[troybuz]

My brother and I just returned from a dream vacation on the Kenai River (July 17th to the 25th), and some other adventures while we were in the area. Not to make too long of a story, we had quite the time. My brother, who is a much better fisherman than I, managed to tag a 67 and a 64 pound King on the Kenai, and a 33 pounder on the Kasilof. I, on the other hand, tagged a 63 pounder on the Kenai, and failed to fill the rest of my King tag. I did boat several smaller fish, a few 40 pound bucks, and some smaller hens, but damb, with those big Kings out there, it’s hard to justify tagging a smaller fish.
We also had a friend in our party release a 75 pounder…keeping those big fish alive to breed so we can all continue to enjoy this fabulous fishery.:cheers:
We also caught several dozen Sockeye on both the Kenai and at Wolverine Creek, and fished for Dolly’s on Deep Creek. And, of course, like any first timer, we also hit Homer and took our limit of Halibut.
If you ever have a chance to fish this area, do it!

Twin Kings on our first day. Mine looks bigger, at least too me :bigshock:

Number two for my brother. He tagged out in less than 12 minutes, 30 seconds the first day, and about a 10 minute effort on day two. I hate him!:grin:

Kenai River Sockeye...wow, are these fun!

Homer halibut...Babies, but good eaters

Anchor River incidental catch, on a trout spoon!

Cheers,
Troy

 

[ODSKid]

Wow!
Those pictures are AWESOME!
:dance:
I can't wait to get up there myself hopefully next year!
Whew! Those are some HUGE GOOD LOOKIN' 'NOOKS! (referring to the first pic )

 

[MikeN]

Great photos! Sounds like you hit it just right.

Those are some nice fish and the smiles say it all!

Great job!

 

[theycallmeaxe]

don't those big dark fish in fresh water taste like shoe, I mean compared to chrome from the ocean. I never keep big dark salmon from any river unless it's tidewater chrome. They tent to have a muddy taste to them. Salmon isn't as tasty from fresh water and there is such an abundance of ocean fish why keep those pigs?

 

[viigfish]

Those are good looking bucks from the Kenai, fish up there, especially bucks are sometimes even colored in the salt. The meat will be in very good condition. I wouldn't be suprised if there were still some sea-lice on them.

RV

 

[Dr Strangelove]

Post deleted due to overly sensitive individuals. Nice fishees.

 

[Abu-Loomis]

\it’s hard to justify tagging a smaller fish.
We also had a friend in our party release a 75 pounder…keeping those big fish alive to breed so we can all continue to enjoy this fabulous fishery.
Cheers,
Troy

So you want to keep the genes in the pool by releasing a 70+ lbr but its alright to bonk a few mid/upper 60 lb fish??? Doesn't make sense. Besides, a 40 lb buck would eat WAY better than the 60 lbrs. Even a 40 lb fish is a little larger than ideal size for eating. Tag the smaller ones, take a pic of the bigger ones and get a repro mount made...Later


Jake

 

[nehalemguy]

So you want to keep the genes in the pool by releasing a 70+ lbr but its alright to bonk a few mid/upper 60 lb fish??? Doesn't make sense. Besides, a 40 lb buck would eat WAY better than the 60 lbrs. Even a 40 lb fish is a little larger than ideal size for eating. Tag the smaller ones, take a pic of the bigger ones and get a repro mount made...Later


Jake

Why can't you let these guys share a few photos and memories without piling on with the comments. This goes for the food expert above as well who has to use @#$% to make his point. Nicely done there. This is the ugly side of ifish in all its glory and the number one reason people quit posting. If that is your goal, carry on. If you have nothing positive to say, bite your tounge, spare us your ethics and don't type.

E

 

[rowmanholiday]

Sounds like a good trip for you and your brother. Glad you were able to get into some monsters.:yay:

 

[RBfisher]

Looks like you guys had a great time!
Don't pat any attention to the kill joys, apparently they don't catch many fish if they think those fish don't hold up well.
Most people who post the negative stuff are just looking for attention and agreement from those who think it is the right thing to say.
Keep enjoying your fishing and catching and thank you for sharing a great trip with those of us that appreciate it.

 

[ajfishfinder]

Sure is great that everyone express's their opinions. Jeeze a guy can't even post a few photos without getting ripped on. Remember the old saying that your mother taught you.

"If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Once you have saved enough money to make the trip, you can tell all the rest of us about the great time you have releasing everything you catch. Until then why not just keep your thought to yourself.

 

[devonian]

Nice work! I am jealous.

 

[JustCallMeDave]

Remember the old saying that your mother taught you.

