It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Okay, that might be a bit dramatic. Let’s just say the silver salmon fishing this past week has been up and down.
Here’s the breakdown for the week.
The week started out with a bang. It wasn’t the normal fast silver salmon bite, but it was a steady throughout the day. Here are Rob, Jarred, Chris, and Greg. This was the first boat limit of the season for me.
Long time guests, Ken and Michelle, brought their grandson Brantley to Alaska this year. They caught an easy limit on the nearby Swanson River.
From boat limits to this. It was a struggle to find fish on Wednesday. Lots of people say they’re happy to be on the water, fish or no fish. Doug and Cheryl actually mean it. At least they kept my streak of not getting skunked on the river this year alive. We look forward to seeing both of you next season.
The streak is over (hence, the moose photo). Starting July 11th, we’ve caught salmon everyday on the river. It ended on Friday with Dan and Ron. We had 4 bites, one of which was within a foot of making it in to the landing net. I should mention that Ron brought a banana on the boat. I’ll leave it up to the blog followers to draw their own conclusions about the superstition of bananas on boats. Oh well, it was a heckuva streak catching fish.
The banana curse ended the next day with the fastest boat limit of silvers of the season (and a bonus red salmon). Brian, Chris, Nathan, and Mike traded the Texas heat for a cool Alaska morning with hot fishing. Well done, boys, well done.
Thoughts on the week ahead.
It hasn’t been a strong run of silver salmon so far. I’m not sure if they’re late, or it’s just low numbers and this is as good as it gets. I do know that on September 1st, the Kenai silver salmon limit goes to 3 and we’re allowed to use bait and treble hooks. Using bait should be a game changer for all anglers.
Come back next week to see how it goes.
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/20/23