Many, many stories were shared about this amazing man and his adventures.

This past week, the Matthies family, along with a few dear friends, said their final good bye to Bill at a Committal Service at the Minnesota State Veteran’s Cemetery.

Like many in his generation, it was important for Bill to serve his country. As soon as he graduated high school, he enlisted in the Army. His service occurred from 1954 until 1956. 

Bill’s time in the Army made him eligible for a military burial. On April 9th, a solemn, respectful ceremony was performed at Camp Ripley. It included the Honor Guard, the Folding of the Flag and Presentation, Three Volley Salute, and the playing of Taps.

After the ceremony, Bill was laid to rest next to the love of his life, Evelyn. For nine years she patiently waited for this day.

Soon, the headstone will be updated and both their names will be on it.

If you’re wondering what the red metal object is in the first photo, it’s a dive tank and Bill’s ashes are inside of it. What makes this extra special is the dive tank was stamped by Bill during a certification check and the initials of all three children are on it. It’s a fitting tribute to the Matthies family legacy.

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Easter, Passover, Jane and Uncle Mike’s birthday. 

Enjoy the day!

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It’s been just the opposite.

And it’s pretty much been that way across the whole state. 

Fairbanks had their 9th coldest winter on record. Imagine having 31 days where the temperature reached -40 or colder. Brrrr. It brought back some not-so-fond memories for me of attending college there in the ‘80’s. 

How would you like to wake up in the morning and see -62 on your thermometer? That happened in Chicken, Alaska. It was the coldest temperature recorded in the state this year.

Juneau made the weather news this winter too. As of March 23–24, the National Weather Service station at Juneau International Airport recorded 201.2 inches of snowfall for the season. That’s a new record. Most likely they’ll add a little bit more this spring. 

Southcentral Alaska didn’t set any records but it’s been locked in with unseasonably long and cold temperatures. The annual Winter King derby in Homer was originally scheduled for March 21st, but since the harbor was frozen, it was postponed to March 28th. Unfortunately, conditions did not improve, so it’s now rescheduled for April 4th. Hopefully, the ice will disappear this week so it’s not moved for a fourth time.

If there is any “good” weather news right now it’s that we’re at that time of year when the sun will eventually prevail and soon the rites of spring will be upon us. 

For me, one of the rites of spring is putting in the dock. Many years I’ve been able to do it during the first high tide cycle in April. Yeah, that’s clearly not going to happen this year. Hopefully, all will be fine by the high tides of May.

Before I end this weather report,  I’d like to thank Mack for the use of his photos. He, along with Rusty, were snowshoeing on the opposite side of the creek (the island). I appreciate seeing our property from a different perspective. 

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My college buddy/roommate Mark had a side gig catching and selling salmon he caught in Southeast Alaska. He sold his catch to restaurants, grocery stores, and individuals around the country.

I was on his email list and on a weekly basis I would get a notice of what was in season and what it would cost per pound to have it shipped.

One day, I get an email that said “Fresh Keta Salmon”.

Keta, what?

Never heard of it.

I called my buddy Todd, a retired Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist, to see if he knew. 

Todd said “it’s the dog or chum salmon. Keta is the scientific name of the salmon and the commercial fishing industry is starting to market it that way. It sounds a lot more desirable than a dog or a chum salmon.”

Ah, marketing…

The story of keta salmon reminded me of another fish marketing story, the Patagonian toothfish.

Never heard of Patagonian toothfish? Not many have. However, a lot of people have ordered it without knowing it.

Like the dog/chum/keta salmon, the Patagonian toothfish suffered an image problem. It’s a wonderful tasting fish, but it’s cursed with a not so desirable name. I don’t know who was credited with it, but someone said let’s call this fish a Chilean sea bass. 

With a new name, sales have gone through the proverbial roof.

It’s reached a point where strict harvesting regulations have been implemented to prevent overfishing. 

The popularity of keta salmon has not reached the same popularity of the Chilean sea bass or other species of salmon for that matter. However, since I first heard about keta salmon I’ve definitely noticed more and more of it in grocery stores. 

Are you curious if there are keta salmon in the Kenai River? Yes, there is a very, very small run returning every year. With thousands of river hours under my belt, I’ve netted exactly 4 dog, oops, I mean keta salmon…

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What an appropriate topic considering St. Patrick’s Day is this Tuesday (don’t forget St. Urho’s Day is Monday).

Apparently, our friends Mike and Mary Harden thought we needed a mascot. 

Regular visitors to Alaska, when they were up this past August, before they left Mike gave Jane a box and said this is for you and Keith. 

Inside of the box was a beautifully mounted baby beaver with a Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service medallion attached to the driftwood base. Wow! A very unique gift. 

We decided the home of our new mascot would be in the office. However, there is one thing that needs to be done and that’s giving it a name. A mascot always has a name.

