September Fishy

As always, September was a fishy month.  We had steadily falling water and carcasses were exposed faster than the gulls, eagles and bears could keep up.  Mix in the earthy decay of fall, the fecund odor of fermenting salmon and the sweet smell of cranberries and you get an aroma that says…Fish On!   As the sockeye fall, the trout feast and grow; despite the exercise we give them bending graphite.

Big Fishy Rainbow

Craig and Arie returned for another round of Kenai Rainbows.  For several years now they have been going over to Kulik Lodge in Katmai, but they keep the Kenai on their itinerary for the big ones.

Debbie and Stacy with a daymaker.

Debbie joined Denny Crum’s group from Louisville, KY and quickly set the bar high with this beautiful trout.  Stacy had his hands full as this was one of a big fish double with two novice anglers, some fast water, an island channel to navigate etc. , but he is a great coach too.

First Fly Rod Fish

Where else can you go and land a rainbow like this for your first trout?  On the Kenai, we see it play out every season.  Right place, right time, right stuff, line in the water, get em!

Middle Kenai Beauty

Love those Big Silver Streamer Eaters

Big Dollies are welcome

Tom Lackey on the Upper Kenai

Chilly Fishy Mystic Morning

If only September could be three months long!

Wow,  tomorrow is November.  I spent every day on the Kenai River from July 15 to October 18, so please excuse the fact that the blog has been silent.  I have lots of material to share, so I am planning to run a number of  posts about the season past.  I have recently arrived back in Great Falls Montana and just put a line in the Missouri yesterday.  Some days you go fishing and sometimes you go catching.  Yesterday I went catching for about 2 hours.  Hot rainbows and Browns from 15 -20″ .  It was a great welcome back to Montana.

Scotts' Oct 18 Kenai River Rainbow

My good friend Troy Miller pulled together a work/corporate fishing trip for some business associates and we hit the river for a mild and productive late season day. Scott’s fish was the second of 4 hooked up while wading a special spot.  When I saw it jump, I yelled for everyone to get in the boat, but since everyone was hooked up, no one moved.”Really guys, Scott has a big fish and we are going to need to chase it.”  I ended up getting Scott in the boat and we chased the fish around and down to the point of no return more than once.  I flung a couple nets to shore like frisbees and told the guys to help each other.  We managed to get Scott’s fish back to the boat and the boat back to shore right where we hooked it. There were several runs deep into backing and several trips back and forth in the drift boat in what I consider to have been an epic battle.  All the fish were landed and all were over 20″ including Scotts’ with a 21″ girth and a length of 32″  Congratulations Scott.  Thanks for capping off another great season.

Last trip across Skilak October 18

Late Season Morning Light on the Middle Kenai River

John Pregartner with a hot chrome Silver Salmon

 We experienced a great late run of big silvers.  Stacy and I got out a few times and for some great catch and release and a little catch and consume silver action.  We also enjoyed our yearly kegs of Glacier Brewhouse IPA.

Silver Salmon and Glacier Brewhouse IPA = Guide Fun Time

 Martin showed up and kept our bellies happy with many culinary treats.  Alaska Seafood and catch of the day dominated our October evenings.

Martin's in the House

Nicole and Jenny have Alaska roots that brought them back to the Kenai for a day of fishing.   The sockeye run is still strong, so we set them up on the fish and let them go at it.

Double Trouble

So fun you'll want to kiss them!

After Stacy and I got done with the party with Nicole and Jenny, we decided to go for an evening bonsai float.  We have not fished together since last November.  It was overdue and a ton of fun.  We loaded the cooler with a growler of Glacier IPA from Anchorage (otherwise known as Guide Slayer IPA or the Green Giant) and the new Williwaw IPA from the St. Elias Brewery in Soldotna.  Both beers rocked and so did the fishing.  Stacy started off hooking a cleaning table troll at the confluence.  We grabbed some fresh sockeye for the smoker and found some rainbow and dollie frenzy action on some spawning kings, landing 23 fish in one small area.  The entire drift to Jim’s was good.  Wish we could do it more often.  Maybe some day when I am not a career guide.

The water is dropping, exceptionally clear and the fish are turning on. The Sockeye are still rolling in chrome and a few bright silvers have been taken.  The fishing is so good, you won’t want to stop till you drop.

Kenai Kidz

Pink shades and pink stripes.  They named the fish sparkles.

Mrs Telleen 30" Rainbow

Got to take Momma and the kids fishing and Momma got a good one!

Keno Upper Kenai Sockeye

JoelZ, Keno, and Phil (aka the Bear) joined me for the annual July sockeye fest with a few hours spared for rainbows and some tasty riverside treats.

Phil Middle Kenai Sockeye

Rainbows, Sockeye and a Brown Bear back

The bears have been fun to watch this season.   Saw thirteen in one day of fishing in early July.  Who needs to fly to Brooks?

Note:  I had wireless problems and cell phone problems for several weeks, but now my wireless is working again and I have a new Blackberry for backup.  Fish On!

Anchor King before the closure.

I will finally be able to check email and supply conditional posts regularly  along with pictures!  I will begin tomorrow.

We are covered in Sockeye. The limit has been increased to 6 as the Russian River has already received escapement. Today, we saw a moose on the way to the river, had a black bear in a tree at the landing, filled the boat with sockeye and watched a brown bear on the float out.

The first 3 days of the season, our guests landed 5 rainbows 30 inches or better with a 32 incher taken the first day.  Bill Coulson caught a 27″ rainbow on the first cast of the 2009 season at 6am on June 11.

Hope to have a wireless connection at my cabin soon, so I can post more frequently.

Tight Lines!

