VALDEZ SILVERS ARE SMOKIN' Late August is the time for silvers in Valdez and this year appears to be providing a bumper crop of the big shouldered brutes similar to the one shown here. Kathern KAT Stanley was out with friends on a private boat 8/24 and as soon as they were clear of the harbor there were silvers everywhere....all seemingly attracted to Kat's offering. It was difficult to keep the lines baited and in the water with the action so intense and more often than not on her rod. This fish was the largest of the day for their boat and broke the 17 pound mark but alas, no derby ticket that day. This week should be great for the shore anglers fishing Allison Point where silvers school up in an attempt to return to the hatchery in the area. Photo courtesy of Robert Bobo Smith.

AN INTERESTING FISH TO SAY THE LEAST This is a silver salmon caught during the Seward Silver Salmon Derby. It was Daily Big Fish (Women Division), Biggest caught from a sailboat (derby), and 19th overall on the leader board (14.89 lbs). The boat was the S/V Fairwinds. Fitz's daughter, Ashley, was visiting from college in Utah after spending her summer in Cordova with a conservation project for her college internship. This side trip with the family on a derby day had some unexpected gains. Congrats on the catch~! Photo courtesy AKFitz.

A MONUMENTAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF... Jesse Tyrrell, four years old, just landed his first salmon while on a family outing to Six Mile River in the Hope district of the Kenai Peninsula. The fish was nearly as big as he was and was a chrome bright chum that put up a great fight. Six Mile is "world famous" for its whitewater rafting experiences and not many anglers are aware of a small but fun fishery in this stream if you time it right. Photo courtesy "Sockeye Charlie" Tyrrell.

BEEN A TOUGH SEASON FOR SOME Catching kings in the Kenai this season has been really tough. And in fact on this day after the season closed a guide friend of mine told me that the last day of the season, July 31st, was the first day he actually limited all four anglers in the boat with kings. Matthew Driskell, holding his lunker king in the photo, was fishing with his dad, uncle and cousin on the 25th and had his line in the water 10 mins. to make this hook up. Photo courtesy Howard Driskell.

FIRST TIME DIPPER JOINS THE FUN Dipnetting for salmon continues to grow in popularity with Alaska residents, who are the only ones allowed to participate in such fisheries. Tourists can only watch. Ethan Forsyth, 10, was part of the first wave of dippers hitting the Fish Creek dipnet fishery in the Matsu Valley and even landed one fish before his dad took over on the net. Hundreds of Alaskans flocked to this small creek who didn't have a chance to get to the Kenai Peninsula to dip on the Kasilof or Kenai rivers. This was the second year the Fish Creek sockeye run was strong enough to exceed the upper escapement goals and allow this dipnet fishery to open on a Fish & Game Emergency Order. In spite of the hundreds of nets in the water for the week this fishery was open over 15,000 additional reds still made it through the gauntlet and into Big Lake to spawn and renew the run. The current escapement is over 102,000. Photo courtesy Bryan Forsyth.

FIRST TIME LIMIT OF KNIK COHO Five year old Kaylani Ugalino poses with her brother Kevin as they show off a limit each of coho taken on the Knik near Jim Creek while fishing with their dad during the last week of July. Jim Creek sockeye and silvers draw big crowds each year as anglers flock to the semi-remote area to fish. This year seems to be a plus year for silvers and many anglers hitting the stream are picking up limits of reds and silvers while fishing flies, lures and drifting eggs. This was Kaylani's first salmon and she hooked and landed both coho herself after her dad cast out for her. Pautzke's Fire Cure egg cure seems to be a popular salmon roe treatment that is working well out there...and in fact a number of anglers are picking up sockeye on eggs drifted with no weight. Must be the krill flavor in the cure. Photo courtesy y0gee.

SEWARD SALTWATER PRODUCES MULTI-SPECIES BOAT LIMITS

When you have a fishing group big enough to fill the charter boat it can open more opportunities than when fishing with a mixed group of strangers. Nearly every seaport along Alaska's coast has at least a few fishing charter boats who offer "combo trips" that will target more than one species of fish. Of course the rates are a bit higher since this type of fishing involves traveling to multiple locations to find each type of fish you are seeking. Kevin Gross, holding up the big lingcod at left, rounded up five of his fishing friends who headed out of Seward at 6am in the search of Lingcod, black rockfish, Yelloweye, silvers and halibut in that order. Not to disappoint, their skipper was up to the challenge and had them on fish at the first drop of the hook. Everyone limited on Lingcod and black (bass) rockfish and then it was on to track down the coho. These were more elusive and took some effort but everyone finally landed their three silvers each. Wrapping up the trip was halibut on the agenda and Joe Berglove took "big fish of the day" with his 60 pound flatfish. Photo courtesy Kevin Gross.

TAG TEAM EFFORT - KENAI BRUISER LANDED ON DRIFT ONLY MONDAY Scott Provolt from Anchorage paired up with his dad Dale from Eagle River to hit the Kenai River on the third Drift Only Monday of July to see what might be on the bite. Mondays are reserved to non-guided, non-commercial boat anglers fishing from non-powered watercraft, including but not limited to drift boats, catarafts, rubber rafts, any boat with no motor on/in it, and even a float tube is legal. Its a remarkable day of fishing with almost complete silence on the river and the only sounds are of other drifters whooping and high fiving during their own fishing efforts. Its almost guaranteed to be a very productive day and becomes more popular each year. Drift Only Mondays begin in May and run through July on the Kenai. On July 19th Scott was on the oars and in a flash his rod had a massive take-down with a drag-burning run. Dale reacted first as the oarsman was busy putting some muscle into following this fish before it spooled them. They hit the fish above Big Eddy and fought it almost to RiverBend campground before putting the net under it. Needless to say Scott got a lot of practice on the oars and realized there is a lot more to the effort than meets the eye when a big hog is on the line. The fish posted some impressive numbers with a 48" length x 28" Girth. Sometimes it pays to Double Up when tackling one of Kenai's finest trophies. Photo courtesy Scott Provolt.

