I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet

Not much new to report since last time, we have been spending time fishing, fishing and fishing. When we are not fishing we are resting, sleeping, visiting or eating.  The fishing has slowed down, but we are still catching fish.  Yesterday Bill and I fished low tide. we started fishing about 1:00 p.m. and quit at 3:00 p.m.   We caught 2 Reds, 2 Flounder and I caught my first Chum Salmon.  Then last night we went to Ray's Waterfront Restaurant (rayswaterfrontak.com/ ) for supper, Bill and I had prime rib, Rosalie had seafood Alfredo and Edna had
halibut. It was good food and great atmosphere.  Today Bill, Edna and Rosalie went to Anchorage and
I am watching camp and taking care of  the dogs.

We have 77 fish in the freezer and it is about 2/3 full.  The Seward Reds are smaller than the Kenai Reds, 
so if we have good luck fishing the Kenai the freezer will fill up fast.  We are seeing a family of eagles
around the park, they are fun to watch.  There has also been a Grizzly hanging out near the fish weir
just northwest of camp.

The weather has been in the 60's - 70's during the day and 50's at night with no rain, but rain is forecast
for the next few days.   Yesterday while Bill and I were out fishing there was a 5.8 earthquake that
Rosalie and Edna said they felt in camp that lasted about a minute.

Monday we move to St Theresa.

Fishing The Summer Solstice

We went fishing last night around 9:45 p.m. and quit about 12:15 a.m.  It was a slow night fishing, Rosalie and Bill each caught a Red and they caught 3 Flounder, one being a keeper.  Ken caught 0 :(.

Bill and Rosalie fishing Resurrection Bay at 10:41 p.m.

11:30 p.m.

Midnight - It is still pretty light, but the camera wanted flash

Cute 

Father's Day

We are spending the first part of the day relaxing and doing things around camp, I took the dogs for a walk to one of of walking spots near a glacial river with a mountain backdrop and glacier.  We plan to leave this evening around 9:15 p.m. to fish low tide and the summer solstice.

Fishing slowed Friday and Saturday, but I attribute the slow down to increased fishing pressure and decreased tides.  On the 29th we will hook up and move 90 miles southwest between Sterling and Soldotna.

The park has been very busy the past two weekends, but cleared out nicely today.

Visible glacier on our morning dog walk

The boys

Where there is smoke there is fire

If you haven't heard there are a couple of big fires burning up here in Alaska, the first one started 4 days ago by Willow which is between Anchorage and Fairbanks, as of this evening it has burned over 7500 acres.  There is another one near Sterling that has burned over 3000 acres.  Yesterday when I was in Anchorage you could see/smell the smoke in the air and this evening when we were fishing you could see the haze in the air from the Sterling fire.   There is also another smaller fire near Cooper Landing which is east of Sterling and between Seward and Sterling.  They have burning bans in several areas and it is expected to be go statewide by the weekend.

Picture of Bill just before sunset around 9:45 p.m.  The haze is from the Sterling fire.  We just got back to the truck after catching our limit of Reds, we fish behind Bill along the coast, if you look close you can see people still fishing.

Bill and I had another successful fishing trip this evening catching our limit of 12 Reds in a little over an hour.

Heat Wave

After a week of rain we have had sunny and "hot" weather.  Temps for the past 3 days have been in the 80's breaking temperature records.  We have been running the air conditioner from about 9am until the sun goes behind the mountains around 8pm.

Yesterday I took the truck back to the Chev dealer in anchorage to have the check engine light diagnosed, after 8 hours I was on my way back to Seward.  They were unable to find anything wrong,  and the light went out on its own while they were working on it.  They said that sometimes happens, the computer senses a problem and turns on the light and if the engine corrects itself and after so many ignition starts the computer resets.  On one hand I'm glad nothing was wrong and the other I wish they could have diagnosed what caused the problem.  Either way I have been very impressed with the service department and their willingness to make me happy.  They even gave me a loaner truck to drive around Anchorage while I waited.  I have been going to Lithia Chevrolet of South Anchorage and working with Hart Schwarz, a service adviser who is from Neenah, WI.  The drive up was good, but the ride home was slow because of traffic and road construction.

Bill and I have been fishing a lot and catching lots of fish, to date we have 45 Reds in the freezer, three more than we did when we left here last year on the 24th.  We plan to fish again tonight around 7pm.  Last night we fished from 7:30p until 11:45pm, but we did catch our limit of 12 salmon. just before we left a friend from from Scenic View, Howard Borman came down fishing, so we visited and  got caught up. We have also been eating supper with Bill and Edna and having great meals and sharing stories.

The dogs are doing well and look forward to their daily outings.  Once we get to Sterling/Soldotna it will be time to give them both haircuts.

Well, off to walk the dogs and stop at the post office.

