A Day on the Water
This issue heralds the return of the Chinook, Alaska’s state
fish, and with it come all the arm-busting runs and gear-shredding power the
king of the Pacific salmon is known for. The adrenaline rush one receives
when fighting a feisty king—especially the oversized version that’s found in
some regions of Alaska—is not to be outdone, in my opinion, by any other
sport fish. The trade-off is that sometimes it can be a game of hurry up and
wait while you look for a pod of fish in the river or a roving saltwater
school.
Last year while fishing the Kenai River with Daniel Myers of
Alaska Clearwater Sportfishing, we got to spend some time with Chris Luiten
and his 8-year-old son Christian. Christian was responsible for the most
subscriptions sold during a Fish Alaska fundraising drive with various
Alaska hockey clubs. He plays for the Alaska All-Stars. Chris works for
Alaska Pipe and Supply in outside sales, and among other hobbies, he
thoroughly enjoys fishing. He and his family have a drift boat and like to
drift the Kasilof River.
Well, in the end our outing could be characterized in one of
two ways. For those whose fishing days can only be quantified by size and
number of fish hooked and landed, it might have been viewed as only an
average day. But for those of us who cherish every moment on the water, it
was a fine day, a day spent with good people, looking for big fish on an
extraordinary river.
It was also an opportunity to trade stories with Dan Myers.
After moving to the Kenai Peninsula in 1980, he took up guiding on the Kenai
River in 1985. In 19 years on the river, he has tailed more than his share
of fish and has the fish tales to prove it. In 1985, Dan was fishing a
client in a drift boat and together they landed a 92-pound king salmon. The
fish took them for a mile downriver to Swiftwater Campground—that’s quite a
distance to play a fish, but big kings call the shots. It measured 57 inches
long and 36 inches around. With fish this size in the water, although not as
abundant as they used to be, it is no wonder that people flock to the Kenai.
Dan tells another story of fishing in a hole called the
“Pasture” in 1993. The tide came up and everybody left. Looking to change
tactics to entice a fish, Dan switched to back-bouncing and his client
promptly hooked a huge Chinook. After a 20-minute battle, they tried to net
the fish, but it was too big to fit in the net. He went to shore and tried
to land it by hand, but the big fish refused to be subdued. Trying to pull
it to shore, the angler broke the line and the fish slipped helplessly from
Dan’s hands. It is the biggest king he has ever seen. Like no other river in
Alaska, the Kenai provides fodder for many an angler’s memories.
Dan fishes kings in May on the Kasilof, both the Kenai and
Kasilof in June, and the Kenai in July. He moves to the upper Kenai to
target trout in August and September. One good tip from Dan is to use bright
plugs on bright days and the reverse on dark days. He also has seen a
generally better bite in the morning and told me that radio transmitter
studies have shown that the kings tend to move more in the morning. He
switches his techniques until he finds what works, with an emphasis on
back-bouncing and back-trolling. His plug of choice for king salmon is the
Luhr Jensen K-16 (silver and chartreuse) with a sardine wrap, or he uses a
Spin-n-Glo with eggs and a Magnum Jet Diver to get the attractor to the
right depth. He uses G•Loomis GL2, 9-foot, moderate action 10-30# rods and
Penn 320 level wind reels spooled with 30-pound-test Maxima.
By day’s end we had landed two fish. Neither were trophies,
but that didn’t bother anyone. We watched an 8-year old boy learn the
lessons that will make him a good fisherman as an adult. We told and
listened to stories, and it made the anticipation of the next bite all the
more sweet. Plus, we learned a few tips and techniques from a seasoned
captain and enjoyed a sunny day on an epic river. It was a great day on the
water.
—Marcus Weiner & Melissa Norris
Publishers
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