CONGRATULATIONS - ITS A BOY HOG~!

AND THE PROOF Carrie Kegler and her brother grew up here fishing on the Kenai with their dad Kurt and spent a lot of time fishing for kings, reds, and silvers every summer. This season was "wedding time" and Uncle Randy Schroeder of Embarrass MN came up for the event as well as to look around and sample some of our local fishing. Kurt took him out last Thursday and Randy proceeded to tie into as nice a fish as the Kenai can offer just above Eagle Rock. Chrome bright and pushing the scales to the 78 pound mark. Comments were overheard later that Randy would have to invite Kurt back to MN for a whitetail hunt and bag a 14 point buck to equal this fishing feat. That's a tall order Randy! Photo courtesy Carrie Marie Kegler.

LADIES DAY AT THE PARK SWIFTWATER PARK that is. A very popular and productive section of the Kenai River in Soldotna that offers camping, day use parking, and a boat launch. The "boys" took the gals fishing the other day during one of those rare "sun" events and these chicks really knew how to flip a fly....quickly putting to rest the claim to fame as who the best fishers were with a limit each on the bank before the guys. One of their secrets to success.....lengthen the distance between your fly and your weight in these high water, deep water conditions this summer. Photo courtesy JB Hertzog.

SUPER SOCKEYE Kevin Ugalino frequently tags along with his dad, aka y0gee, on a number of forrays to the various Kenai Peninsula salmon streams each summer. Bing's Landing is another popular sockeye fishing spot on the Kenai River and comes with its own challenges of fast moving rapids and lots of rocks. Landing fish this size on a fly rod takes good tackle and plenty of skill as Kev has mastered. The red run on the Kenai is in its peak right now.Photo courtesy y0gee.

THERE'S A SILVER STREAK COMING They are on their way and in some streams the silver scouts have already arrived. Here is a nice coho Danny bagged a couple days ago at the Eklutna Tailrace. This fishery and several others in the Knik area should see continued improvement in fish numbers each week. Photo courtesy Dave Mccqueen.

TIME TO LOAD THE "BOAT" The July sockeye run on the Kenai River provides plenty of opportunities to catch fish whether you drive to your spot or take a boat. Brian and his buddies took their raft down the Kenai to sample various spots and came up with an impressive "stringer." Photo courtesy Brian Howard.

SAND, SURF, & SOCKEYE~! It might be likened to an Alaska style stampede. Every summer from July 10th thru July 31st the Alaska resident Personal Use Dip Net fishery for the Kenai River provides some extremely unique "recreation" as well as plenty of entertainment for visiting tourists who can watch from several locations along the Kenai Bluff and Overlook. Its a great way to reap the bounty the world famous Kenai River has to offer and fill the freezer in short order.....IF you hit the fish just right. Some days its hot, some days its not.

FUN IN THE SUN! This is called COMBAT DIPNETTING. It's all good though. And fun. And addictive. As many as 250,000 sockeye are caught by Alaskan residents who are allowed to dipnet salmon in this popular personal use fishery. Alaskans come from as far away as NOME for this modern day gold rush to take home fish boxes full of this delicacy. The Kasilof River, just 12 miles south also offers a similar personal use dipnet fishery for Alaskans and they too employ the same techniques.

PWS PRODUCES FISH & WEATHER! Skipper Michael "FL Fisher" Thompson, left, rounded up a group of his colleagues from EAFB, rented a boat and hit the high seas out of Whittier this past weekend. Only to find perfect weather and cooperating halibut at each of their stops. Not like last year when he decided to experience "The Perfect Storm" for something to remember and tell the grand kids about in the future. Everyone on board got a limit with Mike bagging this 40 and his competition, Keith Stolberg taking top honors with this 60 pounder. Photo courtesy FL Fisher.

PLAN B - GO CLAMMING @ THE GULCH! With the ups and downs of Alaska's salmon fisheries this year the one constant is Clam Gulch. Referring of course to the wary wild razor clam that roams the beaches of Cook Inlet and is hunted down and savored by tens of thousands of diggers every season. Due to the spawning cycle of razors a recent spawn and then adult die off has left the Ninilchik beaches lacking large clams with most being only 1 to 3 inchers. But back at Clam Gulch the cycle was a few years earlier and those young clams are eating size now. Avoid the little ones there by going several miles SOUTH down the beach. These were dug Sunday 6/13. Photo courtesy AOJ.

GREAT CLAM TIDES AND GOOD EATING! Every other week of each month there are a set of minus tides that provide outdoors lovers an opportunity for some good fun and exercise. And oh, some excellent eating too. So if you had your fill of fishing and want to pursue some other Alaskan game, there are plenty of razor clams waiting for the summer diggers. And to make the process of cleaning your clams an enjoyable activity I've whipped together a quickie clam cleaning video that will warm the hearts of every digger that has been doing it THE HARD WAY all these years. The video will open in a new window. CLICK HERE or on the photo above to activate the clip. PLEASE DRIVE SAFE~! -KK-

IPHC Rules regarding Filleting Of Halibut at Sea ANCHORAGE -- Under federal rules that are in effect now, a halibut may not be cut into more than two ventral (bottom side) pieces, two dorsal (top side) pieces and two cheeks, all with the skin on. Anglers are allowed to consume halibut while at sea after filleting. This new rule applies statewide. Questions regarding this new rule can be directed to the International Pacific Halibut Commission at: (206) 634-1838.