Fins Down

On the return from a quick trip over to Washington State, my Durango’s engine gave out at a Taco Bell drive through in Missoula Montana.  We’d had a beautiful afternoon driving up the Clearwater and Lochsa Rivers.  I was seriously considering replacing the brakes and getting new tires and rolling through one more season.  After 250K miles, 20 passes over the Alcan Highway, hundreds of trips on Skilak Road, a close encounter with a moose in the Yukon and mule deer in British Columbia, Wyoming and South Dakota, one more taco was asking too much.  We limped to a corner of the parking lot and that was the end.  Kudos to the poor guy who carted us back to Great Falls in another crazy spring snowstorm.   Crossing the divide at Rogers Pass was insane.  I think we were the last rig to make it through that day.

April 30

It could have been far worse.  The Durango could have given out while crossing the Northern Rockies in B.C.  I sure hope this Yukon is ready for the hard miles ahead.

The new Mystic Waters Road Warrior

My goal this spring has been to spend a week with my boat (Monday through Friday) fishing on the Missouri.  Up to now, most of my time has been a few hours here and there alone, on a quick trip with friends or a short trip with my family.  The few full days I have fished have usually been solo and without my boat.  I want to learn more about my new home water.  My friend Tom from California was in need of an L.A. escape, so he gave me the excuse and partner I needed.  Tom has fished on the Big Horn a number of times, so we were both interested in his impression of the Missouri.

Warm and happy in the sun.

Monday through Wednesday, we had highs pushing 80 and a strong spring wind.  Fishing was good, but we wanted a few clouds and some cooler temps to kick the bugs in gear.  I complained to Stacy (in Alaska) about the heat and sunburn.  Big mistake.

On Thursday we got our clouds and a temp drop.  It was 34 degrees in the morning and blustery.  The fish were snapping and we were pretty happy until the wind built up to a steady 40 mph and the snow began to drift in the boat.  I managed to do some two handed casts about 20′ crosswind, but it soon became ridiculous. We are both pretty tough, but casting was near impossible and the temp dropped further to 20.  It was pretty clear that our day on the water was going to be short.  We retired to Izaak’s in Craig for some lunch and a beer.  I had the forlorn hope that the weather would settle in and we might get a few more hours on the water.  Shortly after lunch and another beer, we entered the twilight zone of fishing flap.  We were surrounded by guides and fly shop owners and the taps were running and the fishing tales and winter exploits were spinning around.  I will take a moment to give props to the Blackfoot Brewing Company in Helena.  I am an IPA snob and they make a very good beer.  It was my first time at Izaak’s and it has the same vibe as my favorite place in Cooper Landing Alaska, the Kingfisher Roadhouse.  While I don’t know everyone at Izaak’s, I actually was acquainted to about six people and I soon felt at home, maybe too much.  By 10pm, it was clear that we were not getting back on the water.  I beat the ice off the door to get it open and limped back to Great Falls.

Cold but MO better than Thursday

On Friday morning it was 12 degrees in town.  A frozen popsicle of an anchor rope protruded like a trailing shuck from the mess of dirty snow and ice in the bottom of my boat.  I tried to ignore the thermometer as Tom and I  rallied up to the Holter Dam.  Surprisingly, there was not a boat trailer in sight at 8am.  The sun was shining, the wind had died and it was a balmy 17 degrees.  Without the wind, it was actually comfortable.  The lines were a little frosty, but we managed to keep the guides clear enough to cast.  Tom broke in his new 6wt TCX by throwing a streamer and hooking a rainbow right off the ramp.  Fishing was good and by noon, the air was back into the low 40s.  Then it happened.  The baetis began to appear and the swallows and gulls went nuts.  Little sails covered the river as some clouds rolled in and a few snow flurries sputtered down.  It was perfect but the trout seemed not to care.  We tried nymphs and emergers and had the dry fly rod ready.  I have not caught a MO fish on a dry fly since I drove through on my way to Alaska in May of 2007.  In three hours we saw only three rises and only hooked a couple fish on the drift.  Tom’s back was sore from old football stress and my back was beginning to ache watching him try to stretch.  We were done.

Good Beer for Trout Fishing

Tom’s take on the MO.  He felt that the rainbows were good sized and strong.  He only caught one brown, but it was a good one.  He liked the scenery, the fact that the water was uncrowded and was even impressed by the crazy weather. I have also fished the Big Horn a number of times and I must say it is an incredible river.  I have fished the Missouri sporadically the past two late falls to springs.  The Big Horn is possibly more consistent, but when the fish are on in the MO, it is fantastic.  The rainbows are strong and fun to catch.  I have caught browns up to 24″ and love that there is so much water to throw streamers.  The scenery is also great and I like that the river can make you think and second guess.  I know it can get busy, but I have never seen it as busy as the Big Horn or the Green River (UT) in the same seasons.

As I pulled out of Craig, I saw Brian Neilson’s truck at Izaak’s.  Mike from the Trout Shop was there along with Kirk, a fishing and skiing regular from Great Falls and a fixture of the Missouri River Fly Fishers.  It will take a few more days to get the fish on the baetis was the consensus of the smart guys who were already at the bar and the guides that came in.   Hey Brian, lets go fishing in about a week!

Bob's Troutzilla held by son Ian

My friends Bob and Ian McDonald don’t mind fishing in the winter.  Here is one reason why.  Fish of this magnitude are nearly impossible to land in heavy current. Cold water and slow winter flows make it possible, though still never easy.  Congrats boys.

How big is this fish?  I know the dimensions, but I will leave them to your imagination.  Suffice it to say the fish was freakin big!

Trout Shark

Kent Fredriksson is passionate about photography like I am about fishing.  Maybe even more so.  He certainly is an image artist.  Click on the picture above for a trip to his website and some Cooper Landing Alaska images.  Then check out his Katmai brown bears and other stunning wildlife and landscape camera art.