Clearly the Kenai

I'm not complaining....but....its always something on this gorgeous river. This week delivered some of the most challenging fishing conditions in all the years I've fished here. The graph below tells the story, we're at record low water for late June its as clear as anybody's ever seen. The pyramids above the graph line are the 40 year average flow. As you can see, the river is actually going down a bit and not up like would be the norm.  We're used to clear water in May before the melt, its tributary water and a kind of brown bottom colored clear. And actually to fish with artificial as is the current regulation we need clear water, but not THIS clear. Its a Skilak Lake clear with visibility at 5 to 8 feet I'd guess. So what it all translates to is this, we have opportunity in the morning before a lot of boat movement and then again with the tide if we have that to work with. We're getting one or two, maybe 3 chances a day but I'm looking forward to more fish this next week.

The fish are just plane spooky. The water is so low that the boats are running just a few feet over their heads and they're seeing the lures to far off to create a good strike response. A few days ago I idled over a gravel bar to position myself at the top of a run and was watching the bottom when I saw 4 or 5 King Salmon flash away from my boat, spooked just by it being there. So I know this is probably falling on deaf ears but if any of you or people you know are running boats this week on the Kenai PLEASE keep the boats away from number 003 if you can. Enter the runs from the side or the top, never run over the water you intend to fish or someone else is fishing. When running on step please clear a boat with gear in the water by as far a margin as you safely can. When fishing around other boats try and keep yours quite...no banging, no music, stop any rattles....

On Saturday I fished with old friends. Joe Higgins and his wife Chelsea and brother Ben bought a fishing trip for my old buddy Charlie as a  Fathers Day gift. We released one fish that we maybe should have kept and let a smaller one go but the highlight of the trip was watching the success of this harbor seal. Now I've seen a lot of seals catch a lot of salmon but I've never seen a 50 pound seal with a 50 pound salmon. It was so big he couldn't swim away with it so we idled right over and watched him eat it. This pic you see him with the salmons head strait up and he's holding it like a baby. We watched him for many minutes, he'd drop it and then go find it (the water is so clear eh) but in order to eat it he pretty much had to stay in one place. Even  then its almost impossible to get a good pic, you aim, he goes down etc.....it was pretty darn cool.

I don't know about everybody else but the best gift I got was hearing from the two boys. And , MP bought me a special treat of Australian licorice, I'm a sucker for that stuff. But we saw the following ad in the paper and realized that gift giving possibilities can be endless. I don't know if I've seen many professional people advertise like this but...what the eh....

So by the time you read this Mile 14 will be celebrating 15,000 reads. Its not like making the best sellers list but in my world this is big ju-ju, I'm flattered that so many people think its entertaining and worth their time. So please keep coming back and tell your friends, I've got big plans.

Its a Game of Inches

Great smile eh? That's my friend Deb O'brien with what we didn't know at the time turned out to be the biggest legal June King Salmon I've ever seen. Let me explain. For the early run only here we 've had  a 'slot limit' for the last 10 years or so, all fish from 46 to 55 inches long must be released to spawn. ADF+G did this rule as a way to save some of the genetic size traits of these magnificent salmon. The idea was to protect for spawning the biggest spawners, 50, 60 or 70 pounders.

I met Deb about 20 years ago. I wasn't really her first choice as a guide as she met and fished with a young guy who worked for me I'll call Joel. But through the years Joel went on his own and just never seemed to have time for just one person or was to busy and didn't return phone calls and well....that was my good luck. She's been fishing with me ever since. I got lots of time for her, in fact I'm not exaggerating when I say she and I connect, she's really our friend. Deb came to Alaska from Alabama 20 years ago with a guy and the guy luckily didn't work out but Alaska sure did. She met and married Donovan O'brien who's the coolest guy and struggling to get it done started a family at the age of 40.....that takes a lot of love. Deb is an I.C.U. nurse and has a ton of things going on in her life, she's been busy and finally decided to take time with her daughter Haley and come fish with me.

