Pine Grosbeaks

Had these visit us outside the camper window this morning, Pine Grosbeaks

Fish Pictures

Hello from Soldotna/Sterling, last Friday the 25th we moved from the Kasilof RV Park to Saint Theresa Resort Lodge (http://www.sttheresaslake.com/)    between Soldotna and Sterling.  The lodge has 5 cabins they rent out and then 4-5 RV spots.  Over the weekend all of the cabins and RV spots were full, but today there are only 2 RV's here.  We do have to keep on eye on the Boys as the owners have a German Shorthair (Dixie) that wonders the grounds, but it is a nice place.

We fished for about an hour on Saturday by Sterling, but didn't have any action.  Otherwise I didn't spend time fishing over the weekend because of the crowds.  This morning Rosalie dropped me off at Big Eddy at 8:00 a.m. and around 9:30 a.m. a run came through and I started getting hits, I must have landed 10 Reds that were foul hooked and had on another 10 that got off.  After shortening my leader and moving into the prime spot after others left I was able to catch my 3 limit and was done fishing by 1:30 p.m.  Rosalie came and picked me up and we did some grocery shopping and picked up subs at Jersey Subs.   I was very happy to finally be able to bring a limit of nice Reds home.  Although I didn't catch any, other fisherman did catch some Pink Salmon this morning.

Caught at Big Eddy 07-28-2014

Caught on the Kenai River 07-29-2014 between Sterling and Soldotna

My Alaskan Solution To Losing My Fishing Gear

If you will recall, Monday night I lost my fishing gear to a fish, so Tuesday it was off to Trustworthy Hardware and Sports to buy a replacement rod (I had spare reels). On the way I was trying to come up with a simple solution to prevent this from happening again.  My solution and new invention is a simple piece of nylon cord tied together.  I looped one end around the rod & reel and the other end is looped around my wrist.  Problem solved.....Now that I have a prototype, look for the final product in stores near you soon.

Our Friends Bob & Suzie

We forgot to take pictures of our dinner with friends Bob & Suzie last Wednesday, but Suzie was kind enough to send us a picture of them on their cruise on Resurrection Bay.  Bob and Suzie are full time RVers that we first met at Palmer and spent many hours snagging Reds at Seward and then fishing Reds on the Kenai.

We have met so many nice people during our travels, but only a few become good friends.  Bob & Suzie are a special couple we are happy to call our friends.

Happy travels Bob & Suzie until we meet again....

Fish On! - Fish Off - Rod, Reel and Dignity gone!

Yesterday was a day of follies, it started with my 5:00 a.m. fishing trip to Big Eddy, I was finally able to land a Red after a week of no fish, but it was a mature male too mature to keep.  Then I was "bumped" from my fishing spot by a husband/wife who crowded me out.  On the positive side I was the first person in our group of 10-12 to land a fish and also landed a nice Dolly Varden I released. Also discovered a small hole in my waders, but it is fixable.

Later I decided to fish the evening shift and picked the "Pipeline" as my destination, upon arrival around 7:00 p.m. I was greeted by many fisherman walking out with their limits and high spirits.  With anticipation high I made it to the River and after a short wait was offered a spot to fish.  For the next 2 hours I hooked 3-4 Reds, but didn't land any and fishing action was good.  Has the run started????

Next the unthinkable happened, I had a solid strike and the next thing I know my rod, reel and set-up is in the river and rapidly going down river.  I was unable to grab it as was the guy next to me, although he made a valiant attempt, how humiliating.  I have seen other fisherman catch fishing rigs, one even with a live salmon still on it and always wondered how does that happen?  I don't have a answer for that, but now know it can happen and happen fast.  As I replay the chain of events in my head I can't help but wonder if my strike was a Chinook (King), but that's no excuse for not keeping a grip on your equipment.

Sorry no pictures from my day of follies....

Hopefully I got all of my follies used up in one day, so it's off to catch some Reds this morning.....

the Excitement Is Building, But No Run Yet

The Red Salmon run in the Kenai River is slow at best, the last two days I have not been able to land a fish.  The crowds have swelled along with the water level, last week it wasn't hard to find a place to fish alone and now there are people fishing everywhere.  The predicted peak run is usually between the 15th and 17th. To date we have 46 Reds in the freezer along with some Halibut steaks from our friends Bob & Suzie.

It has also been a sad week because we said goodbye on Monday to fellow Wisconsin travelers Doug and Rose who are beginning their travel back home and goodbye to Bob and Suzie who are continuing their travels today.

Yesterday after a 5 hour fishing expedition at the "pipeline" and a short nap we took the dogs to a beach between Kasilof and Clam Gultch for an outing, the Boys love the time on the beach and ran and waded.  On our way home we stopped at Johnson Lake State Campground and let the Boys swim to clean the beach sand out of their hair, they had fun fetching sticks and swimming.

