REPORT: TWICE it happened to me last year, I'd roll up to the pay booth at the ferry crossing and ask how the fishing was and got replied "It's really good" when in actuality it was the opposite.

Last night it happened again. I had plans of going further down the peninsula if I got a bad report from the booth operator... just an honest answer would have turned me around and I would have been on my merry way.

There may be fish in the Russian but you are going to have to earn the ones in the Kenai. VERY few stringers with fish and none with limits yesterday. I should have grabbed the dipnet and went to the Kasilof. *sigh*

I will now just park on the side of the road and walk into the fishery.

[AOJ: Probably the best way to improve your chances in the future is try to target the front end of the run. There are always more fish, fresher fish, and more fish caught. The back end of any run gets more unpredictable in the flow of fish and the quality of the fish drops as they blush especially for this run. Other anglers have run into tougher fishing lately too but that is why the Ferry parking is for 24 hours...to give you enough time to wait through the lengthy slow periods and capitalize on the pods going by now and then. Its been a while since anyone on here was reporting "instant" limits and most have spent 6-8 hours to get enough fish for their satisfaction.

As far as going further down the Peninsula, well, there were no reds in the lower Kenai in catchable numbers, the red counts were way down on the Kasilof because the Commercial fishing nets were in the water all day on Thursday and dipping was very spotty and so the best opps was king fishing on the Kenai but you need a boat. So you really didn't miss too much down here on Thursday except for the terrific weather. Best chances were still the Russian or snagging in Seward - both now taking time to get your fish.]

REPORT: Took a charter with Captain Bruce aboard the Sea Flight. We went out to the Barrens when everyone else was hitting the chicken hole. He made the 3 hour run with only 4 of 6 spots filled, and put us on the fish. I landed a 142 and a 128, my 2 out of town friends each caught a fish over 100 lbs.. Our 6 fish weighed 601lbs. We threw back countless 60's - 70#'s. In my book Cpt. Bruce is a top notch captain and has always gone the extra distance Literally to put us on fish.

We also hit the Russian last Wednesday and they caught over 50 fish each in only a couple hours. Between the halibut and the reds, there are now 2 people who envy us residents even more.. The 3 man fish is my 142.

REPORT: Family went out for three hours and all we saw were 2 jumpers, not a single hook up. We used vibrax and the one side of the bank that was not even full was using roe. Guess we gotta wait for the Jim Creek silvers. This king run is horrible.

[AOJ: Well I forgot about this one. Here is a Tailrace king that didn't get away.
Alan Hurst was fishing Eklutna Tailrace on June 20th using a spin n glo when this 25 1/2 lb. 39 incher. This was his first king ever and had a blast fighting it. And its reported it tasted pretty good on the barbie too!
]

REPORT:

REPORT: Got to the Kenai around 11 pm (June 26th) in shorts and a t-shirt (came in from the OC) and NO luggage (Alaska air was busy dropping my cooler from tall buildings breaking my nice bottle of whiskey).

On Sat. we drifted Kenai from the lake, tried to fish for reds about two miles below the Russian. Boy did I suck at that fishing. But I got a tip from a guy that was hooking fish after fish, which paid off, eventually. I ended up with one red, fell in the river only once and got to see many bears.

On Sunday we fished Cook Inlet below Ninilchik in a row boat about 1/2 mile out. Took us about 4 hours to limit with fish to 40#. We caught a skate but no salmon sharks, which the locals were saying are out in force this year.

Every day of the trip we drifted Kenai for kings, motored the Kenai for kings. Put in 20 or so tough hours for not even a take down. First time I ventured home kingless.

Having “only” 30 pounds of fish my Alaskan host said the words I have always feared, “looks like we will have to go combat fishin’”. So, on June 30th we went to the Russian, took the ferry across, hiked down about 500 yards, set up camp and fished. It was fabulous. Everyone was stoked to be there, chatting it up, polite and helpful. With my tip from the previous day, I was able to hook about 15 while landing 4. My buddy got two and we decided that was enough. I was amazed by all the bears (I must say the guide who fired his pistol (twice) in the air to scare off the bear was, in my thinking, in bad form).

The eagles this year were every where and put on quite a show. And the weather? I am still fried. I ended up with 60 pounds of fish and pining to return, already. Many thanks to the AOJ and all who contribute. I read it every day!

Mark

[AOJ: I know there will be critics to this comment but its a tough existence here in the Last Frontier and so when it comes to our visiting guests, my motto has always been "Send'em home with a box full of fish, a smile on their face, and an empty wallet~!" That's tourism's ultimate goal whether anyone admits it or not. Glad you got the "drift of things" on the red fishing. It'll be even easier next year. Sorry about the Whiskey! Can't find good help these days.]

REPORT: Coho Dave, I have kept Skate and like them, just remember that like sharks they need to be gutted immediately due to the ammonia in their system. I have links above to how to clean them and recipes for them. They are delicious.

http://www.garbagefish.com/cleaningskate.htm
http://www.garbagefish.com/recipesskatemain.htm

[AOJ: Thanks for the extra information. The video skipped the part where he skins the wings but I guess that's not hard to figure out. The tricky part is since rays are related to sharks and neither contain bones, its a little difficult running your fillet knife along that cartilage layer without dipping too low or staying to high. Not much "feel" to it. Boy I'd like to get some that size!]

REPORT: I took three friends out halibut fishing yesterday on another absolutely stellar Alaskan day. We pulled up in about 110 feet of water about 4 or 5 miles west of The Bluffs and dropped three chunks of herring and a nice piece of squid down to the bottom. My 80 year old friend's Mom was the first to get her herring to the bottom, with a little assistance from her son, and as we turned to get the other lines down she excitedly stated that she thought she had something on. I turned to look at her rod and sure enough the rod tip was doing the "halibut hustle" and a few minutes later she had her first halibut (of her life) in the boat. It was only a little chicken, but you don't throw back a first fish. We fished in that spot for about another half hour and for that time we didn't catch another fish. At that point we pulled anchor and motored out another mile or so, still in the 110 foot range, anchored up and about 10 minutes later after getting a number of hits we had our next halibut in the boat. Over the next couple of hours we caught 2 skates, a number of Irish Lords, 2 big gray cod, and finished out our limit of halibut. None of the 'but were any bigger than about 20 pounds at the most, but arguably they're the best for the grill. When we got into port a lot of the guide services were coming in at the time and I think I saw at least 2 or 3 lings in every fish cart. A lot of people targeting them on the opening day. Question. Anyone out there have any experience with retaining skates and cutting them up? I've heard that all of the good meat is in the wings and that it is very tasty, but I don't want to kill one and then end up destroying all the edible meat. KK---you or any of your buddies got any advice?

[AOJ: Yeah, GREAT eating in my mind. To me the meat tastes like Frog Legs and is a light delicate texture. But be warned, they are a LOT of work getting that meat. The wings seem to have layers of cartilage and layers of meat from what I recall and it was time consuming trying to fillet the meat out. Lots of little scraps left over but try dropping those pieces in a skillet with butter and sauté then quickly and man o man. Ours was a 40 pounder and took hours. If you get say a 3 footer give it a try first before starting with a six footer. I'd eat one again if I could catch a SMALL one but haven't seen one that size.]

REPORT: [AOJ: The ORIGINAL Angler Inquiry was: Question, I have read on here you can't keep silvers and lingcod correct? Well what if you catch your limit of 6 in the bay, then head out and catch a lingcod then can you have both? I have read on here, you can't catch your lingcod and go in the bay and fish but what if you fish in the bay then head out?

I overlooked the 6 fish count in his inquiry which brings up a clarification/explanation by PENSKY here for the legalities. Thnx]

Pensky: Point of clarification on fishing for ling cod outside of Resurrection Bay: If you're fishing for ling cod outside of the Bay, you can only keep/have 3 cohos per person in the boat, not six. In other words, if you limit out at Pony Cove, then venture outside of the Bay for ling cod or halibut, LEGALLY you are over the limit for cohos and subject to a ticket from our fish and feather friends. This has always been a tricky one to remember each year.

Here's the excerpt from the ADF&G sport fish regulations.

Resurrection Bay: North of a line from Aialik Cape to Cape Resurrection

A person may possess only the limit of fish allowed for the water on which that person is fishing (see page 4). For example, possession of more than 3 coho salmon outside Resurrection Bay (south of a line from Aialik Cape to Cape Resurrection) exceeds the North Gulf Coast salt waters possession limit for this species. It is illegal to fish for any species in these waters with more than 3 coho salmon in your possession.

[AOJ: So the BOTTOM LINE is complicated. If you catch THREE COHO at Pony and go outside the line and catch a LINGCOD, you can NOT return inside the Resurrection Bay line and catch three more coho because you now possess a LINGCOD on board.

In other words, IF you fish LINGCOD and keep a legal one, you will never be able to catch the Res Bay limit of SIX coho. Three will be all you can bring to port since IF you have six when lingcod fishing you are in violation in those waters. If you keep a lingcod and come back in the Bay for 3 more coho you are fishing in closed waters with a lingcod on board.

My advice, if you want to fill the fish box, return all your lingcod and stick with halibut, rockfish and pick up your six coho on the way BACK. This confusion comes up every year and its always a head scratcher until you run it through your mind a couple times then its easy. Thanx again, Pensky.]

REPORT: Only three Kings today and twelve yesterday by the board count. I saw about 6 roll in the third bend upstream from the boat ramp between 2130 and quitting time. No hits today but maybe a few more chances before Friday at 0600 if you brave the mosquitoes.

Boats reported none down river so try upstream for any action early A.M. before the sun starts beating down.

REPORT: Well I had to turn down an invite to go hit the evening tide at the mouth....too much on my plate lately to break loose. Turns out I didn't miss much. About 25 folks on each side of the river. A fish here and one there. My buddy ended up with two for just under two hours.

COMMERCIAL FISHING: Kasilof District fished Wednesday on EO until 7pm. Thursday is a normal scheduled fishing day from 7am to 7pm. No anticipated extra fishing periods until at least Saturday. So Friday should be a clear shot day for the fish to come in.

REPORT: Got the word from friends out at 2:30am to 6am today, 7-1. They had action action action. LOTS of jacks though. Landed six or so that were all under 20 inches. Released an 8#, 10#, 15# and 20something. Then the newcomer in the boat made the connection. 55 pounds. 53 inches. Would have been a slot limit releaser just one day earlier. Other boats were doing the same, lots of yearling jacks.

Counts have taken a pretty big dip on 6/30 dropping below 200 which is below normal. Let's hope that was a temporary thing. With tourism way down there is a LOT of room on the Kenai this year. For kings the Kenai is now the only game in town except for a bad run on the Kasilof. If you have a four stroke and some eggs you might give it a shot.

KENAI SOCKEYE COUNTS: The Kenai Red Run sonar counter just started July 1st. So Thursday I'll have the first numbers for the chart. Russian counts for Wednesday will probably see a big number. Also the Kenai King counter is now switching to the LATE RUN king chart so make that adjustment. First counts on Thursday.

REPORT: It was a beautiful day on the Russian. Skipped work at 11, got the wife and kids down by 2:30 PM. We arrived at a hole that was flush with reds. I hooked up within 10 minutes with our first. Daughter took a bit longer as I hooked more. Traded out the hip boots with the wife as I could wear sandals in the river. It was very hot on the river. Jody and his father had a full stringer of reds, it was beautiful. My son (soon to be 7) tried his best but was thwarted as was my wife. This was the first time for both.

