Kenai Peninsula, AK 2007

[UBDSLO1]

Alright, after messing around for over 45 minutes, I still can't get the posting pics down. I must have clicked the stupid mouse 500 times.:rant:

So, here is my post. In 06 my buddy and I went to Soldotna Ak for my first AK trip. It went so well that we decided to go back for 07. This year, his twin brother and my uncle went along. We went the second week of July. We had a salt trip for halibut, and 2 days on the mighty Kenai River for a monster King Salmon. The rest of the time we would spend, targeting reds(sockeyes) and silvers.
We flew up to Anchorage, it was a 6 1/2 hr. flight out of Chicago and 5 1/2 coming back. They say the airlines are cutting costs, I believe it, the must have cut the seat padding, cause my butt still hurts!:rant: We arrived in Anchorage, the car rental was right at the airport, our car was not ready!!! After waiting for a 1/2 hr, the rental person said that he would up-grade us no problem and free of charge. We ended up with a new GMC Yukon. Nice, as it suited out needs very well and with 4WD we could do some back woods driving. The drive to Soldotna is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on how many stops you make. Soldotna is south of Anchorage.
After arriving and unpacking we got our fishing licenses, which was $85.00 for one week. If you want to fish for Kings, you do need a King stamp. Ok, enough of this boring stuff, lets get to the fishing part!!!
Fishing was slow to say the least. Everywhere we went, we were told that the runs were 3 weeks off of what a normal year is. So... Our first was the hailbut trip. Got up at 3:30am drove south to Ninilchik and talked to out guide, the wind was just howling! We ended up getting blown out of the trip, so we got a trip later in the week. The later trip was great, ended up getting our limit of Butts. For those who haven't gone halibut fishing, it is a lot of work. 4lb. lead weights, huge salt reels and big braid, and craking it all up off the bottom at 200 foot down, equals not much fun. Almost like going to the gym. I do like to eat it, but I'm not sure if I'd do another halibut trip or not.
end part 1.

[UBDSLO1]

Kenai River fishing. After spending 2k and over 40 hours on the river, I think I'm finished with spending money on that river. By now, I know the holes and techniques used by all of the guides. Fishing was SLOW!!!!!!!! We landed only 1, 10lb King, had 2 hits, and 1 fish on. Slow slow slow!!! We didn't see a whole lot of fish caught. If you're going for a lot of hook-ups, getting away from the crowds, and solitude, then the Kenai is not the place for you. There is tons of boats, at any given time there can be over 400 other boats on the river with you! It is the place for huge Kings though, saw 1 go 60lbs. plus. The next time I go up, I'm renting a boat and fishing my own rods,baits, etc.

Some of you know a member on here, his name is Stelmon. I met Dan when we were up there, this is his first year guiding on the Kenai. It was neat seeing him up there, we fished the Kasilof River together on his days off. At nite, he'd come around to our place of stay, and visited, but more like ate our food!!! Just jabbing ya Dan!!! He brought over some fresh halibut, the pic is in my photos. thanks Dan!!!
Now, on to the reds. Again, fishing was slow, the runs were off as well. We did pick up a few though. It was tough fishin to say the least. Purple egg sucking leeches worked the best. We caught a number of dollies too. The kasilof River was the main river of choice for us. I did however hook into some huge Kings, I got spooled 2 times, there was no stopping the fish! Again, ESL's were the ticket.
I 'm going to add more to this post tomorrow, I'm forgetting alot of things right now. If there are any of the mods reading this, you can go ahead and post the 07 pics in this thread, all of them please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll add text to them later!!! thanks for reading.

[Badboy69]

Very interesting to say the least..and some alwsome pictures

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_110.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_089.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_022.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_013.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_106.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_019.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_016.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_014.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_018.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_086.jpg

[Coldwater Charters]

You mean little ole Stelman is a guide now in Alaska? Wow, the tranformation from the annoying teenager to living a dream has come full circle. Way to go Stelmon, U da man.

[UBDSLO1]

thanks badboy for posting the pics. I do have more, but it says that I have to delete some to add more, which I will do. Plus I will add a lot more text tonite, I'm at work right now.
Yes, Stelmon is a guide. For those of you who know, the Kenai is a very unforgiving river, plus wide and fast flowing, it's not a river for beginers, I have a huge amount of respect for Stel now, I know it's something I wouldn't want to do. He did really well this season too.

[2PawsRiver]

Hey Noah............nice pics. I ran into the too many pictures problem and registered with Photobucket and you can post from there as well.

As I said in my report the Salmon fishing was slow when we got there and the second run of reds were still staged in the lower Kenai.

