My Kenai King 6/19/03

SUNRUNNER · 06-27-2003, 02:56 PM

Enjoy.
This is a 21lb King from the great Kenai.
My first salmon EVER! And what a great place to catch one. :grin:

My wife and son and I also fished the Kasilov R., but only caught natives. :depressed: But over all it was an experience I'll never forget.
Our guide was Jimmi Jack himself. What a great guy.

Edit: Sorry, no non sponsor links.
Thanks,
Jen

[ 07-03-2003, 08:00 AM: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]

fop · 06-27-2003, 03:02 PM

Nice fish.

ya, Jimmijack is a good guy.

I have had him and his dad, Big Jim, work for me many times when I was running my guide business there.

Betcha caught it around Stewarts Landing or out front of River Bend.

A great place that Kenai is. Guided there for 23 years.

fop

Sore Back · 06-27-2003, 03:04 PM

Nice fish Sunrunner and thanks for the picture.

Wingman · 06-27-2003, 03:08 PM

Thats one nice fish... Or is it two...

Hogmaster · 06-27-2003, 03:14 PM

Congrats on the catch!

Maybe smallish by Kenai standards, but also mint bright by Kenai standards!

Way to go!

Elwix · 06-27-2003, 07:36 PM

Congratulations!

Good picture of a beautiful fish!

KingFisher85 · 06-27-2003, 08:16 PM

Nice fish. Yea, that is a bright fish for the Kenai, how far up river were you fishing at?
Again, nice fish! :shocked:

SUNRUNNER · 07-02-2003, 01:06 PM

I was about 10 miles up/right across from the Kenai River Resort where Jimmy Jack lives.

CATCH AND EAT · 07-02-2003, 01:08 PM

That's a kenai jack for sure. :grin:

timinthegorge · 07-02-2003, 01:32 PM

Nice feeesh! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

I have five friends up there right now. And none of 'em are together. They're spread out from the Talkeetna to Homer. Grrrrr.... I'm envious!

Uglygreen · 07-03-2003, 06:17 AM

Purty... How were the crowds?

UG

husker · 07-03-2003, 06:48 AM

sorry for my question....but isnt that a throw back?....the fish is a nice fish for oregon.....but for the kenai isnt it just a guppie?.....

hope your having a great time.....i cant wait to go to alaska in 2005......enjoy your stay....

Jennie@ifish · 07-03-2003, 07:02 AM

That's beautiful!
I was just reading my journal from my trip to the Kenai. Fun!

Jen

redfish89 · 07-03-2003, 07:39 AM

Great job... Nice first King!!!

My only question is, did the guide ask you if you wanted to keep that fish?
Was the fishing real slow? Don't get me wrong, that's a nice fish, but it's a little small for Kenai standards.When i was up there, my guide told me anything under 40lbs was a minnow. He also said some of the other guides would keep any size king in order max out their clients. The more clients they took out the more money they would make. Just my .02

nitrobass · 07-03-2003, 09:21 AM

Big or small thats one gorgeous fish, I'd be proud of it too!

Chris Nordling · 07-03-2003, 10:50 AM

That's a great FIRST salmon anyplace on earth, and surely a keeper.

Hopefully that is the start of a great salmon fishing adventure that so many of us love.

Chris

SUNRUNNER · 07-03-2003, 03:19 PM

Fop--you're right. 44-55" and you had to release them. And I caught this 6/19--no bait allowed on a single hook only (regs). After 7/1 it's bait and two hooks.
That was the second charter I was on that week. I did the Kasilov two days previous (6/17) and caught a nice 30lber, but it was a native.
So to all you folks that think I should have thrown it back--I'm telling you now, it sure tasted good! Sure, it wasn't 50lbs--but no one else on my 4-person charter with Jimmy Jack caught anything--so I'm glad I caught one. And one of those other 4 was my wife! Bummer for her.
Besides, by the looks of that picture--I can tell everyone in 10 years that it was 40 lbs, and no one would question it. That's what fishing is all about--"the fish stories." Thanks to everyone's responses...I'm just happy that my Salmon slump is over--I'm hooked now. Now I need a sturgeon--Sunday am out of St Helens! See you there.
By the way, my boat is a blue/white "SunRunner" if anyone wants to give a shout out.
Happy 4th and God Bless America and the Kenai for that matter.

fop · 07-03-2003, 11:27 PM

I again say nice fish.

Now to the people wondering about the size of the fish you kept.

Do you think there is just wall to wall bigun's biting everything you throw at them?

The 50 pound plus King is just not that easy to come by. And, if he was just doing a one day charter he did the right thing if he wanted to take a King home. Geez, might even caught it with only a few minutes to go on his only charter.

Now,on the Kenai, there was a June regulation on what size limits you can keep during that time frame. So,if he would have caught a bigger fish he might have had to release it.

Did I say "nice fish"?

fop

jawbreaker · 07-05-2003, 09:15 AM

The first one you will always remember. I was lucky. My first one on the Kenai river was a 50#er and is my current avatar. That was years ago but I will never forget it.

For that fish to be your first ever and on the Kenai.....thats awesome. Heres to many more in the future.

Kim Katsion · 07-05-2003, 11:55 PM

Nice fish Sunrunner. The Kenai has been producing some nice fish, but like some have mentioned they are a bit on the small size (30-45 pounds) so far. There are lots of jacks in the river also, why we don't know. We think the second run might me a tad late but will let you know early next week. I fish with my guests on both Tuesday and Wed on the Kenai and hope it picks up a bit.

Just to clarify the regs on the Kenai, it is open to bait and single hook only. Guides fish from 6 am to 6 pm and non-guided boats can fish 24 hours regardless of residency.

I had a guest from Oregon this last week and he got his first ever chinook and it was 44 pounds and he couldn't stop smiling. He thought it was a monster and gave him a good fight, about 20 minutes.

Tight lines, Kimmer.

jokester · 07-06-2003, 09:04 PM

What a chromer!! Very nice job! Congrats.