The catching wasn’t hot and heavy for us. It was just good enough.

It had to be fish Karma.

Three years ago Nick gave me a custom color Brad’s K15 fishing lure. Since it was custom, I’ve kept it stored in my tackle box and haven’t used it since he was last here.

I broke it out and boy did it produce.

Nearly every salmon Nick caught was on that lure.

You know, if I could do it all over again I would have used that lure even more.

This is Brittany’s first silver on the first day. 

And, this was the morning catch on Day 1. However, we weren’t done for the day. 

After a three hour break, we went back out to fish the incoming tide. Not as much action as I was hoping for. Ken caught a bright red salmon that we kept and Nick caught another silver salmon. The final tally was six salmon on Day 1.

On Day 2, Brittany had the hot seat (it should be noted that Nick gave it up). Here’s the first fish of the morning.

After a little bit of lull, Brittany caught 2 more within minutes of each other. Limit!

Ken “The Electric Banana” got on board and caught the next three silvers. Another limit!

Unfortunately, Nick did not get a bite on Day 2. Still, the end results were pretty good.

On Day 3 the bite was slowest of the three days. We worked all day to get three fish. Nick had the hot seat and lure and caught all of them. Limit!

Thanks Nick, Brittany, and Ken for coming back to fish. I look forward to the next time we do it. 

I’ll end on this. I usually have a pretty good feel for what to expect when predicting the fishing “for the week ahead”. Not this time. I’m not sure if it was weather, tides, seals, belugas, or the run peaked as the reasons why the fishing was a bit slow.

Come back next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing has given us.

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Not only are we between the first and second runs, a rain event caused the river to rise over two feet in a short amount of time. A rising river means dirty runoff and debris. Fish (and fishermen) don’t like that.

That being said, it was still a pretty good week of fishing. 

Catching the first fish of the week was Kelly. Recently retired, Kelly and her husband Jeff drove an RV from Minnesota to Alaska. Fishing for salmon was on their bucket list.

Klair followed Kelly with his first salmon in Alaska. Klair and his wife Beth started their adventures on a cruise ship to Alaska with friends. The three couples are all celebrating their 40th wedding anniversaries together. 

This is what we ended up with at the end of the day. Not the numbers of fish I would’ve like to have seen, but the quality was impressive. Sorry, Jeff. You’ll get ‘em next time…

I had to include this photo on the weekly fishing report. On the same day I had Klair and Beth in my boat, the other two couples fished with Trevor. Smiles for all!

The following day I fished with Mark, Mary, and Ben. The action was steady throughout the day. The highlight was a 15lb silver for Mark.

Even though we ended up a couple fish short of a boat limit, it was still a good day to be on the river. 

For years I’ve been hearing stories from Boo about “the Canadians” that would come up and fish with him. Well, since Boo is now only running charters on the ocean, it was my turn to fish “the Canadians” on the river. Grandpa Albert got the trip started with a nice silver. 

Grandson Kolton followed up with another. 

When we called it a day, everyone at least ended up boating a salmon. Thanks Albert, Bailey, Kolton, and Eric. I enjoyed my time on the water with you all.

For the coming week I expect the fishing conditions to improve. The water levels are starting to drop, and the second run of silver salmon should be building.

Come back to the blog next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing has given us.

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Normal is good.

The steady action has been a welcome relief compared to what we experienced last year. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the second run of silvers mirrors the first run and is normal too.

On to the fishing report…

The past week I had the pleasure of getting to know Dave, Joe, Dan, Mike, and Steve. A great family and great fishermen made it an enjoyable week for me.

Since they were my only clients for the week, I’m just going to roll with the photos from their days on the river.

Dave, Joe, Dan, Mike, and Steve also worked in a couple of saltwater trips to round out their fishing adventures. If I were a betting man I would say this will not be their last trip to Alaska. 

I’ll end with this photo. The last morning of silver fishing a momma moose and her calf gave us quite a show. They were were literally a rod tip away. Moose on!!!

Come back to the blog next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing gives us.

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On to the weekly fishing recap.

Hot breakfast at Louie’s!

I often say every Kenai fishing guide’s dream is a a hot breakfast at Louie’s restaurant. Having a hot breakfast at Louie’s means your client’s caught their limit of fish early enough in the day that there’s still time to order breakfast. John and Kris, thanks for a memorable morning. The biscuits and gravy at Louie’s are about as good as it gets. 

Super Tuesday was just that. After catching 2 silvers last Friday, Team Potvin came through with a boat limit of silvers. Kneeling are Jordy and Cade, standing are Jace, Brent, and Poppa Bill. It’s always special for me to have three generations of fishermen in my boat. 

On Wednesday, the early morning bite continued for John and Kris. Since I gave John a stand alone photo in this report already, I figure Kris deserved one too.  Such a beautiful silver salmon….

