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Alaska Fishing Trip - Kenai Peninsula (July 2005)

In July 2005, my good friend Mike and I embarked on a spectacular fishing trip to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. We fished the world famous Kenai & Russian Rivers which boasts the largest King (Coho) Salmon ever caught. Mike and I have been friends since the age of 5 and grew up 3 houses away from each other. We spent a lot of our time at the nearby golf course fishing for blue gill in the ponds. Needless to say, the fish we were going for on this trip were on steroids compared to the little guys back home. Mike and I continue to enjoy fishing and hanging out with each other and I don't believe that will ever change. He's a good friend and a great man.
The only camera I had at the time was a 1980's Canon that my grandmother gave me years ago (non digital, no auto focus, virtually manual everything). I took that camera all over Yellowstone & Alaska in 1992 and 1993. It served me well for so many years.... I also had a small Sony Handycam digital camera and that really turned out to be useful, especially on the float plane trip to wolverine creek where we witnessed the Grizzly and cubs. We were on a boat, in pouring rain and I couldn't afford to get my canon soaked. Some of the grizzly pictures of that trip (including the "posing on a rock" one) were captured with this small sony digital with a ziploc bag over it. Enjoy!
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On our 4th day in AK, we went on another guided trip for Kings. Here's a picture with about a 50-55 pound King salmon I caught. I let it go since I could only keep 2 total and had two more days of fishing left.  Turned out to be a bad decision as you will soon see.  Michael caught a 35+ pounder that day and let it go as well.
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On our 4th day in AK, we went on another guided trip for Kings. Here's a picture with about a 50-55 pound King salmon I caught. I let it go since I could only keep 2 total and had two more days of fishing left. Turned out to be a bad decision as you will soon see. Michael caught a 35+ pounder that day and let it go as well.

alaskaAKKenai PeninsulaKenai RiverfishingnatureKing SalmonSalmonmikemsl family

  • Watch this sequence... Michael hooks a RED and the fight is on...
  • Battling the RED.
  • On an old Canon with no 'continuous shot' function, what are the chances of capturing a hooked fish flying out of the water?  This is one of the luckiest shots I've ever had...
  • Glacier Waters.
  • Glacier Waters
  • Fishing the "local's" spot near the College in Soldotna. No fish in the river.
  • On our 4th day in AK, we went on another guided trip for Kings. Here's a picture with about a 50-55 pound King salmon I caught. I let it go since I could only keep 2 total and had two more days of fishing left.  Turned out to be a bad decision as you will soon see.  Michael caught a 35+ pounder that day and let it go as well.
  • Last day for Kings......look at the nice 35 pounder Michael caught and the good looking skunk that I have.That's right.....no fish for me. I had one on the line and fought it to the boat but lost it at the end. The guide said it was a 50+ class. Nice of him to rub it in.
  • First day of halibut fishing. We took a 52 footer, but this half day charter took us to the "chicken ranch". That's what people call areas that have small halibut. We hooked a fish on every cast but they were all less than 20 pounds.
  • On the second day of halibut fishing, we went out on a 38 footer through Blue Ribbon Charters for an all day adventure.
  • The biggest fish caught on the boat was 65 pounds. Here's my 45 pounder.
  • What a great day. After the trip, we had the fish processed and made the 5 hour trek to the airport for the red eye home. We were tired on arriving to Phoenix but had a memorable experience that we would never forget. Of course, we're going back!!
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