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2003 Season Review
Rainbows,
Rainbows, Salmon, Dollies and Rainbows, Rainbows...
Rainbows..
Our guests landed
some epic rainbows this past season including the 20lb something
fish caught by Ben Matheson. Another guest landed a fish
estimated at 34" that was camera shy and slipped away ahead of
the shutter. Then there were those that got away (LDR), sometimes
after several crazy jumps and/or screaming runs. Of course some
were enormous and we were left with nothing to do but “bow
to the rainbow.”
Late May through mid June was prime this year with low water
making it easy to find concentrations of fish. Trout fishing
remained strong into July, but really kicked into high gear in
August. Lots of Kings made it to the Upper Kenai and the early
egg bite was fantastic. Often, several spots produced twenty or
more fish over 20" each, in a single day.
By September, the sockeye spawn was intense. Some sections of the
river contained fish glutted by an unending supply of eggs. There
were only a few spots where the bite remained excellent, but in
those places, days were made! Our boats landed rainbows over
10lbs daily. The smiles and silly laughter were continuous.
Trout fishing remained strong well into October, with a 29"
rainbow landed on Oct 18. Winter finally set in during November.
Now, we wait until May.
Dollies...
Few anglers come
specifically to fish for dollies, but many are pleasantly
surprised by those they catch. This year our guests caught many
22-24" dollies in the 4-5lb range in addition to a mix of smaller
fish and a few monsters pushing 30". There are always a few
dollies in the early season, but the majority of the fish move
in-river during July. They were readily caught when the spawn
turned on in August.
Sockeye
Our early sockeye
run was a bit of a disappointment when compared to the last three
phenomenal years. Despite more average numbers, we had some great
days in mid to late June. The late run was another story. More
than a million fish stormed the river. From mid July through the
first week of August, Sockeye put a strain on many a forearm and
broke a few rods. Action was often hot and heavy as push after
push of fish moved past our chosen points of intercept. Once the
spawning began, our rainbows and dollies soon developed enormous
girths from the bounty of eggs. Thank you salmon!
Silvers...
A big sockeye run
often has a negative effect on our in-river Silver Salmon catch.
Due to the Sockeye bounty, commercial fishermen were given extra
opportunity to harvest Sockeye late into the run. This results in
a by-catch of many of our early silvers. Thus, it was mid August
before the Lower River got strong and late August before fish
began to stack in the Upper River runs. Once they arrived, we had
a few hot holes, but our effort for silvers this year was
minimal. Trout fishing was so good when the silvers were
available that we simply let most of them slip by.
Mystic Waters
Guests
A big thank you to
all who joined us this year. What a pleasure to meet so many
great people and to spend so many truly fun days on the Kenai
River. After 15 years of guiding, I (Fred Telleen) can’t wait to
start another season and see you all again on the Mystic Waters.
Stacy Corbin and I will be eager and ready in
2004.
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