There were a lot of firsts this past week. Kip and Brenda, our first guests of the year, had a front row seat to all of them.
On Tuesday, during the first troll of my first guided trip of the 2022 season, Kip caught and released the first king salmon of the year. That has never happened to me before. Bingo, bango, bongo. What a way to start out a morning and a season. The rest of the day wasn’t as exciting, but we did find one more fish to bite. Unfortunately, the hook didn’t stay in.
On Wednesday, the action was much better than Tuesday. Brenda caught her first Kenai king salmon and she lost a couple more. Same thing for Kip. All in all, we had six bites and converted on two of them. A very active day so early in the season.
On Thursday, our king salmon luck ran out. Brenda had one bite, and that was it for the day. The weather and the wildlife viewing though, more than made up for the lack of fishing action. We’ve really been on such a great stretch of weather.
It wasn’t just about king salmon fishing with Kip and Brenda. After seeing a few jumpers, we switched it up a couple of times and tried to catch red salmon. “Tried” is the operative word because none of them found our hooks. It’s still a little early for decent red salmon fishing.
One other thing that was great this past week was the moose viewing. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for Kip and Brenda.
Chalk up another first. I saw my first moose calves of the year.
Kip and Brenda saw them at the cabins early in the morning and called to tell me we should wait an hour before I came out to go fishing. Brenda was afraid my truck would scare the newborn calves. When I say newborn, that is exactly what they were. When Brenda first saw them in front of their cabin, they were still wet.
It was if momma moose was wishing us good luck fishing.
This photo was taken just before a bird landed in our boat. That’s another first for me. Brenda gently scooped the wayward bird up, but it flew away before I could take a picture. It made me wonder if a bird in the hand is worth two salmon in the river…
Kip and Brenda, thanks for starting the season out on the right foot. It was a pleasure getting to know the both of you and I look forward to the next time we fish together.
In closing, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has put into effect an emergency order making the Kenai River king salmon fishery catch and release only until June 30th. So far the run has been below the projection and this is a necessary step to ensure future fishing opportunities. If the king numbers continue as they have been, the likelihood of a closure is high. If that is the case, my fishing focus will be on the lower Kenai River or Russian River for red salmon.
See you next week for another fishing report.
Dave Sporrer: Memorial Weekend