Some of the TroutU staff are heading up to Alaska for a much needed vacation. On Facebook they mentioned going to the Kenai and Russian Rivers. I commented on Facebook but that brought back fond memories of my experiences on those rivers.
We were so excited to fish the Kenai because it was and is so famous, but we were disappointed due to the extreme fishing pressure. In July, the best time to visit Alaska, the salmon are running and while we were there, the kings had finished their run and the Silvers were running up the Kenai. There were so many anglers tossing their lines, tied to large spoons, into the water that we had no room to stand near the river. Another thing, these anglers were so interested in the silver salmon that they thought of trout as a junk fish, which hurt my feelings. I can't blame them since they were meat fishermen and those silvers were large enough to eat the trout.
In frustration, we headed up the Russian river and had a most enjoyable time. First, we met a man who was inebriated to say the least. He hooked a large rainbow and promptly broke his rod. Although it was a funny spectacle to watch, and despite the bear warnings, we headed upstream. Everyone said to make plenty of noise to scare the bears away. Well you can be sure that I did that and I kept my hand on pepper spray as well.
Side note about grizzly bears: They normally weigh around 400 to 600 pounds but those near the river with abundant salmon, can achieve much greater weight. In addition, they are most unpredictable. At least this is what the ranger at the Denali National Park had told us.
We fished in several holes catching and releasing some nice rainbows from 12 to 19 inches long. The river was very nice and productive indeed providing us with an enjoyable day. The most fun was watching the rainbows attempt to make Olympic style high jumps trying to get over a waterfall that appeared to be 5 or 6 feet high, strangely enough several successfully made the leap!
If only I could locate those Alaska pictures!