Leaving the Kenai Peninsula

We have been at the Kenai Peninsula since June 14 and will be leaving tomorrow for Denali.

The towns we’ve visited to fish are Sterling, Cooper’s Landing, Anchor Point, Soldotna, and Homer. We’ve fished Resurrection Bay, Kachemak Bay, the Russian River and the Kenai River. On the Kenai River it averages about 8,000 fishermen a day during a salmon run. The Anchorage newspaper reported that someone pulled in a tree with his fish line. It was decorated with over 800 fishing lures on it. It was bought by a business in town and placed on display. That’s one less snag hang up on the river.

It’s very peaceful fishing on rivers. The sound of the rushing water and watching the sea gulls is relaxing. The Kenai is a beautiful emerald green river. And the air is so fresh here.

The Sockeye Salmon are real fighters. They come out of the water a least three times. They are about an 8 – 10 lb fish. They are very strong and it’s amazing to see them go up stream on a fast rushing river. They’ll bend your pole in half and if they’re not hooked in the mouth, they could take your line back out to the ocean.

The fish score is:

26 Sockeye (Doug 19; Linda 6)
7 Halibut (Doug 1; Linda 6)
2 Rock Bass

We’ll be back to the Kenai Peninsula mid August for the Silver run.

Next we’ll be going up to Denali and then onto Fairbanks, North Pole and a hot spring. We plan on doing some fun things. In the North Pole we’ll meet up with Bud, Linda’s cousin. He has planned a week stay at his cabin which is about a 4-hour boat ride up the river. The first thing Doug and Bud will do when they get to the cabin is shoot guns to scare bears away. After reading a book on bears in Alaska and hearing about someone from Willow, Alaska, who was attached and killed last week by a bear, she’s a little nervous. So please pray for safety.