We left at 7:30 with six fish in the trunk (5 mine, 1 my daughters). We had sun, baking sun, then thunder, hard hard rain, hail then a quiet mist that ran through the river back to baking sun. This was my fourth time at the Russian and it was awesome. Fish were everywhere and if you knew how you could get your limit. All people were helpful and nice. Only had 4-5 tangles but it was because my son was trying so hard.

I am glad I went today. Next year can't come soon enough to try this again with the family.

REPORT: Aho! Fish on!

Been fishing these waters for thirty years... Yes it is a beautiful thing to see the 4:00AM action on the rivers. Many are starting turning with chromers still in the mix. Just walked out to the confluence and didn't have to go to my own favorite haunts to limit out with a proxy too. The smokehouse will be working soon! Stopped by the upper cottonwood hole on the way back to the truck to watch more deliberate and blatant snaggers teaching youngsters and other bad practices. Might have to video tape this spectacle. The action and love is too good to have to herk and jerk to get ones limit. Can't really say much to these people as a confrontation with some attitude may occur in front of families. It's all about the drift and setting the hook with the "feel"! Thank you to all the honorable folks out there. Be grateful for the blessings we are all enjoying. Looking forward to a few more mad dashes to the river on this run. Good luck and be safe! Peace...TJ

REPORT: I have been fishing the Russian River for many many years and I have never seen the spectacle of fish that we saw this morning. Starting at 400 am the reds began to run up the river in such numbers that my father and I were in awe. Reds just kept running and running. I think being moderate and modest about how many fish I think we saw was easily in the thousands. When the fish would run back down the river there where so many that they would displace the river water and leave a wake like a boat on the bank. To say the sight was awe inspiring would not be able to describe it. In 1 1/2 hrs we all had our limits including all the kids we brought with us...5 kids two adults x 6 fish each...needless to say I cleaned and processed fish when I got home for 4 1/2 hrs, headed back again tomorrow... you do the math. Absolutely awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

REPORT: Man whata trip!!! Dipping for reds at the Copper is the only way to do it. Me and my father-n-law got on the river at about 0530 and by 6 we had 6 fish on stringers. But then the fishing slowed to a fish an hour. We ended up with 11 fish in 10hrs on the first rock. Then McCallister's moved us to another rock and there we got 25 fish in 3hrs. It took us all day and a lot of work but it sure is worth it. Copper River Reds go for about $20-25 and up to $50/lb we ended up with about 30lbs. So now I have 36 fillets in my freezer. Done dippin' for the season. Also we dipped 7 kings all were in the 25-35lbs range. Wish we could've kept one. Getting a king in your net is more exciting than one on your line.

Take care,

REPORT: Question, I have read on here you can't keep silvers and lingcod correct? Well what if you catch your limit of 6 in the bay, then head out and catch a lingcod then can you have both? I have read on here, you can't catch your lingcod and go in the bay and fish but what if you fish in the bay then head out?

[AOJ: The law is - Lingcod are closed year round inside Resurrection Bay. See the regs booklet for the description of where that line is drawn from what point to what point. If you catch a legal lingcod outside of the bay, you are not allowed to fish at all inside Resurrection Bay once you cross the line. There is no problem with fishing inside the bay for silvers and halibut, then going outside the line and catching a legal size lingcod but you are done fishing for the day once you come back across the line with the lingcod on your boat. And that is THE BOAT is done fishing....not just the angler who caught the lingcod.]

REPORT: Recently down on the stream at Hope this last weekend. I know a lot of people are frustrated with the salmon this year so far, and the crowds of people that go with them. I know I am. So here's a little tip that some may not know. The stream at Hope is flush with dollies ranging from 14 inches to about 26 inches. Got to hit them at the peak of the high tide and as the tide is going out. Use 1/8 oz. Vibrax or a flyrod using the same flies the you would use for reds. I hooked and landed some 26 fish in five hours of focused fishing, including a couple in the 24-26 inch range. Good fighters straight from the arm, silver and pink fleshed. Took 4 home, all about 16 inches because they taste the best to me. Don't bother going above the bridge. Best to follow the little sandy point when the tides goes out. Cast across and let the line swing down, (I call it low and outside), bring it back slow after the swing is done. The strike will usually come at mid swing so be ready. Just a little something to relax with if you are tired of the crowds. There was no one else there.

Tight lines.

REPORT: Great camping trip to Russian Sun-Tue w/ kids and grandkids. Fished for 4 hours Sun. and only one on stringer, tons of people. Monday was much better and about half the people. Limits in 1 1/2 hrs down river. Next morning Tue, couldn't find a fish down river. After an hour or so went to confluence and three of us got limits in under two hours. Awesome! For me got limit in one hour and that was with helping kids w/ snags and so forth, really fished probably about 1/2 hr. Some of the fish are getting fairly red and my son released one that was really ugly. Run is slowing, but when you find schools there is a lot of action. First time in years that I camped at Russian River and did not see a griz. Noticed some state/ Fed(?) employees pushing carcasses into deeper water keeping shorelines cleaner. Maybe that helped. Best of luck.

REPORT: Wasn't expecting to do much more than set up camp and burn some wood, but there were maybe a dozen or so people dipping the mouth and saw 5 fish caught before I could open my beer. I ran back to camp and assembled the nets and got the gf and my 2 young daughters and one of their friends out in the water. An hour later and there were 16 nice reds for daddy to clean. It was a nice way to spend an outgoing tide. My daughters friend has never caught a fish before and she got 3. It's 4:30 am and 32 fillets ate vac sealed and in the rv freezer. This is the best start to our annual 4th of July dippin trip that I can remember.

[AOJ: Obviously I don't know the circumstances so everything I'm sure is OK. (Just spent a little time on the phone with FWP officer for some clarification.) I learned a thing or two about the AK Resident dipnet permits and will share this with the readers and fellow dippers.

If your GF is a live-in member of your household then she can be listed on your permit as a member dipping on that allowance. The law doesn't require blood relative or marriage relative in the house "family" to qualify to be listed on the permit as a dipper. But if she maintains her own residence then she is entitled to her own permit for 25 fish (and more if she has dependents). Don't miss the opp to increase your catch if you can use the fish. With respect to the kids' friend dipping, technically since she is not listed on the permit as a household member she should be dipping using her own family's permit. Her mom or dad would need to get one and put her name on it so she has it in her possession. That would allow her to get up to that permit's catch allowance. (I know, everyone is thinking "who would know?" And you are right. ;-o )

I'm just presenting this info in advance to ward off a number of emails, perhaps even reminders from F&G, about how the permit system works for residents. Glad you folks hit a good pocket of fish. FISH COUNT for TUESDAY was 3728 and about normal. It should only get better for the fish and worse for the crowds. PLEASE EVERYONE, don't leave any fish carcasses on the beach. Toss'em! The are a filthy health hazard for everyone who follows. Have a good dippin' season. I'm getting ready myself and sharpening my hoop.]

REPORT: If you want to see some BIG (30-40 +lb.s)kings go down to Ship Creek at the in coming tides and watch the schools swim in, it is amazing! Send your visiting Family and Friends down there with their cameras and videos! I bet the fish will keep hanging below the dam until we get a lot of rain to raise the water levels up stream.

SC

REPORT: Quickly wanted to update info on the Kenai Cache freezing and processing. It's $2.18/lb plus shipping but they'll ship it fedex at their shop. If you're a first timer to the area they're helpful, and it's a nice shop, but be ready to pay a premium for anything you buy. Suggest coming loaded with food and fishing supplies before you get here. An example, flies are $0.69 ea rather than $0.18 or so in Anchorage. $12 for a sixer of Alaskan IPA.

Reds coming slowly on the Russian, a wave came through today and lines were reeling on purple/black flies around 7am, left at 1pm and things had slowed but had a friend tell me a couple more came through after 6pm. Good luck and thx AOJ!

REPORT: Ran into a VERY aggressive/protective sow with 3 cubs last night upstream of the campground and public access at the Sheep Creek confluence. She charged multiple times in rapid succession before I was able to back away. It was a very bad situation for sure.

No sign of her this a.m. when I returned to retrieve my abandoned gear.

REPORT: Fishing was excellent on Fathers Day. What a way to spend the day with the family and reeling in this monster. It was partly cloudy but the sea's were extremely calm. It was the last fish of the day and when it was all over and at the dock the grand total was 222 lbs.


[AOJ: Aw, you are too modest. Readers: See the story on AOJ's Front page.]

REPORT: I am home on R&R from Iraq and want to know if it would be worth my time to fish Montana Creek/Susitna for kings this 4th July weekend. I have fished there for three years (minus this one) and have always had good luck this time of year.

I really would like to catch a king before my last 8 days here are over, fishing for kings in Iraq just isn't the same (LOL).

Thanks

[AOJ: Definitely not the best year for setting your sights on a king. One only needs to look at all the King run charts listed on the Quick Charts to see king fisheries all over the state are in dire shape. And my next task after this report is to announce another King Closure - Ayakulik River king run is closing at midnight. This is pretty much an indicator of what's going on for all those Matsu king fisheries that don't have counts to go by. You can do a FIND from your browser menu and type in Montana and it will highlight all the Montana reports on this page. Nothing good happening and I'm not even sticking my neck out by saying that its just not going to happen for the rest of the season for most of those Tribs. Tal and Kaswitna and Clear have had some decent luck on some days but I am going by reports and not personal experience. Saltwater is a great alternative and Lingcod season opens July 1st so some charters will be targeting those as well as halibut. The new ADFG Weekly Fishing Reports will be coming out later today so be sure to see what F&G will have to say about the Valley fisheries too.]

REPORT: For angler TJ said he wanted to carpool, I'm taking a run to the Russian leaving Thursday morning and staying until Friday evening if you want to carpool. Went back to Cheney today, finally caught a nice bow, 13 inches took a pic in the water beside rod and released. Continued catching hoolie sized bows for 3 hours every cast, lots of fun for a light fly rod.

My number is (435)216-8657 phone is on 24/7 call me if you want to meet up and carpool. Tight lines.

REPORT: A couple of friends and I thought we'd take full advantage of another stellar Alaskan summer day and decided to see if we could rustle up a king or two. We motored out to The Bluffs and dropped some herring down to 30 feet in about 55 feet of water. We hooked into a dolly after about a half hour or so and then about 15 minutes later a decent sized king appeared on my underwater video camera, made a couple of quick passes at the herring and then disappeared. About an hour later we had another decent looking king appear on the camera, make one quick pass at the herring and then disappear. At that point I thought maybe they just weren't interested in herring so I put a squid imitator on one of the lines and dropped it down. About an hour after that we had another king visit the herring, make about 5 or 6 passes at it and then drifted out of sight. After we pulled in another dolly and a couple of small black rock fish we called it a day. It was interesting to note that the last time I was out I was marking quite a few bait balls, saw a good sized school of sand lances swim by the camera and watched a couple of humpbacks working the bait. There were also a number of times I saw gulls seriously working the surface on top of bait balls. While we were out there yesterday I didn't see any bait balls on the fish finder, didn't see a single flock of gulls working the surface and very little evidence of any feeding behavior.

[AOJ: Ah, that's my man. Was hoping you would dust off the camera and rigging. Now....I wanna see!:-) I got a couple terrabytes of storage if you need a place to park it. I also found out Quicktime Pro ($29 upgrade) does a great one step job of encoding for the web AND providing all the html code for creating the player window and controls embedded in the page. I'll be using more of it and less of Flash for that reason. My bandwidth will go through the roof though. Already nearly 100 Gigs of file downloads just for June. Seems your results were very similar to your silver trips out of Resurrection with fish after fish showing up and tracking the baits and lures and never hitting. Most folks don't realize there really ARE things going on "down there" that provides no indication back at the boat. Do you have any of those Chucklehead Squids or Action Discs to try with that squid imitator? I have more if you want to give them a go again.]

