REPORT: Although it was not mine the first reported king has been caught on the Deshka! It was a good looking 25lb chromer. The run is on.

REPORT: I know everyone is itching for that first Ship Creek or Deshka king salmon to be confirmed. But its still early yet. So while there is a lull in the action, why don't you take the kids to one of the area lakes for some trout and char fishing. The stocking truck has been very busy this past two weeks and many lakes have a batch of new fish waiting for those squealing/giggling kids to reel them in. Here is the lowdown!

ANCHORAGE: Cheney Lake has been stocked with nice-sized rainbow trout – larger than your average catchable. Arctic char have also been stocked into Sand and Campbell Point lakes. If you are a fly angler, try a bead-head nymph or leech pattern. Spin fishers should try small spinners, spoons or bait suspended under a bobber. The fish truck will be hitting other area stocked lakes soon so this is just a short list for now.

MATSU: The stocking truck has been busy! Recently stocked lakes include Kepler/Bradley for catchable rainbow trout; Echo, Lynn, Prator, and Memory lakes with catchable Arctic Char.

Take a kid fishing and hook them for life!

REPORT: Just some notice here to let you know F&G has started counting fish in some fisheries now and AOJ is running those charts as the numbers become available. First on the List is the ANCHOR RIVER KINGS which had a fish-tight sonar weir at 9pm Monday night. They counted 6 kings to midnight. Yesterday was the first 24 hr. day of counting and they passed an impressive 63 kings through the beam. That is about 3x what the average for that day would be. The wind was blowing hard yesterday and that may account for the extra large number of fish ducking into the river to get out of the rough seas offshore. This coming weekend, May 19-21, will be the first opening of the Anchor River king season. Expect turbid/muddy water and perhaps high too as spring runoff is just getting started in the Caribou Hills draining into the Anchor. Fishing down in the tide water zone may provide the best opportunities as the saltwater pushing in will be clear. Bait is allowed on this fishery, at least for now. ADFG has issued an EO on the Anchor closing the WEDNESDAY fishing day this year to help get more fish upstream. So its just a weekend fishery this year with possible additional restrictions if the run needs it.

Anglers fishing the Kasilof River can now use BAIT. No word on what sort of action they are having down that way. Not many tourists up here yet to take the drift. Still pretty early for any decent numbers. Remember no retention of steelhead and they can't be removed from the water down there. Over on the Kenai the king sonar counter began May 15 but again this year there won't be any daily counts provided to the public to gauge the trend of the run. A summary of information will be available twice weekly on the ADFG site for those who may be able to glean some value from those charts.

VALDEZ: The Copper River Sockeye/King sonar will be activated TODAY and I'll have some numbers to start charting tomorrow. Remember if you are a dipper at Chitina it takes about TWO weeks from the time the reds are counted at Miles Lake to when they arrive in the dipnetting area. Read the Copper River Dipnet schedule posted at the Chalkboard link at the top of the page. Now that the kings are moving into the region ADFG says Hatchery returns to Flemming Spit and the Old Town site in Valdez should start showing up any day now. Shrimping has been very good outside of Valdez in PWS.

WHITTIER: Don't expect any king salmon fishing at Whittier this year that would be worth spending the gas money. Here is the deal: Stocking King Salmon smolt at Whittier was halted for several years while the new hatchery was being built and smolt availability was limited. Stocking began again in 2010 as the first year. Stocking also was done in 2011. So the ONLY kings that will be returning to Whittier from the stocking program will be a small number of 2 year old "footballs" from the 2010 stocking and some one year old "jacks" from last year's stocking. Don't expect this fishery to produce any full adult 4 year fish until 2014. Aside from that, better news is the coho smolt stocked the past two years have been held in net pens at Cove Creek area with the hopes that they will imprint stronger to that freshwater scent/area and provide bigger numbers of fish later in the summer. Silvers only stay at sea ONE YEAR so last year's stocking will return this season as adults. Expect about 6000 silvers in the return. Shrimping has also been very good out of Whittier this spring. Lots of buckets being filled. If you pull an empty pot its time to relocate to a new drop zone and try again. The shrimp are out there. 400-600 feet deep is the sweet spot.

And lastly if you are down on the Peninsula this weekend May 19th is the first of a 4 day small set of clam tides which can provide a diversion for the kids. This tide set will probably push more hooligan into the southcentral streams too.

Good luck, good fishing, and please drive safely in BOTH directions!

REPORT: Went and dipped the morning tide for a couple hours. No hooligan no seagulls. kinda cold.

REPORT:
Well, I guess it didn't take long for my last forecast to materialize. In between processing a few hundred pounds of herring for the coming halibut season I had a chance to jump aboard the Spare Change with Denny and another couple and do some serious fish sniffing for those kings that should be showing up. Boy, did we have a day today. Launched out of Anchor Point and it wasn't no time at all before we had rods popping port and starboard. Don't have time to elaborate at the moment. Just finished salting another couple hundred pounds of herring and time for a nap before a six pack for halibut in the morning. More pics and details on this trip tomorrow when I have time. No doubt about it. The RUN IS ON! ~Capt. Shane~

REPORT: I Floated the Willow on Saturday in hopes of catching some rainbows. The weather was chilly and windy with some showers throughout the day. Managed to catch an 18 incher and my buddy caught a 17.5 incher but other than that nothing. I am guessing this was due to the low water temperatures. The 2 fish were caught on a black Dahli Lama and a cotton candy colored leach. Hopefully the fishing starts picking up soon.

REPORT:
Troy Manselle brought his family up from Wyoming and got a chance to go fishing after waiting on weather for a day. We didn't get to where we wanted due to the sea conditions but ended up with a box load of small halibut and rock fish. What a great group. They asked me what its like to fish all winter long....and then a snow squall moved in and covered the boat with giant snow flakes. I told them "Just like this."

There are LOTS of small halibut in the bay scattered about so those folks getting their boats on the saltwater should be able to make a limit. A few larger fish are starting to show as they are following the herring into Cook Inlet now. There was a hundred pounder taken a week ago and on Friday we lost an 80 pounder at the boat which was barely hooked by the lip. The black rockfish (aka black bass) are starting to put on some significant weight now as more baitfish are showing in the bay. If you want some great sport take along your sockeye salmon flyfishing rod and set up over a school of these hefty fighters. You can usually coax them up to the surface by keeping a hooked fish in the water and tossing some chum in. Use a 6 inch weighted herring streamer and a sink tip fly line and then hang on. You think a sockeye is a fighter on a fly rod, try these rockfish. Its a great change of pace and plenty of action. I've had 100-200 fish under the boat at times.
As I mentioned the bait is starting to show up in Cook Inlet and herring have just started running the eastside beaches on Friday. A commercial netter friend had his first day of fish on Friday with 500 pounds. Spring has sprung. Its going to bust loose any day now on the migrating kings. Its only up from here. ~Capt. Shane~

REPORT: I got my first line wet of the year. Went out of Deep Creek with some office mates for an early season Halibut trip. Ended up being a great day on the water too! Lots of sunshine with a slight breeze. Went out with a charter (for my 10th year)again and had a great time. The fish were small--typical for this time of the year but still edible nonetheless. I've never had a bad time in my 10 years and we always come away having a great experience. My Charter Captain Arthur was and is always outstanding in his service. This is my yearly trek to kick off the Fishing Season so now it's time to hunt some Kings! Tight lines everyone and have a safe and joyful fishing season. Remember, Fish and let fish!

Bigcee12

[AOJ: Thanks for your report. As you noticed I've omitted the notation referring to the specific charter by name. I've been providing AOJ on the 'net as more or less a public service to the global community for the past 17 years now. And as a homebrew operation I have attempted to keep this site as advertisement-free as is possible. The very few advertising sponsors I have provide enough financial incentive to "keep the lights on here" but don't come close to covering the expenses I incur nor compensate me for the 2000+ hours I put into the site each year. So as a courtesy to my own sponsors who support me I return the favor by allowing them the exclusive "visibility by name" on the site. No business wants to pay for advertising and then compete with someone getting a free plug. So I'm sure all the readers understand that.

As you readers have noticed I do post information here at times provided by my sponsors. The purpose of this Reports page is to generate as close to real time helpful information as possible. So if Early Fishing brings in a boat load of 40-50 pound kings on a Kenai trip or Driftwood Charters nails a limit of migrating kings at Anchor Point, as you can see this is just as helpful to the private angler as anyone else's report. And perhaps it might generate a few clients for them to help pay their light bill too.

I'd sure like to be down in the Bahamas right now fly fishing for bonefish on the flats (Lord knows I've got enough airline miles for the trip) but alas, "MY NAME IS KLONDIKE KID, AND YES I AM ADDICTED TO AOJ!" Keep your hooks sharp!]

REPORT: I was out at the Burma Landing today, (Sunday). The road is very rough and hasn't been plowed yet but we did make it in driving our SUV. Nobody there and the campground still has the gate across it. Good news though-the manual pay stations are still covered with winter wrap! The river was a little high and not quite clear. We passed one PU with boat coming out and it looked like he had been in the river. No sign of fish.

REPORT: Took another pre-season scouting trip to Ship Creek to scout out an early season King. Got to the creek just after high tide and started throwing spinners, spoons and drifting yarn and corkies through the typical holes, but nothing. Water is starting to clear up a bit with about two and a half feet of visibility and should improve in the following weeks. I counted eight other anglers fishing, but from talking with about half of them there was no action or sightings of fish that they had seen. There was a seal that was cruising up and down the creek, probably hoping to find an early King as well. Hopefully we'll begin to see something in a week as quite a few anglers are thinking that the run will start early this year. Remember to bring your license and King tag with you if you fish Ship as State Game Troopers were checking anglers up and down the creek earlier.

REPORT: Was a beautiful day so I decided to take a ride on the Seward Highway and see if anyone was dip netting. Got to 20 Mile and saw 3 people whom all were dippin for hooligan. All together they had about 20 fish so I'm like hey let me call my fishing buddy and let him know. So I go home and eat an awesome dinner cooked by my lovely sunshine and get my son and head back after talking to my friend to get his location. Once I got there and the dippin was on. Had a great day, the drive was breath taking.