Amazing to hear about Stelmon.......................thats what I call following up on a dream, great to hear.:)

[UBDSLO1]

Ok, the rest of the trip. As you can see form the pics, the guy holding the red is my buddy Vern. The fish fry was the halibut that Stelmon brought over one nite, boy was that good. Fried in veg. oil with a lightly seasoned flour batter and homemade tarter sauce. The guy in the green waders and holding the really big fish is me. I'm standing in the Kasilof River. The eagle pic was on the beach at Ninilchik. I have many more pics, but have to get them up-loaded.

For anyone who plans to go, start planning now. A lot of the places are booked a year in advance. Even some of the air fares is like that. Get exit row seating if you can, you do have a lot more room. Start your search on line, don't be afraid to ask questions. Get travel guides, maps, join some new message boards, get magazines, etc. Also, cold weather and rain gear is a must. Don't even think about going if you don't have quality rain gear. I saw people once again with trash bags around them and shivering. Not fun by any means.

2PawsRiver said it best is his post, if you want to go, then go. Start putting money away now. A few bucks here and there will add up. I too really didn't have the coin, but went anyway. When your trip is finished, it'll be worth every cent. I wish that I would have gone sooner in my life, my buddy Vern and I talked about going for the last 10 years!!! On a whim, we decided to go, and when it was over, wished that we would have gone up sooner in our lives. It is hard to explain the trip, but the people who have been there know what I'm talking about. You just have to do it, a sportsman should go o AK at least once in his/her lifetime.

All in all I really loved the trip even thought the fishing was slow. The next time I go up, I'll be going later, maybe the last week of July. It truely is the trip of a lifetime. Now it's looks like it's turning into a yearly event for me.:lol:

A few thanks do go out, to the host at the B&B, Lori, thanks for a great stay. SteelheadFred, thanks for a great rod, it fished and handled very well. Vern, for the car rental and getting the air tickets. Brian, for being a pain in the Butt:D and thanks to 2PawsRiver for the many flys you sent me, they fished well and caught fish too!
Thanks again guys and girls for reading, my writing is not the best as you can see.:D

[Gone Fishing]

Looks like a spectacular trip UBDSLO1. The pics are great! I've never been there before but we are leaving Friday for a 2 week family vacation. Mom didn't help too much in the planning stage so she'll be doing a lot of fishing! :D

[POLARBEAR]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_016.jpg

was this picture taken in ninilchik? Maybe down by deep creek? lol... The view looks very familiar.
Mt Redoubt I believe.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/rem700ak/PICT1274.jpg

[UBDSLO1]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Kenai_07_016.jpg

was this picture taken in ninilchik? Maybe down by deep creek? lol... The view looks very familiar.
Mt Redoubt I believe.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/rem700ak/PICT1274.jpg

Yup. Never mind the time and date on the pic. That was taken at around 5am on the beach. It was the day that we were blown off the water, so we drove along the beach. Stelmon and others told us about the fish gut piles that are dumped out there and all the wildlife that comes down there to fedd, it was awesome!

[POLARBEAR]

Did you launch from deep creek for your halibut trip? If so how did you like the launch and retrieve with the moving trailer? lol. I never got to see it myself but heard about it. sounds like fun except the guy riding on the trailer hooking up the chain. :yikes:

By the time I was there the fishing season had ended. I drove down to twin falls or twin creeks, and back a few times. I took this picture,
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/rem700ak/PICT1287.jpg

I mentioned to a local that I had been down there and was told it wasnt uncommon for someone to get stuck down there and lose their vehicle to the upcoming tide. :SHOCKED: He said be real careful. lol

Also while I was there it blew real hard and washed up a ton, just an amazing amount of debris on the beach. I spent half a day just beach combing. Pretty neat. Some people had 4 wheelers and little trailers down there picking up stuff lost from ships. I brought home some rope from fishing boats. lol

[Steelheadfred]

Glad you liked the rod, I will have my report from the Bristol Bay area soon. I a couple weeks we leave the 17th.

Fritz

[UBDSLO1]

Did you launch from deep creek for your halibut trip? If so how did you like the launch and retrieve with the moving trailer? lol. I never got to see it myself but heard about it. sounds like fun except the guy riding on the trailer hooking up the chain. :yikes:



Right by there, it was at D&M Campground. I was expecting a MI launch, with ramp, dock, etc. Nope! It looked to be a log skidder, the boat was hitched up to it, then driven down to the beach and into the water. Boat de-coupled and off we went. Last year, the kid who hook us back up to the trailer, got soaked!!!!:lol:And I mean soaked, water clear over the top of his waders. Not a job I would ever want.