Eagle Rock

Well I've been  putting some serious time in trying to get that first King Salmon of the season.  Sunday was the 35th anniversary of my friend Les Anderson's 97 1/4 pound world record catch and I've fished May 17th every year since.  It's not that I really expect some magic ju-ju on that day it's more about connectivity with the past, a way to keep it fresh. So, once again no salmon but me and MP and Bill Radke fished pretty hard. It's so strange there's nobody out fishing and I just don't get it. I'm pretty sure there is yet to be a King caught and we almost always have the rumor control rolling by now....and being  the only ones fishing it's kind of hard to decide it if there aren't any fish around or we're just having bad luck...I hope it's the later. Here's a pic of my favorite interception point looking both upriver and downriver on a really important day on the Kenai.

Through the years I've seen just about everything there is to see on top of Eagle Rock. Seagulls , ravens, logs , debris and even boats....but only one other time than Sunday have I ever seen an Eagle on Eagle Rock . He stood still just long enough for me to get the pic.

Years ago I had a photographer out who was doing a story for National Geographic about Alaska's Salmon dependent Eagles. He told me that someday this place would be as famous for the amount of Eagles as it is for the amount of salmon and I get his jist, right now in the lower river they are everywhere.  Yesterday on drift boat Monday Bill and I anchored in the middle of Fall-in-Hole and at one point counted 14 within view. It's so weird, the juveniles spend a lot of time on the ground and the adults are swooping and cackling as they work up to mating. It's also strange that when we do our walks along the river in Soldotna we see Eagles but nothing like here at Mile 14. If I had to guess I'd say that between Mile 14 and Beaver Creek ( 4 miles ) that there are 50 to 75 resident baldies, maybe even a hundred.

So now you're thinking he's talking Eagles because he can't catch a fish...mmmm....and you'd be right about that .

But oh....MP caught the Hooligan. That's another weird thing, when the hooligan hit the river so do the salmon, it's that food chain deal you hear about. I've caught King Salmon as early as May 3rd and to be here at May 19th and no Kings yet or even having not seen Kings rolling is kind of scary. One of the things we know is that if you graph a salmon run it makes a bell shaped curve and a large run starts to build the bell early and a small run builds the bell later. You often hear from salmon people that the run 'is late ' and sometimes it is and I really hope that is the case here now. But sometimes it's just a small run.....keep your fingers crossed for us.

I've been working on a new song and I didn't really think it was yet ' fit for human consumption ' as MP puts it when I'm satisfied but I recorded it last night and even with a flub up or two I kinda like it. Tonight I'll be back practicing in my usual environment...the garage. Every year as soon as it warms up I get moved out so MP can reclaim her dining room....Kinda funny, when I was a kid I'd hear " take that #$&* out to the garage " ....and now I'm a grown man with my own direction in my life and my own dreams and love of making home spun music, but it's still gotta be in the garage, like always 😎