REPORT: Canoe and Long lakes are free of ice. Fish are not on beds yet, though. I fished for an hour, had a few strikes on a olive nymph, they were hitting tiny midges out in the middle. I couldn't get them to hit my griffiths gnat. beautiful day, lots of waterfowl.

REPORT: Hit the lake for some nice afternoon fishing today. There are a LOT of dead fish on the banks but i gave it a shot anyway. Ended up catching and releasing a nice 14-16 inch char. All I was throwing was kastmaster silvers. Seemed to work great. Still a bit worried about all the dead fish. Majority of them were 12-18 inches with a few larger)

[AOJ: Most likely its winter kill from low oxygen in the water just before the ice goes out. It happens a lot especially on lakes that are fairly shallow.

The GOOD NEWS is the new sportfish hatchery is cranking out plenty of fish now at full speed and the word is that they are going to be stocking some good-sized catchables in the lakes in the Valley this year. I suspect Anchorage Bowl will get their share of bigger stockers too. Finally we will be seeing the rewards from the longer than expected wait in the conversion process from the old hatchery to the new facility. ADFG has a list they keep current with what lakes have been stocked with fish. All the lakes that are on a yearly schedule will be seeing the fish truck very soon now that the ice is going out on the lakes. And in fact Jewel Lake had some rainbows stocked on April 1st. Visit ADFG Fish Stocking Update Page and on the right side select your area and then choose the lake(s) you are interested in. ]

REPORT: I've heard that there's a terminal King fishery in Whittier, but I haven't been able to get much information. Does anyone know if it's true, and when they might be coming in? Thanks!!

[AOJ: I'd suggest browsing through last season's ADFG Weekly Fishing Reports for PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND and look for Whittier entries and the king fishery. (Scroll to the bottom of the F&G page to the "previous archived years" and select 2011 for the year. Once you get some timing info you can come back to AOJ reports and review that time period last year in the archived pages listed at the top of this page and see how anglers might have been doing. Its been a pretty hit-n-miss fishery for the past several years. ADFG also has a stocking database on their site that you can look up how many smolt were released each year in Whittier. Figure about 4% of that number will be adults that survive and make it back to the harbor area. Good luck.]

REPORT: I just received this note and pic from one of AOJ's master fly fishers so thought I'd pass it on since there haven't been too many successful reports from the Parks streams yet.

Just got back from fishing the Parks Highway streams. My girlfriend and I caught 30 plus fish over two days and lost well over a dozen. Talked to a few people on the river and most got skunked, so I feel very fortunate that we did so well. Yesterday I caught four different species; rainbow, grayling, whitefish, and dolly. The picture of her (Morgan Miller) is the biggest rainbow she has caught on a fly rod. She caught it on the first cast with a fly she tied the day before. ~Shane~


OK, the fish are out there. Selection, technique, presentation. Its all in the wrist. Heheh

REPORT: I took my boat out on a river for the first time this year, and fished with two friends on the Deshka River. We fished exclusively with different types of plugs, but had no bites and saw no fish. We were hoping for king salmon, but even a bite from a rainbow trout would have been nice. Typical of this time of year, the Deshka River is high with some grass and debris floating down river. The Susitna River is low with some ice along the side, and some ice and debris floating down the river as well, but most of the big ice flows seem to have already flushed down stream. Navigating to the Deshka River was easy and uneventful -- the way most of us like it.

REPORT: I floated Willow Creek Saturday, slow fishing. I must have switched my fly ten times and nothing worked well. Finally caught a 15 incher near the mouth on a small black leech. The creek is full of blown down trees. We had to cut through 3 snags and haul the raft over the log jams. The 1st raft take out in the campground is too low and full of ice; don't plan on using this one. We had to use the lower take-out on the Big 'Su. If I go next weekend I'll take a chainsaw and cut out some of the obstacles. Slow, slow, slow.

REPORT: Put in about six hours cleaning my net in the water at 20 Mile. I was the only one there, that should have been my first clue that the hooligan were not there in any numbers yet. Didn't net a single fish.

[AOJ: Just called the "hotline" tonight and its pretty much a generic recording. It may not be that helpful for anything realtime. So we all will rely on whoever has sampled 20 Mile to sound off here to keep us all up to speed. Thanx.]

REPORT: Well, yesterday we hit Willow Creek in hopes of hooking up with some nice bows but after about four hours of non-stop fishing, we decided to call it quits. Not much going on but we did have a few bites. I would recommend using either some flesh flies, nymphs, or dark-colored leeches with a strike indicator. Also, fishing earlier in the morning might help. There were a few other fishermen on the river next to us but they also did not seem to have any luck.

REPORT: Was wondering if anyone had some reports on the Kasilof? Are the water conditions good right now and has anyone heard if the early kings are starting to trickle in? Looking to get the kayak out on the water and catch some fish.

[AOJ: The river is open, not much shore ice left. Still single hook artificial only thru May 15th. Then bait is allowed. Some outmigrating steelhead are passing through the area from upriver. There are always a couple of kings present by this time each year but fishing is tough. I'd use a Tiny Tadpolly or the smallest T Spoon, very slow retrieve just off the bottom. Silver color.]

REPORT: Decided to make another test run down at Ship Creek to see if there was anything in the water that had fins. Fished an hour before evening high tide to about an hour after. Water clarity is poor and there are quite a few floating debris, but almost all the ice is gone from the shoreline (minus the few pieces floating in and out with the tide). While I didn't have any luck with my phantom finned quarry, I got quite a bit of action from strands of seaweed, a few clam shells and hooked a floating ice patch that put up an amazing fight before being turned loose back into the river to continue its journey. Saw three other anglers out also, but nothing to report on their end. Hopefully we'll start seeing something in a week or so, but keep in mind that the run is still very early. Hope to see you out on the water this season. Tight lines...

REPORT: Hey KK! went down to the Spit for some butter clams (the bay side has nice ones, try the beach by the lagoon) and thought to check out Lands End before heading home. A few people were flinging bait out so we grabbed the "truck rod" and joined them... Fortunately, one of my boys wanted to keep a couple soft shell clams "for bait" so we rigged up with a 1 oz. pyramid on a slider, a foot of 20 lb and a 2/0 octopus tied egg loop style....after we caught an Irish Lord we rigged up a chunk of belly meat and nailed a ten pound halibut! THE FISH ARE IN AT THE SPIT! Folks were catching the usual lords, cod, flounder and sole...Thanks for all you do!

REPORT: Well, are you looking for something to do this weekend? The lakes are definitely starting to break out to open water and over the next few days most lakes will be fishable in the Valley, Anchorage and the low elevations on the Peninsula. And those trout are often hungry enough to provide some good action especially for KIDS! Many of the rainbows in landlocked stocked lakes will be trying to spawn but have no place to go. You'll frequently see them cruising the shoreline and often they hang around gravel bottom areas. These are reluctant to bite but persistence and experimentation can often unlock their secret. Besides salmon eggs and roe, you can try shrimp, cheese, mini-marshmallows tipped with a single red salmon egg, and worms not to mention the wide variety of Powerbait selections. For fly fishers a Beadhead nymph can often solicit a response since there are very few hatches on the surface at this time of year and a nymph is what they are still feeding on.

But for the more adventurous there are GREAT clam tides beginning today (Friday) with the series hitting minus 5 footers. Plenty of digging time and the clams are waiting. Larger clams may be found around Deep Creek and Ninilchik area but Clam Gulch has a good supply of nice eating size clams too. Its a great opportunity to do a "shake down cruise" with your camper, rv, or tents and make repairs and adjustments in preparation for the summer.

Hooligan are entering the Kenai River and although I haven't had any report YET I'm sure there are some hoolies to be had at 20 Mile River now. Don't have any word on the Resurrection River hooligan run either. But its that time of the year.

Still pretty early for halibut. A few dinkers out there, maybe to 20# if you are lucky. (The boats were out on April 30th tagging all the Homer Halibut Derby tagged fish and had no problem finding fish but again, they were all pretty small.) But kings in Cook Inlet are the Number 1 target now on the saltwater. A few spawner kings are running the beaches now from Anchor Point to north of Ninilchik. Feeder kings are also out there although they are usually found further offshore.

REMEMBER there is a CONSERVATION ZONE One Mile Wide along much of the beach from Bluff Point to north of Ninilchik River. If you will be trolling for kings along the Cook Inlet beach be sure to read PAGE 19 of the 2012 Regulations booklet for the map and the identification of the No Fishing Zones and the area of the Conservation Zone Corridor where you must stop fishing if you catch and keep a king.

Perhaps an easier way to capitalize on those kings is a trip on a charter. Talking with Captain Shane these past two days. He has decided to extend his WEEKDAY KING SALMON TRIP SPECIAL Price of $175 per person with a four person minimum for another couple of weeks to give those who can go fishing on weekdays a chance at a discounted rate. With migrating kings entering into the fishery as well as the feeders presence its twice the opportunity to hit some fish. And with halibut starting to trickle into the Inlet there is always the chance of hooking a chicken halibut on the troll gear as a bonus. You will need to tell the booking gals that you want the AOJ WEEKDAY SALMON TRIP SPECIAL PRICE. You can visit Shane's website from the link on the cover page for Driftwood Charters for their phone number.

The weather is finally warming back up. And many more folks will be on the road. PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY BOTH WAYS! And watch out for motorcycles.

REPORT: Decided to scout out the lakes tonight. First stop was little Campbell lake.still quite a bit of ice, but open in spots. Action was dead, after 30 minutes decided to try Delong Lake. Delong Lake is free of all ice, saw a few jumpers but that was it. No luck with salmon eggs or worms, so decided to try my luck at Jewel Lake. Ice is free about 100 yards, but still a bit of thin ice left in spots. Cast out a panther martin lure a few times and bam-had about 5 char chasing my lure and ended up catching a 14 inch Arctic char that ended up swallowing the hook! He ended up coming home with me. Ended up catching and releasing about 3 more arctic char before I called it a night. I was surprised to see decent sized char in Jewel Lake - they were very aggressive in chasing the lure and were definitely hungry! Biggest fish I've ever caught there. All in all a great trip to Jewel Lake. Can't wait till they stock this lake with the new hatchery fish.