REPORT: My first Alaska fishing experience, actually only about the third time I have ever fished (not much fishing in Chicago). Went down to the ferry Saturday and Sunday, seemed like everyone was catching a lot of fish except me, but I had a great time and there were quite a few people that were willing to share some advice with this newbie, thanks to the guy that helped me manage my first grizzly sighting that was about 50 yards from us. All in all I had a great time, learned a lot and am looking forward to finally landing my first salmon. There seemed to be great fishing no matter where you were and I saw a lot of people limit out in a couple hours.

{AOJ: Well the next time you are up you'll do better. It grows on ya. And even though the river might look the same where you are fishing as the spot 50 yards away, a change in the depth, a bit of an eddy swirl from a boulder on the bottom or change in current speed will require some fine tuning in your cast and drift to be at the fish level. The biggest challenge is because folks are so close together you have very little drifting space once your fly is at target level before you must retrieve and cast again. That makes it the trickiest part of the challenge. You should occasionally bump bottom with your split shot or rubber core sinker or you are not deep enough. Reds travel about six inches to a foot off the bottom depending on how smooth it is. With the Kenai FFO area its deep and fast in just a few feet from shore.]

REPORT: We were at Seward all weekend. Limited both days out at Pony area. Still a tad early but our group got 24 each day with just 2 lines. Some times we had 2 at a time.

REPORT: Went down for the weekend and caught 4 on Saturday and 5 on Sunday, lost plenty. There's still some fish in there, but you will have to work a little bit, to get them. Most that I caught had pretty bad snag marks, and many of them are starting to get some color, not a lot of bright silver ones left, but had a great time.

REPORT: Vibrax blue/silver #6 0600-1030 hooked three kings averaging 35-45 landed one only about 6 in the hole on Thursday and only one 20lb male on Friday that would not even think about biting. Early fishing produces more hits but it seems that the river is low and few Kings are around. Starting to color up as well.

Sheep Creek still has spin and glow success. Hooked 8 and landed two in our party on SAT from 1201-0700. One in the slough and one by the Big Sue. A lot of 55-65 lb fish moving through cycling on and off for about thirty minutes then a few hours in between hits. Averaged one hit per hour. Silver and blue spin and glow with huge rod and reel and winch cable I broke and saw 5 break due to the extreme size of these hawgs.

Klutina reds are in but one day they hit and the next nothing much happening. Copper Center is a long drive but not as busy as the Russian for several reasons. blue/black and purple russian river flies. Pack a lunch for Klutina averages about 5-7 hours for limiting out last Monday and Thurs only saw five all evening.

Homer Halibuts-herring/squid 150ft 25 miles out straight to Mt. Augustine. Slack tide to low tide. Many charters seemed to go back towards Anchor Point but only saw small ones on Sun. but we limited out 5 folks by 1400. 10 Halibuts, 3 skates, 3 trophy cod and 1 stinking Irish Lord. Not many Kings in lagoon.

REPORT: Out with four of us again today and fishing pressure was very low - all conditions perfect. I had the water temp at 49 degrees and clarity was the best I have ever seen in the lower river. Fished lots of bright kwik fish in purple, chrome, chartreusse, etc but didn't have a bite in five hours of back trolling. Saw four fish hooked and only two landed - both were bright silver and weighed in about 25 pounds. Looks like a few reds jumping along shore so maybe a big second run is starting early. Not sure where the kings are but we'll keep at it ..... we have more hours with less success than any year in the past thirty!!!!

REPORT: After some amazing Kenai red fishing we went on a two day bender out in the Sound. The most interesting moment at the Kenai was watching a guy splash water towards a brownie and getting bluff charged. He tried that maneuver only once. We were thankful he was a quick learner.

We learned in The Sound that all of the Halibut "hot spots" are so so and we ended up catching our biggest halibut on unmarked chart points in 50 feet of water where they were not supposed to be. The hint here is never give up and put your rod out while cooking dinner and making the morning coffee and you might end up with a surprise. We did.

There are comm. fish nets all over Main and Eshamy Bays and it pays to take a wide circle around them.

[AOJ: I'm running the Coghill Sockeye Chart now. Just starting up the river but should get better soon. The last few years they jumped the sport limit to 12 I believe there were so many reds coming back. Keep a watch on the chart if you plan to go back out on PWS.]

REPORT: *This was my fifth trip down and the crowds have let up as the fishin' was still good. *There still seems to be some confusion as to what is a "foul hook / snag". As always many are kept either way by the masses. Shame... *It is good to see the authorities presence to keep some honor down there. *It was slow late on the 28th and picked up about 4:45am. Good times and hope for more to come. *I will be making a few more trips this week. Always looking to carpool to save a few bucks...

*Be mindful of the bears... they are there.

Peace...TJ

REPORT: Me and my buddy got our limit in about 5 hours. Fishing is slow but there are always fish coming thru in spurts. Fish are getting blushed. I wouldn't recommend making the dash down to get your fish real quick. What a great first run though. Even with all the people its such a fun place! The guys on the ferry do a great job. The only thing that lacks are the lack of cleaning tables. I guess they think that if there's a huge line to clean your fish that you will just take them home and clean them. I mean can it really hurt to put one or two more tables up?

Oh and yeah I love this site I check it probably 20 times a day. Good job KK.

REPORT: Went out this Saturday morning and saw nothing. Little Su was a ghost town. No rolls, carcasses, etc.

Little Willow did have a bear in the area. Came across some fresh scat on the little trail headed down stream, and even heard a good 'grunt' on the bank, behind some tall grass.

Willow campground was very busy, and a few fishing down there. Saw one fish on a stringer...didn't even bother wetting a line there.

REPORT: Went for Bows and caught reds. 3 of us went in about 150 yards down from the 600 yard marker. The reds were stacked up big time. No room for bows today. We caught 12 in 2 hrs. Please note that there are a lot of bears up there. One in particular is a Brown Sow with cubs. Very aggressive, she took several stringers from the folks downstream a few yards. Got a little hairy for a while.

Also I was down at the Confluence later that day. What is the deal with the Handicap section next to the Ferry? Everyone in there didn't look handicapped. I walked with a group of them from the parking lot to the ferry. I Guess being old and Fat is a handicap in Alaska...

REPORT: Just got a call from Dianne at the Ferry at 7pm. Here is the latest update for Monday evening. There is limited parking, i.e. a few slots always open, but no wait lines. Anglers along the Kenai this evening are limiting out!! Six each. New slug moving through apparently. It ain't over til its over. That is all!! -KK-

REPORT: Went to the Montana this last weekend, hoping the kings would be in.

Ended up being disappointed. Didn't see one fish in the Montana river upstream, so decided to go down to the mouth. Didn't see any fish in the water there either. Saw a few people snag into some Jacks(which they released). Other than that, no luck.

Lots of people there, but it seems ever since the river flooded out a few years back and changed it's course, the fish don't seem to come up the river in good numbers like they use to.

Still on vacation, so going to try some other places this week. I hate fishing at the Russian, but seems that's the only place the fish are in great numbers, so might end up there. We'll see!

REPORT: Hit Ship for the closer last night after low tide, lots of fish being caught below the bridge, bigger ones than usual. Not many people fishing, nice weather. Great day minus the beadie-eyed cold blooded seagull that went into my tacklebox and stole my bag of roe, we saw him just in time to see him flying off with a mouthful of Nates bait. Thank you to the gentleman, that laughed at me, and then gave me some of his roe, It is fisherman like yourself that make fishing an enjoyable experience for everyone. Cheney lake is STACKED with hoolie sized bows, jumping everywhere, didn't see any big-ones but I know they are there. Tight Lines!

[AOJ: Those are easy targets for kids to learn the art of fly fishing on. Always hungry for a dry mosquito pattern and jump like crazy. Great way to hook kids on the fly rod.]

REPORT:

REPORT: Good day fishing Saturday in beautiful sunshine. Took several hours but limited out. After a few hours I was able to work into a good hole with fish visibly hanging out in front of me. One inconsiderate angler, a guy in his 20's, two spots upstream was consistently drifting 20 feet of line into the hole and tangling up with me and the guy next to me. After 3 polite warnings and a half dozen tangles - again, right in front of me - over the course of 20 minutes I threatened to cut his line and he left. I've seen a lot of posts about angler etiquette this year, and here's another. There's a way to fish where everyone has a good experience and ultimately we all catch - and a way not to. You don't need a rule book to figure it out. A little common courtesy people, please ...

[AOJ: One variable at play in this year's fishing conditions is the clean water and tons of lead/hooks raining down on the nearshore migration path of the fish. No doubt the fish are pushed in deeper water requiring longer casts in some stretches that can result in longer drifts. If everyone synchronizes their casting this is usually not a problem. Perhaps some discussion about sync'ing in the group will help solve the problem. Usually most anglers figure this out for themselves but there are some..... And then again some folks won't listen. Its the RUSSIAN!]

REPORT: Went down Sunday in hope sof having a nice day of fishing and bring back a few fish to put in the smoker. Also wanted to let me two kids a 7 and 8 yr old boy and girl fish for the first time becasue of so many fish they have a good chance of landing one. What a mistake, I have never seen so many people so late into a run. I might add so many rude and arrogant people. The fishg area for the handicaped was being fished by anyone who had the guts to muscle in. They would not even stop fishing for a poor little lady who had fish on twice but threw over her line and caused her to loose her fish. Her soon just finally loaded her up and they left. I am very dismayed that the people running the ferry or the Wildlife Dpt. did not stop that rubbish. The fish were all holed up in that stretch of water by the handicaped area and just before about 20 yrd down stream of that. We spent nearly $90 and never got a hook in the water for the kids. No one would give room and when the kids did try to fish they would muscle dileberately closer to them so I had them go ashore ad I was afraid this one guy would hook them. He dileberatly moved in closer to them. So I tried to fish awhile but was just horrible so I left. I did not used to mind combat fishing and every one had a reasonable good time and got some fish but now it seems like every body is full of meaness and hate and just really shows the bully in them. If these people were from the State of Alaska I am ashamed of them apologize to every one for their bad behaviour. If they are tourists who needs them they should go home with that attitude.

Very disapointed.

[AOJ: Well I gotta say, this is not much of a fishing report. More like one long rant. You have made a number of mistakes that I'll cite.

• NEVER take 7 and 8 year old children fishing at the Russian unless you are willing to accept exactly what you experienced. That has not changed in 40 years, and if a kid can't hold his own with the big guys then they should not be there. This isn't a nursery for pampering children or the faint of heart. Never will be and your "fees" don't entitle you to that. Sorry but that's life on the RUSSIAN. Everyone knows that.
• If you read down through a hundred Russian River Fishing Reports on this page you will see that nearly everyone had a wonderful time, caught tons of fish, experienced lots of friendly folks and went home with nice memories in spite of the crowds, the waiting lines, etc. Very strange that the entire fishery has gone to the dogs overnight! ??
• It doesn't sound like you even attempted to move. If your kids weren't up to a modest hike up or downstream to find a spot and friendlier fishers then again, you weren't prepared to adjust.
• Weekend days do have much greater crowds. That's why you were there too. You should have expected that before leaving the house since this is the ONLY freshwater fishery in Alaska putting fish in anyone's freezer this year and the whole world is gonna be there.
• Your description is completely 180 out from the vast majority of the Russian reports posted here. Something doesn't jive.]

