruised down the Kenai Peninsula, we were fairly amazed at the amounts of fresh snow in the hills. In fact, there was a lot of old snow as well, thus explaining why the Kenai River looked so low. Many of the popular fishing holes had elongated gravel bars, or docks high and dry. The melt still hadn’t set in, thus leading to a many reports of no fish in the river as of yet.

We wove through Sterling, Soldontna, and several rain showers to arrive at our charter a few minutes before six and at 41 degrees. It was going to be a cold one.

The launch site was a mess of boats, but before too long we were on the water. Then it got cold, then it got breezy, then it got cold and breezy. After four missed hookups over a couple of hours the guide said we had better go get out halibut while the water was still “fairly calm”.

After an hour of three to four foot seas, we arrived on site at the prescribed halibut spot. Our guide wisely told us that it would be best if we just got our fish a got the heck out of there. Judging by the building winds and seas, no one was arguing, especially the one of our party who started to “chum” to waters. Poor guy.

The next thirty minutes could only be described a close quarters, hand to hand, combat halibut fishing. In that time, we landed our limit, having fish on from the very start. At one point, three people had fish on, and tangled in the other two lines, making a knot of three fish and five lines. The deck hand yanked one halibut in and freed two lines, leaving the other three lines and two halibut in the water. I took the guide about five minutes to work out the mess, but none of the fish were lost. In fact the two other freed line brought in three other halibut while we were untangling the mess. The last few fish to come in were done by a weird ballet of passing lines back and forth, over and under, to and fro, to keep another bad tangle from happening. We had no idea of who fish were whose, but rather focused on getting the boat limit in the hold.

Finally we were down to one fish left and one line in the water. By now, the seas stepped up another foot giving us the occasional six-foot breaker to deal with. It seemed like forever, but probably was only a few minutes till that last one came in. All told, we got our limit with fish from the mid teens to twenties in size. A bag of chickens for sure, but definitely better nothing.

An agonizing hour trip in with more chumming, airborne boating, and spray flying everywhere was all that was left. By the time it was over, everyone (including the crew I’m sure) was very happy to be on land again.


The tally for the day four missed kings, 12 halibut, two human chummers, and a boatload of memories that will “spawn” fish tales for years to come.

Four Things

Format Copied From Alaska LARKs blog.

Four jobs you've had in your life: Civil Engineer, Lanscape Laborer, Temp Everything, Pizza Delivery

Four movies you could watch over and over: The Matrix (Trilogy), Saving Private Ryan, LOTR (Trilogy) , Uncle Buck.

Four places you've lived: Anchroage, AK; Kent, WA; Seattle, WA; Snohomish, WA.

Four TV shows you love to watch: Mythbusters, Storm Stories, Extreme Engineering, ER.

Four places you've been on vacation: Puerto Vallarta, Disneyland, Alaska (while living in WA), Washington (while living in AK)

Four websites you visit daily: The Weather Underground, MSN Game Zone, ST Augustine Volcano Page, AK OutDoor Journal Fishing Reports (especially May - Sept)

Four of your favorite foods: Good Thai, An ice cold India Pale Ale, chicken parmesan, Bagel with lox and cream cheese.

Four places you'd rather be: Fishing the Kenai, Fishing Cook Inlet, Fishing the Su, Playing volleyball on a tropical beach with a bunch of other VB wanna be's.

Four albums you can't live without: Eric Clapton - Crossroads, Rich Mullins - Songs, Bruce Springstreen - Greatest Hits, Aaron Coplin - Appalachian Spring

Four vehicles I've owned: Subaru Outback, Kia Sedons, Ford Explorer, Ford Windstar

Winter Time

So what does the Alaska fisherman do during the winter? Tell lies and Tie Flies. The lies are obvious. The haul of the summer gets larger, the stories more elaborate, and the big one gets longer. Tying flies though is key to having a good next summer. You use a grundle of flies.

I went through c;ose to two hundred flies last summer (not a lie). There were the countless throwaways. I used to say I could never bend or break a Gamakatsu. I was wrong. I must busted up or bent out a couple of dozen at least. Salmon destroyed a couple of dozen more. The bottoms of several streams claimed a bunch as well. The rest I gave away.