REPORT: I was having no luck yet with trout in Jewel Lake (ice is melting fast! Half the lake is free) so I headed north to Fire lake to try some spring pike fishing. After a couple hours and not a nibble... I was forced to give up. I was there between 8 and 10 pm using a spin rod and a couple different fake minnow lures. I think its still to early. The lake is still mostly covered in ice. Maybe next week they will be a little more lively.

REPORT: Was just chatting with the Seward ADFG biologist about the Resurrection River sockeye run and what we sporties can expect this year. Things have changed a bit for the worse this season. So head's up if you plan to go fish there.

This year the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association (CIAA) will again engage in Cost Recovery efforts using a few contracted seiners to scoop up the reds until the hatchery has recovered its operational costs for growing the salmon. Then the "season" will open for the actual commercial fleet to round up the rest of the fish. I don't know exactly how long that will take. But if one day you see a couple of boats and the next you see a dozen, I guess you can tell that way. So from a sportfishing point its going to be like last year.

Opps, here's the new exception. CIAA has apparently been experimenting with rearing sockeye fingerlings in saltwater net pens in the bay during the spring before releasing them as smolt. These fish imprint to that area, the wood pile, and therefore don't want to swim up the Res River. They mill around in the bay thinking they are home. You can see the writing on the wall here, don't you? Fish don't want to swim up the river, anglers don't get a shot at catching them as they enter and go upstream. Less fish available for the sport fishers. Last year the hatchery had good enough returns to the net pen area to be encouraged to continue this method of imprinting the fish to saltwater rather than to the freshwater river. Earlier years hadn't produced results as good as 2011. So I guess the jury is still out as to whether this will become a significant portion of the return each year or just a lucky supplemental bonus.

It's OFFICIALLY SUMMER~! Homer ADFG has issued their first weekly fishing report for the season. Other areas will be following shortly. Watch the home page for this Chalkboard notice to change to "NEW" for the latest posting or you can access all the weekly ADFG reports from the SIDE MENU on the left side of this reports page.

REPORT: Decided the time was right to break out the tackle box, dust off the fishing rod and make a trek down to old Ship Creek to scout around a little. Hit the water about an hour after the morning high tide and flung spinners and spoons and drifted a few corkie rigs, but not surprisingly nadda. Did see one other angler fishing the lower section, but like myself, he was taking the time to test his waders and gear. Water color was very good, but we'll probably see discolored water creep down from higher elevations in a few weeks. Hopefully by then there will be a few Kings nosing in (keep your fingers crossed).

Also heard from a buddy of mine who recently fished Willow Creek for rainbows. He reported that in the two and a half hours of fishing he was able to land four rainbows on a fly rod and a weighted egg sucking leech. He said water conditions were favorable. Once ice-out happens on the Anchorage and Mat-Su Valley lakes, we should see some strong trout action happen. Be a good time to ready the boat or float tube as these trout will be active and hungry.

On another note, I was reading the report from alaskadad about the Kenai Kings and the state the river fishery is in. Very disturbing to say the least, but honestly it doesn't surprise me. My last trip to the Kenai to fish for Kings was back in 2005 and after enduring six hours of what can only be described as insanity from fishing with the couple hundred other boats packed together, I swore that it would be my last time fishing for the Kenai Kings. What would possess an angler to put up with that kind of tension and fishing pressure? Is it honestly just for the slim chance that he or she might hook into a trophy King? The way things are headed with the King Stocks on the Kenai it's only a matter of time before the run gets wiped out completely, or ADFG makes drastic changes in an effort to keep the fish numbers at what they consider a "sustainable" level. I believe that a strict catch and release policy should be adopted and that the commercial and set net fisheries undergo strict monitoring and harvest quotas in order to stop the downward spiral that is the Kenai King Fishery. Just my two cents on that subject... Tight Lines.

[AOJ: The lower Kenai River on a guided fishing day during the July king run is absolute insanity for sure. That is why I choose to fish only Sundays with my power boat or hop a ride with a friend on Drift Only Mondays. With the Slot Size Limit extending to July 15th for the river upstream of the Soldotna bridge to protect early run spawners, it has pushed even more guides and private boats down into the mayhem.

The Kenai River kings are not the only fishery "in trouble." As you can see from the just released ADFG Emergency Orders above on King Salmon sport fisheries, the problem runs deep throughout the entire state from the Yukon to Bristol Bay to Kodiak to Cook Inlet to PWS and Copper River fish stocks. I was speaking to John Burr yesterday, the Fairbanks area biologist who issued the EO on Yukon River king salmon closure for sportfishing and it seems there is a growing concensus in the department that something is occurring at sea that is taking its toll on king salmon stocks. And it can't be attributed to by-catch of the trawlers because we have had that same by-catch every year when returns of kings were hitting record levels. And the wide range of rearing and feeding areas of these individual runs also suggests a more broad problem. We all know climate change is upon us and what is going on in the oceans is still largely unrecognized let alone analyzed and explained. Even one or two degrees in water temperature could tip the scales for an epidemic outbreak of a fish disease, fungus, infection, or parasite infestation that is turning our young king salmon into crab bait on the bottom of the ocean without a trace or indication of the cause. Lots of folks are working on it. In the meantime we here "on the beach" can only try to protect what remains of the returns until the situation turns around.]

REPORT: Live on Finger in the Valley, looks like some serious melting going on but not really fishable yet. Looking at the Stocking reports, it does not look like F&G is bothering with Finger anymore. It has been slow all winter. Quick question, does F&G distribute a report showing the tagged over 55 inch Kenai Kings over the last several years? I know they take the measurements and such, but just curious if the Kings are getting smaller. Sure seems like it.

[AOJ: The 55 inch king data isn't posted on their website but there is one logical reason for that. There aren't any Kenai River king salmon over 55 inches being brought into Fish & Game to be sealed anymore. Speaking with their king biologist just this morning on the phone he said that its been several years since any Kenai king salmon over 55 inches have been brought into the office to be sealed and recorded. Their test net crews down at the sonar have not recorded any fish of that size in their nets in many years.

Kinda makes you think back to the Passenger Pigeon, Dodo Bird, and the American Bison doesn't it. The probability of seeing even one of these fish in the future looks pretty slim.....i.e. grim.

On a LIGHTER NOTE: I saw several seals under the bridge at the Kenai Flats last night working the incoming tide. A sign that some hooligan are beginning to trickle into the Kenai River as also confirmed by the F&G biologist I spoke with today. And that means there is probably a king salmon or two entering the Kenai now too. Sonar counting information won't be available again this season unless they complete the switchover to 100% Didson counting. So we'll have to wait and see what might be available this year to judge the runs. With the Valley king fisheries in tough restrictions more attention is definitely going to be paid to the Kenai and Kasilof rivers as well as the weekender streams on the lower Peninsula.]

REPORT: Went and stopped by Jewel Lake today to see if the ice was out yet- not quite. But gettin' there. There's about 10 feet of shore showing in some spots, and various patches open, not quite the 20 feet yet that I'm looking for. Any day it should be out, and I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of hungry fish lookin' for their first ice free meal. May 2nd is my original guess of it being ice free, but it could be a bit longer due to it cooling off a bit. Can't wait for some Pre-season fishin, aka trout before the salmon start!

[AOJ: I stopped by ARC Lake in Soldotna on a dump run on Saturday and the ice is totally rotten. Very wet. Only 1-2 feet of open shore. Some good warm and windy days should get it moving around and breaking up soon. I'm looking forward to getting my pontoon boat wet with the fly rod in hand. Only used it twice last summer.]

REPORT: Anyone know when the first run of Russian Reds enter the lower Kenai? And, can you flip for them with any success?

[AOJ: Statistically the first RR early run reds enters the Kenai in mid-May. You can probably count them on one hand that day. Fish are arriving at RR confluence during the 1st week of June. With the very low water conditions of the Kenai during this time RR fish keep their heads down and just power up the river giving little sign on the surface that they are there. So its always a crap shoot. Naturally the closer to the end of May you get the greater the daily counts moving up the Kenai providing better opportunities of "hitting" them. You have to remember that daily counts are on the order of a few hundred to a couple thousand per day (24 hour day) so its not going to provide the same action as when the Kenai reds come in. Bings Landing is one spot where due to the rapids the fish may stack up enough to catch a few. Some anglers have even fished Swiftwater Park with success. Finding suitable water depth to concentrate the fish is the biggest problem with the early season when the Kenai is so low. Fish tend to stay well out from the shallow water that by mid summer is 3 foot deep and full of Kenai reds. There are always a few anglers who post their results here. So keep and eye out.]

REPORT: Hit Ship Creek for a scouting/knock the cobwebs off afternoon. Water looked good, still a bit of Ice on the banks especially south side between the railroad trestle and the driving bridge. Didn't see anything much to suggest fish. Tossed a couple different colors and sizes of vibrax and pixies on the off chance there might be one lurking in the depths. No luck. But it was a beautiful afternoon and I plan on hitting it again tomorrow to try closer to the mouth.

[AOJ: Well the shakedown "cruises" are always a good idea before the real action begins. Perhaps not a bad time to decide if your line needs changing out from too much memory set or just plain too old. And sharpen up those hooks. More fish are lost due to dull hooks than probably any other cause. Looks like Sunday will be a great day outside weatherwise. We ARE getting close to seeing a genuine swirl or two in Ship. Saltwater king fishing has been non-stop all winter in Lower Cook Inlet and bigger fish are starting to show in the fish box. Good chance its our spawners coming on the scene for this year's runs. We'll know for sure when we see hens with eggs starting to develop.]

REPORT: Went out a number of times this month enjoyed the great weather. It seems like every April in the Homer / Anchor Point area April is a great weather month. This was no exception. With the fishing getting better, we have been able to find 2 or more kings that are box worthy. The bait has been all over one day and then nothing the next day. Best thing to do is to pick an area and work it. It will produce some action. Thinking about going out to the sand waves on the next trip to search for bait and Kings. I have a feeling that there might be more bait offshore.
[AOJ: Looks like the weather was just as beautiful as the fish. I agree, spring produces lots of dry, calm weather with lots of sunshine.]

REPORT: In the afternoon (after the temperatures had warmed up) I drove my niece, Anna Warta, and my nephew, Paul Warta up the Parks Highway to fish for trout in the tributary streams draining into the Susitna River. The main place we fished was Willow Creek, where we parked at the end of Willow Creek Parkway and hiked into the mouth of the creek over hard packed snow -- with a few punchy spots. Snow was deep enough that my niece pulled her knee boots off in a few places to dump out snow after stepping in soft spots.

