Soldotna Salmon Fishing

Monday July 23rd 2012

Monday after our RR we headed south again, going back to the Kenai Peninsula to do meet up with Sandy and Steve and Mike wants to try his hand at catching some sockeye salmon. We are staying in Soldotna, which is right on the Kenai River, where all the salmon are. Over 4 million salmon will swim up river in the next couple of weeks.  Odds of hooking one is pretty good.  I’m told you don’t fish for sockeye you hook them.  They don’t actually bite on your hook you just sort of snag them in the mouth.  Snagging them anyplace else is illegal and you have to throw them back, right. 

We are staying on some land about a quarter mile from the river with 60 other MHs no power or water just more boondocking.    They call it a fish camp, everyone is here for just one reason to hook the salmon.  The limit started at 3 a day and is up to 6 a day.  People in our camp have bought 5 cubic foot freezers to keep their fish in.  Lots of generators running to keep the freezers cold.  People from Germany and Switzerland are here, they ship the fish back.  

 

Mike had to buy a pair of waders first off, you can’t fish in the river without the waders.  Steve and Mike off on the hunt for the big one.

Anybody who knows Mike knows he is deathly afraid of the water, see that look on his face that is fear. 

His first catch, oh boy a rock.  Thanks to Mark Brackin for the picture.  I missed this one. 

  

 

This is what they call combat fishing, you fight for a place in the river and it is like this all day everyday, sometimes more people never less.  You wait on shore until someone leaves then you can take there place.

  

Not an easy access to the river in places.  Fishing for salmon is not for the lazy person.

   

Mike did catch some salmon also the guy standing next to him.  Mike caught about 20 salmon, we shipped UPS 16 pounds to his sister back in MN.  Just have them frozen and bring them to the UPS store by 9:30 am and she had them in less then 24 hours.  

 

Fish cleaning stations are right in the water, you put the guts back in the river.  Then Mike brings them home and I wrap them up and freeze them.  Lucky for us Steve bought a couple of freezers, he is keeping some of fish for us.  Steve really likes salmon, he got over 50 fish. 

What a great time we are having. 

 

 

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