So the other morning just 10 minutes into our first troll the Deb's rod goes off, its a gift. We have no boats below us and the fish runs off line, an easy 150 yards worth. Now normally I'd chase the fish with the boat but Deb has caught many a King, even a 70 pounder so I just watch as she stops him and slowly regains line. Its so far out that by the time near the boat its played out and laying on its side, blowing bubbles which indicates a very tired fish. Its in the net and I tell Deb its too big. I want to let it go and she wants to measure it. We measure and measure and double check and triple check, this fish is not only legal its about 1/4 inch short of the limit. We even measure again on the deck before I bonk it and its obvious legal. Its girth is what did it for us, it weighed an even 50 pounds at the scale and was just gorgeous shiny bright. Wow.

So after that theres nothing to do but hope Haley has a bite as we commune with nature. The rivers been quiet this year and this sight above I've seen several times in the last few days. Today we watched an eagle dive bomb mergansers and I'd never seen how well and long those little ducklings can dive under water.

Now I can't speak for all 4 of us, especially Jet-dog but I'd guess we all  had about as cool a Kenai experience as you can have, Fishing and friends, whats better?....

Code of The West

When I was young guy with some things, especially difficult things I was a bit lazy. But now that I'm full grown and on this quest I work hard, extra hard to be lazy at nothing, whether its work, relationships or even having fun. Thats where what I call 'the code of the west ' comes in...its something everyone wants to do and even thinks they do but mostly don't. Its the simple value of loyalty, the word I like best is 'fidelity' which Websters defines 'faithfulness' ; careful and exact observance of duty, or performance of obligations or vows.
It goes on ' firm adherence to a person or party with which one is united, or to which one is bound, loyalty'.

So in my world its simple and of the most importance, take care of the people that take care of you. It means  paying maybe just a bit more for the product your friend sells. It means thinking of who has helped you in the past and making sure to help them. It means being honest and direct. It means making simple decisions like who you should buy what from, because they're your friends and you want them to do well. It means not only do you support your friends but also protect them, you defend them, you stand up.

But...I've noticed alot of your friends don't mind you making money, they just mind you making any of THEIR money. I don't understand, and never will. I guess simple jealously explains it and I'm glad I wasn't born with that gene. To me, when you cheat on your wife, your friend, your business associates the worse part is that you cheat yourself.  How can you be proud of your life if you have no fidelity?

I've always set the standards high in my life and  so I'm always disappointed in people who don't have the same standards. MP says that with me its all black and white, no grey areas. For awhile I kind of thought that it was my problem but I'm secure enough now that I see it for what it was...people who don't know the code of the west aren't your friends and never were. So, I've cut alot of people from my team over the years, alot. I don't have many  friends but the ones I do have are true. Its a shame and if I sound like a pompous *^^$# its too bad, seems like theres more of them  out there than there are of me in this old world.

A few years ago an awkward situation arose with one of my friends. After explaining why he did what he did he asked if we could still be friends through 'all this'. Well, why would you ask that if you didn't know for sure you'd broken the code??? I replied that of course we're friends, but I have two kinds of friends....those that would do things that would harm me and my family, and those that wouldn't.

Full Circle

Well its kind of funny to have gone full circle with this fishing deal. When I was a kid I just had to get a boat, I was dieing for a boat, I envied others boats.....And now after having spent about half of my adult life in a boat I really enjoy fishing with my 200 pounds standing squarely on Terra firma. So, this morning at 4:30 am you  find me and my partner-counselor-co defendant driving to Ninilchik to try and catch a King salmon the old fashioned way. The Kenai jumped up after the long weekend and was off color so bad there was really no fishing to be done, and in true Jethronian style I didn't have any trips scheduled so we got the muddy water for the year over with no stress....but I hadn't fished for a few days and need to keep my edge so its off to fish the tide 40 miles south of mile 14.

