Eagle Rock

Well I've been  putting some serious time in trying to get that first King Salmon of the season.  Sunday was the 35th anniversary of my friend Les Anderson's 97 1/4 pound world record catch and I've fished May 17th every year since.  It's not that I really expect some magic ju-ju on that day it's more about connectivity with the past, a way to keep it fresh. So, once again no salmon but me and MP and Bill Radke fished pretty hard. It's so strange there's nobody out fishing and I just don't get it. I'm pretty sure there is yet to be a King caught and we almost always have the rumor control rolling by now....and being  the only ones fishing it's kind of hard to decide it if there aren't any fish around or we're just having bad luck...I hope it's the later. Here's a pic of my favorite interception point looking both upriver and downriver on a really important day on the Kenai.

Through the years I've seen just about everything there is to see on top of Eagle Rock. Seagulls , ravens, logs , debris and even boats....but only one other time than Sunday have I ever seen an Eagle on Eagle Rock . He stood still just long enough for me to get the pic.

Years ago I had a photographer out who was doing a story for National Geographic about Alaska's Salmon dependent Eagles. He told me that someday this place would be as famous for the amount of Eagles as it is for the amount of salmon and I get his jist, right now in the lower river they are everywhere.  Yesterday on drift boat Monday Bill and I anchored in the middle of Fall-in-Hole and at one point counted 14 within view. It's so weird, the juveniles spend a lot of time on the ground and the adults are swooping and cackling as they work up to mating. It's also strange that when we do our walks along the river in Soldotna we see Eagles but nothing like here at Mile 14. If I had to guess I'd say that between Mile 14 and Beaver Creek ( 4 miles ) that there are 50 to 75 resident baldies, maybe even a hundred.

So now you're thinking he's talking Eagles because he can't catch a fish...mmmm....and you'd be right about that .

But oh....MP caught the Hooligan. That's another weird thing, when the hooligan hit the river so do the salmon, it's that food chain deal you hear about. I've caught King Salmon as early as May 3rd and to be here at May 19th and no Kings yet or even having not seen Kings rolling is kind of scary. One of the things we know is that if you graph a salmon run it makes a bell shaped curve and a large run starts to build the bell early and a small run builds the bell later. You often hear from salmon people that the run 'is late ' and sometimes it is and I really hope that is the case here now. But sometimes it's just a small run.....keep your fingers crossed for us.

I've been working on a new song and I didn't really think it was yet ' fit for human consumption ' as MP puts it when I'm satisfied but I recorded it last night and even with a flub up or two I kinda like it. Tonight I'll be back practicing in my usual environment...the garage. Every year as soon as it warms up I get moved out so MP can reclaim her dining room....Kinda funny, when I was a kid I'd hear " take that #$&* out to the garage " ....and now I'm a grown man with my own direction in my life and my own dreams and love of making home spun music, but it's still gotta be in the garage, like always 😎

2020

Ya know we're not even half way into the year 2020 and I have to tell ya, of all the years I've wandered the planet this is shaping up to be one of my least favorites . Today I watched highlight clips of a day old Pro Baseball game from Korea....yawn...the only good news is that having cut the cord finally I watched it for free on an OTA ( over the air ) channel. But that free thing can cost ya too, it's cost me my usually rosey view of the world and all the possible outcomes, the mystery of sports ya know, like the mystery of WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I WATCHING...and WHY  !!! jeez, I feel better now.

So on top of all that is this new world you might remember that record or near record snow fall that me and MPeasy came home to. Well, it's put the kibosh on one of my favorite things, the sport of Marine Salvage on the World Famous. I'll explain it as if I were an ADF+G  person doing a power point presentation at a River Board meeting..... Deep snow = lots of snow melt which = lots of water = high river level = deep water = water over you boots when salvaging and difficulty spotting treasure...and oh, that water is cold.  My first good foray down to Fall=in-hole I came back with the inside of my boats washed out. I told MP I had worn the wrong socks and my feet were wallowing around in my Extra Tuff boots and I thought I was getting blisters so I let some water in to cool my feet 😎. I don't know, maybe I'm like that ageing athlete and losing a step or two but I've been up and down the river. Yesterday we went to the run at Eagle rock which has always been ground zero for anchors, the holy grail of the marine salvager....notta...nothing...none. But I did find this hundred dollar rubber net so at least we're in the chips here at Mile 14 for the 2020 season.

But I did learn a valuable thing, don't gamble on the Golf Course with anybody from Kenai Riverbend Resort because it could be the guy who hit these balls across the river. Now the distance is impressive but the accuracy incredible,  they were all ' on the green ' . At one place I found four of them within a 10 foot circle of each other, impressive. I even told one of the owners that our crew here at Mile 14 would try and return a few of those balls but we just don't have ball strikers like that on this side of the river, we're fishermen, don't have time to be no 5 handicapper.  Naturally with the way things are going I wasn't surprised when the pic didn't turn out.

You see that red string looking deal at the bottom of the pic ? Well it's a tag that was put into a King Salmon by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game. They like to track fish and map spawners and all kinds of things that leads to good management of this wonderful resource. Right on it it says Please return to ADF+G ( address P.O.  box Soldotna Alaska ) . So I figure I'll put it in the boat and return it when I see an ADF+G technician who would love to hear the story form me of where and how it was located and maybe even what it all might mean to a highly experienced and educated 37 year fishing guide 😎

So with our salvage season going the  way of the Seattle Mariners season me and MP just went fishing yesterday and it felt really good . Really good like in a comfort way, that might sound strange to you but that's really how I felt...of course that might have also come from a mini dose of hypothermia that most early spring trips create...but I don't think so...I was with two things I really love.

" Today we fished for King Salmon and they were unaware of it " Chic Kishbaugh 

Happy Mothers Day to all of you out there. My song of the week is for the favorite mother in my life right now...and honey, I'm still trying to be a better kid, I promise.