The 2024 Upper Cook Inlet Board of Fisheries meeting is over. For the most part, status quo was the theme. The one huge exception was discussed last week. I still can’t believe lowering the late run, Kenai king salmon escapement goal was a good decision (it passed on a 4-3 vote). If you’re curious about the votes on the other …
Sausage Making, Board of Fisheries Update
As of today, the 2024 Alaska Board of Fisheries Upper Cook Inlet meeting is nearly over. The biggest takeaway so far is the adoption of RC183. This action plan addresses the stock of concern designation of the Kenai king salmon run. Ironically, the plan reduces the lower end of the optimum escapement goal (OEG) from 15,000 to …
Super Bowl of Fish
The Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting regarding Upper Cook Inlet fish management has begun. I’ve been engrossed listening to the proceedings, which is my excuse for such a short blogpost. Too many acronyms being thrown around…OEG, SEG, BEG, MSY…it can be confusing. If you’d like to watch fish democracy in action and learn …
2024 Upper Cook Inlet Sockeye Salmon Forecast
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) has released their forecast for the 2024 Upper Cook Inlet sockeye salmon run. The total run forecast is 5.72 million fish. This is considered an average run. Specifically, the Kenai River forecast is approximately 3.38 million fish. This is 215,000 more fish than the …
How To Take Fish Photos
My nephew sent me photos from a recent ice fishing trip. He said he’s terrible at taking fish pictures. You know what, he’s right. It doesn’t have to be that way. The following are a few tips, tricks, and techniques that I’ve learned for taking better fish photos. Before I reveal a few of the “trade secrets”, …
27 Cents
I received a photo of a well loved Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service baseball cap this past week from my friend, George French. It’s a nice reminder of how long Jane and I have known him. He asked, “ Is this under warranty?” I told him, “Nope, but I bet you could make a buck on EBay.” I asked George for permission to …
Doing Something Part 2
Last week I blogged about efforts on the federal level to bring back declining king salmon runs in Alaska. I'm doubtful any meaningful changes will happen in the short term. Long term, yes, but to quote the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, "if we wait it'll be too late." I'm much more optimistic about consequential …
Doing Something Part 1
King salmon runs in Alaska have been on an undeniable downward trend for years now. Whether the species is on the road to extinction, or on a path to a new lower mean level, know one really knows for sure. Finding a solution to reverse the trend is not easy. Nature is complicated, and man managing nature can really mess things …
An Amazing Place To Live
I’ve always enjoyed Year In Review and In Memoriam tributes. This year, KTUU television in Anchorage put together a compilation of outstanding viewer photo and video submissions from 2023. https://youtu.be/jvdmEL2mAvE?si=s5UiRR-gvBKMdD7P If you don’t want to watch the entire video, but have an interest in certain …
You Didn’t Have To Do That
During the hustle and bustle of our season, I blog about fishing on the Kenai peninsula. Sure, I’d like to write about other things but I just don’t have the time. In the offseason, I have plenty of time to share my thoughts and explore topics other than what fish were caught during the week. That brings me to this week’s …