Houston, all systems are in the green....

That's what about a 40 - 45 pounder looks like just before the release, he's a got a gorgeous gold and red T-50 in the corner of his mouth. This fish had an attitude and as I like to use 25 lb. test for the plugs because I think the lighter line makes for more action it was a real challenge to land. Melissa from the Watershed Forum who helped us out house sitting this winter hooked this one and another almost identical and let her dad exercise the second. As you can she she's a bit on the petite side and these fish aren't.

John there fighting that second fish is some kind of guy. He's a retired Exxon engineer and knows the way.... Now me being all about everything fish as it's been  my life's work I don't meet to many people who can discuss world fisheries/ fisheries management / fisheries debacles / fisheries waste and politics but John there can. anybody who knows the books of Mark Kurlansky's like Cod or Paul Greenberg's Four Fish is in my book a well educated man. He even new the story of Orange Roughy which were actually invented for a new fishery on South American Tooth fish. We had a great day and is this a cool pic of a father / daughter team or what ?  Thanks for coming you guys, it was a little cold wasn't it. 😊 In fact it was the coldest I've been on the river since that day in infamy with Nate Morton when his friend Bobby wanted to get out and walk home.....from the Eagle Rock.

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So I get to talking with Ivan who does the creel census for ADF+G and he tells me that he's seen and heard of a few fish and that the test netters have caught a few fish and they have yet to see any ' small ' Kings'  that would fit the new 36 inch keeper slot limit. Strange because in the last few years we saw so many 2, 3 and 4 ocean fish and this year nothing but whoppers, which is a good thing of course. So the next day we set up right at the very peak of a 23 ft. tide and within 10 minutes Todd Tillman has this fish on.... I love this pic of him fighting it from the bow in the early morning light.

We get him in the net and of course it's a keeper but not anywhere near 36 inches but still a nice little fish that is most likely a 3 ocean male. I always try to not give advice on the keep or release decision and Todd wanted to keep....maybe he saw the price of those fresh Copper River King's in the store eh ?  Yikes some fetched 75.00 a pound and in Anchorage they were around 30.00 meaning that the day before Melissa released over a thousand bucks worth of salmon. mmmmmm.....it is awful good eating. This fish was about 16 pounds.

So guided by my theory of momentum we put the same lure out for Todd's dad Jack and went back to story telling....And sure enough when things are going good they tend to keep going good and when things are going bad.....well we ain't talkin about that part, Jack's rod goes off.  this fish fought like a 35 pound female which I think is the best fish in the river. As you can see it too was short of the 36 inch slot by a couple inches was a pretty darn noble fish. She weighed 24 pounds and had fully developed eggs in her so she was a 'small'  5 ocean fish. The Pro's from Dover were off the water at 7:30 a.m.

Jack and Todd Tillman there were golden, just my kind of folks. The next day although I neglected to get pics I had the opportunity to fish Chris Owens family, locals from Anchorage. Once again it was a bit chilly and we suffered a couple ' short strikes' but Emily finally hooked another large late in the day putting our weekly exercise regime up to 5....

May 27th, 2017....what a day at Mile 14. Not only did I get to go fishing and MP turned sa, sa, sa, sixty something or other....we had a wonderful wedding event here. Our friends Aly Cunningham and Hollis Swan picked our place to declare there love forever to each other. I wish that darn wind hadn't been so cold but these young people are Alaskan all they way, they met commercial fishing..

Hollis grew up with our kids and we consider them like family. Here's a pic of the two them reflecting on the life to come... I ain't the smartest guy around but I know this, a team approach to the nuances of life works best. The preacher told stories of their meeting on a Prince William sound salmon tender and it was wonderful.

Here's pic of MP wearing her cute as can be Kuspuk and the newly weds. If you don't think these young people are 100 % Alaskan all you had to do was notice Aly's footwear, yup, Extra Tuff's. It looks like MP is grinding Hollis about his double knits.

And whats the traditional;wedding party and family pic without a boat back trolling for King Salmon in the background ? Thank you guys for sharing your wedding and your lives with us, we love you.

And in the 'man are they into it ' department I took this pic of Jeremy's new tattoo. He says that from now on rather than tell them when asked what he fishes for he'll just show them . That's an awful pretty red salmon on a pretty cool guy.