Once we got down to where Willow Creek ran into the Susitna River there was plenty of open water to fish, and we also saw 3 other groups of fishermen. There was still lots of ice up above the river water level and along the bank which we walked on. We spent all of our time casting single hook #3 and #4 Flashtrap Spinners. My niece hooked, battled, and landed the only fish we saw -- a fat and vivid-colored rainbow trout of about 23 inches. I removed the hook with the fish still in the water and it swam away to fight another day. It was such pleasant afternoon that we stayed for a few hours, and enjoyed casting in the sunshine.

We later stopped at a couple other streams further north along the Parks Highway, however, conditions were not near as good with dirtier water and considerably more large chunks of ice floating downstream and dragging along the bottom in areas where we wanted to fish. Consequently most of our fishing time was spent at Willow Creek.

Deshka River --
Deshka Landing reported that the last few miles of ice on the Deshka River washed out during the same time we were up fishing Willow Creek -- http://www.deshkalanding.com/ The boat launch and parking lot at Deshka Landing are still snow and ice covered, however, and the landing is not open to summer open water traffic at this time.

Little Susitna River --
The upper river where it crosses the under the Parks Highway has been ice free for more than a week now, and according to Mike Hudson with 3 Rivers Fly & Tackle the lower river is also ice free. Both Mike, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game Biologist, Samantha Oslund told me the road into Little Susitna Public Use Facility Campground and Boat Launch is in terrible shape with snow and slush covering the last couple miles of road. That portion of road is dirt and turns to mud when things thaw out, so it is best to stay off for a while so the road does not get tore up. This is one of the earliest streams to provide an opportunity to catch salmon in the Mat-Su Valley, and also one of the most heavily used sport fisheries for salmon in the entire Mat-Su Borough as well. I wonder why the State of Alaska built a multi-million dollar camping, parking, and boat launch facility at this location more than 20 years ago, and has not bothered to upgrade the road enough so that the public can comfortably access the facility early in the season when it is one of a very few open water fishing opportunities available.

[AOJ: Thanks so much for the Valley details. With the seasonal restrictions imposed already on Valley king fisheries this is going to be a challenging year for anglers. All the more important for folks to share their experiences and knowledge so we all can make the most of a difficult situation.

Along those lines, the lower Peninsula streams of Ninilchik River, Deep Creek and Anchor River are the most popular early season king fisheries and tons of folks take this opportunity to just get outta town to go camping, get some campfire smoke in their hair and maybe get lucky and catch a king. With record snowfall in the Caribou Hills this year its expected that all of these streams may have some difficult water conditions during their king seasons. Since Captain Shane will be driving by these drainages nearly every day, I'll be using him as a firsthand source of information on water conditions so you don't make a 400 mile round trip to a chocolate colored blown out stream. One thing to perhaps consider is planning your trip on the weekend(s) that might have Minus Tides so you can add clam digging to your outing and kill two birds with one stone.]

REPORT: Alright, I have been walking the bridge and dam the last few days and there is At least one 25-30lb King in the water. I know it's ridiculously early to even consider catching anything, but, it's good enough for me. I'll be picking up my license and getting my line wet.

[AOJ: Don't forget to get the new 2012 Southcentral sportfishing regulations booklet when you get your license. I picked up a couple at Fred Meyers yesterday so the vendors have them in stock now.]

REPORT: Good Day on the water. Terrific sunny day and flat seas. And you couldn't keep the fish off the hook~!~!~!

   

REPORT: Floated from the bridge to Sportsmans. Weather was great fishing was good for April. Water was low, it was nice to get outside after a long winter. caught two Bows on a Washed out Flesh Fly. Can't wait for the weather to warm up.

   

REPORT: Sorry this report is late.......Headed down to Whittier about a week and a half ago, no herring yet. Fished for about 1 hour, and nothing at all. 2 boats near where we were at, did not see them with any either. Hopefully soon. If anyone finds out there in, please post. I am looking for some herring.

[AOJ: From what I have heard the herring don't start gathering there until early summer for that shore fishery. There might be some spawners at this time but they would be concentrated around kelp patches and would only be there a brief period of time for the spawn and then retreat back to deep water. There is always hooligan on the 20 Mile to keep you busy until then.]

REPORT: Wouldn't normally ask a question on here, but since the season isn't too hot right now, it seemed like the best time to do so...

I was wondering when you can get down to Resurrection Bay to do some snagging from the shore? Never done it before, and heard it can be a blast, but I can't find anything as far as timing goes. Do you have to wait until the runs are coming up the streams or are they always out there? Looking for Reds and/or Kings. Thanks for the info!

[AOJ: I have three suggestions. First, read the section of the Southcentral region fishing regs describing the "snag" fishery and area on Resurrection River and bay. Second, you can read last year's Pvt. Angler fishing reports (links above) for the specific time period you are interested in and see what might have been happening then. And lastly, you can read last year's archived Seward area Weekly ADFG Fishing Reports at (Seward/Resurrection Bay ADFG Weekly Fishing Reports ). Scroll down to the bottom of the page, select the year you want to review, then choose the reports fitting the timing window you are interested in. Good luck.]

REPORT: Hello again... Ramping up for another season and wanted to wash the dust off my NRS Rivercat this weekend. Any word on the upper Kenai being free of ice or floatable between The Bridge or Sportsmens and Jim's ?

[AOJ: You won't have any problems with ice. Some shorefast ice on the rocks and gravel bars. Water is wide open. Jim's road has been plowed all winter so it should be in good shape. You might have some shore ice to drag over to load the boat but the 50 degree weather is making quick work of that too.]

REPORT: Hoping to find out if anyone has had any luck out in the sound around Whittier??? Any info would be awesome...

They're Coming........get your kitchen passes LOL

[AOJ: Probably the only thing happening right now is herring spawning and maybe a few rockfish and chicken halibut. Long ways until salmon and big buts.]

REPORT: Epic!

That's the only word to describe my experience this last weekend. The ice is still solid & clear and about 25 inches in most ares of the lake. The weather pattern was overcast most of the day, I had a feeling fishing would be good. I took a buddy out that never caught a fish from the lake with high hopes and expectations, he was not disappointed.

We arrived to find the lake empty of any other anglers and set to work at finding a good location, which is always like finding a needle in a hay stack on the 4000+ acre body of water and having depths of over 150 feet. Quick set up, and started marking fish within a hour. Then they started biting. Not counting the 11 missed strikes we had between us, we managed to land and release 6 fish.

Best day I ever had on the lake in ten years fishing the depths. My buddy thought so too, as he never caught a fish from the lake. Catches included 3 arctic char over 30 inches and a laker approximately 36 inches. I told him "Today was our day".

I shared my experience with some other friends, who went out the next day to try and mimic our success. However after several hours of trying they both rolled doughnuts. This lake has an ever changing pattern, is deep, and difficult. You can share all the information with 1000's of people, use all kinds of gadgets, fancy lures, GPS, satellites and still this lake will deflate the soul of most anglers. No secrets to give away here, Hard Luck it is. Hard Luck is its name.

Hope the ice holds out a little longer.
[AOJ: Yeah, that is GREAT LOOKING ice. And shirt sleeve weather? Geez, next you will be showing off your TAN! I guess the Interior does have its perks but for enduring that long super cold winter (a record this winter I believe for you??) its not worth what you get in the summer. I'll come up and visit and maybe take in some Chena grayling fishing. There is no doubt that this is not a PUSH OVER fishery one can drive to, drill a hole and start snapping photos. As is most trophy lake trout and char fishing you definitely must put your time in tracking down the spots that produce, experimenting with sizes and colors and types of offerings and even presentation to get them to bite. A flasher or finder is definitely a big help to at least "see" if something is down there around your lure.

Species such as Arctic Char and Lake Trout are long lived fish and grow slowly. And are not prolific reproducers either. When a fishery offers the CHANCE to maybe produce a once in a lifetime snapshot and memory its well worth preserving by engaging in Catch and Release. You can always go down the road to a stocked lake and catch some fish for the table. Thanks for the contributions Jedi.]

REPORT: Second kayak trip of the year. First was Kachemak Bay two weeks ago. Turned out to be just a shakedown cruise. Saturday I hit Anchor Point with two other kayakers. All of us were on the Hobie Outback sit-on-top kayaks.

Seas were a tad choppy. Three maybe four foot waves at its worst but the kayaks handled it Great. Drove south on the beach to get out of the conservation zone and launched at low tide. I was amazed how shallow it was. We were a mile off shore and I do not think we ever reached thirty feet of water. We didn't see another boat and I sure didn't see much bait in the water.

In five hours of effort, the score was two Irish lords for he three of us. One of the other guys briefly hooked something big that snapped his line...hmmmm.

But it was good to get out and get a feel for the choppy water and the strong currents. We are getting ready for the Anchor Point Cacutta King derby on May 19th. We hope to enter a group of five or six kayakers for the derby.

Not much to show but here's a quick clip of one thing I did manage to dredge up from the bottom. It's only going to get better from here on our. LET THE SEASON BEGIN!!!!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD3mRGRRHe4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

REPORT: Anybody been out on the ice lately, was going to try to hit Seward and maybe Skilak the next few days for a last blast on the ice. Otherwise its a stop at Coopers for Trout on the open water.

[AOJ: I'd venture to say Hidden Lake and Kenai Lake still have good ice. Skilak should be good too but the closer you get to the open water the most the ice may be rotten. Its been nice and warm as well as sunny down here so the ice is taking a beating.]

REPORT: Caught another one this morn, 26 inches on a #4 silver vibrax. Saw a rather large beaver after about one hour swimming through the hole, so that explains the disappearance of all the fish last week.

[AOJ: Probably thought it was a big otter. Was reading up on steelhead on POW and F&G says the best parts of the runs are in April and May.]

