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| Another beautiful sunset |
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| Fireweed & our rig |
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| Fireweed/Sunset/Mt Redoubt |
Another great day fishing - 3 fisherman - 3 limits (18) red salmon from the Kenai River.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Sunset Pictures 07/27/2012
Thought I would send some sunset pictures from tonight 10:45p.m. It is getting darker earlier and lighter later and we actually have a few hour of darkness now.
Another great day fishing - 3 fisherman - 3 limits (18) red salmon from the Kenai River.
Another great day fishing - 3 fisherman - 3 limits (18) red salmon from the Kenai River.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Up at 5:00 a.m. again this morning for another trip to the Kenai River in Soldotna. Yesterday we had fantastic luck, getting our limit (6) each in less than 3 hours. We each had several hits/losses along with our limits. There was 1 other fisherman when we arrived and only 3 others when we left, we had at least an hour when we were the only ones fishing. On our way home I dropped 3 fish/6 fillets off at Tustumena Smokehouse to have old fashioned cold smoked salmon made, it is not cheap, but tastes really good.
The last few days have been absolutely gorgeous with highs in the 60's and nights in the 40's, lots of sun and light winds.
The last few days have been absolutely gorgeous with highs in the 60's and nights in the 40's, lots of sun and light winds.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Red Salmon & Weather Update
The red salmon have been running all week. Monday was a good day and then yesterday was a good day. Alaska Fish & Game raised the possession limit from 3 to 6 yesterday. We got 3 limits yesterday. The other days were so/so. Today I caught 1 legal red and snagged 2 that I had to release. I also hooked and loss 6-7 more today. Bill continues to outfish me, although the method seems pretty simple there is a knack to it and I continue to try and learn it. We fillet the fish on the banks of the river to lighten the load walking the 1/2 mile out and discard the carcasses in the river. To date we have 22 filleted salmon in the freezer and 30# of Halibut. The picture doesn't do justice to the silver sides and aqua blue/green back and head. They are a very pretty fish.
The weather has been rainy the last 2 days with pretty heavy downpours last night. High during the day are in the 50's and 40's at night. The early part of the week treated us with 60's during the day.
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| 7 lb Red Salmon caught from the Kenai River |
The weather has been rainy the last 2 days with pretty heavy downpours last night. High during the day are in the 50's and 40's at night. The early part of the week treated us with 60's during the day.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
July 18, 2012
Good evening from Scenic View RV Park about 7 miles north of Ninilchik. We arrived here June 15th and plan to be here until August 5th. The park has been full the last 2 nights and the weather has been absoulutely wonderful with temps in the low 60's during the day and 40's at night.
The red "sockeye" salmon started running over the weekend and business on the Kenai has picked up threefold. There are people everywhere, some with dip nets and others with poles. Our new friend Bill "from Georgia" and I went to the Kenai River near Soldotna on Monday nad each caught 2 nice reds. Once we got back to camp and shortly after cleaning our fish the set netters came in and dropped off red for those of us who ordered them. We got 13, just to make sure we put some fish in our new freezer. I cleaned and shrink packaged them, they sure look nice. Tuesday Bill and I left camp at 4am and got fishing around 5, Bill got and kept 2, but I had to let the one I landed go as it was snagged. Today Bill and I started fishing around 1:30pm, I left at 6pm and didn't land a single fish. Bill had 2 on, but had not landed any either, but elected to stay and fish. The fishing scene is something totally different than you would expect from the Alaska wilderness, it is very crowded and referred to by many as combat fishing. Fisherman stand 15 feet apart and "flip" there "fly" about 15' out into the river and drag it back hoping to "floss" a fish. Flossing is when the line gets in the fishes mouth as they swim up river, when they feel the line they take off and if all goes well you "good hook" them in the mouth. Some times you just "snag" a fish on their body and it must be released. And you can bet that all on-lookers will be sure to announce if you have a "good hook" or a "foul hooked" fish. I am not impressed with the fishing etiquette, but it is a thrill when you get "one on" hooked. Some people seem to catch many more than others, I am one of the others.
Tomorrow Rosie and I are going to drive to Soldotna to look into financing and spend some time together as I have been gone a lot lately. We continue to take the dogs to the beach almost every day, they really love running free there.
Although it hasn't been long since the summer soltice we can tell a difference in the length of the days and we even have a short time of almost dark now.
The red "sockeye" salmon started running over the weekend and business on the Kenai has picked up threefold. There are people everywhere, some with dip nets and others with poles. Our new friend Bill "from Georgia" and I went to the Kenai River near Soldotna on Monday nad each caught 2 nice reds. Once we got back to camp and shortly after cleaning our fish the set netters came in and dropped off red for those of us who ordered them. We got 13, just to make sure we put some fish in our new freezer. I cleaned and shrink packaged them, they sure look nice. Tuesday Bill and I left camp at 4am and got fishing around 5, Bill got and kept 2, but I had to let the one I landed go as it was snagged. Today Bill and I started fishing around 1:30pm, I left at 6pm and didn't land a single fish. Bill had 2 on, but had not landed any either, but elected to stay and fish. The fishing scene is something totally different than you would expect from the Alaska wilderness, it is very crowded and referred to by many as combat fishing. Fisherman stand 15 feet apart and "flip" there "fly" about 15' out into the river and drag it back hoping to "floss" a fish. Flossing is when the line gets in the fishes mouth as they swim up river, when they feel the line they take off and if all goes well you "good hook" them in the mouth. Some times you just "snag" a fish on their body and it must be released. And you can bet that all on-lookers will be sure to announce if you have a "good hook" or a "foul hooked" fish. I am not impressed with the fishing etiquette, but it is a thrill when you get "one on" hooked. Some people seem to catch many more than others, I am one of the others.
