As the snow melted and the river became ice free, it was evident that the global pandemic would severely impact tourism in Alaska. I thought, “ oh great, the Kenai River will have an epic run of salmon and there won’t be any visitors to enjoy it.” Have I ever mentioned fisherman are optimists by nature? Looking back, my lofty …
2020 Tourism in Review and the Outlook for 2021
The three legged stool of the Alaska economy is oil, commercial fishing, and tourism. The global pandemic has made it a bad year for all three. Since I’m a fishing guide and lodge owner, I will focus this post on the obvious: tourism. The 2020 preseason forecast for tourist visiting Alaska was 2.4 million. Considering …
Thank You’s
With high water and muddy river conditions, the choice was obvious not to fish the Kenai this past week. And, forget about the ocean. I had tentative plans to fish out of Homer one last time, but conditions there have been terrible too. This blogpost will end the weekly fishing reports for 2020. Yes, it was difficult …
Fishing Report Week Ending 9/27/20
I had big plans to get out on the river this past week. Unfortunately, that’s all they were...plans. I do have good excuses though. I was waylaid with end of the season chores. 4 cabins, 2 boats, 4 outboard motors, and 1 camper needed to be winterized. On top of that, the Stanley Cup finals have occupied my time in the evenings. …
Fishing Report Week Ending 9/20/20
That’s it. John is holding the lone silver for the week. To say the river fished tough would be an understatement. What the heck happened? It’s not all bad news though. At least I didn’t disappoint many clients. Hmmm, come to think of it, not having many clients is not the best news either....Thanks, John and Gary, …
Fishing Report Week Ending 9/13/20
All she does is catch big fish... It was a decent week of silver salmon fishing on the Kenai River. That is, until Saturday. We were rolling along nicely until we weren’t anymore. Sorry, Jerry, Donna, and Leslie. It just wasn’t our day (nor anyone else’s unfortunately). Now, on to the good stuff. My first guided trip …
Fishing Report Week Ending 9/6/20
It’s September and that means one thing on the Kenai River: the silver salmon limit goes to three. If you like to harvest silvers, this is the month you’ll want to be here. I started my guiding week fishing with Kate, Chuck, and Jane. If you think the tall guy in the back looks familiar you would be correct. Chuck was part …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/30/20
It was only a hiccup. Based on how last week ended, I was worried that this week would be tough fishing. It wasn’t. The silver salmon fishing was steady every day, and the overall quality was impressive. It made for a great week to be on the river. Blinn Week 3 started out with Steve, Kipp, Jeff, and …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/23/20
Foggy mornings and the fireweed plumage is beginning to drop. It can only mean that summer is coming to an end on the Kenai peninsula. Summer of 2020, I hardly knew ya... After reviewing my fishing forecast for Blinn Week Number 2, I was mostly right. The pink salmon fishing was incredible, but by the end of the week it was …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/16/20
Week one of the Blinn group is officially in the books. It was a good one. With a run of pinks stronger than I can remember, and the silvers starting to show in catchable numbers, there was no shortage of rod-bending action. The week began with this crew. From left to right is Brian, Jeremy, Curtis, and “Spin …