REPORT: Wife and I have still been having luck at Klawock River off and on, caught 3 on 3-18 finally outfishing her. Will try and send photos. Also cutthroat and dollies are showing up there. So last Sunday I decided to try the creek right out of Craig here that I've been going to every morning before work since mid Feb. with no luck. Got to the hole and saw a rise, a small one like a trout. So I tied on a white rubber jig for some rainbows, thinking I missed the steelhead run. Actually a little disappointed in myself for putting in so much time and not seeing them. So I cast this little jig out let it sink and got a bite near the bottom, steelhead! Looked like about a 2 footer still chrome and by the time he fought to the top and jumped once he spit my tiny trout jig. So seeing that there were steelhead I switched to a #4 all silver vibrax and positioned myself ahead of them under a bunch of brush hanging over the bank. I cast about 15 ft. in front of me across the pool so I could swing the spinner in front of them, at the end of the cast I watched one come after it but I had my hook almost out of the water. So I did the same thing and right at the end I watched him come out of the tailwater and hit my spinner! Fought him for what seemed like 20 min. and finally got him to the bank. Was easily the most awesome fish I've landed, it was just over 32 inches and probably close to 10 lbs. but it looked just like a rainbow, big spots color and even the head was different, looked more like a big trout. I have a subsistence permit for steelhead but Crab Creek is small and probably has a small run so he was released. So after I put him back I stopped for a bit to calm down and was watching the water and could see 3 fish clear as day sitting in the tailout. I cast one time right across there nose and spooked them. I might have been able to catch more if I cast in my old spot, but I got excited instead and cast right in their face. They spook very easy, so I left for the day not wanting to stir them up too much. They're gone now, been back every morn since and dead. Its ok though, my persistence has paid off, i finally caught a steelhead out of Crab Creek. I have a friend from Washington that moved up last Sept. and has been to Crab Creek with me every time since I mentioned, and a lot of Klawock River trips too and has not caught one yet, this was the only time he didn't want to go. Sucks, I really want to watch him get one, he's the one that got me excited about steelhead fishing and has caught a heck of alot more. But we've been disappointed time after time but still knowing they'll come in someday and we will be the first. So for steelhead, its persistence. I am still looking forward to fishing other creeks around the island, roads have been a problem if you want to go to the northern part of POW (better steelhead spots) but once the snow and ice break up for good we will hopefully have reports from places other than Klawock and Crab Creek, these are pretty much local places. But good luck up there and try not to go crazy waiting for castable water.

REPORT: I was wondering if anyone can answer my questions about the float trip from Clearwater State Recreational Site and Campground to Clearwater Lake boat landing.

Is this float doable on a 16' cataraft w/small motor to motor up to the lake?
The depth of Clearwater River and the river that you paddle up river on to get to Clearwater Lake?
Are there campsites along the river in order to make it an overnight trip?

[AOJ: If no one responds to this you might try contacting the Delta Junction ADFG office. I'm sure they can provide some helpful information about the river system.]

REPORT: After reading the earlier report about an individual seeing what might have been an early season salmon in Ship Creek, I decided to give salmon fishing a try at the Eklutna Tailrace.

I went over in the morning during high tide -- at which time some extra water can back up the Knik River all the way to the tailrace on a high tide. When I arrived at the tailrace there was plenty of water, an important consideration this time of year, as the river channel can be quite low below the tailrace creating a situation where salmon likely feel uncomfortable swimming through the shallow water. I spent my time casting a #4 silver and black Flashtrap Spinner, but aside from getting to test fish with a new spinning reel, I I had no action. Typical for fishing this time of year -- and I rarely see any other anglers or see any fish for that matter. The tailrace simply provides one of the earliest open water fishing or casting opportunities available in the Mat-Su Valley. Over the years I've also developed a personal goal of catching an ocean-run king salmon from a Mat-Su Valley freshwater location during the month of April. I've been attempting for several years, but have yet to see a king salmon in April.

One year (2006) however, I managed to catch an ocean-run silver salmon of about 5 pounds on a silver and black #4 Flashtrap Spinner from the Eklutna Tailrace on April 27, and it was unusual enough that I took the fish over to 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle in Wasilla to have the catch verified. At the tackle shop Mike Hudson thought it was such an unusual event that he called the Frontiersman Newspaper. Reporter, Casey Ressler drove over to the store, took some pictures, interviewed me, and wrote a Frontiersman article about the catch.

Although I have not yet caught a Mat-Su valley ocean-run king salmon during the month of April, I did manage to catch one on May 1, 2003 while fishing with my friends Dave Osgood and Scott Macintosh on the Little Susitna River. Once again, I caught this fish while casing with a #4 silver and black Flashtrap Spinner. Earlier Dave, Scott, and I spent all morning back trolling for several miles along the river without even a bite. Before calling it a day, however, we decided to try casting at one last spot, as we ate lunch along the river. We'd been casting for more than half an hour when I hooked into the early running king salmon, and during the battle, I spotted another king salmon in the water swimming alongside the fish I was fighting. After I landed the fish, Dave and Scott spent at least another half hour flogging the water in hopes of getting the second salmon to bite, but without any luck. Still we were so pumped up after I caught the first king salmon, that we decided to fish some more -- but after a few more holes with no luck we decided to call it a day and turned the boat back toward the boat launch. When we came to the spot where I had caught my early king, we decided to backtroll through the hole one time, with Dave and Scott fishing, while I maneuvered the boat. During that one pass, Scott got a bite and briefly hooked a second king salmon, which rolled on the surface and shook free from the hook in short order.

Salmon fishing in freshwater during April and early May in Southcentral Alaska is mostly fishing lots of water and perhaps catching a few rainbow trout or Dolly Varden, but in order to make an amazingly early salmon catch, a person has to get out on the water and put in some time. After a long Alaska winter I'm always ready to go open water fishing far earlier than many salmon are available. Often times this gives me a chance to check out new fishing gear, at a time when I'm not too worried about catching a fish. It also provides plenty of opportunity to look for and see some wildlife. This morning for instance, I spotted flocks of both snow and Canadian geese, a pair of trumpeter swans, two separate bald eagles, two flocks of ducks, and 3 moose -- quite a morning even though I did not see or catch any fish.

From several years of past experience, however, I would expect someone to see or catch the first documented Mat-Su king salmon in about 3 weeks from now.

[AOJ: All the river launches on the Kenai are still iced in but I was at the Kenai City dock yesterday and the ramp is clear enough to launch at midwater and up. But you'd have to dodge hundreds of big ice bergs on the way up to fishable water. I think I'll head in the other direction in early May and try halibut off the mouth of the Kenai when they are gorging on outmigrating smolt and incoming herring and hooligan during that month. Not fast fishing but there are some nice fish taken with persistence just like fishing the rivers this early. I just hate paying $20 launch fee for a boat ride.]

REPORT: Just wondering if anyone has checked out 20 Mile for early hooligan and for conditions. Is the snowpack melted off the banks around the bridge yet? Any nets in the water? Appreciate any feedback.

[AOJ: I posted the "HOOLIGAN HOTLINE" number at the top of the page. ADFG typically provides 20 Mile info on it and I've asked that Big Su and Seward hooligan runs be added to it if possible since there are good runs in both those other areas too. At the price of gas its better to "fish local" this year. I'll try to give occasional status reports on the Kenai hooligan run too.]

REPORT: Ice Fishing continues in the Interior even with the rising temperatures and increase daylight. Harding Lake was again the choice this week for our group of four anglers on 12-13 April. The ice was measured at 31 inches thick with snow and melting slush still on the surface, with some areas of the lake having more water accumulation than others. We fished a depth of about 115 feet. My friend Chris Cox put it to work right away. It only took about three hours from the time I picked up my buddy at the airport, till we got to the lake and set up, before he caught a very large lake trout which we measured at about 30 inches. The fish had some good runs and headshakes before he brought it out of his hole, quick measurement, photo, and a good release Talk about hard luck, he had none. Hard Luck did set in after the accomplishment as it became the only fish caught on the day. We did mark seven more fish with electronics, but no takers.

Day 2 began with more hope and less hard luck. We started much earlier and it only took about an hour before I marked a couple fish and enticed one to take my 3 inch tube jig. A feisty 26 inch arctic char was on my line. Photos, high fives, and a good release. However, Hard Luck settled in again on us and that was all the fish for the day. We did have reports from another angler on the lake of a couple nice lakers caught the same day. But it remained hard luck for us. Weather continues to warm things up, however I am going to try my luck again this week. Probably will be close to calling it for ice fishing soon as I have been successful with the fly rod in the Chena Slough and grayling last night. Hoping my Hard Luck lasts a little longer for a chance at another lake trout.

REPORT: Just wanted to clarify that the disturbance that I saw below the Restaurant Bridge was neither smolt, nor hooligan. The disturbance was probably 2-3' in diamater when whatever it was came to the surface. Went back the day after, but saw nothing, and the water was very murky. Also contacted some regulars who fish Ship often and they agreed with AOJ about the run timing, although one stated that he has heard of sightings (very few) of Kings nosing into the creek during the latter part of the first week in May. Anyways, all we can do is wait and see how this year's run turns out. Tight Lines.

REPORT: Shadowangler. I'm not too familiar with what might be lurking in Ship Creek this time of year, nor am I too familiar with the resident trout population of that stream. But upon doing some research and taking a wild guess, I might guess that several thousand salmon smolt were probably released recently. Maybe some trout or other predatory fish were devouring the little guys.

If you check out the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 'Fish Stocking Update' website, http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=SportStockingHatcheriesSearch.main , and do a search for Anchorage between now and a year ago you'’ll notice that on April 11, 2011 they released over 250,000 Coho smolt. Last year, they also released over 300,000 Chinook salmon smolt between June 17-20. Also, if you read their 2012 stocking plan, http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/Static/fishing/pdfs/hatcheries/12region2.pdf , on page 14 of the PDF file, it says they plan on releasing over 240,000 Coho salmon smolt annually. On page 3 of the PDF file, it says they plan on releasing over 300,000 Chinook salmon smolt annually.

I don't know the location where they dump these guys at but to me it seems like a lot of little fish being washed out a tiny stream. One more thing to consider is how up to date, real time, is the 'Fish Stocking Update' search? So could it be possible that they released some fish in the past couple days? I’m not sure, but it seems possible to me. Another thing to consider is that the search doesn'’t list the average length of the fish released. It just says average weight but does not list the units. Is it pounds? If so that’s a lot of 10 pound fish! Some of these figures seem way off but some figures might be correct. Maybe the site meant to say 10 inch fish? Could that be the culprit giving you goose bumps already?

