Our goal for day number two, my final day, was to shoot five video segments on the world famous Kenai river for the new Alaska Magazine web site. ( http://www.AlaskaMagazine.com ) Growing up on the The drive was three hours each way of wonderful torture. One gorgeous scene after another. It seems that no matter where you turn, you can not escape a beautiful view. I have been to a lot of pretty places, but you can almost always just turn the car around the mountains are behind you as you leave for home. Not in
As we stood at the dock watching the water rush by I saw a Starbucks coffee cup float by, our course the usual corporate comments were made, but what impressed me the most was the speed of the current. The cup was in front of us and then gone! Having tried to dock many a boat in my time as a river captain (LOL) I was simply amazed at the skill needed by our Captain and Guide to just get the Alaska Magazine boat to the dock. Alaska Magazine is emblazoned on the side of this 16 foot flat bottom guide boat, so we needed to make a good showing for the company. The boat had four seats and a 35hp motor, which is the maximum allowed by law on the Kenai. You will see now wake boarders on the Kenai. Alan had to float down river 40 yards from the launch point and then hammer down all 35hp of his outboard engine to get back to the dock against the current to pick us up. It was only a few moments and we were off on this days adventure. The water temperature was approximately 40 degrees and the air temp was about 74. We headed up river in search of Sockeye or “Red’s” as they are called on the Kenai.
I rolled off about 20 minutes of tape just on the trip up river. I was amazed at the hundreds of anglers in mid current hoping for a bite. I knew keeping the camera dry would be an adventure of its own, but I wanted to fish a little too. Heck, I can’t have a good fish story without a fish!
In trying to explain this adventure I came across the site: http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/areas/fishing/southcentral/kenai-fishing.htm I would recommend checking out! They do a great job describing the river, "There is only one word to describe the angling opportunities on the
Our guide on the trip was Captain Alan Henderson and he will be our host on the video clips. He is from Ninilchik Charters of
Our second spot began to yield some results for the crew. The sun was baking us like a cat on a hot tin roof. Can we say SPF 75? Fishing is all about patience, oh yes and you know me I have about as much of that as a six year old on Christmas morning. It was not until about 5 hours into the trip when we began to hit the “mother load”. The nice thing, the sun does not go down in
I filmed a good part of the day and got some great action on the river. While we were fishing I had my chance to cast and cast and cast and cast and cast and cast! I hit one red salmon and the thrill was amazing. It took 7 minutes to reel him in under the watchful eye of Captain Alan. The Sockeye are a tough fish to catch because they do not bite your fly. In a nut shell, you have to truly catch them as they float by and get the hook in their mouth. Everyone in our party got at least one Sockeye.
Complete Kenai river photos online at: http://www.chatalaska.com/ryandohrn/gallery/view_gallery.one?gal_id=42673Folks, one trip to the
Piece of advice, 2 days in
Ryan
Ryan,glad you got a (sample) of alaska,you are right you need more than two days,i have been lucky to have taken in some awesome fishing and sights from kodiak,petersburg,wrangell,seward,homer,etc.in 27 yrs and i look on an alaska map and see i have barely touched it. i am sure you had i little sample of this while up here,it is hard to describe to people who have never been here what it is like.I am sure you noticed this when you told friends back home what it is like up here. I have been in the visitor industry for many years up here,and i gave up years ago trying to explain what it is like up here,(it is impossible.) I thing I had to correct you on.It is the bristol bay region of alaska that has the largest sockeye salmon runs in the world.however the Kenai does have by far the largest king salmon in the world.Some advise,alaska,s best kept secret for fishing is Kodiak Island,more remote,not many people but huge kodiak brown bears and awesome fishing.trust me,do a search about Kodiak and you will see it is special even for Alaska standards if you can believe that.
troy1:01 AM