At 6:00 p.m. we met Bob & Suzie for supper at Frozo's Restaurant in Soldotna www.frososfamilydining.com/ for a nice supper and visit.  On our way home we checked the fishing at Big Eddy and then it was back home for R & R.

I forgot to mention I saw 3 moose on my drive fishing yesterday morning at 4:00 a.m. between Kasilof and Soldotna.

Thanks for checking our blog and check back often for more Alaskan adventures.

Breakfast with our friends from Wisconsin Doug and Rose

Casper & Spirit checking things on the beach

The Boys watch the Set Netters checking their nets

Spirit wading in Cook Inlet with one the volcanoes in the background

Volcano across Cook Inlet

Set Netters checking their nets and fresh clam diggings in the foreground

Last week, we saw lots of moose. First, while Ken was off fishing, a moose cow with 2 calves showed up in the lily pads across the road from the RV park. Suzie went out and photoed them grazing in the water’s edge and as they crossed the road and played in the ditch very close to us. Bob called me out to watch them also.

A few days later, Bob and Suzie hosted a fish fry of halibut they had caught the day before, and while we were relaxing in their RV after, I saw a moose swimming across the lake. Suzie jumped out with her camera and took a few pictures of her (this must have been another moose cow, because there was no sign of calves).

 Suzie and I took a day to explore lots of little shops in Soldotna while traveling the Kenai River Quilt Tour.  We picked up a “passport” card with locations and checkboxes for the 15 shops that displayed the quilts for the tour. The quilts were made by the local quilt guild, and displayed in various shops. Suzie and I managed to get to 10 shops. The neat thing was that we would not have visited any of these shops without the quilts on tour. There were boutiques and gift stores, but also a café, framing shop, bookstore, greenhouse, plus the visitor’s center and fabric shop. We only needed to go to 12 of the 15 locations, but 4 shops were not open on the day we tried to complete the tour (the tour runs through July, so there wasn’t a rush.)

Friends (Doug and Rose) from Wisconsin arrived at the Kasilof RV Park early last week, and have been spending time with us. Ken and Doug have been going fishing, and Rose and I have been shopping and browsing the local stores (including the marvelous Kenai Fabric Center). Rose helped me finish off the quilt tour, and we went to the Senior Center in Sterling (with friends Donna and Yolanda) for the "Christmas in July" bazaar. One of the crafters tanned salmon skin and produced beautiful items with the salmon leather (billfolds, key rings, jewelry, coin purses, etc.) I bought Ken a nice key ring for his birthday. Then we had lunch with Donna at the café that was on the quilt tour. Great place for lunch in Soldotna.

We were very busy all last week, and we were visiting with friends or too tired to update the blog at night. So this was a quick catch-up of all our activities.

turning fabric into present - first sewing project of summer completed

I finally sent Ken and the boys away for a walk and took over all the space in the 5th-wheel and set up my cutting mat, ironing board and sewing machine. Our friend Suzie had a birthday a while ago, and I wanted to make her a present using some Alaska-themed fabric. I think this box turned out well, and should help Suzie and Bob remember their trip to Alaska.

Thanks to everyone for the best wishes, cards, phone calls, texts, and presents for my birthday. As Ken mentioned in his post, we went out for supper with friends and had Cajun food - very tasty. It is hard to pick just one place to eat in Alaska, but we like to add new restaurants to our options.
Rosie

Traveling/Fishing/Birthdays and Dog Walks

We have spent the lull in fishing doing things that we won't have time to do once the Reds start running in the Kenai.  Monday we took a ride to Homer stopping at SVRV Park and visiting with Bob, Glen, Bev & Howard.  SVRV didn't open this year as they are upgrading some park systems and working on their house.  We ate lunch at the Caribou Restaurant and Rosalie did some fabric shopping at a local fabric store.  We also drove to the end of the spit and did some other sight seeing.  On the way home we stopped at the Ninilchik General Store for ice cream before taking a walk with the dogs on the Beach.

Since I last wrote I caught another Red in the Kasilof River and we fished the Kenai River yesterday and Bob caught a nice Dolly, but no Reds.  While fishing we did see a moose swim across the river about 150 yards from where we were fishing.

Yesterday was Rosalie's birthday and last night we celebrated it with a supper at the Decanter Restaurant north of us with our friends Bob and Susie.  The restaurant specializes in cajun food, Rosalie had jambalaya along with shrimp and catfish and I had a shrimp Po-Boy and jambalaya.

Today Rosalie did some sewing while I took the dogs for two walks one in a gravel pit and the other on the beach.  The Boys also got to go wading in a small pond to clean their feet.  I am making a venison roast with ranch mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese for supper and then Bob and I plan to fish somewhere.

With the Boys on Ninilchik Beach

Poodle Butts