Or could it be hooligans roughing up your imagination? According to the regs, http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=PersonalUsebyAreaSouthcentralHerringAndHooligan.reg “In fresh waters, hooligan may be taken from April 1 through June 15.” Haven't heard of any hooligans wondering up Ship Creek, but who knows?

Well, that’s my two cents and some food for thought. I'’d love to see you wet a line to find out what’'s down there!

[AOJ: As far as the weight of the smolt in the stocking list, I'm sure those are grams with 28.3 grams equalling an ounce. As far as ripples and splashes and such, there are a number of saltwater fish that inhabit river and stream mouths in the tidal zone. Tomcod (7-12 inches), flounder (4-?? inches), sculpins, and other finned critters are probably present. Perhaps sandlance are there and one of these other predators was chasing them for a meal too. It may look like plain old gooey muck and muddy water but its really very alive with life. When you see the big splashes, that might be the best clue. :-) ]

REPORT: It seems the saltwater kings are having as much difficulty finding baitfish as those anglers out trolling for the salmon. During this past week some information turned up indicating the kings were feeding on the bottom and chasing down and rooting out sources of food that wouldn't typically be their first choice. Over in Resurrection Bay anglers who have caught king salmon recently have found Pacific Sandfish (Trichodon trichodon) in their bellies. These are a fish that is found throughout Alaska but seldom seen because they burrow down into mucky and sandy bottoms with just their eyes and mouth exposed and ambush krill, shrimp, and tiny fish that drift or swim by. These fish can get up to 12 inches but typically they are in the 4-5 inch range.

Over on the Cook Inlet side, Captain Shane's anglers out on April 10th were fishing up in the Bluff Point area and not having much luck finding the baitfish on the sonar either. But they ended up with a limit of kings for everyone (see below). In one fish's stomach was a juvenile cod and another king had a fresh saltwater stickleback in its belly. Both of these fish hang out on the bottom and around rock, kelp, weeds, and other structure for protection from predators. Obviously if kings in Res Bay and Cook Inlet are grubbing for bottomfish either they eat them as a delicacy OR out of necessity when there are no baitfish around.

REPORT: Fished the spit today with no luck. Lots of wind and now the rain is starting up.

Just curious, is there even fish to be had, shore fishing?

[AOJ: There are usually a lot of pollock in the vicinity of the sawdust dock which hang out around the pilings. If you were in a boat you can cast leadhead scampi jigs near the pilings and load the boat. You may be able to fish from the rocks and cast far enough out along the pilings of the roadway and pick up some fish. Usually casting bait in the deep water off the end of the spit produces flounder, cod and pollock. It may be a bit early. And for flounder they have small mouths so you need to downsize your bait offering. The pollock and cod have no problem with bait size. You can buy a 15 foot Okuma surf rod on Amazon for $32 and free shipping. Put a large capacity spinning reel and 30# test mono on it and get your bait out there 100 yards with a 4 oz. sinker...and some practice.]

REPORT: KINGS FOR A DAY!
On April 10, 2012 I took my three oldest kids out fishing for feeder kings with Capt Shane from Driftwood Charters out of Homer, Alaska. We left the harbor at 8:30am to start trolling. We started out toward the south because the water was calmer, and fished several different areas without a single strike. Around 2:00 pm, Capt Shane decided the weather had calmed down enough to head north to try a new spot.

We started trolling again and we finally had our first strike, and the excitement level rose dramatically...although it didn't last more than a couple seconds and the fish spit the hook. Well, at least we knew there was at least one fish in the ocean. Capt Shane kept at it, and we hooked into another fish within 30 minutes. My 5 year old daughter started reeling in the fish with a little help from dad. I held the pole and she reeled like crazy. After a few minutes, she landed the 14 pound feeder king! My daughter had caught her first fish and it was a beauty! She was so excited and happy...and I couldn't have been prouder. Capt Shane decided to change up the gear on one of the poles and asked my 5 year old to pick out the flasher she liked. She picked a nice purple flasher with a yellow eye. The rig wasn't in the water for 30 minutes and we had another fish on! It was my 10 year old son's time to fight the fish. It wasn't long before we netted another 14 pound feeder king! Those two salmon could have been twins - my daughter's was about an inch longer, but my son's was a little heftier. This was my son's first fish that was bigger than the bait we were using. He was jumping for joy and couldn't wait to thump the fish on the head with the "fish beater".

We started fishing again and things slowed down. I was getting concerned that my 13 year old daughter wouldn't catch a fish. Capt Shane was very persistent and we fished and fished. Finally, the rod bucked and we had another fish on! The fish swam right up under the boat, around the motor and threaded through another downrigger. Capt Shane went to work and after some pretty fancy rod handling had the fish untangled from the motor and away from the other fishing gear. While handing the rod back to my daughter we somehow managed to flip the bail and a glorious rat's nest sprung forth! My heart sank as Capt Shane pulled out the tangles giving lots of slack to the fish. After a few tense moments, we reeled in the slack and the line went tight! Somehow the fish was stilled hooked! My daughter kept reeling on the fish, almost got her hair wrapped around the reel, but finally persevered and landed a gorgeous 12 pound feeder king! Her fish was the prettiest king I have ever seen with a blue violet streak down the back, transitioning to a blue green down the side and bright silver belly. She couldn't have been happier! This was also her first "bragging" sized fish.

Capt Shane decided we should keep fishing since the fish were still cooperating. We made a couple more passes and had another fish on! The kids said, "Dad, it's your turn to catch a fish. We each have one!" This fish was a fighter! He gave a good fight with several deep runs. After several minutes Capt Shane scooped out my first feeder king, a 19 pounder! I couldn't have been happier with our trip. Everyone caught a fish. Capt Shane did an outstanding job finding the fish and ensuring we had a fantastic trip. The accounts of today will be etched in our memories forever.
~Eric Vantrease
{L to R: Dad Eric, Joshua 12, Sarah 5, Ashley 13}

[AOJ: Thanks for sending in the report. It was just the way Shane told it to me on the phone on his way home yesterday. And yep, he passed on a photo of your group to go with your report until you get home. Don't forget. I'll be waiting for them. And your kids names too. Apparently none of the charter boats that stayed on the south side of the bay caught any fish. Shane has a good nose for fish. And he just told me his boat has caught saltwater king salmon every month of the year for the past 12 months now. He was the only one to fish in January the last couple days before the harbor froze over and was one of the first boats back in the water on February 17th and ready for action. I don't think there is another charter boat in Alaska that has caught kings every month of the year for clients~! Homer's king salmon fishery is truly a year round opportunity for those wanting to experience some great salmon fishing in the middle of winter. Glad your kids had a blast.]

REPORT: I am returning to Alaska from Australia for my 3rd trip in a few years, and always read your site to get an idea of what is happening. I will be there August 4-11th and intended fishing the Matsu Valley again, chasing late season Salmon. I am a little concerned with the KING Salmon EO. Does "Fishing for any species of fish will be closed Tuesday-Friday beginning June 12", mean Unit 2 creeks will be closed for silvers, pinks, trout etc? during Tuesday to Friday. Many thanks.
Kim
[AOJ: Hey Mate, With respect to the Matsu Valley King EO, the king salmon season in the Valley for all those Parks Hiway streams (and a few others) typically ends on July 13th each year. On July 14th the streams open back up to fishing for all species EXCEPT king salmon. And "typically" from July 14th through August 31st anglers are allowed to use bait to fish for silvers, chums, pinks and trout in the sections of the streams which allow bait at that time. So you won't have any problems during your visit to fish for whatever species you want to chase. The only variable which is unknown at this time is whether ADFG will restrict the rest of July to no bait to prevent any unintentional hooking of spawning king salmon. Even in this case, you can still use artificial lures for the other species and probably by August bait would be allowed again in the worst case scenario. Just have to see how the EO is worded. But you are good to go for your trip! Have a good one~!]

REPORT: You are correct they need to just bite the bullet and close all of the Mat Valley watersheds to King salmon fishing. No sense in catch and release for those fish. F&G should seriously consider closing it for a few seasons and see what transpires. The business's will be the ones who will hurt the worst; the king run brings alot of money up that highway. I think the big picture here is to restore the run to its potential. This will pay off in the long run for the people and the fish. My two cents!

[AOJ: Although that approach may sound like the "logical" action to take, everyone must keep this all in perspective. Currently the present actions that ADFG is taking are "precautionary measures" based on the past trend of the king salmon stocks and their returns. The department rarely initiates a total closure of a sport fishery without proceeding through a series of increasingly more severe restrictions as the developing conditions warrant. The Catch n Release regulations allows some recreational benefit for those wanting to spend $100 on gas just to go catch and release a fish. You'll find that most streams will be void of anglers this season during the "no keeper" periods with only locals probably participating for a little recreation. So it has been taken into account the impacts of these measures and how much pressure the fisheries will experience. Should the runs arrive and show such additional weakness that even minimal CnR would be detrimental to the available spawners, the department maintains the authority to issue further Emergency Orders to completely close and protect the remaining fish. This approach is adopted and used throughout the state of Alaska for all the sport, personal use, and commercial fisheries they manage. Fisheries are very fickle and nearly impossible to put exact numbers on a run based on forecasts. So an incremental management action approach works the best to keep the negative impacts to a minimum unless real time data proves more restrictions are justified. Let's all hope the fish will surprise us this year and come in on target....which BTW will result in changes to the EOs to allow for acceptable harvests. Keep your fingers crossed. The lower Kenai Peninsula streams will be an early indicator perhaps.]

REPORT: Spent four hours on the ice and only caught two dollies about 8 to 10 inches. Lost one in the hole about the same size. Ice is about about three to four feet thick, you had better have an extention on your auger.

[AOJ: Sure was a nice day though!]

REPORT: I would like to break out the 18 ft Cataraft and go for a float from the bridge to Jim's. Anyone know if there is enough open water. Don't want to get stuck in a ice jam! Any report would be greatly appreciated!

