Cue the animals.
What a week for animal viewing.
The highlight came when I was walking down the dock and came upon a mamma moose and her newborn calf. Considering the calf was still wet, the birth had to have happened within a couple of hours.
The caribou decided people should see them too. A very popular location to view caribou in our area is the Kenai River tidal flats located on Bridge Access Road. The herd was out in full force this week.
So, on to the fishing.
When a fishing report blog starts out talking about animals, you know the fishing couldn’t have been that good. In all fairness, I only gave it a couple of hours this past week.
What I found is this: the hooligan are plentiful, and king salmon remain elusive. It’s not just in my boat, but other anglers have been reporting the same difficulty as well.
It wasn’t the slow fishing that kept me off the river. Jane and I were busy staining cabins, walkways, cutting trees, and relocating the Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service sign. We took a break to get out and explore the first Wednesday Market of the year located at Soldotna Creek Park. It’s a great setting with vendors selling unique arts, crafts, and food. There’s also live music on two stages, and a beer garden. It was really nice to see normal activities starting up again.
A sunny day, a bench with a view of the Kenai River, the time to have a barbecue lunch with Jane…how lucky am I?
Soldotna Creek Park is also the location of several memorials honoring our Alaska veterans.
As you know, tomorrow is Memorial Day. It’s the day set aside to remember with gratitude and pride all those who served and died for our country and our freedom.
For The Week Ahead
There has been a spike in king salmon sonar numbers recently and that’s a good thing. If the run timing mirrors 2019, we will easily meet the optimum escapement goal. On the other hand, if the run mirrors the 2018 run timing, we will not meet the optimum escapement goal. The next 10-15 days will be critical. I have several guided trips this week so I should get a good feel on how the rest of the early run will shape up
Come back next week for the straight skinny on fishing the Kenai River.
Fishing Report Week Ending 5/23/21