By 7am, we had 6 salmon in the box. If you’re wondering why Jane is in the photo it’s because John and Kris asked if she could join us. Jane had a free morning and gladly jumped in the boat. This could have been a second hot breakfast at Louie’s this week, but I didn’t want to be too greedy.

Thursday was Day 3 for Team Potvin. It wasn’t as good as Day 2, but it was better than Day 1. Thanks Brent, Cade, Jace, Jordy, and Poppa Bill. It was fun spending three days on the river with all of you.

The week ended with a strong morning performance from Dave, Joe, Dan, Steve, and Mike. Welcome to Alaska guys! This is Day 1 of a solid week of river and ocean fishing for the five of them.

Come back next week to see what this grand river that owes us nothing gives.

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There’s another thing I like about silver salmon. Year in, year out, it’s our most consistent fishery.

Well, that is until this year. It was tough fishing. 

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) monitors the state fisheries and the silver salmon runs in Upper Cook Inlet were in trouble this year. So much trouble that most streams and creeks were either restricted or closed to help protect future runs.

Specifically, on the Kenai River the silver salmon fishery was restricted to single hook and no bait on 8/1. The run struggled to build and on 8/24 the limit was reduced from 2 to 1 fish per day. A week later, on 9/1, the September limit was reduced from 3 to 2 fish per day. 

This has been the first time in my life I experienced an in season reduction of silver salmon limits on the Kenai River.

If there was a “silver” lining to the season, there was only one trip where we weren’t able to boat a silver salmon. We caught a few pinks that day so we weren’t fishless, but no silvers found their way to our gear.

The “not-so silver” lining is boat limits were hard to come by. On average we’d land 2-4 silvers in a full day. Let me repeat that last part…a full day. Call me spoiled, but that’s very un-silver like.

With 2024 in the books, my sights are now set on next year’s fishing. I’m cautiously optimistic for it and hope the actions ADFG took this year will insure a better fishing future. I can always handle an off year and rationalize it as “that’s just fishing.” However, considering we’ve had multiple years of poor king salmon returns, it’s hard not think that the silver runs could follow suit. Time will only tell…

In the meantime, I’m going to spend my winter dreaming of a river full of salmon from May until October. 

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This past week was a lot like the previous week. Long days on the water with only a few willing biters to be found. Patience was the key word. Luckily, the people who were with me had plenty of it.

The first group of the week, Jim, Rob, and Tony, were newcomers to the Kenai River. I had a lot of fun getting to know the three of them.

The second group of the week welcomed Martin, Chris, and Jake. They are regulars and have been coming to our place for nine years. I know them well. I always enjoy their company in my boat.

With the introductions being over, it’s time to move on to the photos of the week.

Here’s Tony starting the trip off with a dandy silver salmon.

Jim followed that up with another beautiful silver salmon.

Even though this silver salmon escaped the clutches of a harbor seal, it couldn’t get away from Rob.

Jim with his limit. 

On Friday, Martin started the morning off with a nice silver salmon.

Chris was next.

Jake followed with the last silver salmon of day. I find it really satisfying to be part of three generations catching fish on the Kenai River. It never gets old.

The above photo continues the trend of strange and unusual happenings on the Kenai River in 2024. Chris caught an ocean bright, red salmon on Friday the 13th. I was shocked to see a red salmon of this quality so late in the season. 
On Saturday, Martin once again caught the first fish of the day.

Later that morning, Jake caught the last silver salmon of the day. The top photo happened on 9/14/24, and the bottom photo on 7/28/2017.  Clearly, Little Jake is now Big Jake…

My guiding season is nearing the end and next week is the last of the scheduled clients. Come back to the blog on Sunday to see if we end with a bang or a whimper.

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Day 1, Blinn Week 3. Larry, Steve, Jo Ray, and Josh. The extra fish is a bonus red salmon.

Day 2, Blinn Week 3. Robert started out with the first silver of the morning.

The second silver of Day 2 was caught by Larry. Unfortunately, that was it for the day.  Sorry, Taylor and Josh…

Day 3, Blinn Week 3.  Jo Ray, Robert, and Taylor.

Later that morning Steve caught this beauty. The lucky yellow rain pants came through once more.

I took Chuck and Kate out in the afternoon and it took Kate about 2 minutes to hook and reel in this beautiful silver salmon.

Day 4, Blinn Week 3.  Kate continued her hot hand and started the morning off with a nice red salmon. Steve followed Kate with a bright chrome silver (sorry Steve, no photo of you and your yellow rain pants).

We ended the day with this. From left to right are Richard, Chuck, and Kate.

Day 5, Blinn Week 3. This was the final day of three weeks of guiding the Blinn groups. Unfortunately, it was the slowest day of the entire month. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable spending time with Clint, Rick, Jesse, and Jeff. I’ll see you guys in a couple of years!

