Silver Lining

At Steve's suggestion I headed to the end of Swanson River Road at 6:00 a.m. this morning to try my luck at Silver fishing. Using cured salmon eggs I started casting and after only a few casts I caught my first Silver from the Swanson River, after a few more casts I caught another one for my limit of two. It was raining when I left camp with temps in the high 40's, but not raining at Swanson River. The mosquito's also thought it was a good morning for dining. Now time to head to town for some provisions and a hair cut.

Cranberry Picking Time

It's that time of year when the wild cranberries are ripe and need picking. Red fishing has ended and silver fishing is hit/miss. Bill headed for home a couple of weeks back and the Weber's left today, so that leaves one, me. This morning after the Weber's left I decided to pick some cranberries, after donning my bear spray I headed 100' from the trailer and started picking. It wasn't to long before I came across a pile of bear scat and then some more, yikes! senses are on full alert. The berry crop is the best I have seen and many of the plants have 2-6 berries, it took me about 2 1/2 hours to pick an ice cream bucket full and another 2 hours to clean and package them. My efforts yielded 17 cups. Nice! I am here at St. Theresa until next Tuesday when I will head back to Seward and Stoney Creek RV Park to try my luck at silver fishing for three days before heading to Wasilla for truck service and then north to Fairbanks.

Exploring/Fishing

Even though it was a dreary/rainy day I was asked if I wanted to fish a part of the Kenai River I had never been on before, of course I said "yes". Yesterday afternoon we launched at Bing's Landing, just east of Sterling and motored upstream to Skilak Lake (10.3 river miles). It was a beautiful trip with different scenery from other sections of the river I have been on, passing through high bluffs and on glacial blue waters. On the way back we stopped and fished for a couple of hours watching the Red Salmon "line" of fish swim towards their spawning grounds still several miles upstream. We caught/released several mature salmon and kept two for the table. After fishing and on our way back to Bing's we were treated to seeing two brown bear cubs fishing in one of the streams that flows into the river. Sorry I didn't take the camera as the weather was very wet. One of the guys in the boat took some phone pictures, if they turn out I will post pictures later. The following link shows on a map the stretch of river we were on. Highlight & Right click and select "go to link" https://www.google.com/maps/@60.4902129,-150.6052974,13z?hl=en

Time To Celebrate

It is a happy morning in the last frontier, after almost 3 months, this morning I was able to finish the last of the Honey Nut SCOOTERS. My first traveling partner packed two bags, almost 5 pounds of SCOOTERS and I have been making SCOOTER casserole, SCOOTER brownies, SCOOTER necklaces and even ate SCOOTERS for breakfast. All of this in fun, as I enjoyed my time with Brian and living in SCOOTERVILLE.

Sterling Zoo

Today I visited the Sterling Zoo (Landfill), going to the dump is much more fun when you can see all kinds of animals. I also checked out a new dog wash in Soldotna, it is very nice and the owner was pleasant as well. Did some shopping and snooping. After I got home Nancy thought we should go fishing, so we loaded up the truck and went to "Husky", one of our fishing spots. I caught a nice Silver and Les caught a King, that he had to release. It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 60's and a light breeze. More rain is forecast for the rest of the week.

Just for the Halibut 08-17-2017

Yesterday, Bill, Les & Steve met Bill from San Diego for a halibut trip out of Homer. They fished Katchemak Bay and had good luck. The biggest fish was about 50#. I stayed home and did some errands and housework. We had a good chili and salmon supper. It is a sad day, as Bill is leaving for his trip back to Georgia. Safe Travels Bill!

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Fishing has slowed down and we have taken the last couple of days off to give the fish a break. Yesterday we went over to the Meacham Camp and helped Lyman winterize and close up for the season, a sad day not only to say goodbye to Lyman for the season, but also not having our friends Jim & Donna here to spend time with this time of year. We are all talking about our plans for the upcoming weeks, all leaving at different times. Today we met our friends Beverly and Howard at the IDO restaurant in Soldotna for a breakfast/lunch, they will be heading back to Florida soon. On our way into Soldotna we saw this beautiful rainbow and a young moose. Tomorrow it will be back to fishing, to try and catch some Silver Salmon and maybe a Red or two.

08-07-2017 Four Limits Today

The crowds have thinned and the fish are running, we were blessed with four limits of three Reds each, today. The Weber's bought a pressure cooker and have canned several 1/2 pints and several more pints the last two days. This afternoon after fishing we went over to Meacham's and helped Rich & Kay get a freezer in their rig, Bill also helped Lyman clean the cabin roof while Les & I waterproofed the two utility trailers. Nancy stayed at camp and canned fish and made us a delicious supper.

Three Amigos with Three Reds Each

The Kenai River didn't disappoint again today, we filled our three fish limit (9) in about an hour and a half. It was a great day spent with great friends. There are a few silvers in the river, I caught one last Friday and may have lost another today. The weather has been in the 60's during the day and 50's at night. Rain is forecast for Tuesday and beyond.

It's not all fishing

Fishing has slowed down a bit, yesterday we only brought 1 Red home between the three of us. I decided to take the day off today to do some shopping; the first stop was the Soldotna Market where I replaced some salmon skin key chains, next was a stop at the Moose Is Loose bakery for a chocolate glazed raspberry cake doughnut and then to Fred Meyer for fuel and groceries.