Part 3: 14 Days of Fishing and Kicking Back Colorado Style!

The 1st week: Fishing on the Kenai Peninsula

Monday, July 11th

We left Homer and headed north about 20 miles to Anchor Point. This is the most westerly highway point in North America. Listening to some Colorado Bluegrass CD’s and hummin along. After all we’re from Colorado and surprisingly a lot of the locals we’ve met are from there too.  (Anchor Point information) You can also see 2 of the volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire from here. They are Mt. Iliamna and Mt. Redoubt. (Ring of Fire information) They are due west across the Cook Inlet and are part of the Lake Clark National Wilderness and Preserve. (Lake Clark National Park information). While we were on the beach we had a great time watching boats get put into the water. They launch them right off the sand into the surf with huge tractors…. $60 for an in and out. We had an even better time fishing the Anchor River for salmon and dolly varden….a sea run arctic char or trout, depending on who you talk to. It was wonderful to be in the water, wading up and down the river. Jim was catching fish and I was trying. Actually I was watching bald eagles and snagging my lures in trees across the river. I saw what I thought was a female only to find out from a local fisherman that it was juvenile eagle. Something not often seen in the lower 48 where we tend to associate eagles with the look of the national symbol. These were big and brown with beautiful white spotted bellies. Truly magnificent birds no matter the stage of development. Anchor Point pictures

Wednesday, July 13th

We left there Wednesday morning and went back to Homer for some more fishing lures as I had managed to lose several. Then we continued north to Deep Creek just south of Ninilchik - don’t you just love these names? (Information on Deep Creek and the Ninilchik area). Upon arrival we had a choice of 2 campgrounds to stay in. The 1^st was on the beach. There were 4 tractors launching boats and the RVs were bumper to bumper (or rather side by side). ATVs were zipping up and down. Evidently the salmon were starting to come in and it was a week of clamming tides. What a zoo! Beach pictures

We opted for the camping and parking area right next to the stream, just south of town, about a mile up from the beach   We pretty much had the place to ourselves. What a beautiful stretch of water. We stayed until Friday and caught lots of salmon …I even caught a few, although the1st one was by the tail and I had to throw him back!

And check this out. On Thursday Jim had a  salmon on a stringer tied to a bush, laying in the water a stones throw away.  The next thing we hear is guys on the opposite bank saying, OMG, look at that! Behind our backs an  eagle flew down stripped it right off the stringer and flew off with it in it’s talons. We watched it fly off… definitely one of the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Then Jim caught another 2 right away so it was OK!

We thought about buying a shovel and some gloves and going clamming but it really looked like a lot of work not to mention that it’s cold and wet and sandy…. and then you have to clean them! Too much like work but luckily I found a place in town where I could buy fresh clams and figured I was about $20 bucks ahead for 2 pounds. There’s also a fair amount of technique involved…..check the link. (How to dig for clams) and (How to clean clams)

Jim’s birthday was on the 15^th. It is his son Joey’s birthday also so we called him up and told him that the 1^st fish on Friday was for him. Sure enough, 1^st cast, got a fish on the line. Must be birthday karma. (Pictures of Deep Creek)

Friday afternoon found us traveling north. We stopped in Soldotna and washed clothes. Discovered Fred Meyer. They do Walmart one better (or 2 or 3).They have an RV dump and water, free overnight parking, a gas station and of course a huge store with a grocery and liquor. The prices were great, too. (Information on Soldotna)

From Soldotna we could go west along Cook Inlet and fish the Swanson River together with lots of surrounding lakes or go east up the Kenai river. The only problem going west was that to make a round trip trip to the Swanson and  back would involve having to travel on several dirt roads. Unpaved roads aren’t a good thing for the structural integrity of one’s RV so we decided to go east up the Kenai and Russian rivers, working our way back to Anchorage and points north.

Turns out we were really glad we did! The main road all the way down the Kenai Peninsula is mostly two lane and it was a solid, steady stream of traffic going west…. the  direction we decided not to go. At first we thought it was just summertime weekend traffic. Then someone said the salmon were running in the inlet at the mouth of the Kenai River. What this means is that people are going there to dip net salmon which are gathering at the inlets in preparation of spawning.  Here are links to videos on You tube. It’s incredible! 

(Kenai Chaos)  (Dip netters rodeo part deux),  (Salmon frenzy) 

Resident Alaskans are entitled to one permit per year per household for personal use to dip or gill net salmon on the Kenai Peninsula. The permit holder may take 25 salmon and 10 flounder along with an additional 10 for each member of the household. This does not include King Salmon, which is very restricted. Primarily the take is sockeye, or what the locals call red’s, which many consider to be the best eating. Needless to say it’s quite a party and the whole family takes part. If you ask me that’s a lot of salmon for a pretty cheap price…. if one is willing to put forth the effort.

