Fishing on the Kenai River...

Rose and I hit the Kenai River last Thursday and wanted to try to put some more salmon in the freezer. We hit the river and there were tons of fish, but so many of them were already red and unfit for the table. Rose managed to pull two bright silver sockeyes out at the first place we stopped. So we were off to a pretty good start.


We headed down river a short ways and tried again and as we were fishing, a brown bear popped out of the woods down stream and on the opposite bank. The bear walked out into the river and stood for a while and then moved back into the woods. About 5 minutes later, the bear returned with two little cubs.

We finished fishing and continued to float down the river where we could see the bears much closer. The cubs were playing around, having fun. It was pretty cool to watch, especially from a safe vanage point!

The next spot we stopped I saw some trout laying in a swirling current behind a log. I haven't fished for trout on the Kenai yet and thought it was a good opportunity. So I rigged up what's called a flesh fly. Now, a flesh fly is typically made of a piece of dyed rabbit fur, in oranges, pinks, and tans, even white colors. The idea is to mimic a piece of salmon flesh drifting in the current. With all the salmon carcasses in the river, the fish were eating on them whenever possible.

So with my setup, I began to cast behind the log and let the fly slowly sink and drift with the current. The water is so clear that I can see the fly and after a few casts, suddenly I saw a big trout swing in out of the faster current and hammer the fly. I saw him coming and was ready to set the hook and did so as soon as he bit at my fly.

FISH-ON!!! I was ecstatic when Rose netted him for me. What a fish! It was the biggest rainbow I've ever caught on a fly, probably 18-19 inches.

We rounded out the day catching some more reds and ended with seven fish for the freezer. By now it's getting kind of full. We got to the launch and loaded everything up and it was time to clean some fish. Rose was actually anxious for me to teach her how to do everything. So I had an extra fillet knife and we both went to work. I was pretty proud of her for getting in there and doing that, not many women will. So we gutted and cut the heads and tails off the fish and took them home where we filleted the fish and vacuum packed them. I fillet my fish at home because I don't want the fillets getting dirty.

So a few days later, Sunday, I took a co-worker fishing on the river. He'd never been before and I thought he'd have a good time. Fishing was slower and fewer salmon were around by then. I fished a bit and got to my trout spot again and tried for another fish or two. Almost immediately I hammered another fish. This time when I landed him, I was shocked to see how much bigger he was. My buddy, Chad, had a tape on him and we measured this fish to be right at 21". What a fish!!!

We caught three chrome reds and I caught a few smaller trout to round out the day.