A lot has happened this past week. The early king salmon run has been stronger than expected, so the Alaska Department of Fish and Game liberalized the fishery to increase harvest. We are now allowed to use bait, and the slot limit was raised to 46". Did this make the fishing better? In a word...maybe.
Tiffany and Dean took advantage of the first day of the regulation change and found a fish they wanted to keep. This fish measured 45", so it was good to go. It definitely fought harder than the walleyes Dean catches in Minnesota.
Speaking of Minnesota, these two guys are from there as well. That's Randy "B" with the king and that's Steve lurking in the back. Unfortunately, Randy "A" did not catch a fish so there aren't any photos of him. Next time, Randy "A", next time...
Yup, more Minnesotan's this week. As a high school graduation gift, Dan brought his son, Noah, to Alaska and to fish the Kenai Peninsula. That's Noah with his first ever king salmon.
Dad Dan also got in on the king action and released this fish.
After we were done fishing for king's, Dan said he thought he'd like to experience the Russian River fishery and asked if I would go with them. Normally I don't do this when the king fishery is open, but since the reports were great I thought I would join them.
Glad I did. We had a nine fish limit in short order. These guys had a pretty good 24 hour period in Alaska. During that time they caught halibut, ling cod, black bass, yellow eye rockfish, king salmon, and red salmon.
I ended the week fishing with someone who wasn't from Minnesota. This is my good friend Gary Roeder with this first troll of the day beauty. It would have been nice if Phil and Gus would have had some action too, but we were all happy for Gary (well, at least he thinks we were...ha!).
So, my fearless forecast for the week ahead. The early king salmon run is more than 80% complete, and with a large tide cycle, I expect the fishing will be slowing down. I think we'll be able to catch a fish every trip, but I just don't think it will be multiple fish. On the other hand, the Russian River will be smoking. The run has been so strong that the daily limit was increased from three red salmon a day to six salmon a day. If you want to harvest, go there. If you want a peaceful day on the water in pursuit of a trophy king, come to the lower Kenai River.
See you next week for a new report.
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