Upper Kenai. Say good bye to Fall!

Okay, you may have heard of a world class fishery we have in Alaska for wild rainbows and char.  it's got it's share of salmon as well.  It's called the Upper Kenai River.  Many of you know that I grew up in Alaska, moving to Kenai in 1971.  I have fished HARD every chance I get since then. 

YET for the first time EVER I fished it today!!!!!!!  Being clueless, I didn't touch a fish though I saw plenty right in front of me.  Until recently, I have been a meat fisherman and I did ALL my Kenai River fishing from Pillars down to Cunningham Park.  I know every twist and turn of the lower river.  If I am going to eat a fish, it's going to be a salmon as close to the ocean as possible. Trout?  Isn't that just a teeny salmon?  (Ok, so I was wrong...I admit it.)

If you don't count the Russian River, the Moose River and the late winter fishery by the bridge at Cooper Landing, I had NEVER fished above Swiftwater Park in Soldotna nor had I been on a boat of any kind above the bridge in Soldotna.  Today, I fished a stretch of River that I had never fished yet driven past a thousand times...literally!!!!

I used my mini-x and what a sweet platform for drifting down the river.  At first the current freaked me out a bit.  trying to hit a spot on shore was fruitless as i ended 25 yards downstream all the time.  Pretty much stayed in the middle away from any danger until I spied a gravel bar I wanted to fish.

I saw fish rolling in front of me.  both silvers and nice rainbows but I couldn't get them to hit anything...beads, flesh flies, leeches, nymphs...  I have no idea what i was doing wrong.  I did hear a few folks say it was slow.  I saw a few folks with fish on though so someone was catching fish!  Well I am sure it's going to take time to figure it out but you can bet I am going to hit this section hard until I figure it out! 

The trip was much shorter than expected.  Instead of being done at 5pm.  I was done at 3pm.  But good thing.  On the drive back I ran into my first snow of the year...and my first blizzard.

Video is terrible because I didn't clean my lens but I needed something to commemorate my first trip ever on the Upper Kenai and the season's first snow fall.



Just North of the Seward/Kenai Junction

Ugh.   Brings back (bad) memories of Michigan slush.
   Try casting spinners for those silvers....

When I first saw the picture of the car I was expecting to see skid marks or maybe it parked in a ditch.  Congrats on making it through your first blizzard of the year safely. 

I'd heard that Turnagain Pass was a little bit of white-knuckle driving last weekend.  Still, I'm going to float the Upper Kenai on Saturday to connect with some of those rainbows and char you left for me.