Here's the deal...

I think you'll like that play on words because, here's the deal....You've made it to the last table in the World Series of Poker. The stakes are enormous. Your financial  future depends on how you handle the situation. You're dealt an Ace and a deuce for your hole cards and the flop reveals a King, a Queen and an eight. Two other player bet big  and you call knowing that one of them must be paired but you just need to hit that ace. The next card is a four and you're unsuited . One guy folds and the other bets big....what do you do?....you sweat inside a bit, you have to win so you.....go all in....Now it really doesn't matter if you get extremely lucky and  hit the ace or not because in the long run you're a stupid poker player that will eventually end up broke. AND that's exactly what ADF+G is doing with our King Salmon escapement plan or lack  there of.  With only few days left in July to collect a needed 7,000 to 10,000 fish they're betting on the come after letting the nets harvest close to 2000 (reported) and us maybe 400 but they'll call it a thousand at least I suppose. So maybe they'll hit it lucky, the ace could come up and I hope it does but it still makes them stupid, running risks with everyone's and the fishes futures. And if they don't get them....well....we'll just cook the books a bit, maybe calibrate the new sonar like they did a while back to make each sonar counted fish really worth 1.5 fish. I still don't  get that part and I ain't alone on that...oh well.

How couldn't you love someone who at the end of the season knowing we need all the moe-joe we can get puts this up on the shed at the launch for all to see. This is about all me and MP can do. I've been feeling like that guy in the Cheech and Chong movie who's in the ward with a straight jacket on just screaming his lungs out....the nurses rush in asking "what's the matter, what's the matter" and he replies " my nuts itch".  Here she is , a typical morning at Mile 14. Gotta compact the garbage to make more room and might as well fish a bit as she talks me into my morning boat prep. Love ya baby.

I'm getting  over the frustration of not being able to do anything here or at least I'm getting used to it because I really had a great week. I started out with my old friend Barry Brevik who didn't want to King fish from the get go, he loves those reds. So that's what we did. Here's our crew along the river, it's just us and the eagles screeching in the trees behind  behind us.  Barry's wife Carmel with an average Kenai sockeye.

And in the we love it all category I tried to capture the stillness of the fog the other morning when I fished with our oldest and bestest friends Connie Arthur and her brother Paul. The fog was pretty darn dense and with all the once a year wonders boating to the dip net fishery I decided to pull into the slough and wait for the fog  to break....safety is no accident you know. And Paul landed our first Pink Salmon of the year, things are looking up.

The trout fishing has been outstanding. I just haven't had the right chance to gt a really good pic or two for you. But we've been catching 20 to 30 every time we run upriver. It's kind of rewarding for me  as I've been tyeing my own flesh flies and the trout are gobbling them real good. They even work well on this rare guy, the Round Whitefish.

So today we decided to escape from Mile 14 for the first time in a month. We like to go to Rocky's in Kasilof for ice cream. For all you locals....that place is great, friendly and the chocolate malt made with chocolate brownie ice cream was to die for. There's closer ice cream but here ain't no better. Always on the look out for the unusual how's about this roofing job ?  I can just imagine the possibilities if Alaska ever legalizes that merry jane.

So we stopped to check on the dip net fishery. We had driven by a fab shop that had a sign that said 'dip nets'....mmm.....dips net.....I got it. So we found the ultimate fish camp, set up right down to having potted plants like at home....although dead. And we got to the Kenai just in time to see this guy pushing off from grounding on the sand bar. He forgot the first rule of boating...if  seagulls are standing up in the water...it's to shallow. I shouldn't be to hard on the guy, I've found a few uncharted reefs in my life.

And in a true Forrest Gumpian move we arrived home just in time to witness a great sport fishing battle. As we drove down the hill we could see a fish splashing and jumping 20 feet off the lower launch. The angler expertly played the fish to shore always keeping a nice bend in the rod and perfect tension on the line. The fish was lead head first into the net and walla, another sockeye. She even applies the coup de gras herself....with a Kenai River stick. What a gal....ya gotta love this life at Mile 14.