REPORT: Lots of people at Montana Creek. Very few catching. One spot in the honey hole was producing a few rollers and I did see a few fish being landed during the 3 hours that I fished/watched. Goose creek had no fish in the holes. I talked to a few other anglers that had not seen fish all week. They were taking the drive out a few times a week to check the holes. A few more weekends left for King fishing at the Park hwy streams. It looks like another year of no kings for me.

REPORT: First 600 yards below the falls (Cooper Landing Subsistence Area) is completely stacked up with blushing reds. Not only in the pocket water, but pretty much river wide. Down from 600 yard mark, fish really stacked up, but few chromers. They are to stacked up. Chromers would be down stream or in Kenai. Also looks too much like a carnival game with fish full of broken off coho flies of every color in them. Also crawling with people. I've never seen so many in that stretch. Also saw grown men throwing rocks at a black bear who wanted to get a fish for himself. They did not give the bear any room. No comment! Whatever... What a tremendous run of fish though.

REPORT: Had a late start but finally made it to the Kasilof around 2am on Saturday. Hit the incoming tide (7:30am) and had no luck and a few people were hitting and missing. Then about 2.5 hrs after high tide the dip-netting was good, not great just good. Once 10am rolled around and the commercial guys had there gill nets out, that was it. One fish! I wasn't able to stay past 4pm on Sunday for when the gill nets were supposed to be pulled in. Had a great time camping and running the ATV's up and down the beach.

[AOJ: It doesn't sound like you missed anything. Upriver fishing was sparse and the counter through midnight ticked just over 1500. Today is another normal comm opening but with that river and fishery you never can tell how it will be. A couple friends hit the first day opener. One guy got 4 and the other skunked.]

REPORT: Fished Pony Cove 6/26 and 6/27. Managed to limit both days trolling, and picked up a few big rockfish right off the point. Not too many pinks and did get a decent king to sweeten the deal. Heard a lot of radio chatter that other folks might not have done as well. The bite was definitely off for a few hours both days and seemed to pick back up eventually. Patience paid off.

REPORT: Tough day on the Kasilof. I fished for about 7 hours today just above the lower rapids near the "leaning trees" and I didn't see a whole lot of evidence of those sockeye the fish counts indicate. When I started in the morning a few drift boats were working the river in front of me and I did see 2 kings caught by them (one of which was released and looked dark to me), but I could see about 15 or so people working the bank from the upper rapids down to the lower rapids and for 4 or 5 hours I didn't SEE anyone (I could've not been looking if they did) catch a thing. I did have about 5 or 6 fish roll within 10 to 20 feet of me in that time, but that was about it. Just as I was getting ready to call it a day 3 people came down and planted themselves about 50 yards below me and within the first minute or two that they had their lines in the water one of them hooked into and eventually landed a king. I couldn't see it very well from where I was, but it looked like it was pretty dark as well and maybe 20 to 25 pounds. Naturally that got my adrenaline pumping a bit and my plans to leave evaporated. About half an hour later as I was about half way through a flip and drift my line went dead and the water about 10 feet in front of me exploded. Unfortunately as the king left the water I could see it was a deep burnt red, but it put up a good fight for a few minutes and then released itself about 10 feet away from me. I fished about another half hour or so to no avail and then called it a day.

[AOJ: Well Dave I see you are expanding your territory! The Kasilof Sockeye count for Sunday dropped to 1500 so that reflects in what you experienced. Sure was a beautiful day to be out on the Peninsula. 73° at headquarters. I finished up some welding projects and was unexpectedly treated to a "cut it with a fork" tender Rib Eye cooked up on an open campfire grill and a few bottles of dark import along with some bluegrass banjo picking. Next thing I know its 11:30pm and still no mosquitos. Back to work!]

REPORT: Tried Caswell, Sheep, Montana, even went to the Talkeetna, very low water. Good fishing at Talkeetna, lots of fish on Sat., slower everywhere else. Went back to Little-Su and saw a few turning red but not much being caught, hope the reds and silvers make up for the poor king run, seems like bait is the only way to catch a fish this time of year. But corkies and yarn soaked in anis oil work well too...

REPORT: On Thursday and Friday the family and I hit Chevall Narrows and Pony Cove. Thursday gave us great weather, seas and fishing. Pulled in 8 silvers ( 2 mooching, 6 trolling) on east side of the point. Also loaded up with large rock fish. Saw a few humpback whales between Pony Cove and Pilot Rock. Friday was a different story though...not a single silver in sight on any of the boats out there. Plus five foot seas didn't help. Came back to Seward with two large black bass for the day.

[AOJ: Good fish n chips! Lingcod opens on July 1st for those thinking about a trip on the saltchunk. Good eating too.]

REPORT:

REPORT: Lucky me! I got my first and last king of the year (closing early tonight due to low return) out of Ship Creek, on the am tide flipping yarn in the MUD, 40 Lb. hen big and blush! I thought I was going to get skunked this year at the Creek! And a big thanks to guys who helped yank it (4th of July barbecue) out for me! And good luck to all tonight before they close it!

REPORT: Wife and I drove down just for a ride and decided to fish because it wasn't very busy at the ferry parking lot. Got my limit in about 2 hours. They are definitely in there. I would hook into them every 40 seconds or so. They are starting to blush a little. It has been upsetting this year though. When I caught a fish, someone would try to steal my spot. When will people realize it is not where you fish but how you fish the river. A lot of whole carcasses on the bank. I was actually happy before I left though. A group of about fifteen next to me were keeping snagged fish. We kept telling them its illegal. Undercover F&G present. He watched all them for about 40 minutes and gave everyone of them tickets. They should make it mandatory for a Russian River etiquette class or something. This year by far has been the worst. Tight lines.

[AOJ: I on the other hand during the second day of the season witnessed a hundred anglers in both directions along the Kenai fishing the right way and slaying them - all in the mouth and every fish coming up the bank head first. Except ONE guy near us. He continued to use the Kenai Jerk and foul hook one fish after another, most of which broke off and cost him his fly and sinker and the valuable time wasted retying. He never did "get it" and when we left with a limit still only had one on his stringer, same as when we arrived. Some folks never learn that snagging fish wastes precious time and messes everyone up downstream with an out of control fish. Oh well, Fish On, where's the net?]

REPORT: Fish slowed down, got right in to the ferry Saturday at 10 am. Got some still nice fish. Saw a nice grizzly bear. Not bothering anyone, just getting some carcasses and hanging out. Early someone pepper sprayed a smaller bear stealing fish. Some fired off 2 rounds when another showed up down river. This big bear minded its own business and was awesome to see and watch. Hope the second run comes in soon! Great day to be on the river. 20+ years at the Russian and the first close up and big bear I have ever seen. People were too close though.


[AOJ: I see a LOT of unattended packs and sacks laying around. If a bear gets into an angler's bag and gear it is a $300 fine + $10 court costs for "Negligent Feeding of Wildlife" and that is the equivalent of a nice fly rod and reel combo. Everyone please keep your gear close and never abandon it to a bear.

Fishing has definitely slowed -- now you need to work for your fish and spend the time. But fish are moving up the Russian with a lot more regularity now. Saturday counts were 1700. Down in the lower Kenai in King Kountry EARLY FISHING GUIDES told me this morning that they are still seeing sockeye rolling in the lower river. Looks like the Russian run isn't over yet but don't expect anything like the front end. More like enough to give it a try but fish are going to be blushing from here on out.]

REPORT: We rolled into Alison Point around 11am and fished until 1:30pm. There were several anglers there before us as we combed the low tide beach for lost lures. The fishing report for Pinks from the previous days was broadcasting "slim to none" due to a late run into the bay. Needless to say, our fishing trip was unproductive. Although several local sources informed me that the fishing boats were netting between 40 to 100 Pinks per drop which was not within it's previous years count of 400 to 800 per drop. But I was encouraged that once the first net pulls more than 200 Pinks, then there will be better fishing off the shores of Alison Point. Alison Point anglers may have to wait until the "4th of July" weekend to get there bite. It wouldn't hurt to call the local fishing charters before planning your trip. Fuel prices range around $3.30/gal Unleaded and about $.60 to a dollar more for Diesel. Good luck.

[AOJ: Maybe you spotted some references in these reports of good numbers of SILVERS already staging and feeding at Pony Cove out of Resurrection Bay. Its a bit early (maybe a week) for them to show in such fishable numbers so maybe the Valdez region will see some coho early too. The Prince William Sound/Valdez/Whittier ADFG Weekly Report keeps pretty close tabs on the Valdez fisheries too and is another source of fisheries status each week about Tuesday.]

REPORT: Had a couple of good friends fish the Russian a few days ago. After hauling their gear, fish, food, etc. back to the truck, they leaned their rods nearby and didn't realize they left them until just outside the gate. One of the fly rods has extreme sentimental value. I will post what model it was soon, though I believe it is a St. Croix. I will pay reward for return. If you found two rods near Grayling lot please let me know. I know they spent two to three hours scouring the area looking for them. Just to make this a fish report also, they limited.

REPORT: After floating on Saturday at 7:30 am, our boat never bothered stopping to fish, and while looking in the water from the bow the whole time, I can account for only 10 fish in the river. Hopefully next weekend will be an improvement.

More importantly, during the course of the trip we recovered a rod and reel from under the water. If anyone lost a rod recently on the Willow, send a description to pat.everson@gmail.com.

REPORT: Left Anchorage at about 4 this morning, river wasn't insanely crowded. Nothing for the first four hours, about to give up, then little spurts came about every hour to get our hopes up. After about 8 hours, had 13 on deck between 4 of us. That's what you call work. The fish were getting a bit blush, but nothing the ol' smoker can't handle. Bear with a lot of stupid looking people who like to walk straight at it, got its paws on a nice stringer, so he had an easy meal. People seem to think that these bears are cute like in the pictures, until they claw half of your face off. I hope no one gets hurt there, but these people seem purely ignorant. Great day.

-Gas to Russian- $65

-Snacks for Russian Run- $130 (<<-----?)

Getting no sleep for a day and a half, drinking so much Red Bull that you experience B6 toxicity symptoms, sore back, screwed Rotator Cuff, redneck tan from hell, crazy bear and hanging with the buds- PRICELESS

REPORT: Fished Airplane Hole down to the Pillars from 5-10am. Nothing, notta, no how. Did not see one net up! Estimated 40-50 boats in the area, with about 90% guided vessels. Saw one king roll at Airplane, and one small king jumping w/ gear in his mouth at Honeymoon. That's it for signs of life. Water conditions were excellent, weather was good, fish were not there period. Acknowledging that there's no bait, but with water conditions excellent, I have never seen a fishing day like this. Counts have been 400+ the last 3 days, but it's obvious they are overestimated. I hope the late-run doesn't follow suit. My guess is that on July 1st, even going to bait will still only provide marginal catch rates, but I hope I'm wrong.

[AOJ: Not to sound redundant but the water conditions are unbelievable! I ran a test at Noon Saturday and had 48 inches of visibility.....FOUR FEET. Even a blind king could find a lure in those conditions. Midday water temp was 54°F...perfecto! I swear the water is clearer in Soldotna than the Kenai is at the Ferry in Cooper Landing. And it seems that the river level has dropped a couple of inches over the last couple of days. ?? Just checked the hydro gauge chart and indeed its dropped a few inches and still trending down. I have to concur with you, when bait is allowed you might get to see a few nets up but the fish have lockjaw for sure. Worst report season for the Kenai I've had in many years!]

