Fishing Report Week Ending 7/5/15

It's 5:00 am, the sun is rising, and the fog is rolling in.  I've loaded the boat and I'm waiting for my first clients of the year to arrive.  It's peaceful, and I'm exceptionally excited because today is the first day that I'm able to fish for king salmon on the Kenai River.  I think to myself that I'm a lucky guy. And so begins my 2015 season.

Fast forward to today...... I would have to say the fishing has been slow. And, what has been caught has been on the petite side.  Oh, we've had multiple bites on our trips, which is good, but only a few stayed on the hook.  In my opinion, it seemed to be that way for everyone this past week.

So, here are the glory pictures (and it's no coincidence that the men were out fished by the women). Brittany is a savvy fishing gal from Washington, and after missing a few fish she asked what other color spin 'n glo lures I had.  She said she needed to change her luck.  After digging around in my tackle box, she found a black winged, black polka dotted pattern lure and asked to use it.  I always say all the gear in my boat will catch a salmon and if you have a hunch about a particular color than let's go for it.  Not long after she changed out my "go to" color, she caught this fish.  When it was in the landing net I told her that was the first time that lure color has caught a fish in my boat. I then told her about an incident over ten years ago that I had with Dick Miller. Same exact scenario except we hadn't had a bite all day. For the record, Dick's color of choice was the watermelon pattern spin 'n glo.

Here's Rachel.  She's from Anchorage and when she came aboard she said she had never caught a king salmon before.  I'm proud to say that I was with her when she caught her first and her biggest king salmon. After visiting with her I have a strong feeling that this will be the first of many king salmon in her lifetime.

Well, that's my report of the beginning of the late run king salmon fishery on the Kenai.  A bit slow, a bit small, but hey, we were fishing.  But before I end this post I thought I would comment about the early king salmon run.  As you know, the river was closed to all king salmon fishing in May and June. Because of the drastic measures taken, the Kenai met the bottom end of the optimum escapement goal (OEG) by almost a thousand fish.  In my opinion, it could have easily opened to catch and release opportunites in the middle of June. But, for reasons beyond me, ADFG decided to leave it closed. Hopefully, and my fingers are crossed, this closure will result in strong returns in the years to come. Long live the kings.

Until next week, tight lines!




Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service