Pre - season

It's been so gosh darn nice that I just can't keep from walking the wilderness  along our stretch of river here at Mile 14. MP has a list of things for me to do and just as I get to bare down on one the sun comes out, it's 47 degrees out and a flock of  Trumpeter Swans flys over and I'm off to the river again. All you have seen me post many a picture of Fall-in-Hole but does this look more like June than March or what ????

I hate to tell ya Keith but by the time you go on a Marine salvage run this place is gonna be pretty well picked over...I might even fire up the ol S.S. Minnow in a couple days. So here's pic of my first cost recovery item of the year...a nice, only few months old Pixie in the best color....yahtzee.

Now I know some of you wonder is Jeff really uses all the stuff he finds in the world famous Kenai River so here's a shot of all the 'keepers' I've found in the last couple years. With this next year being a Humpy year you certainly need an inventory of # 5 Vibraxes...and I got em. So when one gets chucked into the woods or snapped off on a hump hooked rogue male pinks salmon....I say " no worries, we got a few spares ".

So here I am in this beautiful place ...and I'm all alone. It's funny, I feel completely at home, not worried about bears, not worried about falling through the ice,actually not worried about a single darn thing. This pic is the only 'sign' I came across, me and a neighbor.

So just as I'm at peace with the world and it's all starting to make sense to me.... I hear a boat coming...I ain't kiddin ya, it's the 10th of March and I hear the howl of a jet unit coming up from downriver. Many years I've been the first one out and of course our ice usually won't go until mid April so I'm kinda wondering....just who in the world ???? Stupid me , of course it's the G-Men.

Normally for a guy like me that's a pretty sight. A boat clean up on step making it's way over the riffles and shallows of this place....BUT, I get to wondering just what in the world are those guys doing and especially what could they be doing that takes THREE of them ???

So I try to wave them over so I can ask them because I know if it were me out there in mid March they'd sure as heck want to know what I was up to but they just waved a bit and kept going....

Park Ranger: " Hey Bob it's awful darn nice out today, I got a brand new motor on my patrol boat to break up,,,ah, I mean break IN... so ya wanna go screw around " ?

ADF+G:  "Well I don't know Steve I'm awful busy creating last years sonar counts" .... " but I was told to get some more signs put up for this summer's Red run so maybe we could go scout locations"...

Park Ranger : " oh boy, that's a big job, you better bring a helper"

ADF+G :  " Actually we'll take the boss....I'm sure he could use a break from dodging phone calls ".

And my personal favorite.