We finally wound up at the Kenai River and Russian River Ferry parking area. All the campgrounds were full and every pull off along the highway was marked for no overnight use. As I had promised Jim I would make clam chowder for his birthday dinner, we decided to call a halt to the days travel there. Nothing like chowder made with fresh razor clams for dinner along with home made cookies for the birthday boy’s dessert….yummm. 

This is quite the place. It is where the Russian River joins the Kenai, both very big rivers. The Russian River Ferry was built in the 1930s to get hunters and fishermen across the Kenai and over to the Russian river. It carries people only and  uses a cable system as in the old days.  (Blog on riding the ferry, complete with video)

 People primarily fish from the banks here unless your fortunate enough to own a drift boat or can afford a guide. Believe it or not they have printed etiquette on how to do it properly along with lots of rules and restrictions. Evidently when the salmon are running….generally mid May until the end of September depending on the species…. this area can resemble a war zone and people come to blows. Imagine standing in line shoulder to shoulder, fly fishing, along the bank with a bunch of other people all trying to hook big salmon as they swim past. It’s known as combat fishing…..imagine that.

Here are some of the “Guidelines for the considerate angler”:

Land your fish quickly. 

Try not to allow your line to cross others’

Playing your fish across others’ lines is considered rude and interrupts the fishing

Try to cast in unison with those around you

Give consideration to anglers waiting their chance to fish

Here is a video of what it looks like, you can see why they have guidelines.

(Combat fishing on the Kenai) 

And in the bear guidelines:

If a bear approaches while you are fishing, be willing to give up your fishing spot.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!? 

Oh and it’s recommended that you walk not run from a bear but it’s okay to run from a charging moose….maybe the moose has better credit!

You can only park for 48 hours and then must leave for 24 hours. They even go so far as to verify the time you checked in because if you leave during that time, you lose your spot and have to wait in line for another one. This is all done to help insure that everyone who wants to fish gets a chance. Plus there has been a lot of damage to the banks and the habitat is endangered for the salmon fry.  It is also part of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge so that adds to all the regs. (Kenai NWR information) The Kenai Peninsula and river is a popular spot where many Alaskans go to fish especially during the time when the red’s are in the river. Cooper Landing is the closest town and it is quite the fishing spot, too. (Information on Cooper Landing)

There are an estimated 62,000 king salmon and 970, 662 sockeye in the rivers and it is rumored that between the commercial fishing and sport fishing half are caught. We missed the early runs and we are ahead of the runs going on in the Cook Inlet now. It will be a few weeks before they are up into the river this far. So we will have to settle for fishing for the dollies, grayling, rainbows other varieties of salmon or whatever else jumps on the line…..life is hard.

(Pictures of the ferry and river)

Saturday July 16^th

We continued east on the Sterling Highway past many full campgrounds looking for a creek that actually crossed the road instead of plummeting down a valley and a level place to park for a few days. We were almost to back to Anchorage when we came across Ingram Creek. There was a paved parking area off the highway and the creek was easily accessible. As a bonus the views were amazing although by now we’re getting used to seeing snow capped mountains and glaciers.  LOL The really cool part about this creek was that it emptied into Turnagain Arm making it a tidal fishery. The salmon and dolly varden came up it during high tide and gather in holes. You could see them swimming around as the tide dropped. The trick was to get them to bite….no problem - just watch the locals and do what they do. We had such a good time there and Jim caught fish everyday, I got real good at walking in the creek and got lots of practice casting. We stayed until we ran out of fresh water or we would still be there. (Pictures of Ingram Creek)

Wednesday July 20^th

We got back to Anchorage (Information on Anchorage) this afternoon and went to Walgreen’s for rx, Sam’s Club for coffee, veggie stix, and other necessary essentials, Sportsman Warehouse to get new waders for me colored turquoise ….very fashionable…. along with  fishing lures then on to Walmart  for groceries and you guessed it ….. more fishing lures. Knowing we couldn’t park in places like Walmart we began looking for something on line. Gotta love the internet when your trying to find something on the road. Sure beats the old days of searching for a phone booth with yellow pages only to discover someome’s ripped out the page you needed….remember???  Low and behold we discovered that Ft Richardson, the army base in Anchorage has an RV park as do many other military bases for use by active duty  and retired personnel. This was a new discovery for Jim who’s been retired for a number of years. Ft. Richardson is a joint use facility meaning it shares the same area as Elmendorf Air Force Base. Needless to say it’s a big place with lots of activity going on 24/7. The campground was located in the trees a fair distance from the base proper with nothing around to indicate you were on a military installation. That is nothing on the ground…. overhead was a different matter with the air traffic. Yet we quickly learned to tolerate the sound of jet fighters ….to us that’s the sound of the freedom. Sweet dreams…..