Fishing Report 06-14-2015

Our friend Bill and I left to fish the low tide at 4:15 a.m. this morning, we had lines in the water by 4:45 a.m.  Fishing was slow, but I managed to land 5 and Bill had 1, then the tide turned, no pun intended and Bill caught 4 and I didn't land any.  It was fitting that Bill hooked his 6th fish and was bringing it in when I hooked my 6th fish and we both landed our last fish at almost the same time. We finished our limits at about 8:45 a.m. and headed to town to clean our catch.

It is another picture perfect day with clear skies and temps in the 70's.

Bill fishing as the sun smiles on the mountains across the bay

Bill takes a break to smile too

Our catch today

Bill & I showing off our catch

Out And About

This afternoon I took my reel apart as it was "sounding/feeling different.  It looked like it was a bit low on grease and had a little moisture in the gearbox so I cleaned it up and then we went to town to get some reel grease and pick up some odds ends.  On the way home we stopped by the fish weir on Bear Lake Road to look at the salmon and talk with the workers, they are always so friendly and willing to answer questions.

Tonight we are invited to Bill & Edna's for tacos.  The plans are to get up early and be out fishing the low tide by 4:15 a.m. tomorrow.

Fish staging below the Big Bear Lake Weir

More Fish

More fish - Closer

1, 2, 3 JUMP!

Sexed and waiting to be tagged

Tagged and waiting to go to Big Bear Lake

Saturday mid-day

It's easy for time to get away from us, even though the days are long we stay busy or or too pooped to do anything but relax.  We have been busy catching fish and have a good start on filling the freezer. We have been fishing with our friend Bill and had moderate success, but t still catching 6-8 fish.  The crowds have increased as word spreads about the run and the weather broke and is absolutely gorgeous.

Bill & Edna had us over for hamburgers with all the fixins last night.  It was a great meal and we had a nice visit afterwards.  Bill and I then left to go fishing at 9:00 p.m. and came home at 1:00 a.m. we caught 6 Reds between us and each lost 2-3.  On our way home and real close to camp we saw a Sow Grizzly and cub running up the road in front of us.  Too dark and fast for any photo op

There is another couple staying here from Merrill, we had a nice visit last night and again this morning, I gave them two fillets and they were tickled "red".  We hope to spend some time visiting with them before they pull out..

The truck is scheduled to go back to Anchorage for service on Tuesday, hopefully I won't have to stay overnight with it.  The code says it is something related to emissions.

A good day fishing

Due to our late night fishing last night I posted the last post after midnight.  Today's fishing report: Rosalie and I fished the high tide at 9:30 a.m. and caught 1 Red.   I went this afternoon and fished low tide, I started fishing at 2:20 p.m. and had my limit of 6 Reds by 3:10 p.m.

Sorry for the blood, I didn't rinse them off before the picture

We are happy to welcome our friends, Bill and Edna from Georgia who pulled in today and will be staying in the same parks as us for a few weeks.  Let the fishing begin!

The last couple of days

I started fishing low tide Tuesday about 11:15 a.m. and fished until 2:00 p.m. without getting a fish, there were only a couple of other guys out fishing and the commercial fisherman circled the bay and didn't set their nets, so my guess is there were no fish to be caught.  I did however get to see a whale breach 4-5 times and saw several sea lions fishing too.  It rained all day Tuesday and through all of last night and until mid afternoon Wednesday, when it finally let up.

Since the weather was so crappy I made an appointment forWednesday in Anchorage to have the #1 cylinder glow plug replaced which was the reason for my check engine light.  They also adjusted the transmission which fixed the rough shift from 6th to 5th gear.  I left camp at 5:05 a.m. and was at the dealer by 7:15. On the way back to camp near Whittier the check engine light came on again, so I will have another trip to Anchorage sometime in the future.  I am going to try and get it diagnosed in Seward so I at least know why it's on.  On the way to Anchorage I was lucky enough to see a black wolf along the road, but it didn't cooperate for a picture.

We decided to fish high tide Wednesday evening and headed out to the the fishing spot after supper and around 7:15 p.m.  We fished until 9:00 and here's more from Rosalie.

 Wednesday, I swam with the fishes.  I was reeling in my 3^rd salmon, and backing up to get it onto the rock beach. I slipped and landed on my back in the water…..water went up the back of my raincoat, and down into my waders. Ken came running over to help me, and I handed him the pole to land the fish. Then as I floundered around, I slipped again, and he insisted on helping me get up…luckily the fish was securely snagged and we didn’t lose it. Ken didn’t even run for the camera, so we have no entry for AFV. We fished for another hour; I must have caught my quota (the limit is 6, so I did not limit out) because I didn’t catch another fish. Ken started catching then, and we finished the night with 5.