I share a great deal with my fellow fishers as kind of a streambank camaraderie sort of thing. I probably giving away two for everyone I use. Of course this ruins my cost effectiveness for fly tying, but what you get in return is worth so much more

My favorite give away was to a boy about ten years old. He and his Dad were on their great Alaskan fishing trip. They were running low on flies so I spoke up and gave him one of mine in the color he wanted. He took a look at the fly and asked if it was hand tied, which it was. He got very excited and went to show his dad. "Dad" came up to me a few minutes later and told me how much he appreciated me giving his son the fly and told me that he wasn't fishing with it, he had put it in his cap for a keepsake. Chuckling to myself becasue my flies are definately not "keepsake" quality, I approached the boy a gave him a few more flies on the condition that he actually would fish with a couple of them.

The boy rigs up and wanders down the streambank to the designated kid spot near the Russian River ferry. About ten minutes later, here he comes walking up the bank with large red. The fish was still flopping in the kid's arms, but there was no way he was letting go. The smile on his face was incredible, I turned to say something to his dad and saw an even bigger smile of pride over what his son had done.

As the boy walked by, he told me, "Hey mister, I caught it on your fly."

A hand-tied coho fly; 35 cents. A Russian River Ferry Ride; eight bucks. Making a father son moment like that happen...

P.S. This story would not have been possible except for my wonderful, beautiful, and gracious wife who frees me to go fishing many times each year. It is a gift I do not say thank you for nearly enough.

Why my wife is so wonderful

You look at the headlines at the checkout stand of the grocery store and see oodles of who is cheating on who, the daily divorce, 17 ways to tell if your lover is faithful, or how Elvis’ secrets from the grave spell doom for Lisa Marie’s latest beau. I snicker at the outrageousness of it all, but grimace at the underlying truth. There are a lot of hurting and broken relationships out there. I daily count my blessings Linda’s and mine are not among them.

My wife is the mother/nose wiper/kitten catcher/feeder/cleaner upper/transporter of four children (five if you rightly count me), an eighty book a year reader, an awesome writer, a co-founder of a moms and preschoolers ministry, the leader of one and participant in another book club, a part-time salesperson in a local art gallery, the manager of our household. She is stunningly beautiful, remarkably brilliant, quick-witted, charming, and an absolute delight to be around.

Linda sent me home from the hospital after the births of kids 2, 3, and 4 so I could get a good night sleep.

Linda lets me sleep at night when the kids are sick, crying, or just plain old awake.

Linda sends me fishing many times a summer, even though she is on the clock 24-7.

Linda tells me what I need to know, so I don’t have to guess what she is thinking.

Linda sits on the couch and talks with me into the late hours of the night, even though all she really wants to do is pick up the book that is resting in her hand with a finger so tenderly tucked between the pages where the words are eagerly awaiting to be read.

Linda challenges me to strive for the best rather than settling for good enough.

Linda has taught herself to cook ad eat salmon and halibut making delicious dishes of smoked salmon creamy pasta, barbeque salmon, halibut tacos, beer battered halibut, salmon cakes, and many more, making me feel my fishing trips are somehow worthwhile.

Linda insisted on buying the Outback instead of the Legacy.

Linda put her foot down to ensure we got the right house.

Linda is selflessly there for her friends and family in their time of need.

Linda washes, dries, and folds the laundry for our family of six.

Linda paints murals on the walls for our children.

Linda takes the kids to the zoo, the park, on outings, and out and around all summer.
Linda puts up with my weird work travel schedule, sends me off with a kiss and tear in her eye, talks with me for hours when I’m on the road, eagerly tells me to hurry home, and greets me more times than not with a kiss and a warm meal that was not cooked in a restaurant.

Linda gives me perspective in my times of trouble, provides me kind and sound counsel, and is there to support me in my various neuroses.

Linda looks beautiful in black, white, purple, red, green, orange, yellow, gold, silver, diamonds, in my arms, in the car, soaking in the sun, doing the dishes, reading a book, and playing spider on the computer while talking with her mom/brother/friend on the phone.

Linda tells me what is on her mind, on her heart, and on her nerves. She speaks the truth in love, love in kindness, and kindness in sincerity.

Linda invests time in her friendships, bringing me delight in getting to know those around her even more.