[AOJ: I don't think there is much chance for any ice jams in the upper Kenai. Mostly just shelf ice thawing and occasionally breaking off. Access into Jim's pullout point might be a bigger concern as there could be significant shore ice at the landing and the road might be in breakup mode about now. I believe DOT was plowing out the lots at the bridge, Sportsmans and Jims this winter. If any other folks have been up that way lately just chime in!!]

REPORT: I see the F&G is at it again. They are worried about the King Salmon returns, yet open streams and creek to catch and release fishing. Seems like that is the last thing you'd want, catching, tiring, and harrasing an already stressed out fishery...especially when they are in their spawning streams...and for what? You can't even keep them. I say...close the season completely.

[AOJ: Your point is well taken from a purely "logical and biological" perspective. And I'm sure most folks will also agree. But there are always the extenuating circumstances and factors that ADFG does take into consideration. Such as impacts on businesses, guide services, residents' opportunity to engage in recreation (even CnR), tourist commitments to vacation plans, etc. The Kenai River early king salmon run as we all know is notorious for upsetting the apple cart when the run comes in weak and painful changes must be made "on the fly." But PLEASE, do not believe that these considerations come BEFORE THE FISH. That is not the department's policy. So when things like Catch n Release, periodic no fishing days, no bait, and other changes are included in restrictions, they have been carefully factored into the equation of escapement numbers and goals and mortality for the future of each run. The fact that the past several very poor years in the Matsu and an early assessment of another poor return coming our way this year has at least given some advance notice for folks to start working on their PLAN B's for the summer. Both for Alaskans and visitors. One of the "hidden factors" that the department must also consider is SECONDARY IMPACTS on other fisheries as anglers are displaced out of restricted fisheries.

As you can imagine, these Matsu/Knik changes are going to impact the Kenai Peninsula king fisheries too - both freshwater and the saltwater troll fisheries. You might think that is good news for the KP but they too have had some dismal returns on their king runs, especially Anchor River not reaching minimum escapement goals for several years now. I suspect it will again see its own restrictions.

Add to all this the record snowfall that will definitely affect Ninilchik River, Deep Creek and Anchor River this summer during their king seasons. None of those streams may even be fishable during the open periods. Which again will displace anglers seeking kings to head to the saltwater for a chance. So as you can see, ADFG has a huge amount of factors they have to consider and integrate into a great many of the decisions you see them make for Alaska's sport and personal use fisheries. All in all, our biologists make up one of the best F&G departments of all the 50 states IMO.]

REPORT: Well Shane had some maintenance to do on the Misty today but apparently they got everything squared away, fixed and in "Fish Catching Order." They ran outside the harbor on the "shake down" cruise, got as far as the green can and started marking fish so down went the baits.....Fish On! I guess everything is working, including the fish bite!! Back to the harbor slip and a quart of gas used. Enjoy!

REPORT: They gave me an ol'folks fishing license and took away my felt soles! This isn't making sense. Forced to rubber soles and cleats is not in my comfort zone. Protesting is up my alley. . . . mean while. .. . . . is there a fine? I can't find in the new regs? Can I send the broken bone bills to the state?

Gonna be a while before ice is gone and I ain't doing rubber on ice!

Is summer coming?

[AOJ: Other states are "jumping on the band wagon too" on this issue. Vermont is the latest to adopt a similar law. I'm sure as this regulation spreads throughout the country that there is going to be some serious research on alternate boot sole surfaces or add-on/slip-on type gear that will provide nearly the same walking safety. I know there have been a few soles with embedded little carbide spikes in them and some new rubber material and textures to give better grip. As far as the fine I haven't come across any value yet either.

Now, back to the weather....with the near record snow pack in the Kenai Mountains this winter its going to be a very long long long runoff season. I expect the Russian to be almost unwadable as far as crossing from one side to the other for much of the fishing season, especially if we get some above average summer temps. Might be one of those years when they will need to open the bypass around the falls to get the fish up to the lake.

The stabilicer spikes I strap on to my winter pacs are said to be used by many stream anglers too. They do have some very aggressive "studs" from heel to toe that are also replaceable if they eventually get dull or you lose one.]

REPORT: Not a report, a question. I'm needing to know how much open water there is where the upper dumps into Skilak. I'm thinking about hiking in. Other option is pushing the drift boat from lower campground to open water. How much snow is on the lake?

[AOJ: A friend fishing the outlet last Friday said he was walking in about 6 inches of snow on the ice.]

REPORT: Another day on the water. More fish in the box heading for the barbie. More happy campers.

REPORT: We trolled with Captain Shane on the Misty. Shane claims to like the bouncy water for Winter King fishing; he showed us the proof. Our largest was 17+ pounds the smallest was 12. All were very nice fish. Now this isn't a fish story but we did loose a horse that would have crushed the 17 pounder.

Shane did an excellent job chasing down targets and getting takes. He is a hard working, dedicated fish finding guy; we had an excellent day in lumpy water. (Pictured l to r: Cherri, Vaughn, Lee, Shaun)

[AOJ: Looks like you went through the gauntlet of weather types that day. Thanks for your persistence in getting the photos sent in.]

REPORT: Here's a group of four guys that went out with Captain Shane on Monday, the day after the King Salmon derby. The fish were definitely cooperating more on this day than during the derby when a large number of boats got the big Skunk. The derby winner was actually caught just a hundred yards from the Misty on Sunday so Shane was in the right neighborhood, just not lucky. Pictured are Steven, James, Jose, and Jay, not necessarily in the order shown in the pic. Spring has sprung on the saltwater.

REPORT: I was seeing if anyone on the Kenai or Russian have been catching any trout or salmon yet? I heard that some people were, went out for a minute on my way back from Homer and didn't catch anything. I was at the Ferry parking lot, walked up and down the banks. Any reports would be greatly appreciated.

MTMAN

[AOJ: Well salmon season isn't open up there right now. The opener is June 11th, quite a few months away. Lots of ice on the river up there. One of the Russian River diehards and his buddies fished the upper Kenai on Friday throwing every thing they had in the fly box and didn't get a hit. Most of the effort is still around the Kenai Lake bridge. Easy parking, easy walking, and open water.]

REPORT:

Went out with Captain Shane on the Misty on a scouting trip in preparation for the King Salmon Derby that was rescheduled for tomorrow, Sunday. Lots of boats out. Scattered all over from the Bluffs to Seldovia to inside the bay. The radio chatter reported fish being caught here and there but no apparent hot spot materialized. We did hear one boat caught a 43 POUNDER over in Pedersen Bay. That one definitely would have taken the derby had it been today. Whew! We dodged the bullet on that one. This one here went right at 20 pounds even -- as confirmed on Capt. Shane's new digital scale. Not bad for a practice run. Sunday will be the Day of Reckoning!
-Lady Luck-

REPORT: Great day of fishing on the ice. Sunshine, NO wind. Wow! Skiers on the lake, snowmachines on the lake, hikers along the river. Lots of folks out and about today enjoying the springtime weather. Catching wasn't so great. Got one 15 inch laker for the skillet. Had a couple of tip up takedowns but no fish on the flag. This spot has always produced earlier in the winter but today it appears the fish have moved out of the area. Plenty of ice. Was over 12 inches 100 yards from open water.

REPORT: OPERATION Ice Fishing

The US Army Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Wainwright conducted an ice fishing trip at Birch Lake yesterday and Alcanron and I were invited to help organize and assist the event.

About 20 soldiers participated and most had never ice fished before. The temps hovered around -5 most of the day and the ice was about 3 feet thick. The area was prepared for their arrival by setting up portable ice huts with heaters and punching holes. They arrived in passenger vans and were able to access the lake just fine. The fishing was slow but the soldiers managed to catch a few small fish including some landlocked salmon and arctic char. Seemed like everyone had a great time.

This event, and others like this event our Warriors attend, may seem like nothing but fun and games. However, the events serve a direct purpose in the healing process; physically, mentally, and spiritually in their road to recovery while they are in transition.

I wanted to thank the folks at ADF&G for all the equipment which was loaned for the event. I also want to thank all the men and women serving in the US Military both past and present. I challenge everyone to get involved in ways to serve those that served us.


[AOJ: The state of Alaska residents and businesses have a number of fishing events that honor our military heros and help make adjustment back to stateside life a bit more fun. I know of a Saltwater Fishing event in Seward for the military and the Kenai River has an annual event too. I'm sure there are others I'm just not aware of. Thanks to all those who dedicate their time, their services, and their equipment to put on these honorable events.]

REPORT: Went out with CPT Shane on the F/V Misty...had a GREAT time watching the boys catch fish! CPT Shane is well recommended and provided everything to make it an enjoyable day. Final count: 1-King / 4-Halibut / 3-Cod

Thanks CPT Shane.

REPORT: By ~KK~ for Shane

The ICE BREAKER F/V MISTY has been keeping the Homer boat harbor open almost single-handedly. Other than a few commfish cod fishermen many of the days Captain Shane is on the water finds very few and sometimes no other charter boats out there on the saltchuck. All the more fish for anyone who is on Shane's boat! The two photos here are from Monday, March 12th. Was tough getting out of the harbor due to the 5 degree temp overnight tightened up the ice bergs in the harbor but perseverance paid off and it was off to the "races" without another boat to join them all day long. A pair of winter kings and some black rockfish was the catch of the day with the larger fish in the low teens. That was a slow day. How many of you have a "slow day" and end up with fish to take home from you own fishing outings?

I'm WAY behind on trying to get report info posted here because the Misty is going out nearly every day now. To get a recap of all the recent trips from the end of February to present please go to the AOJ home page and check out all the photos I've posted you can click on and get a caption too. You'll see some eye-poppin' fish that often beat anything you'll catch in the creeks this summer! So why wait and "miss the boat" as they say.

The weather has been chilly but there is a major warming trend that will be starting later this week. Its SPRINGTIME from here on out. Shane is offering that WEEKDAY SPECIAL Pricing for a while longer but realize when TOURIST SEASON arrives its back to the standard pricing for his summer trips and combos. Right now the trips are coming back with odds and ends bonuses beside the winter king salmon they are targeting. Some days they run into black rockfish and Pacific cod which end up in the fishbox for some excellent fish n chips with these two species. And then there is that occasional hungry chicken halibut that is feeding mid-water on the same baitfish Shane is trolling through and sometimes the day ends up with some flatties in the pile.