REPORT: Arrived at 5am, got right in, Pink Salmon only had 4 slots open, fished from white trail down to the sanctuary. Very few fish in that section. Got to sanctuary at 6:30, lots of people, but room to fish. Catching was steady until 10:00, nearly dead from 10-11:30. Called it a day with 3 on the stringer. When I left there were people waiting to find a rock to stand on. Long line waiting to get in when I pulled out. Weather was mixed from "cold", i.e. frost/ice on the walkway, to intermittent sun, heavy breeze/wind. Still a great day. Had a griz cruise the fenceline, but he didn't come down to the river. Saw quite a few fish on stringers, but it was a drill.

REPORT: Spent the last two days fishing the 4 stocked ponds just off the Steese Highway that start at the entrance to the Poker Flats rocket launch facility and proceed to marker 36.6. (the precise mile markers are in the regs) Lots of very hungry arctic grayling - average is 10" with some to 12-13" that hit on any brown fly with a fly rod, and for the casting reel they especially like very shinny 1/12 ounce Kastmasters with a green stripe dipped in hering flavored 'Smelly Jelly'.

I would like to take the opportunity to reminise about a recent family loss - dearly departed Green Stripe 1/12 oz Kastmaster. Got a ton of grayling with it yesterday and more this morning - but then it left this world....... it got hung up in a tree as I performed a power cast and was slingshotted by the branch out of this world never to been seen again. As fishing season is finally upon us, I must say he left us too soon. Green 1/12 oz Kastmaster is survived by his bothers Blue stripe Kastmaster and Red stripe Kastmaster.

Kevin

[AOJ: My condolences!]

REPORT: Hit Willow first for the opener. Same as last week, dead. So we bailed and went to Sheep. We didn't even fish there. A large number of people and no one hooked up. A guy there said he had been there for a few hours an only saw 3 caught. Next stop was Montana. The river sure has changed since a year or 2 ago. You need to fish farther down and farther out. (All 3 rivers very low) Saw one fish being carried back. There was a brown bear walking around which was the highlight of the evening. We fished for a bit and saw a few splashes but that was it. We gave up and went home. I doubt they are coming this year.

[AOJ: All indications are YOU ARE RIGHT! Load the boat with reds this year.]

REPORT: A buddy and I hit the mouth of the Willow for the Friday night opener on 6/27. As expected the parking lot was full when we arrived at 12:20 am, however there were already disappointed anglers walking back up to their vehicles while we were getting ready to head down. My buddy and I both managed to catch a fish (both males and neither bigger than 12 pounds), but by 4:30 am Sat morning we were two of 15 people total still fishing the confluence. VERY slow fishing. We were lucky, and most everyone else was not. I saw maybe 4 other fish total get hooked between 12:30 and 4:30 am.

There are some fish there, but not what I was hoping for and certainly not what is usually there on this weekend every year. Also, the fish that are there are all small and mostly jacks. This could be an indication that the run is late as well as weak, as the males often arrive earlier than the females..who knows.

In all my years fishing the Willow, I've never seen such a mass exodus from the river. At 12:00 midnight, you couldn't get a spot it was shoulder to shoulder. By 1am there were holes everywhere.....kinda funny. There were guys that hung out from 8 pm Friday night waiting, only to fish for 20 minutes and then leave. If the fish ain't there....

Well, you get my drift.

REPORT: Went back down yesterday with a few friends and was the only one that caught fish.... limited out. The fish were not as plentiful as earlier in the week but they were in the holes. The confluence was packed even in the AM.

I was the only person that I saw during the entire time I was there carrying out there fish. The troopers were down there issuing tickets to those that were filleting their fish. Also, I saw a Black bear just down from Pink Salmon and there was a Brown bear near the confluence. Be careful.

[AOJ: Perhaps they were issuing citations for something else. No Filleting on the Russian is not a law or regulation. Its a request for voluntary compliance out of respect for the safety of anglers and the animals. And taking your fish down to the KENAI and filleting them in the fast water is encouraged....see fish cleaning tables present. Anglers should note that on the Forest Service side of Russian River (campground side) the THREE FOOT RULE is still Law and anglers can be cited for not keeping their gear within 3 feet or on their person. On the Refuge side of the river and the highway side of the Kenai down from the ferry the 3 Foot Rule is only a request by KNWR unless problems develop which warrants activation of the law.]

REPORT: Reds still seemed to be pretty thick in the russian. I was seeing quite a few in the water. Managed to catch just one. But as my experience/technique grows, that will change. There were quite a few people with full or almost full stringers. It looked like most people that were foul hooking fishing were releasing them as they should, although I did see someone beating one in the head that they had snagged. Probably put it out of it's misery though, it already had like 5 or 6 hooks in it's body.

Also went clam digging at clam gulch prior to fishing the russian and had my limit of 60 in about an hour.

REPORT: Well, despite the closure coming Monday, I had an excellent day. I grabbed my gear last night and threw it in my car. Right after work I hit the low tide and flipped for an hour with nothing. Like a light switch, the fish showed up and were rolling pretty well. I landed a nice 25lb hen and headed back to the house in the valley. now I've got roe curing, fillets on the grill and the skin soaking so I can try my first skin mount. I couldn't be happier. Going to try the Parks streams Saturday, I'll report when I get back.

REPORT: Three of us fished the upper stretches of the river on Friday. We tossed medium sized spin/glows with excellent results. We hooked five fish in about an hour and a half of fishing. We all limited out with nice fish. The largest one was a male that weighed in at 48 lbs.

Water conditions could not have been better. I haven't seen water conditions this good in the river, during the king season, for a number of years. We saw fish being caught at and below Clear Creek.

REPORT: My son and I went up to Montana. He fished in the crowd for kings for 3 days, hooked 2, had a few hits, VERY SLOW. But they should be in soon. My son fly fished the mouth and caught four 12 inch grayling and one 13 inch rainbow. Caught the rainbow on an olive woolybugger, caught all of the grayling on a cotton candy fly. Fishing is long and hardworking, we were there for 3 days.

REPORT: This Saturday and Sunday from 6:00 am-10:00 pm each day. Bait and multiple hooks are allowed. Youths 15 years and younger. I walked the creek for five minutes near Taku Campbell (King Street) and saw three kings, two over 30 pounds! Check the regs. for further details.

[AOJ: So there you go "youth fisherman". But you might not be the only one reading these reports. ;-) Better get your hole picked out at 5am and wait for the starting gun. Good Luck.]

REPORT: Hit the confluence area Wednesday and Thursday (24th and 25th) with my son and s few friends. We quickly limited out both days and then fished on and off with others and helped out where we could. The fish were stacked all along the river and as thick as I've ever seen in this area. The weather, fishing, laughs, and friendship made for a great trip and one of those days you didn't want to end. Nearly everyone we ran into was helpful, happy, and just enjoying the moment. Sure was nice to see that as well. Can't provide much info on the Russian itself, but we did see many people hooking up all along the river as we walked in and out each day. I attached a photo of my son with our catch on the 24th. Lastly, I just want to say thanks to KK for this great site and for all the angler submissions. I rarely post but I am an avid reader and fan. Thanks all.

REPORT: Decided to take the family down before the huge crowds arrived. We got on the river at about 6:30 am. Walked down to our hole that was hot the week before. My wife had one on first cast! I caught and released quite a few. Suddenly the fish stopped moving through and nobody got one on for about an hour. We decided to move further down the river since the crowds were starting to get thick at the Russian River. Still no luck not many fish moving up river. We decided to check out the mouth just for giggles and grins. My wife had never seen it before so what the heck.

We arrived and just sat back and watched all the fish in the river with our glasses. A spot opened up when a few people got their limits so I hopped in. I'm not kidding folks it was about every single cast. There we so many salmon just laying in the mouth, but the boot patrol had them trapped. The fishing stayed amazing for hours on end. My arm finally got tired along with the family so we headed back to Anchorage.

If your wanting those last minute reds they are still in heavy at the mouth. No joke it was about ever cast.

Good luck I wish I didn't have work. It was the only real thing that could pry me away from fishing like that. =)

REPORT: I was wondering if anyone knew where to fish on Campbell Creek. The youth fishing is open this weekend and was trying to find where at on Campbell Creek the fish pool up or where a good spot to fish is. I have walked down there a few times but never saw anything. Thanks for any help.

[AOJ: There is only a short section of the creek open to this one weekend youth fishery for kids 15 and under so there are not too many places to go. Here is the ADFG announcement describing the area that is open and the rules for what can be used. Campbell Creek Youth Day King Fishery. One thing to watch out for is there are a few sockeye salmon in this stream at this time and they are not open for retention. Good Luck.]

REPORT: I'm a long time reader first time reporter. First of all let me say KK thanks for all you do, many times I've relied on AOJ to guide me to the fish. Took the wife and two little ones to the river yesterday afternoon to pick up some more reds. Took the ferry across and found our favorite hole down from the ferry. Fishing was great. Crowds were not bad. The wife and I both had are limits w/in and hour and a half. Kids had a great time helping mom and dad land the fish. They also loved watching the big brown stuffing himself on the opposite side of the river. Someone on that side of river lost their stringer of fish to the bear and he had a feast. Wish people would keep track of their fish and keep their stringers close by, oh well. Go get em while it's still hot!!!

[AOJ: I guess there is always a first time to get your feet wet in the reports. Glad the conditions were favorable for the family!]

REPORT: Well, the Little Su king run is winding down. Spent 8 hours on the river yesterday with my favorite guide and we had no landings, no lost fish, and no take downs. The first time in 7 years I've been on a king trip with this guide and no one has caught a fish. In fact, we only saw one fish roll the entire time we were on the river. Last night at 8p as we left the river the tally for the day at the parking station stood at 24 fish for Thursday after 12 fish on Wednesday. If that tally is accurate then the boat angler success rate is something less than 1 in 8 based on the number of anglers we saw Thursday morning and afternoon.

A sloooow day of fishing still beats a day at the office....

[AOJ: The Kenai king run is just as frustrating. This year's run is projecting at 11K which is 32% below the 16K average year. Water conditions out there yesterday evening were at a whopping 40 INCHES of visibility at 50°F. I even saw a red swim by off the bank in 3 feet of water. Even without bait those conditions are ideal for artificial only fishing yet a net up is more rare than a tourist this year. What fish are there refuse to open their mouths! ?? We have been blessed with the RUSSIAN ABUNDANCE this year and those who have taken advantage of or will in the next few days will make up for the lack of fish in the freezer. But its winding down at a river near you so if you miss this run there is always a few more coming.

Oh BTW, Dipnetting for Residents opened on the Kasilof River today! You need a permit - free at many license vendors. And please, PLEASE, throw your carcasses back in the water and not leave them on the beach. There are kids and dogs and people walking all over the beaches above tideline and who enjoys walking thru rotten filth left by a slob. POLICE YOURSELVES and say something. Thanx.]

REPORT: My husband and his friends went out there today and they all brought back their limit from the Russian. They started out at the Kenai when he caught a pretty big one. Then they went to the Russian and he caught 5 more in about 30 minutes. I wish I could have gone with him, but now I have more fish then I know what to do with. He said it wasn't that crowded because they went during a week day, so if you get a chance, that's the best time to go.

