7/10 – 7/16/2016 - Soldotna,
AK - We decided to try our luck with a bit of fishing Alaskan style so we went
crazy and bought waders, fishing rods and reels, and other assorted gear and
met our friends Dominic and Ronnie Sue for our lessons. After they patiently instructed us on the
technicalities of salmon fishing they turned us loose on the Kenai River. We fished for two days and came up empty with
only several lost fish to our credit, when a nice older couple asked me if we
would like to try a fly rod instead of a spinner. When I felt the difference in the feel of the
fly rod I was hooked, and bought one for myself. After trying it out the next day I landed my
first Sockeye, and when I handed the rod over to Chippy to try it, I could see
that I gotta get me one of these look in her eye. So Friday morning we both set out with our
fly rods and Chippy put me to shame, bagging the daily limit in under two hours
while I only accomplished a baptism in the river for me and my iphone….bbbrrrrrrrr. Sorry we could not get the picture of Chippy with her catch, but with my phone swimming with the fishes, we had to fillet them at the fishing hole and so here she is with her fillets in the bag...LOL. The rest of our pictures from this area went down the Kenai River with the ipnone.
7/16 – 7/20/2016 - Homer, AK – We headed to Homer for a few
days stopping overnight in Ninilchik, AK where we visited the local area
including Deep Creek State Park where there are many bald eagles nesting in the
cliffs waiting for the boats to come in to feast on the fish carcasses that are
unloaded after the catch is cleaned. The
other interesting thing about this area is the tide gets so low the boats
arriving at low tide need to be towed in with tractors.
The ride to Homer was really beautiful
following Cooks Inlet south with the towering glacier covered mountains to our
west, but when we crested the hills overlooking Homer it took our breath
away. This has to be the most
spectacular view we have seen in our Alaskan journey. We decided to set up camp in Fishing Hole
Campground, one of the city owned campgrounds on Homers Spit. The Spit is a 5 mile peninsula jutting out
into Kachemak Bay with boat yards, marinas, campgrounds, shops, charters, Alaskan
Ferry terminal, fish processing plants, and of course the infamous Salty Dog
Saloon. Kachemak Bay has the second
largest tides in the world where the difference between high and low tides is
as much as 28 feet which creates very strong tidal currents. We did some fishing off the shore at Lands
End and I was once again squashed by Chippy’s awesome fishing skills. She bagged 5 flounder and one small halibut
over 2 days of fishing while I caught only seaweed, but I can clean them with
the best of them…LOL. We really enjoyed
strolling the Spit and browsing the shops filled with local art, but the
surrounding beauty is beyond explanation.
We decided to hit the Kenai River for a couple more days on our way back
from Homer before our two week fishing license expired. We camped once again at Wal-Mart in Kenai
overnight and we finally found a spot at the public access area near the city
park in Soldotna, but had no luck on the first day. Since the rivers were getting really crowed,
we decided to hit the river the next morning at 4:30am to secure a desirable
spot. The morning started out with a
light drizzle and the action was slow.
Brian caught a Dolly Varden (trout family) but threw it back and later
landed a nice sockeye, but as the rain increased in intensity and the action
slowed we decided to call it a day, final tally on the Kenai River, Chippy 3
Sockeye 1 Dolly Varden, Brian 2 Sockeye 1 Dolly Varden and 1 Rainbow
Trout. Salmon fishing in the river was
never part of our planned itinerary in Kenai, but was really an unexpected
pleasure which was a lot of work but also great fun we will never forget. Now that we have waders and fly rods, we plan
to do a lot more river fishing in the future.
7/21 – 7/25/2016 – Seward, AK – After about 2 full weeks of
fantastic unseasonal sunny skies and high seventies without a drop of rain, Mother
Nature has finally reconsidered. Looks
like rain in the forecast for at least a week, but it is probably a blessing as
conditions are very dry and there are currently 3 large forest fires blazing in
the state. We arrived in Seward on a
Thursday, and were shocked to find all of the city campgrounds on the
waterfront were full to capacity. We
finally found space at Forest Acres Campground, which is also a city owned
campground just outside the city. Friday
it rained pretty heavy all day and the visibility was zero on Resurrection Bay
let alone the surrounding mountains, so we decided to visit the Alaska Sealife
Center which is an aquarium and Marine Science and Rescue Facility displaying
local fish, sea lions, seals, otters, and seabirds.
Fortunately the forecast for Saturday was incorrect and we
were blessed with a partly sunny day, so we took advantage and went out for
some picture taking and hiking. We
started out downtown on the beautiful waterfront along Resurrection Bay, Mount
Marathon, Lowell Point, and also
captured some of the murals that are painted all over town. The historic Iditarod Trail begins in Seward,
tracing the mail route that led to gold strikes in Hope and Sunrise and later
the bonanza in Iditarod. Next stop was
Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park where we were able to hike out to
within a few hundred yards of the glacier, our closest glacier encounter. Exit Glacier retreats about 50 feet each
year, and there are special markers dating the retreat of the glacier all the
way back to 1889. We spotted a beautiful roadside pull-off overlooking Kenai
Lake on the way down to Seward, which we plan to overnight tomorrow and enjoy
the view while we avoid the weekend traffic returning to Anchorage.
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