Upper Kenai 11/12/11 - G rated, no porn...DANG IT!

So not having fished past weekend and on my day off Friday, I HAD to go somewhere.  Check the weather and its supposed to be above freezing but windy.  Look at the weather station and no wind...hmmm.  Well I am going stir crazy so I HAD to try it.

Launched at the Bridge in Cooper Landing.  No wind, sweet! That is until I turned the corner.  Then it was HOWLING! Holy Cow.  In the slow sections of the river, I had to paddle downstream to actually move downstream in some spots.  So I only fished for maybe 30 minutes as I just checked out the sites seeing as though this was my first time ever drifting this section of the river.  Hard to believe.

The water levels have come down dramatically but I was disappointed to see the water was still silty with visibility less than 20 inches.  Maybe a little over a foot.

Two bits of excitement.  First going through the Princess Lodge rapids.  Not sure if I got lucky but it was easy.  No sweat.

Second didn't seem as bad on video but at the time, it was a shot of adrenalin for sure.  The wind starts ti pick up and it catches my paddle causing my body to lean over a bit, The yak starts tipping and another gust hits the yak and it sure felt like I was going over.  Not good since I was in the middle of the river avoiding the sweepers and shallow stuff.

The lesson for the day was I need to upgrade my footwear.  Probably just a few more wool socks.  Standing in the river was miserable!  My hands were fine just wearing disposable gloves.  Even with the metal paddle pole.  But my toes were freezing.  Also I knew it from ice fishing but my olympus stylus tough 8010 is wimpy when it comes to cold.  Had to shove it in my drysuit to warm it up a bunch of times and then it would only work for 10 minutes or so.  Gopro worked great.

I'm going to have to switch over to ice fishing when the marine weather is bad...which is ALL the time in winter.  Argh.

So here's the video of a few sections if anyone wonders what its like to float the Upper Kenai in November...here ya go.  I'd rather watch porn my self...fish porn that is.....


The video:




Some pics:

Great video Kard. Looks like you probably have a lot of days with the river to yourself. What weight rod were you using?  I liked the spot under the downed tree too, with the ice looking like bells on the branches. The water didn't appear terribly clear, but in a few frames had almost an emerald color. Nice pics too.

Looks cold Kard.

Why do you dangle your feet out of the kayak so much?  Seems to me you lose a lot of control and power in that position.

-Allen

Castirontrout, I am using a echo 4 piece, 6wt rod.  My other tod isa Gloomis 4wt.

Polepole, I dangle my feet because it seems like I have better balance going through rough water that way.  Is that a false sense of security/control?  Power doesn't seem to be much of an issue when floating rivers though that too is probably wrong because on a river, when I need power, I need it NOW.

It's weird, having my feet inside in the mini-x doesn't feel very comfortable.  It's almost like my legs are too close together.  I don't think they are any closer together than my outback.  Of course not a whole lot of choice in leg positioning with the mirage drive.  Maybe I can at least solve the balance thing with straps for my river kayak.

The temp was warm.  The wind was insane!  So wind caused low wind chill.  Also standing in the river didn't help.  I guess I normally where -40deg rated sorels this time of year outdoors.

   Another nice video Kard,
 Not to sure about dangling Sorels out of your mini-X.That might throw the weight distrubution out of balance.But it might keep your feet warm ??

  Looked like a nice quiet day on the upper.Nobody else there ,eh ? 39 isn't too cold...at least it was 39 above .
  So are you fishing beads or going with flesh flies this time of year ?

  It's been about a year now since you 1st went to Whitier in your mini.Are you gonna make an annual pilgramage back there ? You sure have come a long way in such a short time.Absolutely amazing.......When you take the plunge---you go deep.
   Best of luck to you in your 2nd year of kayaking.......I'm sure you will have many epic adventures.
                                                                                                                                                  Mark

   Another nice video Kard,
 Not to sure about dangling Sorels out of your mini-X.That might throw the weight distrubution out of balance.But it might keep your feet warm ??

  Looked like a nice quiet day on the upper.Nobody else there ,eh ? 39 isn't too cold...at least it was 39 above .
  So are you fishing beads or going with flesh flies this time of year ?

  It's been about a year now since you 1st went to Whitier in your mini.Are you gonna make an annual pilgramage back there ? You sure have come a long way in such a short time.Absolutely amazing.......When you take the plunge---you go deep.
   Best of luck to you in your 2nd year of kayaking.......I'm sure you will have many epic adventures.
                                                                                                                                                  Mark

Thanks Mark!  I think the most important accomplishment so far is that I SURVIVED!!!!  Of course if I continue to fish, the most dangerous months are coming up.  I don't think Whittier is in the plan till April 15th when the shrimp opener starts.  I may go due to weather and just to get out.  I think through March it's Homer for the saltwater when the weather allows and ice fishing.  Not sure if I should post them here since its not kayaking, but I am working on a camera system system ala Rory and others with a few modifications for the ice fishing.

I think my tentative plans to what I will be focusing on are:

Jan-April: Homer salt or icefishing

April 15- April 30: Shrimp

May - June: Deep Creek kings and Halibut. 

July: Kenai River Kings and reds, Seward Cohos, and lings (wherever)

August: Seward and Valdez cohos and halibut.

September-October: Upper/Mid Kenai

Nov-Dec: Homer Salt or icefishing.

If anyone wants to come and give it a whirl, let me know!  Heck if I get enough people interested, I may just pick up another Kayak!  Depending on my future circumstances, I really want an AI, but also may pick up a one of the inflatable Hobies.  I travel pretty extensively in Alaska and right now, I just want to get back home so I can go fishing.  If I had something portable, I'd stick around a few extra days.

What the heck am I going to do with three, wait, four kayaks....I guess I have four bodies in the household....yah..that's the ticket! 

Polepole, I dangle my feet because it seems like I have better balance going through rough water that way.  Is that a false sense of security/control?  Power doesn't seem to be much of an issue when floating rivers though that too is probably wrong because on a river, when I need power, I need it NOW.

It's weird, having my feet inside in the mini-x doesn't feel very comfortable.  It's almost like my legs are too close together.  I don't think they are any closer together than my outback.  Of course not a whole lot of choice in leg positioning with the mirage drive.  Maybe I can at least solve the balance thing with straps for my river kayak.

I dunno.  I just don't ever see anyone putting dangling their feet when underway.  I'd hesitate to do it in moving water like that because you never know when you'll catch a foot in the water and throw you off balance.  But if it works for you ...

-Allen