So its 5:30 when we arrive and nobody's around, mmmmm, is it legal? Are we on the wrong day? But I start fishing and a few fisherman arrive and I'm feeling good about this deal. But, its 35 degrees out and my right hand is numb. MP asks me how my carpal tunnel syndrome was holding up and I told her it felt the best it has in days, its numb, no problem. Having a bit of an extinct for this fishing I got to wondering why so few people were around and it came to me after but an hour or two....no people=no fish. I don't even see one fin.

We all know MP is the definintuion of A.D.D. And it wasn't long before she shucked that 200 dollar fishing rod down and went to beach combing. As we fished I was kinda figuring on how long it would take to get her moving, after all, we were in the shade and the beach wasn't and it was just so inviting. Her first big score were these (according to her) rare and unusual red rocks.

I had planned on putting a gorgeous 25 pound salmon in that fish tote but who needs that when you find all the free seaweed you want, kelp to. Ever since I built that cute greenhouse MP has gone to gardening with a zealousness that's remarkable. Shes' reading and digging and planting and composting and this stuff here is just the ticket for that new compost pile. The problem is that to get just the perfect PH she has to know how much to of this seaweed to add depending on whether its considered a 'green' or a 'brown'.  The confusing part I pointed out to her is this....what if it was a green and then turned brown after it warshed up on the beach? That's a tough one.

We're pretty much fished-scavenged out by 8 am and the blood is returning to my fingers and you know, I really didn't need a salmon I just needed to go fishing so we saddle up and head for home. As we don't get to Ninilchik very often I decided to stop and see an old friend. To show my love I left a brand spanking new 7/8 ounce Blue Fox Pixie in the cranberry red with red insert color.

But the strangest thing was that on my buddies grave somebody had made a heart shape out of those same red rare and unusual rocks that MP picked up on the beach. Well, in my world that's some kind of sign for sure and I'm feeling connected and all of a sudden really good about me, him and her. I don't know how that red shaped heart in rocks got there, it could have been a spirit or a person,  but who ever did it converged with me today. Love conquers all, we move on.

Now if any of you haven't been to the Old Believers Russian Orthodox church in Ninilchik its worth a look. We have a century old church that is similar in Kenai but  this setting right on the high bluff overlooking the ocean and the volcanoes is just stunningly beautiful. And its just not just a show church, regular service is conducted here and the cemetery reflects the character of our country and Alaska. Pretty darn cool.

We're driving down the road and this wild rabbit actually poses for us. Now have you ever seen a rabbit that wasn't running? I know I never have, they don't come that way, where would the hare and the tortoise story be if we had rabbits behaving like this. I had time to stop the truck, get the camera out of the bag and shoot 3 pictures and then he WALKED away.  I hate to over think this too much but it seems to me the messages were all pretty clear this morning....we're going to have a great summer.

Please come back to the blog. Although business is down a bit I'll be fishing hard real soon. The water is clearing and this year all of the indicators show that our early run is going to be OK. Maybe not like the old days but the sonar counts are up and I'm looking forward to some serious tugs on the line this June....thanks for reading mile 14.

Smilin Faces

What could be cooler for a guide than to have a 79 year old ardent fisherman catch the biggest fish of his life with you? Its about as good as it gets, I hate to use this word too much but because I believe in it I will....magic. That guy on the right is Pete Castle, a stand up guy and my new friend. He and his son Chuck decided to spend some quality time together on an Alaska trip in a rented motor home so they hunted me down and stayed in our campground. Although the numbers are way ahead of last year the run is still starting so fishing is kind of fickle. The first day we didn't have a bite, I told my friend Jason Potts it was because I screwed up the math by catching one to fast the morning before. But Chuck and Pete were fun and upbeat so as I frequently do if I have seats  available I asked them along on the next day for the bonus trip...and walla, a nice 30 pound female for Pete... They were fishing with my old friend Lowell Franks and his wife Armi and we all agreed that if we could only catch one, it was nice for it to be Pete.