My final thoughts. Jane and I have had a busy three weeks with the Blinn crew and we’re always sad when it ends. The fishing, the conversations, the shared meals are all cherished. I often tell people when the Blinn crew takes over our place it’s like a family reunion that you want to go to. Not the family reunion you have to go to. We really missed seeing Gary this year, but we’re glad he will be coming our way next season. The makeup trip can’t come soon enough.

See you next week.

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That being said, it’s time to share the daily photos of happy anglers.

Day 1, Blinn Week 2. Steve, John, Brandon, and Shane.

Day 2, Blinn Week 2. Brandon, Will, and Cody

Day 3, Blinn Week 2. I actually fished John, Steve, Derek, and Russell. This was a day we released pink salmon and targeted silvers. 

Here was the highlight of the week. The first silver salmon double of the year. That’s Derek and Steve (John let Steve pose for the photo).

Day 4, Blinn Week 2. Don, Brandon, and Steve. They kept just enough pinks to grill that night for everyone in the cabins. 

Day 5, Blinn Week 2. Steve, Shane, Steve, and John.

Day 6, Blinn Week 2, Transition Day. Jo Ray, Leslie, and Steve.

You might be wondering why there are only 3 silver salmon in the photo above. There is news I’m not excited to report on. The usually robust pink and silver salmon runs in SouthCentral Alaska have been anything but. Many rivers and creeks have been closed or restricted. On 8/23 the Kenai River daily limit has been reduced to a single silver salmon. Starting 9/1, the limit will be reduced from 3 to 2 silvers. Let’s hope that ADFG wasn’t too late in taking action to preserve and maintain future salmon runs. 

In the meantime, we’re going to keep fishing and take in all the Kenai River has to offer.

You never who’ll join you for breakfast…

See you next week.

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This was our pattern every day. Head out fishing at 5:30am and set up on anchor targeting silver salmon. When the silver bite slowed down mid morning, move to the islands and cast spinner baits to catch whatever might be there. Around 1-2pm we were worn out and headed back to the cabins. We’d take photos and then process the salmon.

I’m going to change up my normal fishing report. Instead of describing each day of the week on the river, I’m posting a daily photo.

Day 1 of Blinn Week 1. Robert, CR, John, and Scott.

Day 2 of Blinn Week 1. Jo Ray, Dan, Bill and Paul.

I really wasn’t planning on running two trips on Tuesday, but the Ranua family (not part of the Gary Blinn crew) wanted to have a Kenai River experience, and not a harvest. That was reason enough to give them a couple of hours on the river. The best part of this trip is that I got to hear the trifecta of guiding compliments…first fish, the most fish, and biggest fish they have ever caught.

Day 3 of Blinn Week 1. Robert, CR, Brad, and John.

Day 4 of Blinn Week 1. Ben, Renee, Mike, and Dan.

Day 5 of Blinn Week 1 morning crew. Mike, Bill, and Jo Ray (not pictured, Paul).
Day 5 of Blinn Week 1, afternoon crew. Bill and Paul (not pictured, Richard).

For Blinn Week 2, I expect the pattern to repeat itself. Pinks, silvers, and a lot of fun people to spend the day with.

A final bit of advice. If you’re reading this report and are coming soon, be sure to pack warm clothes. We have had ice on the dock in the morning, twice this past week. 

See you next week.

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Not this year.

It’s been a struggle to find good numbers of salmon all week. Rising and dirty water doesn’t help either.

I’ll start out the blog post with the first silver caught this year from the boat. I think Dennis and I were both surprised when it hit five minutes after the anchor was set. 

This was the last trip of the year wearing waders. From left to right are Frank, Dennis, Cindy and Steve with a mix of red, pink, and silver salmon. Not a bad way to end the bank fishing part of the season.

Frank proudly holding a nice early season silver salmon.

Cindy and Steve with a couple of hard earned silvers along with a couple of pink salmon.

How’s this for determination? Francis broke his leg at the end of June and wasn’t going to let it get in the way of fishing in Alaska. Francis and his extended family have been staying in the cabins the past two weeks and have been fishing every day. 

Even though he mostly sat in the boat trying to catch pink and silver salmon, Francis couldn’t help himself and decided to get on shore to try his hand at red salmon fishing. Even from a chair he still had the touch. Amazing.

I finished the week fishing Shane, and his sons Colton and Beckett. It was a wet August morning, but that didn’t interfere with them having fun. It was their first time fishing the Kenai River and I bet it won’t be their last.

The week ahead will be Blinn Week 1. Gary, unfortunately, will not be here. He had unexpected surgery on his hamstring and has a long rehab ahead of him. After 26 years of apprenticeship, Jo Ray will lead the group through three weeks of fishing on the Kenai Peninsula. I think he’ll do an excellent job.

Here’s one last photo I’ll share before I sign off. These guys have been hanging out around the cabins lately. I never get tired of caribou.

See you next week!

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