Linda lets me tinker in the yard and garage, tie flies for fishing, sleep in, play computer games, and watch movies.

Linda lets me drag the family around on adventures.

Linda lets me spend time one-on-one with the kids.

Linda lets me be right every now and then, even though I am likely wrong.

Linda is my best friend.

Linda is blushing now as she reads this.

Shishmaref - The People and The Art

Shishmaref - The People and The Art

Working in Alaska has brought to me a unique opportunity to spend time with an incredible community, Shishmaref. Located on the coast of Alaska, just below the Arctic Circle, this native Alaskan community bears witness to both an ancient way of life and the ever changing world around us.

I plan to do a few blogs about my trips to this corner of the globe, but first I might show you some of the art that these people have become famous for. Most of the pieces I bought on Shishmaref. One of the masks I bought in Nome, but it was made by an artist on Shishmaref. Aside from their normal hunting and fishing activities, much time is dedicated to making their art. There is a strong sense of tradition in Shishmaref, with many of the younger generation embracing the need to keep this art form alive. The art they make is intended to be sold, lest anyone think the good folks of Shihsmaref are being taken advantage of. Selling the art give many of the people a source of income needed to support themselves and their family in bush Alaska.

The figure above was the first piece of art I acquired. It is one of the classic forms common to Shishmaref. It is a hunter with a spear. The hunter is made from whale bone, with the face being an inset piece of caribou horn. The spear tip is made from walrus ivory with the blade being balene. The spear rope is ugruk (bearded seal) gut. The inset marks on the hunter are also balene.

These two pieces are called wall hangings. Made from whale bone, the eyes are ivory with balene insertsas are the two inserts below the mouth. The mouth inserts traditionally signified someone of great importance. There is a name for the mouth inserts, but the word escapes me. The figure on the left I bought in Nome, with the right figure aquired on Shishmaref itself.

The last figure we have is called a horn doll. It is made with a caribou horn, clothed with various furs. This one has ugrok, caribou, and I beleive rabbit. The face of the doll is painted.

So what does this posting have to do fish fishing? The people of Shishmaref ice fish during the winters, and likely are the same people who helped inspire the Alaska Mary Ann fly.

Mostly for me, however, the blog is a way to share something not a lot of people get a chance to see.

If Shirley and Cliff are reading this, thank you for your ongoing hospitality. The sourdoughs are awesome.

An Ideal Day

Ideal - A conception of something in its absolute perfection.

Those who have fished for many years often have stories of the ideal as it relates to their pastime. Sometimes it just all comes together. The fish are in, the water is just right, and you have guessed correct on the lure of the day.

My new favorite fishing hole was taken, but 20 yards down looked like a favorable spot. There were five or six others fishing this gap in the vegetation, with only just one spot remaining, the upstream dog spot. I call the upstream end the dog because the fish have to pass through a gauntlet of hooks and lines before I have a chance at them. But it looked like a reasonable enough spot, so I staked my claim and set up shop.

Still warm from the half-mile hike just finished, I dropped my backpack on the bank and started to gear up. This was my first outing with a new rod, a bait casting 9’ Ugly Stick with a 6500 Abu Garcia reel loaded with 30lb mono. The terminal gear was a 2/0 Gamakatsu Red Octopus, egg loop tied with red yarn. Leader was about two feet to a ½ ounce spin weight. Two casts later I augmented the spin weight with two-¼ ounce split, clamped above and found the bottom bounce nicely. I chose a standing wave as my starting point for the drift, with about six feet of line out, bringing the line in all the way to the weight in the calmer water just down stream of me.

I settled in for a few hours of line flipping, expecting some significant tuning to the gear before the bite was on. Cast one defined my drift. Cast two defined the downstream end. Cast three, say aren’t those reds in my gap? Cast four, fish on!

The red flashed to the surface and caught air trying to shake the hook, but it was set hard, but unfortunately in the dorsal fin. With no quick break off likely I played him on in and beached the red quickly. A shard yank with the forceps and the hook came free and the red scurried its way back to the Kenai.