Chuck even got on the board with this hefty Arrowtooth Flounder. You know you've got a cosmic force surrounding your boat when you catch things that are not even supposed to be in fresh water, this guy was 12 miles up the river. Not only was he the first and only flounder I've ever seen in the river its also a really nice one. So now you're wondering if I've never seen one in the river how do I know its a nice one? right?. Well, back in 1973 commercial fishing me and my friend Steve Blossom tried to eat one. Luckily we never got to the tasting part because the skin is so tuff we never even got to the filleting part. We were so tired of eating salmon that with all the flounder around we figured them to be kind of like a 'budget' halibut...Wrong. From what I know about them  this might be the only fish in Alaska that nobody anywhere eats. The skin is like armor, the sharpest Cutco knife is the loser in that deal...

I don't know how ever body else's memorial day was but ours was perfecto. Warm and sunny, a Mariner win, fried chicken with real potato salad and a swing in a handmade Mexican hammock chair. We went for a 10 ....well....6 mile bike ride and, just had a great day for the start of our season. Did any of you see the ending to yesterdays 100th Indy 500? Wow, as my friend Ernie would say, 'what a schamoozle'! Poor kid chokes on the last turn of the last lap and loses his chance for stardom, kind of like that 70 pounder that spits the hook at the boat...My dad taught me this simple knowledge, the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing.

I printed this last pic to show you the crop, what I've been calling the 'kids'... (for alot of reasons besides that they cost alot). MP has been going huckly buck after the gardening and her knew greenhouse is just chucked full of goodies. We've got the usual tomatoes in all variety's, cukes, squash, tomatios (she loves those) okra, pumpkins, melons, peas, radishes, spinach....well you know. It was all worth the money, two weeks and all the skin off my index finger. I'll print the next pic come harvest time.  Thanks for reading Mile 14 !

Like I said....

never bet a man at his own game.  There she is the first and prettiest king salmon yet of the 2011 season. I actually caught him myself only a short time into this morning. My buddy charlie MacDonald and I started at the prerequisite 6 am and had ol slimey in the boat at 7 am, only about 200 feet from my house. Magic is all I can say....

We started out both towing Kwikfish plugs and after an hour and with the sun hitting the water I thought maybe its just to big so I downsized to a smaller plug and walla, fish on. He's only 23 pounds but he ran and jumped, didn't like that hook much and I have to say it was pretty darn exciting. When I was a young guy and before I started guiding I caught many king salmon but this one here is the first is 6 or 7 years I'd say. I just don't have as much time to fish  as I'd like.

So as is the tradition here I threw the fish guts out on the gravel bar and made for some really happy birds. Later on in the season when they have more food they wouldn't get this close to us but that's some of the magic of this time of year...few people, fresh fish, lots of wildlife, everybody's happy.

Designing Mile 14

When we moved to the river in 1996 we decided to run the boat launch with one rule and one rule only...this place is to have fun at. So being fun people we went through the hard work and complex planning it takes to make this property reflect our values and to let people know they came to the right place. So here's a tour of my favorite things here at Mile 14....

This first pic is the gable end of our garage, it faces the check-in station and gives the people something to focus on while the driver is slapping leather to put his tithing into the pay box.  We've got a modest license plate collection and we're missing a few states so if any of you can help us out we'd really like that. Barring donations from our friends we'll just have to travel more and collect as we go, no worries, we'll have all fifty states before this program is over.  The wall also has some old signs and ski's, my niece Melanies' first moose rack and a couple of swallow nests with honest to goodness real swallows imported from the 48.

This is my beer can collection. I specialize in pre aluminum beer cans mostly from the time of my youth. some of them were actually emptied by me personally, isn't that cool? This is just a small part of my huge collection but you can see the mandatory 'Billie Beer" that every collector has. Then we have a few welded metal Oly cans and on the very end is the malt liquor Stite, we didn't know it at the time but we weren't experienced enough for that Stite deal...But the pic below is by far my favorite can. Its a pre pop top can that was found in the ceiling framing of my aunt Mary Jane's house in Oroville California....Let me recreate the scene....Its Friday July 12th 1962 and it's 95 degrees out as you frame the purloins for a house remodel. Its finally quiting time and your carpenter apprentice throws you up an OLY and with two skilled whacks you open it up with your framing axe....oh baby does that taste gooooood.

