Alaska Dispatch Article for the Homer Winter Derby

So we make a larger Statewide publication.  Not in the write up but if you click through the pics, two of the four pictures are of the Kayak team!!!!  Trying to get the word out!

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20140323/kenai-man-pockets-more-19000-catching-biggest-king-homer-tournament

Sweet, you two look fabulous!

Way to go, all three of you --- as the photos tell, you caught some eyes out there. Next time...

One day I'm gonna be bobbin around with 100 other kayaks off whiskey gulch and I'm gonna say "that &"'h@ Rudy "

...I go back and forth with that thought, too, Matt. I suppose there was at one point some guy who told his buddies "Hey, fishing the Kenai is fun...let's encourage other folks to do it....." And now, well, I avoid that crowded shitshow. But on the other hand...if everyone fished from a kayak rather than from a 6-pack guide boat, we'd all have more to catch.  I guess.... :-)

Greater involvement leads to better regulations that consider non motorized when the ugly allocation battles get worse than they are now. A more solid voice means potentially more non motorized days on the Kenai. It could mean instead of shutting off the entire one mile corridor off deep creek we might be allowed to fish inside one mile for halibut. But I do agree that if iim battling a thousand kayaks, then even those arguments start to fail. Overall I'm trying to stop the decline in overall fishing participation for similar reasons. All one has to do is look at the marine sanctuary closures from WA to CA when the people with other intentions overrun the fishing interests. I've been to enough endangered species regulation meetings to know the groups who want to shut down fishing are large, well funded, and will put forward irrational arguments to get their way. Losing access to fishing which I consider to be a great past time on a nutritious, delicious and most importantly a renewable resource would be dang shame.

But yeah I don't fish the a Russian river or Matsu area rivers for Kings for the same reason you've all mentioned. So it definitely comes with a price.

 I was just joshing around with Rudy! I agree about adding some to our ranks to have a collective voice about regulations and policies.
That stupid no fishing within a mile rule is my main beef right now! Especially when they say it's to protect kings, yet king fishing was still allowed in the rivers.

As the population up here continues to boom, so will the crowds. As gas prices go up, and the economy shrinks I see an inevitable increase in non motorized users wether we encourage its growth or not. I mean that's why I got into this kayak. I saw a viable way to catch fish without investing 10's of thousands of dollars. So far though most Alaskans aren't buying into our thinking just yet. I have offered many people a free ride on my outback, with all safety gear included and have only had two takers. One of which I think was scarred for life and won't be doing it again, and another that I think had a good time but still would rather power boat it

Rudy...I know...you are totally right on this. You big picture thinkers really tire me out! :-)

We talked about exactly that this weekend, Matt. Power boats are expensive, maintenance hounds. And you can't hang them in your garage when you aren't using them. For the cost of a boat, you can do any number of taxis out, and have minimal maintenance and storage concerns. And no noise!

Hey Matt, I'm sorry if I came across that way. I just wanted to state a few reasons I do what I do. I totally understand where you are coming from. I've kept a fishing log publicly on the Internet since 1995. But in those, I rarely if ever name the places that could easily be over run with people. It is a fine balancing act between helping people catch fish (which I do get a lot of satisfaction out of) and having the Internet info chasers over run your spot.

I'm not anywhere close to thinking we have a core user group that could affect change or maintain access. 

Speaking of cost savings....I figure I have about 8-10 k in kayaks and gear lol.

No you didn't kard! I was hoping I didn't come across that way. Sometimes you should say things in person so they can see the smile on your face!

I'm not anywhere close to thinking we have a core user group that could affect change or maintain access.

Agree with you here, sir. When I began this, I thought that it would take five years to get to those kinds of numbers. But three years in the numbers aren't there, so I think we're on the ten year plan. I've got -- at most -- 20 years available to me to fish hard from the kayak.   During that period, we'll reach that infamous tipping point.  In some ways, this reminds me of the early 90s and drift boats on the Upper Kenai when I started floating from gravel bar to gravel bar in a kayak.  Suddenly around 2005, numbers skyrocketed and it ceased to be the kind of outdoors experience I savored even though it was my favorite rainbow stream on the road system. The growth of those drift boats on the Upper Kenai suggests to me the growth curve we should anticipate for saltwater kayak fishing in Southcentral.