REPORT: Made another crazy run from Anchortown to the Kenai down below the powerlines after work Wednesday night..... fish are still coming in pretty good so go get them! Across the way on the opposite side of the highway beneath the powerlines, we could see a black bear coming back forth to that slough picking up carcasses so be careful. Was back home by 4am and went to work @ 7am. Sounds like the Russian itself is finally getting some fish to push up into the clearwater. Might be there Monday am. Good luck all! Now for some shut eye!

REPORT: My son and I fished the confluence on Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, then Thursday at midnight. Each tine we walked down from Grayling. On Tuesday afternoon as we walked down, there were very few fish in the Russian itself. We saw few anglers, most with no fish even in Cottonwood and the first hole above the Sanctuary. As we crossed at the confluence, we saw several fish darting past our feet up the Russian. Below the confluence, the crowds were nominal and the reds were in thick. I got my six in about thirty minutes, then helped my son learn the flip and how to land a feisty red. Slow drifts were needed because any yank of the line would foul snag a fish then it was goodbye gear. The fish would all but hook themselves. My son got the hang of it and landed his in about an hour. At one point, he was hooking up on almost every flip.

Wednesday morning yielded much the same results with a few less fish. I got my limit in about an hour, and my son got four in about the same time. As we were walking back up to camp, the Russian was thick with Reds, especially below Cottonwood, and people were cleaning up.

We hit it again in the afternoon. The Russian was filling up with people, with many having success (judging by the number of carcasses floating downstream, ahem...). At the confluence, the river was so thick. My son nailed his two in about ten minutes, and a friend with us got his six in about 50 minutes.

At midnight, it was a different story altogether. The Russian had lots of people fishing from Grayling on down, with not a lot of action. The confluence on down to the snag below the ferry was only producing in select holes and most of the fish were running out and deep. My son and I took none. But for three days of fishing, 24 fish to the freezer. Not a bad outing.

Looks like KK's run prognosis is pretty spot-on. I figure we must have fished that Tuesday down to the canyon slug of fish, and the canyon gap must of been the cutoff. Nice to here there are some more fish on the way. My guess is that this weekend will be a zoo.

[AOJ: Whew, you had me worried there as I got to the "after midnight more fishing" part. Too bad you struck out....or good thing huh? HA! I knew you would be CnR'ing anyway. And yes, this weekend is going to be the Max Mob again. We don't get many years like this, eh? Sure offsets the king fishing by a magnitude of 10 or better.]

REPORT: DUDE....all I have to say is we slayed 'em. Fished 1/2 way between Grayling and the mouth. 3 of us showed up at 0400 on 24th and by 0600 we had our 18 fish. Took us longer to fillet them than it did to catch them. Toughest part was carying 36 fillets in a backpack. There were soooo many fish...you could walk on them.

Didn't see too many rude people. Everyone I spoke to was super nice. One thing tho...9 out of 10 conversations was with out of staters. Fished again in the am of 25th and got 7 more, and called it quits cause the freezer is full. Fish on!!!

[AOJ: Clearwater anglers should realize that the run is getting in its LATER stage now and those fish coming up are now in a BIG hurry to catch up with the party. With fish traveling up the Kenai in deeper waters to avoid the lead and hooks more fish are going to crash the Russian so fishing in the Clearwater should continue to improve and help distribute the crowds.]

REPORT: Fishing was great; Father's Day was a phenomenal day for fishing, one the best I've had. I was pleased that my gimpy knees only had to go to the cleaning tables to fish with plenty of room for my partner and I. I was talking with some of the other folks around us that didn't quite have the technique and had to inform them that the fish don't "Strike" or "Bite" the flies; color is irrelevant, the flossing that is done is just that, you are snagging in the mouth and this can be verified with you looking where you are removing your hook from, almost always will be an outside penetration with a few nose and a few inside hooks to mix it up... so for those that think that the color is what they are "hitting" think again. Those of us in the know will show you how to tune your setup to get fish if you just ask, often it is just a matter of adjusting your weight to hook distance on your line. Also, braided line for a leader is not the best idea, 20-30# seems to be the most popular for mono or fluorocarbon, I've had the best luck with Maxima Chameleon line for resisting abrasion and retention of knot strength.

For the newbies; If you are going to hit the second run or get down in time for the rest of this first one, buy the bulk bag of Gremlin Rubber core weights at Walmart, go to Sportsman's warehouse and buy a ton of flies (50 is what I usually get) and keep them in a little box that holds your barrel swivels and you will be well prepared to donate hardware and have some left over for future exploits.

I went again day before yesterday (today is the 25th) and did quite well again, it wasn't as hot as it was on Sunday but the fish are brighter indicating that the ones that were holding in the canyon have been picked up and the newer fish are making their way up now. I suspect that this second peak will only last through this weekend, but I've been wrong in the past so who knows for sure?

Tight lines all don't forget to add a pair of polarized glasses to your arsenal along with a spare pole because they DO break frequently on a few rambunctious sockeye.

REPORT: KK,

Just a note - the Russian goes back to 3 fish per day/ 3 possession on July 15. Per the EO:

Expiration Date: 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, July 14, 2009, unless superseded by subsequent emergency order.

Rich

[AOJ: Thanks Rich. The News Release they sent to the media outlets did not have an expiration date and that omission is so rare that's why I almost never need to read over the legal EO document (Dry and boring, ha). So there you have it folks.

REPORT: I'm sitting here in Kuwait waiting to Return home for some well deserved R&R. I have been reading all of the Private Angler Reports and it's driving me crazy. I'm planning a trip up to Alaska from Indy with my two boys to reconnect, after an eight month separation in Iraq. Which means when we get to the Russian if the limit is still 6 we could potentially catch in my group, 18 fish, that's 36 nice fillets of beautiful red meat. So in one day I could potentially fill up my freezer. I can't see why any one would want to keep 19 fish in one day. AOJ, can you still catch and release fish after you get your limit?

[AOJ: Well you no doubt will be in good shape for marathon fishing so if you fish across the midnight clock you are able to have in possession a limit (if you were lucky) from Day A and then catch more fish on Day B, more or less in one trip. But don't wait a day. I don't have a clue when this run is going dead but it could run out of fish and we could see the tail end of the run (pun intended) at any time. And yes its legal to catch and release after keeping a limit of reds. Good luck. I just realized that the EO for raising the limit did not have a closing date. I've got a voice message in to the powers that be waiting on an idea of when we will go back to 3 per day for the second run. Right now its open-ended but might end at the end of June. I'll make the announcement on AOJ. ]

REPORT:

REPORT: Fished with four lines in the water from 5:00 AM until 10:30 back trolling flatfish. Saw two jacks caught but that was it. We finally rolled a nice bright fish and had a short fight but the fish got off and is on his way upriver to spawn again - not sure how big but probably in the 30 - 35 pound range and good to feel for a while.

EAGLE ROCK launch is under new management and is a good place to avoid - they now want $15.00 to launch PLUS $10.00 to park your rig. Tried to talk some sense into the operator but they feel they needed to make a buck so we will be avoiding that launch for the rest of the summer. Water is still too shallow there anyway at low tide so find an alternative. Someone needs to operate that launch with a "customer focus". Many of you will remember a couple of years ago when they decided to "take advantage" and charged $40.00 for a boat launch. Nothing like ripping off the public when the economy is doing so well!!!!! The state won't do anything to assist by putting in enough boat launches to support the market so we have to take things in our own hands.

[AOJ: Thanks for the information. Might be a "sign of the times" but they lost my business from here on out. And when the City of Kenai jacked their rates up that was the last buck they got from me too. I'll go launch at the Landing for the same $$ and give my money to a private business/person rather than the city. The money goes around the community further.]

REPORT: lots of fish. Went down river on the parking lot side, away from the people and caught our daily limits. No foul hooks. will go again next year, same place.

REPORT: Fished today on incoming tide. My first time there. Lots of people catching, I caught 2 in about 1.5 hrs. Would have stayed longer but my feet were freezing. Weather was nice and sunny. Might go back tomorrow. =)

REPORT: I haven't fished the Russian for two years now due to the amount of people and some of their habits (i.e. snagging, being rude). I decided enough is enough after reading the reports the last few days. The amount of fish in the river is just how I remember it from childhood. I fished away from everyone else and had a great time. (I have a proxy but did not fill it as six fish already does that in my opinion.)

AOJ - Any word on "official" PROXY badges? I am making myself one to wear on the outside of my vest for all to see.

[AOJ: I'll have to address that in one of the BOF processes. Since proxy fishing is a statewide issue perhaps I can piggyback a proposal on any call for proposals out of our region. Usually those occur in the late summer or fall. I'll have to track down the schedule. Thanx for the reminder. Was just speaking with someone about that idea the other day.]

REPORT: KK thanks for the razor clam video. I am a first time clammer and it was very helpful. We got to Deep Creek a little late (sponsored trip) about 30 minutes before low tide so we didn't get to harvest on the outgoing tide. I was able to harvest about 20 though. One problem I am having is breaking a lot of the shells, any tips?

Also a little side note. Me and a buddy hit the Russian yesterday (6/23) and the Russian itself is picking up. Started at Pink Salmon as we always do and fished our way down, much more room. Saw quite a few reds that looked like Christmas trees though complete with the ornaments. I had 5 and my buddy 6 before we made it to the confluence. So thought I would take a peek at the confluence for my last red before I hit the cleaning tables. There were fish everywhere. Anyway thanks for all of the info AOJ provides especially for a rookie like me.

[AOJ: The nicest thing about using the hot water method of "shucking" your clams is it removes the gluey binder that holds the fine sand to the broken shell tissues and almost no amount of cold water will wash it off. With the hot water, even the worst ever broken clam is sand free and nothing is ever wasted. The broken shell problem comes from digging too close to the clam. Since the dimple indicates the relative vertical location of the clam, you should dig your hole to the side far enough that you don't hit the clam. Once you have a hole dug to the depth the clams are laying you just peel off the sides of the hole to expose the critter and grab it. I rarely ever need to put my hands in the sand deeper than my wrist and that is usually when you are digging in soupy wet holes that keep collapsing on you. I try to start with the little high spots on the beach that have drained more than the rest of the area and as the tide goes out more of the flatter areas drain dryer for expanding your digging. Enjoy the eats.]

REPORT: Fished for 4 hrs, landed 4 lost 4, saw lots of fish being caught/snagged. Fished out going tide.

REPORT: Awesome run. Fish on every third cast minimum. Almost every strike legal. Massive fish in the river and on the bank. Fished from 6pm to 8 pm.

[AOJ: On this same day Fish & Game busted a guy at the Kenai Confluence with 19 reds on his stringer! There goes his Christmas! That blatant of a violation will weigh very heavily in the courts and I'm sure the judge will throw the book at this guy. For some reason, and folks I've been here 40 years on the Kenai and watched this over and over, WHENEVER Fish & Game liberalizes a daily bag limit on any salmon run, EVEN ONE EXTRA FISH, there is a major mental mind shift in many anglers. For some reason they feel (not all of us) that this change in bag limit means F&G wants to wipe out all the remaining fish "or they wouldn't have increased the limit." If there are any potential grad students out there looking for a psychology thesis for their Masters, there you go. Its almost a "feeding frenzy" and folks who would/will never eat that much fish in a year continue to harvest their maximum limits or more just because they can.

Unfortunately what is occurring is a biological "upset" in the making for skewing this early run to only have surviving progeny with biological timing clocks telling them to return in May and early June. The entire back half of this run and those genetics which prompted those fish to start home at that time are going missing from the gene pool. Its "selective breeding and culling" and this run timing continues to creep forward in time through its natural selection process. The run season can't open any earlier due to rainbow trout spawning so we are painting ourselves in a corner.