The next pic is one  of the corners of my guides services office, the garage. This corner here has a a nod to some of the most important people in my life. I have a pic of Jimmy Buffet with the same black Takamine guitar I just had to have.  I have plaque that my friend Tom Beneventi made for me that says " the bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of a bargain is forgotten". It also has a 2002 Hobo Jim show schedule, Jim's a steady guy so I figure a 2011 schedule is pretty much the same...and it is. Then I got a pic of Dale Earnhart, MP's initials in leftover urethane and a toilet seat.

So we move on to the corner with my TV in it. The Mariners just finished a sweep of Padres and with a little luck will keep this momentum up and arrive at a winning record, we'll see. But , the cool thing in this corner are signed dollar bills I have from betting on fish. Quite often when I'm feeling the qwan just right and the boat is a little quiet I'll bet somebody a buck they'll catch a fish in the next 15 minutes. These are just the truly memorable ones as I had so many I took one entire wall worth with us to Las Vegas a few years back figuring you can't beat lucky money. This wall is testimony to something everyone should know... never gamble with a guy at his own game.

Speaking of games, glued to my flammables locker is this pic of a great American. You know me, I like to be inspired and whats more inspirational than the guy who coined the phrase " it ain't braggin if you can do it". That's how I feel about this program. So every morning as I prep for a day of rain, sun , no fish, lots of fish, ups and downs I go out the door with the great ones message, nothing's impossible.

As you can imagine we have fish everywhere, and I mean everywhere. This four legged chainsaw salmon is one of my favorites. One of my fellow club members, that would be the Maverick club, fell on hard times about 25 years ago and needed a couple hundred bucks. He was trying to make a living doing chainsaw art and well , as you can see he just wasn't very good at it. At first I thought I got a raw deal but now after all these years I'm proud to say that we might have the second ugliest salmon on the peninsula....( the first ugliest is a hands down winner located at the China Seas Buffet in Blazy Mall)

When you come to the front door here at Mile 14 you'll notice three things. The first is that the doorbell has no wires to it from when I jerked them out of the wall because the 2nd thing wasn't noticed....the 'guide is sleeping , please come back later' sign. And of course the 3rd things are these wonderful hand painted salmon swimming through the door. MP has a certain knack for fish, smiling salmon, that's the way I like mine...

Then around the back of the house where I clean and prep fish is some really important stuff. Here you see a freezer and two fridges of which one is for bait only. Next time you're here just fly that baby on the left open and take a deep breath,  you'll see why we don't put any food of beverages in it.  But the other two are spotless clean, well pretty clean and are for the use of our friends. Here's where I use up all my old guide stickers and magnetic signs...

Right around the corner from here is a pic you've seen before, my legendary fish hanging rack. Its adorned with 15 years of Kenai salvage material including a palm tree, the dashboard from a 1985 Ford , busted fishing rods, a netful of kwikfish lures, props, radios and the world largest rusty pliers collection.

OK...lets get serious. This last pic speaks for itself. Just incredible how fast things happen in the far north. and, its just as incredible that we got this pic before the moose got the tulips. They've made a few runs at them in the last week but that's my job, I run them moose off towards our neighbors tulips. Until they bloom MP uses a glass shower door to protect them but once they bloom its kind of hard to view them through that bathroom glass deal, you men know the problem.

Once again you're probably thinking.....whats with this guy? wheres the fish? whats going on?...Well, I'll be honest, I've not really given the Kenai its first real try yet but I'm fixin to tuesday and weds for sure. The Kenai has been record low and I just don't want to risk it until its showtime. One of our friends who launches here and has as much experience as I hit a rock right out front and is now buying a new lower unit, 1800 bucks worth.  But, theres more fish around than usual so please come back, we'll have a real action report real soon.....wanna bet?