July 16th

It’s been cloudy today and in the 60’s. But no rain!

Well we both limited out last night! I caught my limit within an hour and Gary followed with 3 more 4 hours later. We were actually back to the RV by 11 pm!! We took in a total of 17.9 pounds of fish for a total of 54.9!!! We did it! We are confirmed here until Sunday morning so we have 2 more days of fishing and we’ll see what the total will be to mail out.

July 15th

THE WEATHER: It is finally sunny and a cool 62 degrees. The wind was blowing pretty hard today.

THE FISH COUNT: Tuesday’s # was: 24,412 and yesterday’s was 16,904. The count went down due to commercial fishermen that fished in the ocean at the mouth of the Kenai.


We continue to catch fish here on the Kenai. We were out until 1 am this morning. adding another 11 pounds to our total. We are currently at 37 pounds. 13 more to go! Though it has been fun to catch fish, we have put ourselves in the predicament of catching that 50 pounds by the time we leave. It has become somewhat of a burden. We get up achy, and sore in the mornings and need to move slow and stretch so we don’t pull anything! And then it’s gearing up, packing something to eat and drink, and hit the river. We laugh because our “vacation”, at least this week, has turned into more like work!

Today we need to move sites due to someone reserving this site. We will move one row away from the river. So because we have to pack up everything we thought we’d take advantage of being disconnected and go food shopping. Gary was outside pulling together the wet clothes we had put on the line and removing hoses when he suddenly heard a rustle behind him. He turned in just enough time to step out of the way of a young moose that had been spooked by a dog in the next campsite. He ran within inches of Gary and probably would have trampled him if he hadn’t gotten out of the way!! We were told by our neighbors that the mother and 2 babies were seen swimming from the other side of the river to our side. They have been roaming around the campground all morning. Good thing it wasn’t the mother that almost ran Gary down!!

July 14th

FISH COUNT: 111,692

Before the sun set yesterday, I had caught my limit!!! You read that right. I have finally started catching fish. There was a guy from the campground office that came by and asked if I had been catching fish. When he found out I hadn’t he looked at my line and rigged it up with more weight and a larger hook. That made all the difference. Gary also went to the local tackle shop and talked to that guy about what to use and he’s got his line rigged differently also. We have a lot of weight so that we can get to the bottom of this very fast moving river and larger hooks so when you get into one of these big fish, you have a better chance of landing it. I can’t tell you what a blast it was to reel in 3 fish all within a couple of hours. I have spent 6 days trying to catch just one and then finally I get 3 all at once! Crazy. The largest one was 10 pounds! That is the largest that either Gary & I have caught which means….. ehem… I have out fished the Great Kenai Catcher (aka; Kiddo)! He also only caught 2 yesterday to my 3 so I did not let him forget that this morning! Hey, this may not last long so I have to rub it in while I can.

Someone had told us that the fishing pressure is a lot less at night and the fish are very catchable around 10 pm. So we took their advice and last night around 9:30 we headed down to the river. Keep in mind that we had already been fishing from noon until 5 pm in the rain earlier that day. We took a break, got into some warm, dry clothes, had dinner and hot coffee and were back on the river in the evening. I had my 3 by 11:30 and Gary continued to try for his 3rd until after midnight. It was finally getting dark so he decided to give it up, but we still had to fillet 5 fish! That’s been an interesting job in itself. Of course we’ve never done it before and the last few days we have asked a lot of questions, spent time at the fish cleaning tables to observe the different ways it can be done, and practiced on the others Gary has caught. Some of these guys can fillet these huge fish in under 5 minutes. They all say, “you’ll find your own method”. The first few fish he practiced on were not pretty but last night I think he found his method and he was cutting off most all the meat and the fillets even looked pretty good! What a lot of work though! We did not get back to the RV until 2 am this morning!

I did not realize how physically exhausting this would be though. I don’t know if it’s the standing for so long in the cold (46 degrees), fast moving water, or if it’s being out in the sun or rain all day or the actual constant motion of casting and reeling, casting and reeling for hours, but both Gary and I are SOOO sore! Our back, our joints, our arms are tired….. Hey! You don’t think this has anything to do with age do you??

So yesterday’s catch will certainly help with the homebound package. We were able to get about 15 pounds of meat off the 5 fish caught so that brings our total up to almost 30 pounds!! Yahooooo!

Dave: Your suggestion is being thoughtfully considered. Of course salmon is not turkey! I guess we don’t have to be traditionalists, right?

