This river will teach you things...

over and over and over again, you just need to be ' part of it '. For your the last 25 years the reigning champion spinner for Silvers / Pinks was the # 5 Vibrax from Blue Fox. When I'd do my spring salvage trips I'd find dozens with only a few of them reusable as they tarnish and rust easily and the longer they're in the water the worst they are....Well this week I got to finding these ' Kodiak Custom' spinners in abundance and walla, not a single one didn't wash up to look like new. Yahtzee ! See the difference ?

Of course I'd seen the Kodiak Custom's in the store and hadn't ever bought any as they  are expensive and I have hundreds of Mepp's and Vibrax  etc...but now I know, people are catching with these babies or they wouldn't be laying around and now I've got a couple dozen brand spanking new ready to go Kodiak Custom's ' ....Just in the way of showing you my Bona Vide's when it comes to salmon spinners, here's a pic of my spinner drawer in the everyday tackle chest.

So you can probably tell that I'm duly impressed with this product. Kudo's to these guys who use quality components meant to last. The colors are vibrant and the action is fantastic ( had to cast one around ya know ) so what else is there ??? And who wouldn't want to buy tackle from a guy with that smile below AND he builds them right here in Alaska......and ahhhhh....I got a hot tip for a certain salvager I know that reads Mile 14....Fall-In-Hole is kinda lure free and the Big Eddy ain't no jack-pot....in 2017.

Well once again I took on an apprentice salvager. My friend Ty Tobias was down and he is all about the Kenai River so we both new it was time for him to cut his teeth. I certainly didn't want to create too big of expectations for him so as we prepped in the garage I let him know that the path to success as a Kenai Salvager runs through frustration, patience , hard work, fine tuning your senses and lots of mud....and of course a magnum dose of Jethro which can be, well it's....ah, enough of that. .....But old Ty is a natural. I was duly impressed at his keen eye ( don't miss that pun now ) and work ethic. Only 5 minutes in he found this 30 dollar Scotty brand rod holder.

And Ty actually in just one trip has developed a new class of salvage...the holistic approach. Unlike some of us that are all about the glory and the mystery of the hunt he actually picks up EVERYTHING he see's.... Holy Moly, what a concept.  It's like he's cleaning the river and doing the right thing. Wow, he took a bag along and brought in yards and yards of phantom fishing line all the time muttering about it being a @$*^$* wonder there's any birds around at all. Good job Ty....

That river is good for a few other things ya know and we'll be getting hard after that real soon. It looks fishy. Now if you asked me what that means I couldn't really put my finger on it but trust me, it looks and feels fishy. Here's the pic of Fall-In-Hole that you've seen many times. Next week about 3/4 of the way down that run you'll find that black guide boat # 003 expertly slipping downstream with the kicker running and towing a T-50 Flatfish....stand by.