The Russian River Early Sockeye Run Management Plan needs to be changed at the next BOF cycle to authorize the Department the power to close the Sanctuary to fishing at any time after it has been opened so as to manage a balanced run distribution as necessary. If I don't miss the next Call for Proposals I'll submit it myself.
]

REPORT: I visited AK for the first time 6/13-18, a 50th birthday present from my business partners. I fished out of Tower Rock Lodge during my stay. Two hard days with a guide on the Kenai yielded one Jack. One guided day on the Kasilof yielded one Jack. One day Halibut fishing out of Anchor Point yielded 11 fish, for a total weight over 500 lbs. The largest was 105 lbs and two over 75 lbs, a picture of me with our catch is included here. This was a "World Class" fishing experience.

Before my arrival, I read about this "Combat Fishing" and was very intimidated but gave it a try anyway. I stayed near the Ferry on the Kenai due to my severe bearphobia. After watching and asking a few questions I got the hang of it and luckily was present during an early Kenai/Russian Red run. I landed at least 2 every PM. I've fished all my life and have never seen anything similar. Possibly there is nothing similar elsewhere. My final AM, went on a flyout departing near Kenai. Beautiful views, several bears and quickly landed a limit of Reds.

Fished nearly 20 hours each day while visiting, 22hr of daylight is a beautiful thing for a fisherman. Crashed upon departure and slept all the way back home to FL. Returned to SW Florida and was greeted with a 105 degree heat index.

Words can't describe my Alaskan experience!


[AOJ: Most of use would concur that comes pretty close. Glad it worked out for you. Alaska is still cheaper than a week at Disney World. :-) And more fun for grown ups!]

REPORT: AOJ, From the looks of the fish counts doesn't it look like the Commercial nets put a damper in the Red numbers. After the HIGH PEAK of 6-13 the count drops off like a door was closed on the run! RR

[AOJ: There is no commercial salmon season open in Cook Inlet right now. The Kasilof subdistrict opens on June 25th, the normally scheduled start date. Fish at the Russian Ferry area there today entered into the mouth of the Kenai 8-10 days ago. All you are seeing is a near 100% harvest of fish by anglers. 6 fish limits are still the norm for the experienced anglers and even newer anglers are taking fish home too. That leaves ZERO left. Today's count might move up a little as some fish pods were spotted moving up the Russian earlier in the day.

To SHIP CREEKER: For an answer to what happened to the Ship Creek kings....go to the front page and go down the QUICK CHARTS list and select and view each of the King Salmon runs charted on the list. Then you will see why no one has an answer to your question yet.]

REPORT: A friend and I fished from about 7 AM until 10 AM. We limited out on Kings. We caught and released 5 fish before keeping two fish in the 20 lb. range. All of the fish we hooked were males. The river had dropped and cleared up considerably since my last trip on the 20th.

All of our fish were caught on Mag-Warts (dark green with red bellies). We fished the same side slough that I fished on the 20th. There was plenty of room to fish at Clear Creek.

REPORT: The fishing at Grooves Campground on the Klutina River was excellent. The owners of the campground are the best!! A wonderful family type atmosphere....I would recommend this experience to any new angler.

REPORT: Fished near the confluence the am of the 21st. Limited on 6 reds in about 3 1/2 hours------spent the first hour or two hooking/landing lots of fish, but not legal. Kept playing with my leader length, weight until I found the correct "formula" and bingo----all 6 happened just like that. Ran down to Kasilof and fished for a couple hours-----saw a few kings landed, but only one hatchery-----was told "you should have been here yesterday." Ran further down to the Gulch for the evening low tide/clams, but didn't find much as I haven't clammed there before----or maybe I just don't know what I'm doing. . . Anyway, threw the tent out for a few hours sleep, and then drove back up to the confluence for the morning fish. With my correct "formula" from the day before, I had my 6 in less than 1 hour. Some anglers did great, some not so great depending on technique. But there are definitely fish and bears down there.

REPORT: Fish were moving into the Russian this morning with surges of 20-30 at a time coming thru Cottonwood Hole. Limited out this morning in 3 hours. Had a lot of extra hardware in them though.

REPORT: Contrary to another report, several of us limited out Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The fishing/snagging was HOT on Thursday & Friday, but still pretty good Saturday. We fished all tides, low, high etc. and everything in between with good luck at all times. I saw many people who got skunked, or were only able to get 1 or 2 - but I attribute that to lack of technique or having chosen the wrong gear.

REPORT: After a bad weekend fishing for kings in the Valley and in Ship Creek, we decided to make a suicide run down to the Kenai by the powerlines for some Red action. We left after work and got to the river around 830pm. When midnight hit, between the 3 of us we already had 18 on the bank. My son didn't fish... he had fun being/trying to be "net boy". We must've lost 20-30 fish before trying to walk the fish back to shore. We contemplated on getting another bag limit after midnight but decided not to 'cause some of us had to work in the morning. Also, it was a good thing we didn't 'cause it was a brutal walk back carrying all of our gear & fish that was headed & gutted and put in garbage bags. We also had to worry about this brown bear that kept poking around us. Kinda creepy walking in the dark in some thick brush armed with only bear spray. Fish are still there so go get them. Crowds.... what crowds! Was back home by 430am. Construction by Summit Lake was a pain!

BTW ~ We found a bait caster rod and reel combo on the banks there. Let me or KK know!

[AOJ: If its yours email me with the identifying information. Rod brand, reel brand, line color, etc.]

REPORT: Two of us made the trip out to the Copper River for dip netting yesterday. Took advance of the boat drop-off service provided by Hem's. Really saves time and effort. Spent 11 hours on the river taking home 54 reds. Netted and released 9 nice kings one of which was estimated over 50pds. Cannot understand why biologists think there is a shortage.

REPORT: Just an update from the last post regarding the no trespassing issue at the Knik River upstream from the Old Glen bridge.

A very nice fence has been installed and finished yesterday. No more driving your toys through Bodenburg Creek I guess. If these fools keep burning cars out there, they will do the same to Jim Creek. Or they will pave it and start charging.

KFE

REPORT: Fishing was good, we managed to get 18 reds between 4 of us with 2 rookies. Couldn't hardly drift a fly with people crowding in around us. Guess that is what happens when the stringer fills up.

For all you parents out there THERE WAS A FAMILY WITH 3 KIDS PLAYING RIGHT BEHIND US WITHOUT ANY SAFETY GEAR ON. COME ON PEOPLE THINK. I FINALLY TOLD THE MOM THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO RUIN FATHERS DAY BY HAVING THEM MAKING A TRIP TO THE ER AFTER I HOOKED THEIR KID, SO PLEASE MOVER THEM BACK A LITLE BIT. Not 10 minutes later while fighting a fish my line came out of the fishes mouth and my weight and hook went 100 mph right across the spot the little boy was playing. Thank goodness she listened.

Anyhow, had a blast, and the only real complaint was the brilliant decision to remove all but two cleaning tables from the East side of the river. Really, 2 tables for 1000 fishermen. I understand the idea for the Russian River, but the from the mouth of the Russian, all the way down past the ferry and around the corner was shoulder to shoulder with people, and two fish cleaning tables to work on. Well over 1000 people, and they left 2 tables. Brilliant. Bring a filet board if you don't want to spend half your day either waiting in line or packing whole fish back to the car.

I also wish they would close just enough of the mouth of the Russian to let the fish pass when they are ready. This would allow for higher escapement, as well as spreading the fish over a larger area. We walked from Grayling and didn't see a single fish in the river.

REPORT: Did some King fishing on the little Su with some friends on Sunday and we landed 2 Kings in the 25 lbs range. Landed the first King around 0605, nice way to start the day. A little cool but a nice way to spend Fathers day with friends. We seen about a dozen Kings brought in, no huge ones but what you would expect. Not alot of traffic on the river but it was Fathers day so I expect that was the reason. State Troopers were pretty active.

REPORT: Clamming Tides are yielding great bounty for a Nice family outing to the beach right now. Went down to Ninilchik and did some clamming - the clam run looks good this week, I didn't even bother to check the escapement numbers for this run :) Btw a Nice lad from Homer found my fly rod and is sending it back to me. Much appreciated. I will have to make sure I drop him some clams. And thanks for the clam processing video on the Home page I learned a few tricks from that. Thanks again " Clam On".

[AOJ: WOW, someone responded --- hope for the human race may not be lost after all! :-)]

REPORT: To anyone wanting to try and snag reds in this drainage I would STRONGLY recommend chest waders. We were also caught in the high tide this weekend and spent several hours on an island waiting for the tide to recede. Not many fish being caught. I didn't see any fish caught on the late high tide.

[AOJ: I would advise EXTREME CAUTION for fishing that area for the next several days through the weekend. These are the biggest tides of the year and what has occurred in the past couple of days is NOTHING compared to what is coming. There may not be any island to stand on. Here are the tides for Resurrection Bay this week.

06/22/2009 Mon 12:47AM LDT 12.0 H  07:32AM LDT -2.9 L  02:21PM LDT 9.0  H  07:28PM LDT 2.5  L  

06/23/2009 Tue 01:40AM LDT 12.3 H  08:19AM LDT -3.4 L  03:09PM LDT 9.5  H  08:18PM LDT 2.0  L  

06/24/2009 Wed 02:31AM LDT 12.3 H  09:05AM LDT -3.5 L  03:54PM LDT 9.8  H  09:09PM LDT 1.7  L  

06/25/2009 Thu 03:22AM LDT 12.0 H  09:51AM LDT -3.2 L  04:39PM LDT 10.0 H  10:02PM LDT 1.5  L  

06/26/2009 Fri 04:13AM LDT 11.3 H  10:37AM LDT -2.5 L  05:25PM LDT 10.0 H  10:57PM LDT 1.5  L  

06/27/2009 Sat 05:06AM LDT 10.2 H  11:23AM LDT -1.5 L  06:13PM LDT 10.0 H  11:54PM LDT 1.5  L  

REPORT: The Wife and I went to Sheep Creek Saturday night about 2100-0130. We saw a few carcasses at the table and about 6 or 7 kings taken during that time, one of them measured 39lbs or so (the guy holding the digital scale couldn't hold the fish up long enough lol). The weather wasn't too bad slightly overcast but no rain at the parking area or river. Water was fairly clear and not moving too fast. Most of the fish taken were on spin'n'glo's in the area to the left of the cleaning table for about 150yds. The conditions were good it just seemed like they weren't hitting much even with the amount of tackle in the water. BTW there were quite a few shiny offerings to the Fish Gods that night. There are a few stumps in deep enough water about 25 ft off shore to the right of the cleaning table.

REPORT: Fished the Willow upstream Saturday morning at midnight and then Saturday night with no luck. The river is really low compared to previous years. Saturday night ventured to the mouth and saw 4 caught in about 30mins, not too bad. This weekend should be the hot weekend, lets hope so. Keep a lookout for bears.

Good luck fishing.

REPORT: I just wanted to lend some support to the Pony Cove report from "fishonbruceak". I haven't been out to Pony lately, so this isn't a confirmed report, but if I wasn't spending so much time chasing kings in Kachemak Bay I'd definitely be spending a lot of time at Pony. For picture proof that they can be out there this early in BIG numbers check out the "Photo Gallery" in the top section for "Summer Solstice Silver Surprise," a picture of me with a double limit of those early season coho. I have no doubt they're out there. Just might have to make a run over there!

[AOJ: Well I'll make it a little easier on the readers than that. This is why they call him COHO DAVE. Fish caught on 6/21/03 at Pony Cove. Looks like one of those EARLY silver years. Anglers be prepared and adjust accordingly.]