Any ideas?

By the way, if you want to know if  the “lucky charm” worked, the answer is yes, it did.

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Being ready for whatever a season can throw at me is the key to success. Okay, healthy salmon runs sure help too.

I’ve purchased new waders and boots. Broken fly rods have been replaced, and so have reels that have seen better days. I’ve restocked spools of fishing line and leader material too, and increased my dwindling supply of 3/0 circle hooks. 

Another item I’m in short supply of are fish whackers. Between losing a couple of them, and wearing out another, 2025 was a tough one.

Here’s an interesting fact. There is no other tool I use more in the course of a season than a fish whacker. Who knew? If you want to know what number two is, it’s my landing net. 

At this point of the blog, if you’re a little confused about fish whackers, thirteen years ago I wrote about why they’re used. The article can be found here.    

Sure, I could purchase a commercially made fish whacker but what fun is that? I asked my friend Don, a talented woodworker, if he’d be interested in making a new one for me. I told him there’s no reason to make it into a piece of art, it just needed to be functional. 

To my surprise he made 5 of them. I think they are more than functional.

I think I’m set for a long, long time. Thanks, Don! 

ADDENDUM

If you’re reading this Al, my favorite fish whacker is the “Black Mouth Sleeper” you gave me years ago. I keep it in the boat because I don’t want to lose it while wading in the river fishing for red salmon. Chuck, if you are reading this, the most hilarious fish whacker I own is the “Fish Head Club 9 Iron” you gave me. Always a good laugh when I bring that one out. 

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Dave is/was a successful businessman whose passion is the outdoors.

He told us that he bought a chamber vacuum sealer to process fish and game and we should get one for our business. 

We had been considering adding this service for our guests, but decided neither of us had the extra time to seal fish.

Dave remarked the solution is simple. Sell your guests the bags and let them do it for themselves.

Brilliant!

About ten years after buying our first chamber vacuum sealer, we bought another one. It wasn’t because it was failing, it was because we had a break in and some one stole it. 

This winter we purchased our third sealer. Our current sealer is well loved and our fear is a mechanical breakdown could happen during the peak of the season. It would be difficult getting someone to service it in a timely fashion.  

For the coming season, it will be nice to have two working sealers available to process your catch. 

With ADFG forecasting an “excellent” red salmon run, it won’t be long before the humming of the sealer will be heard and the freezers will be filling up. 

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We now have a new category of excellence.

Beaver Creek Olympic Medalist. 

In his second Winter Olympic’s, Gus Schumacher earned a well deserved silver medal in the 15km cross country men’s sprint relay race.

He improved in all the other disciplines he skied in too.

Olympians are made, not born, and that couldn’t be more true watching Gus through the years. If I didn’t see him fishing I would see him dry land training on Angler Drive/Beaver Loop Road. On the water or off, Gus always has a smile on his face.

A coincidence?

Did this day on the Kenai River foreshadow a much bigger event that would happen later in life? 

Being a semi-superstitious fisherman, in the next 4 years the two of us need to find a pan and go searching for gold. 

Congrats Gus! 

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Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. 

All Upper Cook Inlet wild king salmon fisheries will be closed this year. The enhanced hatchery fisheries, which include the Ninilchik River, Kasilof River, Ship Creek, and the Nick Dudiak lagoon, will be open to king salmon fishing with restrictions.  In addition, limited saltwater king salmon fisheries will also be open for harvest as well. 

If you’re wonky about fish numbers, like I am, here are the forecasts for the Kenai River king salmon run. 

The early run (May/June) forecast calls for 2,325 salmon. The optimum escapement goal (OEG) is 3,900-6,600. 

The late run (July) forecast calls for 12,718 salmon. The optimum escapement goal (OEG) is 14,250-30,000 fish.

If there’s a positive takeaway from the 2026 Kenai River king salmon forecast, it’s that the numbers are improving. 

It begs the question, have we hit the bottom and are now in a recovery phase?

Time will tell.

Let’s move on to the good, errr, GREAT fish news. 

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is projecting a return of 7.6 million sockeye to Upper Cook Inlet. In their words, the run is “predicted to be excellent”.

Specifically, 4.45 million sockeye are forecasted to return to the Kenai River alone.

That’s a whole lot of fish.

It’s definitely a forecast that my doctor will approve of. During a routine physical last September, he told me to keep on doing whatever it is I’m doing.

I guess I’ll keep on not fishing for king salmon and keep netting over a thousand sockeye salmon in the summer….

See you next week.

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I decided to put it on pause.

The reason is the information I came across was from internet chatter and not the source.

I won’t believe the numbers until the Alaska Department of Fish and Game makes it official.

The announcement should be made soon.

I don’t want to get out ahead of it, but if you’re a betting person, I would say the forecast will be a very good one. 

Stay tuned….

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