Being July 1, it was opening day for King Salmon on the Klutina River, and I had signed up for a guided fishing trip with Salmon Grove Campground.
I went to bed at 9:00 last night because we were supposed to be at the Guide Shack at 2:45 a.m. this morning. This is what 2:45 looks like in Alaska on the first of July.
We had eight people going on two rafts. I was with three other guys. and they signed up for King Salmon & Sockeye Salmon fishing. I only cared about getting a King.
It was an hour and a half drive on rough roads to the 14-mile marker of the Klutina River. On the way, we saw a moose cow with two calves in the road.
Fortunately, we would raft all the way back to the campground and avoid the return drive on the bumpy roads.
When we finally got there, the guides got the rafts in the swift moving river and prepared them.
The water was more green and quite a bit clearer than it is at the campground which is only a mile away from the confluence with the Copper River. But once we were on the water, our guide said it wasn't as clear as he'd hoped. Since the Kings are using sight to attack the salmon eggs ("roe") bait, clearer water would be better.
Apparently, the King Salmon aren't trying to eat the other salmon eggs, they just want to crush them so they don't hatch into competing salmon.
At the first "hole" we got out of the boat, and the four of us fanned out doing what the guide instructed. Fortunately for me, I had my chest waders on. The other three had hip waders, and unfortunately for them, we were fishing in water that went over their waders. Oops.
There, Sockeye Salmon were swimming in the calm waters around us, but we were focused on Kings. After many casts, one guy hooked a beautiful King and managed to get it landed. Somehow, I failed to get a photo of his fish.
I had so wanted to get a King early and then enjoy the ride and maybe pick up a Sockeye or two. But no luck at the first hole.
These are some shots from our second "hole".
It was a beautiful morning, but none of us got anything at hole two.
This was the view from our third "hole" that the guide said look "fishy" to him.
The river changes from year to year, so it has to be learned again each season.
I got into a good rhythm there and had a great "drift" where the weight was bouncing on the bottom nicely and the bait was just off the bottom. But still no fish.
We went to another spot downriver, our fourth "hole". I didn't like that spot as much, and we stayed there forever. In fact, we stayed there so long, the fishing was done. We had been to four holes and fished about four miles of the fourteen miles of river and we were done. The visibility farther down river wasn't good enough to continue to fish for Kings, so we used up all our time at that last hole.
No other Kings were caught. One guy caught a rogue Sockeye that went after the King bait, and the guy that caught the King got a Sockeye. Two of us were shut out completely. I was not happy.
The main bright spots were 1) I didn't pay full price, 2) we got a free night of camping with the purchase of the charter, and 3) I got a nice Class 3 whitewater raft trip which itself was a $150 value.
Here's about a three and a half minute clip of the rafting.
And here are some still shots.
Again, it was a nice raft trip, but once again I put my faith and money in a guided fishing trip and came up empty. Still, I'm just stubborn enough (or stupid enough) to keep trying.
Back at the campground, the water had gotten pretty high and extremely fast, and everyone was now struggling to catch fish. I headed to the rig where I took a long, mid-day nap.
Then I was back on the river trying to "floss some reds".
My frustration ended when I caught two nice Sockeyes.
By then, I was starting to get pretty decent at filleting them. I had watched a few other guys that had all used different techniques, and I finally found a method I was comfortable with.
Tonight, it was fresh salmon taken from the river about an hour earlier.
Linda seasoned it with salt, pepper, and a teriyaki blend dry rub. She then made a sauce from Ghee (clarified butter), dill weed, and lemon juice, which I brushed on as I cooked it in butter on the Blackstone. Oh, man, that was delicious. Copper River Sockeye Salmon right out of the river - better, in our opinion, than any of the other Alaskan fish we've had thus far, and it ranks right up there with our all-time favorites.
I fished a little more after dinner trying to get my limit of three for the day before midnight, but I just couldn't get that last one. So, I joined our new friends around the riverside campfire.
At midnight, Kory turned 30, so we had a mini-celebration.
Then Steve was back at it for a little while around 1:00 a.m.
Linda and Sara were having a great time, fish or no fish.
Sometime around 2:00 a.m., we went back to the rig, got showers, and finally went to bed.
We've so enjoyed our time here although our sleep schedule has gone wacky. We're never in bed before midnight. Even last night when I went to bed at 9:00, Linda didn't join me until around 1:00, and then I got up at 2:00. If not for my little afternoon nap, I would have been up 24 hours.
Tomorrow, we'll sleep in a bit, but it will be our last full day and the pressure will be on to get more fish.
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