Breakup

I was starting to wonder if we would ever have spring. Well, that’s a little dramatic, but you probably know what I mean.

It’s been a long, cold winter and the grip was finally released this past week. On Sunday, I took a river photo at the bridge in Soldotna. As you can see, it’s locked in ice.

Only two days later, I took this photo at the same spot. Breakup occurred. For those of you reading this who don’t live in the ice belt, breakup means beautiful snow and ice becomes a sloppy, muddy brown slush. Roads, parking lots, and driveways are a mess. The good news is it’s short lived.

One of the upsides of breakup is it won’t be long before the dock goes in. When the dock goes in, fishing and river salvage runs aren’t far behind. Here’s a downstream view of Beaver Creek. The photo was taken from our walkway.  

This is the culvert where Beaver Creek crosses under the Kenai Spur Highway. This too was taken on Saturday. 

How about that? Truth in advertising. I seldom see a beaver in Beaver Creek, but I did this week. Legend has it that if a beaver sees it’s shadow, it will only be three weeks before the first salmon of the year will show up. Okay, I just made that up, but it could happen…

On to a couple of different topics.

2021 Second Run Kenai King Forecast (finally)

The optimum escapement goal for the second run (July) of Kenai king salmon is 15,000 to 30,000. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) has forecasted this run to be 18,046 fish. This is a low forecast, but better than the final tally of 12,216 king salmon that made their way back to the river in 2020. No doubt, ADFG will be monitoring the run closely.

Final Fishing News of the Week

On April 17th, after a pause last year due to COVID, the 27th annual Homer Winter King Derby was held. 1562 anglers spent the day trying to catch a prize winning king salmon. After 7 hours of fishing, 154 fish were registered. Taking first place was 10 year old Andrew Marley with a 25.62 ounce king salmon.  

Get this, that king salmon was worth a whopping $87,000.  In an interview, his dad said the majority of the money will be put away for college. Good on ya, dad, for taking your son fishing, and being responsible with the prize money. Definitely a memory that will never be forgotten.

Well, that’s it for now. See you next week.