Snag and release became the name of the game for a while. Lot’s of action for sure, but several back snags later had me adjust my rig for answers. I had one tail snag that hit hard and it was off to the races. I cranked the star drag to full and he was still taking line. I thumb braked it with not much luck, forcing me to use the double thumb trick normally reserved only for the most stubborn of snags. Finally I stopped the fish with about 100 yards of line out. Thankfully, the leader finally snapped off, but not before fouling two or three people in the process.

I switched back and forth between coho flies and egg loops with pretty much the same result. I then started to dip the rod tip under water to bring the bottom end of the drift as close to the bottom as possible. Three pinkish keepers later, I was in the ideal. Between snags and fair fish, I lost count of the number of salmon on in the four hours we were there (I am guessing about fifteen total). I had the spot so closely nailed; I was even picking up smolt and fry that were out-migrating.

My buddy Jeff was having one of the more typical days those who fish have. The skunk monkey was firmly on his back. Poor guy. He came down to hole I was at and I turned it over to him while I cleaned the three. Still no luck for him. Same drift, same everything, and not a fish to be found. (I later found out he had brought a banana with him. Oh the horror, the horror). I cleaned up my last fish and tried the spot again. A few drifts later and a fish was on. This one flashed bright as a new dime in a wishing well. I played it out a beached it. Silver!!! My first legit coho in Alaska. I couldn’t believe it though Jeff said it was. Checking the ID charts at home, he was proven right. It was a hen and was chock full of roe. The fillets were thinner than reds, and lighter in color. I turned all the meat to be smoked, twelve pounds in all.

So my final count for the day was six to the bank. Three keeper reds, two snags, and a silver. Add to that the several snag and release in play, the many smolt and fry, I had found an ideal day of fishing in Alaska. Fish On!!

Fish On

Poets talk about "spots of time," but it is really fishermen who experience eternity compressed into a moment. No one can tell what a spot of time is until suddenly the whole world is a fish and the fish is gone.
- Norman Maclean A River Runs Through It

Three hours of frustration. Why do I do this to myself? People are landing fish up and down from me. I wasted another whole day for nothing!! The fellow upstream has just hit his limit, and I am hitting my boiling point. Two spots down, the old timer finishes and offers me his spot. Believe me I jump for it. Seeing so many fish come out of his gap, there has got to be one in there for me. Perched on a rock on the upstream edge of rapids, I see why this point has been good. Eight feet down lie two boulders cause water to flume through a gap about the width of my shoulder. He tells me put your line with a drift through the outside standing wave then draw across.

On my new perch I am learning the hole. The water is quicker here , but rather than weighting up, I shift down to a half. At that weight and about fifteen minutes of trial and error I am hitting the flume about two feet deep and coming straight across right angle to the flow. Then I see it. A double flash a two Reds explode out of the flume sprinting upstream. So clearly visible it startles we, but my rod get a firm yank and I set the hook. Fish On!!!!

The Red sprints to the middle of the river and I let her run, slowing it ever so gently to finish and test the set. It is firm and the battle is on. I steer her down river and reel in quickly as she runs for the bank. Downstream of the rock flume now, I know that she won't be coming to me. I am going to her. I come down off my perch into the knee deep river and bam, another run, but not in a good direction.

At my angle the line draws under a near snag and the end is near. A line on a log equals a quick breakoff. But the set holds. I do a few tugs this way and that but to no avail, the line in under the log to stay. Knowing the fish is probably lost any way, I go for broke. If the line won't come out from under, I will pass my rod under and take it downstream. A quick splash and into the flume I go, into waist deep but slow water now, I quickly pass the rod under the log and too the other side, expecting when freed, the line will be slack from the fish being off my line. I reel the slack and am surprised to find to find she is there with me, but now without much fight left.

I bring her to landing distance and with no shore to beach and not a net to be seen I do a first for me, I move my scruff my fish with my right and pick her free from the water. Hookup to landing, maybe 2 minutes. Memories of the battle won, eternal.

The perch stayed hot for me, and I limited in about ninety minutes. Fish four broke my rod tip, but a quick extra snap to take it to the next guide gave me a usable 8'2" rod from my 8'6" original. I finish the other two and go for my basking in the sun. The broken rod fished so well, my buddy picks it up and brought in three more before we called it a day.

Between us, we took ten from the run we were at, with likely sixty more coming to others.

Fish On!!!