July 13th

FISH COUNT: 14, 434


Today has rained from start to finish. We have continued to try and catch fish so we can send home our 50 lb. box but today was real slow. Of course Gary caught his one and a guy next to him had limited out so offered his two to Gary. That will help with the 50 pound total. I at least had 3 hook ups today, but I just can’t seem to keep them on the line. So far we have about 15 pounds frozen. Only 35 to go!!

I’m posting a picture that shows you how people come prepared to catch fish here. Those are 2 freezers outside their trailer ready to be filled before going home. Unbelievable.

July 12th

THE DETAILS

THE WEATHER: Beautiful sunny day for a change! It feels wonderful. High in the upper 60’s

THE DISTANCE: 0

THE FISH COUNT! 8,548 (the count for the 11th)

So Gary’s livin’ the dream here in Alaska. Yesterday, on the river, did not end until almost 11 pm. He caught his limit by bringing in 2 more fish before the day was over. He felt pretty proud of himself. The second one was 25 inches long and 7 ½ pounds, and the third was just about the same. We now have about 10 pounds of salmon in our freezer and it can’t hold any more. There are shops set up that are fish processing stores. We inquired at the one here by the campground and found that to mail 50 pounds of fish would be the cheapest way to go. That means the pressure is on! Gary would need to catch approximately 12 fish to acquire 50 lbs of meat. That would equal “limiting out” for 4 days (there is a 3 fish limit on this river).

Before I went to post this he had another one. I was on the river for 3 hours but only had one on for about a minute before he got loose. While we were both out there we actually saw a seal swimming on the other side of the river! Other than that, there’s nothing new here in Alaska. I’m going to post a couple of pictures that I forgot to yesterday.


For those who are interested: The Cribbage Count: Gary 6/ Debbie 9

July 10 & 11

THE DETAILS

THE WEATHER: It continues to be cool and cloudy. We didn’t see the sun yesterday (the 10th) at all, and today we started out in sun but it has quickly clouded over and windy. It returned to mostly sunny skies by the time the afternoon hit which was a nice change.

THE DISTANCE: 0


So as we continue to stay in Soldotna waiting for the “big run” of salmon, yesterday we spent the day taking care of Saturday chores…. Cleaning, laundry, etc. I met Norma in the laundry room and she and I talked about the scene here by the riverside. Another woman joined the conversation as they told me they do this trek every year (Norma, every other year). Their husbands catch fish and the wives begin the arduous task of processing all that fish. Some smoke their salmon, other’s freeze it, but these two ladies can it. The campground is just about full now with huge rigs pulling in the last few days. Our little 28 footer is lost amongst these literal buses. They pull in and set up for the month. They set up their canning equipment out in a screened in porch area with tables and chairs to make it comfortable. Three women were leisurely walking around the campground this morning with their coffee gabbing away. Probably catching up on where each other have been over the past year. I have a feeling once the salmon come into the river there will be no more time for talking and they’ll be busy with their husband’s catch. Of course a lot of them fish themselves also. Norma said the run will be here within the week. I’m sure she is speaking from intuition rather than knowledge…. but I believe her!

In watching these people arrive I am shocked by the age and agility (or the lack thereof) of these fisherman. I think if they got a 20 pound catch on their line it would be them pulled out into the river rather than the fish being reeled in. They are probably in their 70’s & 80’s and look fragile. Gary was working under the RV yesterday repairing a clamp that came loose from the rough roads we’ve traveled and an elderly man to our right came over and asked, “hey kiddo is everything okay?” We both laughed out loud when he told me that. Gary said, “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been called a “kiddo”?!” Too funny.

So here we sit on this Sunday, waiting, anticipating, and learning how to fish these rivers. You are absolutely right Dan, there is a whole different way of fishing up here that Gary has been frustrated in learning but hopefully will know by the time the fish arrive. As much experience as he has it has been a challenge. As I type Kiddo is on the river …. learning!

It’s now 3 pm here in Alaska and I just want you all to know, GARY HAS CAUGHT HIS FIRST SALMON! Mark your calendars everyone…. 7-11, male, sockeye red, 26 inches long and a 16 inch girth. I guess he learned quick…. It’s all down hill from here! It was, BTW, a legal hookup! Fish and Game police have been paroling the boardwalk today (a sure sign that the run has begun). Norma & the other laundry gal told of horror stories of F&G guys fining people, impounding their RV’s and they even told me of one guy who got jail time… of course that’s because he chose to argue with the police
Mark: Gary wanted me to tell you that he now has his 10 pound “cracker” fish!