REPORT: What a great weekend at the Russian/Kenai. The crowds were there, but the fish were too and by Sunday the crowds had thinned out. Came home with sore arms and a cooler full of fish. However, I witnessed one of the most grotesque, irresponsible, and imbecilic behavior involving bears by a group of fishermen that I have ever seen.

A black bear had come out from the woods while a group of guys were fishing and rather than give the bear space or make noise they were tossing carcasses to it!!!! I cannot begin to say how BAD this is for both the bear and the people fishing in the area!!! These guys taught the bear a very bad lesson and put human lives at risk in the process! It's bad enough to be careless with backpacks and stringers, but it is another thing altogether to deliberately feed the bears. Please, please if you see someone doing anything this blatantly stupid, yell at them and tell them to stop as I did! It is not cute and it is not a game! DON'T FEED THE BEARS!

Bubba

REPORT: Fished at the Powerline for a few hours and hooked into 6, landing one. That's not even a good average for a baseball player. I'm getting them to within a few feet of me, but not able to land them. From now on I'll fish with a buddy so I can get some help with a net and not have to try and drag them up on the bank.

REPORT: Fished most of the day, saw nothing caught, worst fishing I have seen here yet (20yrs). Fish and game pull your nets!!

[AOJ: I guess this is one of the EGG ON YOUR FACE reports. Commercial fishing in upper Cook Inlet has been completely closed down since June 15th. And the lower/Central Cook Inlet commercial season doesn't begin until June 25th this year. There are no kings this year. And I suspect the possibility of announcements for Valley fisheries maybe this week.]

REPORT: I fished the midnight opener at Montana Creek. Saw 3 fish banked in the first 5 minutes. All were in the 24-28 inch range. When I left at 6 am I had seen 1 jack (under 20 inches), 18 kings in the 24-28 inch range, and 3 kings over 30# caught. Very slow by Montana standards. Usually we see two dozen fish landed in the first 10 minutes after the opener. Most of the fish were fairly fresh and lightly blushed, not chrome but not fire engine red. I only caught a 20 inch rainbow around 1am, which was quickly released. On the way back towards town I stopped at Sheep Creek where a guy was filleting a small white king and there was a guy who just left with a 50#ish king. I watched for 20 minutes with no action so I decided to not fish. I then stopped at the Little Willow and met a large group of fishers returning to the parking lot empty handed. They said that they walked the first 3 miles from the highway and spotted no fish. With that many eyes they would have seen something if it was there. So I decided to not fish. With a bad report from the Willow I headed to the tailrace for a few hours. I rigged up with a small hook and bait to try and catch the dollies stealing everones' bait. I got some bites and bait stolen, but no dollies. I saw 2 kings roll while there but reports of people there all day said none caught. Good luck everyone, if you want a king put in the hours and be satisfied with a 24-28 inch fish.

REPORT: Me and the boy went down for a Father's Day run, left at 7:40 am and were back by 4 pm. Lots of fish. I got mine in 1.5 hrs and Tyler got his in 2. Spent more time filleting than catching. Alls I can say about the fishing today - HOLY COW! Felt good to get that big limit and there are still fish in the confluence. People are hooking fish all over the place. The handicap area is choked with fish, they couldn't leave their hooks in the water.

REPORT: Slow. Although fish are still being caught,expect several hours of hard fishing with little reward. Run has died off but is not over.

REPORT: Lost a blue olympus camera and a coho fillet knife somewhere in the midddle of the island late thursday night going into friday morning. I also left a salmon rod and reel combo at the Sheep Creek campground a week ago sunday. The rod was an Affinity rod with an Okuma epixor reel on it. If Anyone found these items I can be contacted at phankins@alaskatreeline.com Reds have been good at the confluence. Like everyone elses report, fish farther down stream in the kenai for better success.

REPORT: Got wicked tired of the mess on the Kenai so I visited Kasilof for Kings. Fished the afternoon tide on the bank above Coho Cove with roe and had one takedown but it missed the hook. Only heard of two other fish being taken on the bend - both either jacks or very small. Both were wild and were released.

I then did line fishing just downriver from the Crooked Creek confluence. Saw a few fish rolling and hooked one. It was a dark smallish King - 20# max. It got off. Saw four other fish hooked and two banked. Both were wild kings, one chrome and the other rather dark. Also saw 2 harvested sockeye on the bank - both on the small side and certainly not as big as the 1st run RR reds this year (which are consistently large).

To my knowledge, no one caught a hatchery king this afternoon from 2pm - 8pm. Not many fishermen there considering the Kasilof is the only king option for bank fishing in the area right now; I had no problem finding room to fish at any location and even though the harvest was thin, there are definitely fish in the river. If I had had more time to fish, I think I could have harvested.

On the way back home in CL I noticed the crowds have thinned out quite a bit on the Kenai. Thank God!

REPORT: Fished Sheep today with a couple buddies....Saw no one on the river (except for a very annoying jet boat which I've never seen one so far upstream). Trout and Grayling were very cooperative and happy to be returned. Discovered over a dozen excellent new holes and runs that we've never fished before. Rainbows averaged between 12" and 20" with the biggest of the day taped at 23 inches, and they were all so healthy and thick. Grayling were not as abundant as the bows so they were a bonus, we kept a few of those for dinner... afterwards we drove down to the mouth and checked it out...quite a few carcasses at the cleaning table, some big, some small, many already turned color. Saw no hookups or rollers in the 10 minutes we were there. All in all a great day. Happy Fathers Day to all!

REPORT: Ship - felt lucky this AM with one hook up. I did see one caught at 8AM. About 20#. No crowds, few fish.

I fully concur with KK on the Russian gauntlet. The open sanctuary just brought folks into a more congested area. I floated and fished the Kenai River Friday, fished Saturday, and saw an amazing number of people. I think even the bears were scared- that was my first "bearless" float in some time. I was scared of the people too, and elected to fish between Jim's and the ferry and found the fishing and catching pretty darn good.

To Dr "Jolly Roger", may you rest in peace. You were at Ship with me this morning.

REPORT: Got to the river about 8 a.m. A lot of people but we found a spot where the fish were moving up stream. My wife caught more fish than I did. We found out later that the rod she had wasn't working real good - the reel. But she managed to haul in four reds. There was a lot of fish moving up the river. The red and yellow coho flies work the best. It paid off to be patient and wait for the fish to go up in schools. It was a great time to be in the river - very crowded - be patient. The Reds this year seem a lot bigger than last year's first run. It was great to be in God's glory.

REPORT: My son and I fished from 7 AM until 10 AM. The mouth of Clear Creek was very crowded so we opted to travel upstream and hopefully find some clearer water at or above the confluence of the Sheep River. As I expected most of the muddy water in the Talkeetna was coming from the Sheep River.

We pulled into a side slough, anchored and fished Quik Fishes and Mag Warts out of the back of the boat. We had hookups in less than 10 minutes. We caught 3 jack kings and two keepers. Both of the keepers were males about 15 lbs. Surprisingly we also caught a couple of very nice dollies on #14 red Quik Fishes.

I lived full time on this stretch of the river (confluence of the Sheep and Talkeetna) for over six years so I am quite familiar with this area and past fishing trends. I've always caught jack kings early in the run, usually around the 15th of June with larger males and finally females arriving about a week later. If temperatures stay as they are and we don't get a lot of rain I think fishing should really improve as the week progresses.

REPORT: I had a great time down in Seward last week so I took my my wife and grandfather out there to see if he could land some reds. We left with only 7, but better than nothing. However, the tide last night was much higher than the previous ones and the wife and I ended up getting stranded on one of the "islands" for a few hours with 2 other couples until the tide receded enough to make it out with our hip boots. Most people were doing very well, but there were some commercial boats at the mouth choking out the fish. Heading down to the Russian for a few days this week and see what all the fuss is about down there. Hopefully the numbers will still be in our favor and I can send my grandpa back to Cali with a cooler full of reds.

REPORT: TERRIBLE fishing at Montana Creek this weekend, saw three pulled in, the slowest I've seen in 14 years. Fish were rolling out in the Susitna but very few fish seem to make their way into the mouth. The fish that were pulled in were small, there was one lunker pulled in but it looked pretty red.

REPORT: The wife and I fished the morning opener/tide today, hoping for a Father's Day fish. Guess we're going to have fish anyway, but from the freezer. I can confirm that fishing was/is extremely slow to non-existent. Saw one possible hookup, but it quickly got off. Zero fish landed within my field of view. I was actually surprised at how absolutely dead it was.

Good to see some familiar faces for the first time this season. Good luck, guys. Hit the Copper the first week of July...that's my advice if you need meat soon. ;)

REPORT: Thursday/Friday were very slow. Heard their may have been some Belugas at the mouth. Saturday, 2 hrs before pm high, about 6 landed and saw multiple hook-ups. It will probably get better now that the derby is over.

REPORT: Fished down stream from the ferry midway to the bend. Action was non stop once I found the depth and range of the fish. They were pretty far out in the deeper water. I was only able to land two but there was plenty of action. People had lines breaking and rods snapping! My buddy caught his limit. His last three caught took only 15 minutes. Parking was pretty busy. Took us a little over 1hr and half to get a parking spot. Well worth it though, it was an awesome day.

REPORT: Spent Friday night and Saturday out in Pony Cove before the weather got dicey. We fished for halibut for a few hours with only one chicken and a nice yellow eye as a result. We saw several charters picking up silvers so we switched to trolling herring behind flashers. We picked two nice silvers and lost a third for our two hours of effort with two rods. Judging by the looks of how others were doing, if we fished the full day, we could have been close to getting limits. This was my first time to Pony Cove, but judging from all of the reports from previous years, June 20th seems mighty early for silvers. If I had a boat to use, I would be hitting Pony Cove again with expectations of getting limits.

[AOJ: THAT is on the early side. Hmmm.]

REPORT: 6/16 - saw 8 or 9 fish caught on incoming.
6/19 - saw only 2 fish caught on afternoon tide (2hrs before+2hrs after).
6/20 - heard fishing was decent with quite a few hookups in the morning and afternoon.
6/21 - morning tide - saw NOT A SINGLE HOOKUP from 6-8am. Only 2 fish rolled the whole time. Maybe you'll get lucky at the mouth, but I agree with other reports, it is DEAD DEAD DEAD today. Not sure why its so poor, but very uncharacteristic for this time of year. Don't give up, though - I've seen 'em in thick in the first week of July even in years past, plus one year hooked 2 big chrome bright ones on July 15th AFTER the closure on the 13th one year and released 'em. Hey, it beats working!

Gonna try the Russian next week, and then try going out of Whittier. Anyone know if its worth trying the falls at the Russian mid-week this week, or is this going to be futile? I've always had success just below the falls, but I'm bringing guests up and want to make the best of their time. Perhaps fishing a ways below the ferry into the Kenai would be a better idea? Or should we camp out below the falls and wait for slugs? 400 fish per day through the weir isn't promising. Tight lines!

[AOJ: As you can see by the Early Russian Red Run chart and yesterday's 171 fish making it to the counter, anglers are reporting zero fish in the Russian to catch. The mob downstream is 100% effective. If the crowds remain at this level next week then nothing will change as far as any fish getting into the Russian except perhaps a little shot in the dark when anglers thin a bit at the mouth. Best to go down. The further you walk the more fish are available that haven't got the hook. Good Luck. Also watch the Kasilof counts. They are way low at this time but there might be a change any day.]