Tomorrow Rosie and I are going to drive to Soldotna to look into financing and spend some time together as I have been gone a lot lately. We continue to take the dogs to the beach almost every day, they really love running free there.
Although it hasn't been long since the summer soltice we can tell a difference in the length of the days and we even have a short time of almost dark now.
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| Sunset 07/16/2012 |
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| Sunset 07/16/2012 |
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Test - email link
I have added a link on the left side of our home page that will allow you to add your email address to get emails when we post new content. Click on the box and type in your e-mail address and submit, you will need to type in a code word and then will receive an e-mail to verify you want to receive email updates. This way you will not have to check our blog every day if you don't want to.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Another Afternoon Of Fishing
Went to the Kasilof River again this afternoon with Bill to fish for halibut, not even a bite...... But did get to see the dip netting operation in progress. Dip netting can only be done by Alaskan residents during a special dip netting season in special dip netting areas. The limit of red salmon is 25 for the head of household and 10 for each family member. This is very much a family event, with tents/vehicles/atv's/porta potties, campers and boats, camps, cleaning areas and people of every age and race everywhere. The dip netters, most wearing waders stand in chest deep water holding a large "dipnet" on a looonnng pole. When fish swim into the net they twist the net to lock in the fish and then walk to shore with their catch. People come for the weekend and set up camp right on the beach. We saw several fish caught in the short time we watched.
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| Dip Netters on the Kasilof River |
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| Long poled dip net - short boots....We didn't see this guy get any fish, but it a good picture of the pole/net |
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| More dip netters - Note seagulls feasting on cleaning scraps |
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| EVERYONE Drives/Rides ATV's. It is not uncommon to see a parent with 2-3 kids sitting in front of them riding ATV's. Kids of all ages ride everywhere, the little guy in blue was probably 5 at the most. |
Friday, July 13, 2012
Fishing The Kenai River
Today Bill (from Georgia) and I left the park about 6:45a.m. and headed for the Kenai River near Soldotna to try our luck fishing for red salmon. Once we parked the truck we had about a half mile walk on a dirt/mud trail to our fishing spot. When we got there we had the bank to ourselves, but saw other fisherman fishing for Kings from boats. We fished for about 2 1/2 hours without any luck.
So we decided to get some lunch at Subway and then head for the mouth of the Kasilof River to try our luck fishing from shore for halibut. While at the Kasilof I had 2 nice bites, one of which took my bait and the other broke/cut my line when I set the hook. Unfortunately Bill didn't have any bites. We packed up after the slack tide and headed back to camp.
After visting by the fire for a while we ate supper, then I took a nap and then we took the dogs to the Ninilchik beach for some exercise for them and us. After our workout I thought it only fitting that we stop at the Ninilchik General Store for ice cream.
Once back in camp we visited by the fire and enjoyed the first rain free evening in over a week and a half.
We don't have any definite plans for the weekend, so we will see what happens.
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| Kenai River - Soldotna |
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| Ken taking a photo op on the Kenai |
So we decided to get some lunch at Subway and then head for the mouth of the Kasilof River to try our luck fishing from shore for halibut. While at the Kasilof I had 2 nice bites, one of which took my bait and the other broke/cut my line when I set the hook. Unfortunately Bill didn't have any bites. We packed up after the slack tide and headed back to camp.
After visting by the fire for a while we ate supper, then I took a nap and then we took the dogs to the Ninilchik beach for some exercise for them and us. After our workout I thought it only fitting that we stop at the Ninilchik General Store for ice cream.
Once back in camp we visited by the fire and enjoyed the first rain free evening in over a week and a half.
We don't have any definite plans for the weekend, so we will see what happens.
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| Spirit and his Big Bear taking a nap on his bed that's on our bed |
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| Casper in Ken's Chair |
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Where Have You Been?
It's been almost a week since I have posted on here, where does the time go? Sorry, no pictures to post today, but thought I would give an update since the 4th. We haven't really done anything special this past week, we did drive almost to the end of Oilwell Road (18 miles), east out of Ninilchik to look at a house/cabin. Eventually we did find it, it is a real nice newer place with a fantastic view. It has a small wind turbine for power, no septic or well. It takes 30 minutes to drive on a mostly gravel road to get from the Sterling Hwy. to the place. There are other places in the area, but they are a ways a part.
