Please read this

Being a boat guy I just love the lines and the noble plan of a nice boat....but this time of year, the time where fish fever rules the day I notice ALL the boats and I get to thinking that this dip net fishery deal really needs a little safety chat. Ya know when I was on the Kenai Special Management Area River Board and the 21' size limit was proposed I mentioned that if we have a maximum size boat limit we should also have a minimum....ya know to avoid that deal where the guy at the gas station is holding court telling everybody how he damn near got swamped by a guide boat and you ask him what kind of boat HE has and he says " boat...hell it was a cattle trough until I put a motor on it. So....if you own this boat or one like it please read this.

You're top heavy with all that wonderful carpentry and the fact that you have your seats on the pedestal when this baby was designed for you to sit still on the bench seat and run the tiller handle...you can't build the Queen Mary out of the S.S. Minnow....Or if you own one of these little guys that Geno referred to as an I.B.R.B. ( itty bitty rubber boat)

I know if you own these kinda things you want your dip net experience to look like this....DON"T DO IT.

PLEASE, don't over load your boat. Where your life jackets. Have oars ready to deploy. Have a throw able cushion ready for your fishing partner. Avoid those blustery days at high tide....be careful, lets have a safe Dip Net season...and then go home !

And watch out for rocks....and PLEASE watch out for people sport fishing, like me.

O.K., end of tutorial....Bet ya want a fishing report or at least what I think of the future of this King fishery in July. Well you heard it here first, it's going to be just fine. The sonar numbers are trending pretty close to last year which was exceptional. The bad news is that we've had a week of strangely balmy weather and the snow melt has put the river off. But, it'll clear everyday a bit this week and we're all going to have a real reasonable chance to catch ol slimey.....ADF+G is in a difficult position but of course they're the ones that put themselves there . It was prudent to start us on no bait but now the question is fairness when the commercial guys are hard at it fishing 40 linear miles of net when they deprive us of a nice smelly sardine wrapped Kwikfish lure...Boy , we ask an awful lot of this July run of Kings and all in all it holds up. But we have snivelers and conspiracy believers but ol guide # 003 sees it this way--- The problem is NOT the fish that are returning to Cook Inlet, we're actually doing a pretty good job of spreading them around and protecting some for spawn... The problem IS, the fish that are NOT returning to Cook Inlet. The bulk of them intercepted or died off at sea. So please ADF+G, let's get busy solving this puzzle....remember, the first step in problem solving is to admit there is a problem.

So, all of you fishing this week and next. We'll see you in that black boat at 5:30 a.m. .. bring a smile. There's a rumor that we might get bait turned on so we'll just see. Either way, we're fishing.😎

One of my neighbors found a use for our new signs...I like it. I don't think he's going to comply.