This Boat came in just when we finished fishing and they drove a truck onto it, it was entertaining to say the least

We fish where this boat is and about where Rosalie took the picture

The wet fisherwoman - What a trooper.....We take our catch to town and clean them at the City cleaning station that has running water and a nice cleaning area.

Fresh Snow!

It rained on/off most of yesterday and throughout the night and is raining now.  I started fishing 2 hours before low tide yesterday and had good luck catching 5 Reds in about an hour.  After catching the 5th I fished for about 2 more hours, but could not catch my limit of 6, but we have fish in the freezer.

It was also cold last night as evidenced by the fresh snow on the mountain we can see from the rig.

You Never Know What You Might Catch

Today we started fishing 2 hours before low tide (9:30 a.m.) and fished until around 12:30 p.m.  We couldn't fish in our high tide spot as it was too weedy and rocky so I walked down the beach about 1/2 mile and was able to catch two reds.  We then went back about an hour before high tide (5:00 p.m.) and I caught a Red on my 3rd cast before Rosie even made it down to fish.  I "touched" one other fish, but action was slow.  Rosalie was able to land a Flounder and touched a Red.

It was a beautiful day with temps inland in the high 50's and probably low 50's near the Bay.  This fishing is tough work and we are both beat and should sleep good tonight.

Ken fishing Resurrection Bay

Rosalie with her Flounder

Same Flounder other side

Rosalie fishing Resurrection Bay

First Fish of 2015

Rosie and I made our first trip fishing today for Reds, we got fishing about 4:00 p.m., 1 1/4 hours before high tide.  I was lucky enough to hook and land 2 reds, our first fish of the 2015 season.  We fished until about 6:45 p.m. and called it a day.  We are both happy to have fish in the freezer and it was nice to be out without getting rained on too much.  The dogs were happy to get a run before and after fishing and got to watch us fish.  While fishing we got checked by an Alaska Fish & Game Trooper, a nice younger guy.  He then met us again in town at the cleaning station, where we visited some more,

Life Around Camp

It continues to rain and has since we got here last Tuesday, but it has let up a bit this morning. Rosalie washed her recently purchased fabric this morning and took a shower while I took the boys for a run at one of stopping spots on the west side of Seward by the airport.  After their run we drove down to the harbor to see what was going on.  The tide was out and not much going on.  We then stopped for fuel and then headed back to camp.  I finally dug out the fishing gear and did some house keeping chores around the trailer.  I will rig the gear this afternoon and we plan to give fishing a try around 4:00 p.m.  People are catching some Reds and last year we caught our first fish on the 5th, so we better get fishing.

The Boys getting some exercise near the Seward Airport, the northwest end of Resurrection Bay is in the background

Mountains Across the Seward Hwy. near the airport

Seward Harbor

The view from my office

You Have Reached Your Destination

After spening an unplanned day in Anchorage we were finally able to leave town and head to Seward around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, reaching Stoney Creek RV Park around 6:45 p.m.

While in Anchorage we visited a quilt shop, grocery store and of course Cabela's. We also had lunch with Lyman Meacham and walked the dogs a few times at one of our "dog walking areas".

Today (Wednesday) we are spending the day relaxing and setting up the camper for our extended stay.  It feels good to be in one place for a while.  Rosalie is also doing laundry.  The weather was rainy throughout the night and continues to rain today with rain forcast for the next couple of days, with a couple of inches forcast for the Seward area.   I was able to purchase and print our fishing licenses online, so we are ready to start fishing when the fish start to run.

Tomorrow we will make the 6 mile drive into town and see what's going on.

Since leaving home 2 weeks ago we have put on 4309 miles.

Cow and calf moose out for a stroll where we walk the dogs

Looking southwest from our rig towards the park office, not many rigs here right now.

We chose this spot after seeing how nice it was last year.  There isn't much of a view from the picture window, but it works well for the dogs and keeps us secluded on 2 sides.

Anchorage Away

Well, we made it to Anchorage and like 2012 are spending the night in a repair shop parking lot.  The good news is the shop has the parts necessary to get the broken spring fixed and while they are at it we are having all four replaced with stronger springs and beefed up mounts.  They told us we should be on the road by tomorrow afternoon.

After unhooking the trailer we went to Qdoba for lunch and then Rosalie visited a fabric shop while I picked up some provisions at Carrs/Safeway.  We then went to a Chevrolet dealer and had the check engine light diagnosed, it is the glow plug in cylinder #1.  We will wait to have this fixed after we get settled in Seward and then I will take a drive back up for the repair.  This is the second glow plug that needed to be replaced, the last time it was cylinder #6.  Good news is it's under warranty.

I called Lyman Meacham and we hope to meet with him tomorrow while the trailer is being fixed.  A visit to Cabela's is also on the schedule.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Some pictures from Slide Mountain RV Park west of GlennAllen 05-31-2015.