Since the 4th we have been having many evening potlucks and almost every night it rains at dinner time. Last night we had prime rib, beef roast, green beans, mashed potatoes, cooked beans, salmon ( grilled 2 ways), Texas caviar, dark forest cake and rhubarb dessert. All of this in celebration of my birthday (tomorrow), and Glens and Pams fairwell. Glen is a friend of our hosts from New Hampshire who is flying back home today. We also took a trip to Nikiski and visited a micro brewery and bought a few bottles of beer. On the way home we stopped at JoAnn Fabrics, Fred Meyer and DQ.
Other that that it has been cloudy, cool and rainy for at least the last week. Yesterday was he first day in a long time that we had any amount of sun and I took the opportunity to mow and trim, it takes about 3-4 hours to do the entire campground and it is looking nice again.
The fireweed is starting to bloom, so we are looking forward to that, I hope I am not allergic to it. We are still seeing moose almost daily and no grizzlies yet. The king salmon season was non-existent, which has hurt the tourism on the Kenai and talk is that the red (sockeye) season may not be any better. In talking with the "set netters" they are thinking they may not be able to get back out netting this season. Set netting is the major source of their income for the year, so this is a pretty serious for them. We were hoping to be able to buy salmon from them, but that is looking bleak, at least for now. I hope to still be able to fish for reds, if/when they start running, which should be in the next 7 days.
That's all for now
Since the 4th we have been having many evening potlucks and almost every night it rains at dinner time. Last night we had prime rib, beef roast, green beans, mashed potatoes, cooked beans, salmon ( grilled 2 ways), Texas caviar, dark forest cake and rhubarb dessert. All of this in celebration of my birthday (tomorrow), and Glens and Pams fairwell. Glen is a friend of our hosts from New Hampshire who is flying back home today. We also took a trip to Nikiski and visited a micro brewery and bought a few bottles of beer. On the way home we stopped at JoAnn Fabrics, Fred Meyer and DQ.
Other that that it has been cloudy, cool and rainy for at least the last week. Yesterday was he first day in a long time that we had any amount of sun and I took the opportunity to mow and trim, it takes about 3-4 hours to do the entire campground and it is looking nice again.
The fireweed is starting to bloom, so we are looking forward to that, I hope I am not allergic to it. We are still seeing moose almost daily and no grizzlies yet. The king salmon season was non-existent, which has hurt the tourism on the Kenai and talk is that the red (sockeye) season may not be any better. In talking with the "set netters" they are thinking they may not be able to get back out netting this season. Set netting is the major source of their income for the year, so this is a pretty serious for them. We were hoping to be able to buy salmon from them, but that is looking bleak, at least for now. I hope to still be able to fish for reds, if/when they start running, which should be in the next 7 days.
That's all for now
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Clamming on Ninilchik Beach 07/03/2012
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| Clam divit |
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| Clammers |
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| The cleaning process |
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| Going after a clam, note slight angle of "gun" |
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| 2nd core, note 1st core spoils on left side of picture |
Monday, July 2, 2012
Sunsets Across Cook Inlet - 07-01-12
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| Sunset with Mt Redoubt on left |
Sorry the pictures are not in sequence, they didn't want to load correctly
How Many Eagles Do You See?
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| Eagles on Ninilchik Beach |
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Halibut, Rays, Sharks, Chummin and a Whale Story
6 of us made it out halibut fishing yesterday. We met our guide (Captain Jeff of Fishing Fools Charter) at his office in Ninilchik at 5:00am. We then drove south to Anchor Point where we hooked up to our boat Big But wher Jeff stores it to keep from towing it back and forth. Big But is a 35 foot aluminum vessel with 2 225 HP outboards.
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| Big But - Fishing Fools Charters - Ninilchik, AK |
After a 20 mile 1 1/4 hour boat ride we reached our fishing "hole" and anchored. Captain Jeff gave us our briefing and started baiting and setting lines. Note: When we started fishing we had 4-6 foot seas. It didn't take long and we had our first halibut landed, I think I caught the 2nd fish of the day a small 20" halibut (Chicken). No sooner had I landed the fish when motion sickness hit that I would battle the rest of the day. For the next 5-6 hours we battled fish, waves and motion sickness. Two of us chummed the fish, but I was definately hit the hardest, despite taking Dramamine. We all caught fish including a total of 14 halibut (We kept 11), 3 grey cod, 3 sharks and 2-3 rays. The biggest halibut was about 60 lbs, a nice fish that actually bit 2 baits at the same time. While motoring back in we were treated to a humpback whale sighting, we also saw some Puffins. Once back to shore we headed back to Captain Jeff's where we finished cleaning and processing our catch. We divided the 11 halibut between us, with all getting 30#'s of good eating.
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| Part of our catch |
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| more of our catch - sorry for horizontal shot. After we got back to Scenic View RV Park I changed clothes quick and we heading 4o miles north to Sterling where we had a wonderful potluck with our friends Jim and Donna also from WI and other friends we have met up here. The potluck was hosted by Carl & Yolanda of "Catch-Em" Fish Camp out of Sterling. They have a very nice place that has rental units and fishing opportunities on the Kenai River. We ended the day getting back to Scenic View around 9:15 and I went straight to bed. Today we are lounging around, doing bookwork, paying bills and will take the dogs for a ride/walk this afternoon. Thanks For Viewing |
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