There is no doubt Captain Shane has been the "highliner" on most days when there are other boats on the water. And on a few recent days his total catch for the day was more than the rest of the charter fleet combined. Seriously! Want to know his secret? He fishes where few other skippers are willing to risk losing their gear for the fish. (Sound like the dedicated skipper you are looking for??) Those charters who "play it safe" go home with mixed results or the big Skunk. If you want FISH you gotta work the areas that the fish are in. And that means losing some downrigger canon balls, flashers, and tackle to get into the fish. He's willing to go that risk for his clients with the intention of satisfying enough anglers to develop a healthy wintertime income when most boats are sitting high and dry on their trailers in the storage yard. Another tactic - he will fish four downriggers all day if there are 4 anglers on board. Many skippers either can't handle 4 trolled lines or don't want to hassle with that many so they establish a rotation on the few rods they are fishing. THAT cuts into the daily catch for sure. The more lines in the water, the more fish. And Shane doesn't even pull the other gear much of the time when there is a hookup. Expertly handling the boat during a fish fight, many many times he may end up with a double hookup, a triple and yes folks, he has had close to a DOZEN quadruple hookups (all four rods) at the same time since last summer. Not all fish may be landed but just think of the excitement of a thrill like that with all your buddies fighting fish at once.

OK, so the Klondike Kid is pumping Captain Shane. Its apparent I stake my own personal reputation (for what its worth) on Shane's operation. (Just as I do with all of my trusted, loyal sponsors who advertise on AOJ that I've known for decades.) The proof is in the daily photos and happy anglers, winter OR summer! And I've known Shane for a long time. We chat sometimes for hours on fishing strategies, the fishery problems present and future, hunting, and fishing, fishing, fishing. His objective with this winter king fishery is simple. Get as many folks "hooked" on this year 'round fishing opportunity as possible as an alternative to sitting on the couch watching football, hockey, soap operas, March Madness, or the birds at the bird feeder. Get some fresh air. Have a new experience. Get your photos on AOJ~!

What are you waiting for? The Driftwood Inn has plenty of room for overnighters and with the LONGER daylight hours, even Valley/Anchorage anglers can car pool and make a single day trip of it now with good road conditions. Watch for MOOSE~!!

REPORT: Been fishing at Klawock River all last month. Been sporadic but my wife managed to land 7 in a row before I caught one. Weighted beaded jig under a bobber. Would love to catch one on a fly. Any pointers would be appreciated. Have lots of pictures and have been trying to send them but having problems.


[AOJ: Ah, good to see you are having some springtime weather down that way now. Here at AOJ headquarters in Soldotna at 10pm its TWO BELOW ZERO!! Still making ice on the lakes so we'll probably be ice fishing until May this year. As far as steelhead on the fly, I've had good luck with a black woolie booger with red tail and some experts I know slay the SE steelies on a sculpin pattern. Both can be found in any shop that carries ready-made flies. Purple egg sucking leeches have also been productive. Good luck on your next trip.]

REPORT: Went out with Captain Shane on Driftwood Charters for king salmon and had a good trip. The fish and the weather cooperated and we both caught kings as you can see.

REPORT: My father and I decided to go fishing on Saturday and let the ladies do the Fur Rondy thing, so we headed out to Big Lake. There was a lot of snow on the lake so you had to drive on the plowed roads. We fished in 15ft of water over weed beds and it wasn't long before we caught a couple of nice char. Ok, I should say my dad caught a couple!

REPORT: Rounded up Banjo George for a trip to the outlet of the lake Friday in search of fish - any fish. After the mile long walk dragging two sleds we set up the tent and camera in 28 feet of water about 150 yards back from the open water. What was surprising was when I dropped the camera down to bottom, it was pure sand with little ripples on its surface. Good visibility of maybe 4 feet or better. Two hours of fishing and not a single fish on the camera. Time to move closer to the open water. Set up the gear and first thing the camera spotted was a giant boulder right in the middle of our setup. Not a good condition to fish in. So we moved to within 30 feet of the ice edge and set up the gear again. And lo and behold there as another boulder we were over the top of. From now on, I'm drilling ONE hole, drop the camera and check out the terrain before drilling the other holes and setting up the tent.

Caught one 14 inch fat rainbow on the first drop down. Then nothing after that until almost dark. One fish on the tip up while taking down the tent and packing up. Good fish. Ran off enough line to tangle another tip up. Nice fight, many good runs, then it decided to run opposite the tip up it was tangled with and snap...all gone. Maybe 3-4 pound fish. Long walk back in the dark! Good weather, no wind, high 20's all day. Swans and mergansers feeding in the open water off the ice shelf. All in all a good day on the ice.

REPORT: Took a walk into Scout Lake to check on how the lake is doing after the roetenone treatment killed all the pike and then F&G restocked the lake. Its a bit of a walk from the parking lot but all downhill on the way in. Too bad its not the other way around for the trip back. :-(

Set up my QF3 and the Aqua Vu camera and as soon as the camera was down the hole I had fish coming to my "fish looking" bluegill camera. Soon I was surrounded by rainbow trout in every direction. Sometimes 30 on the screen at one time. Very clear water with easily 10 foot viz with the camera.

It was a slaughter to say the least. My shrimp couldn't stay down 5 seconds without a fish on. Funny too, the fish were hitting my split shot as much as the bait. Eventually I got tired of releasing so many fish and having to bait up every time. So I just dropped the red #10 gamakatsu hook down the hole and would jig it up and down and within 30 seconds I'd have another fish. Caught and released over 50 rainbows in 3 or 4 hours with 2/3 of them on just the bare red hook. Fish were 8 to 12 inches and very healthy. If I'd had a hook on the split shot I would have doubled that number. For some strange reason a dark gray round little ball moving in the water entices a rapid strike by the closest fish, time after time. I may have to reconsider using bait from this new realization. No doubt an underwater camera is a lot of fun to fish with. And can provide a lot of good information on 1) Are there any fish down there? 2) How are they reacting to my bait or lure? 3) What sizes are coming around the area? 4) What sort of bottom conditions are there - Weeds, Rocks, Gravel, Sand, Brush?

If you have kids that love to catch fish this is a good lake to try. Salmon eggs, shrimp, and little flashy jigs will work. Try fishing in about 6-7 feet of water down the shoreline to the left. Seems to be the most productive depth and zone I found.

REPORT: Went ice fishing with my father and son. We tried shrimp, balls of fire, and not a bite. After an hour of jigging bait, switched to spoons and various other jigs. Wrong time of the day, 2 pm 27 degrees. 38 inches of ice and not very good truck trails mostly snowmachine tracks. 2' snow where there wasn't any tracks. 3 hrs. and not a bite. Oh well! That s why it's called fishing and not catching! Had a blast out in the fresh air and beautiful land with three generations sharing the experience! Fish on!

REPORT: The seas were kind today for the four anglers that were fishing on the Misty. Plenty of sunshine, good water conditions and the bite was on all day.

Ended up with an 8 fish Four Man limit of Winter Chinook on the gear and the icing on the cake was six black rockfish ("black bass") and a ping pong paddle that will make a good fish sandwich. Can't complain when you limit the boat. Weather reports continue to forecast mild "spring-like" temperatures and conditions and remember its always a LOT warmer down in Homer!

The Cabin Fever Reliever pricing for Weekday trips continues on into next month and you can't find a better deal if you are ready to start your summer season with a real bang and a thrill. Not to mention some good eating that can't compare.

REPORT: Another beautiful day on the saltchuck with Luke Waak and Grant Warren. Fish were cooperating again today and we headed home with a limit of winter kings each, plus a little "side dish" of a couple of chickens that were feeding in mid-water and took the troll herring. The added bonus was one king was a white king. An exceptionally tasty fish that makes a great special dining experience, especially barbecued. But watch out, they have an extra amount of fat in the meat and will flare up on the BBQ if you aren't paying attention. Then you'll be eating "blackened white King." Ha!

REPORT: This last Friday my buddy, Ron Ely and I passed on going to work and opted to go fishing, back once again to Harding Lake or what we have nicked named "Hard Luck" Lake. We had been fishing in depths of about 115 feet on recent trips without much success so we decided to try a deeper area. With the portable hut set up over 145 feet of water we turned on the electronics and began marking fish at about 130 feet.

Proceeding to drop in on the fish with 3 inch single hook white tube jigs to entice a bite, the cat-n-mouse began with the fish not wanting to fully commit on the offerings. It took about 2 hours before Ron had the first bite and hooked a nice lake trout that was brought to the surface for a quick photo and released. I thought that was going to be the only fish of the day as most days either have us on a doughnut (zero fish caught) or only a single fish (hence the name "Hard Luck"). Multiple fish days have occurred for us but they are rare.

I tried to stay motivated knowing we had about 4 hours left on the ice before it would be time to leave. I hung in jigging at deep depths and what seemed like out of nowhere my tube got slammed and the almost automatic reaction to lift and set took over. I couldn't believe how hard the lure was smashed.

And after about 3 minutes (seemed like an hour) the back and forth of my drag and the strong head shakes felt through the bent spine of my ice rod, the fish appeared just under the ice. Ron started shouting louder than me as he was the first to get a glimpse of the monster. Carefully turned and brought through the 10 inch hole of about 25 inches of ice to avoid the last second "early release" the beauty was landed. I am so glad I was with Ron, who helped to quickly take a photo and get an approximate measurement of about 31 inches (using a fishing rod aside the fish) before I lowered the fish back into a release position. The fish was revived and in only a couple seconds tail thrust and swam off strong. I am still celebrating the accomplishment as I write. Wow I am so glad I did not go to work! Glad I got it all on Video!

REPORT: OH BOY, Captain Shane is back in the water after chiseling his way through the harbor ice. And the kings are still out there waiting for a juicy herring to come trolling by. Weather is cooperating....Spring is just around the corner.....and the fish are biting. This trip produced some very nice size feeder kings as you can see and a bonus of five chicken halibut and a half dozen cod to sweeten the fish box for the trip home. No sense in turning back those tasty morsels. Shane is back to fishing as often as folks are ready to get out and "get 'em!" Give him a shout if you are ready to start getting back in shape for the summer fishing season.

REMEMBER: BUY YOUR 2012 FISHING LICENSE AND KING STAMP BEFORE FISHING!