"If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

:yeahthat:

 

[Gooey]

I am not totally sure as to the validity of the whole gene pool argument.
I volunteer at a local hatchery and when collecting brood stock, they don't by pass smaller fish. The reason this came up was that I went to throw a 2 lb jack coho out of the seine back into the river and the hatchery staff stopped me and took that fish for brood stock. He said they are equally as capable of producing large healthy fish.

Large fish are great for a run in terms of size of their brood/how many eggs they lay, but I am not convinced they produce proportionally more large offspring compared to a smaller individual - anyone know for sure?

 

[alaskan]

Glad you had a great trip. Those kings should cut and eat just great, and the Halibut should too.
How many bears did you see at Wolverine? Thats a great trip isn't it.

 

[The Overfishin Condition]

I am not totally sure as to the validity of the whole gene pool argument.

I'm not sure that it's as much of an "arguement" as it is factual. I could be wrong though. My guess is, the fish biologists who brought the facts to the table that influenced Alaskan game management to have a slot limit found something that suggested big fish have big babies. Look at people- you don't get many 7 footers from 5 feet tall parents. It can't be that different.

I think there's a right and wrong way to go about what people are trying to say here. For instance, I think "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" is ridiculous. A fabulous way to breed ignorance. Everybody has their own personal point where they draw a line before they say enough is enough, and say their peice. Some people put their foot down at fish conservation. Some people watch old ladies get beaten on a sidewalk and do nothing. I guess they didn't have anything nice to say.

Here's my story. When I went to Alaska, our party of four killed five fish at or above 50 lbs. We had great fun doing it, and the memories will last for a lifetime. In hindsight, the fish could never compare to any fish out of the Columbia for taste except for being better than a tule. If I could do it all again, or if I go back, I will take pictures of the big ones, and keep a couple smaller chrome fish. I feel like I made a mistake, but learned from it. The problem is, if nobody says anything along the way, and thousands of people a year go to Alaska and make the same mistake, the learning curve is much longer. Keep the comments a little friendlier perhaps? But I think what happens on these threads leads to better fish conservation.

Peace. TOC.

 

[parker]

I'm with TOC and Jake on this one. No negativity there. Just some good solid information and things to "consider" for anyone going to fish the Kenai in AK.

But, putting that all aside, that first photo is awesome troybuz! Wow. Two brothers holding up two chrome toads! Priceless.

Nice report and good photos! Glad to hear you had a great trip!

PS. Who did your brother fish with on the Kasilof? Not many big fish were taken up there this July. Many in the 30 class range, but few 40's and couple of trophies (50 pounds and over in that river). I love the Kasilof.

 

[willametteriveroutlaw]

Looks like you guys had a great time!
Don't pat any attention to the kill joys, apparently they don't catch many fish if they think those fish don't hold up well.
Most people who post the negative stuff are just looking for attention and agreement from those who think it is the right thing to say.
Keep enjoying your fishing and catching and thank you for sharing a great trip with those of us that appreciate it.

Released alot of big kings over the years, several over 60. Keeping 40's is much better than killing 60's.. Those 60+ lb fish are getting rarer and rarer because of the greed mentality that comes with alot of fishermen that head to Alaska fish the kenai.. Anyone can reasonably fill there freezer with Reds and and small to medium sized halibut 100lbs< (which are much better table fare) and even smaller kings. Pictures and fiberglass mounts make just as lasting memories as freezer burnt king that will most likely turn into crab bait sometime down the road.

Most who head to alaska want to kill as much of the biggest and the best possible using the justifiication that we're only going to get a few chances to do this in our lifetime.. So lets kill the biggest and the best for bragging rights to all of our buddies. The problem is that there are 50000 plus tourists that visit the kenai and surrounding streams every year with the same mentality :frown: . Too bad we can't learn from the mistakes made here in the PNW with the rampant kill the biggest and best menality.. There are very few fish much over 40 in oregon anymore. From what I have heard they used to be much more common.

Use T-bay and its tribs for an example, it hasn't had gillnetting in 40 years, but yet the average size has gone down in the last 30 years. Its because a picture of a big fish isn't enough and a grip and grin at the local tackle shop as well as bragging rights are more important.

 

[willametteriveroutlaw]

I am not totally sure as to the validity of the whole gene pool argument.
I volunteer at a local hatchery and when collecting brood stock, they don't by pass smaller fish. The reason this came up was that I went to throw a 2 lb jack coho out of the seine back into the river and the hatchery staff stopped me and took that fish for brood stock. He said they are equally as capable of producing large healthy fish.

Large fish are great for a run in terms of size of their brood/how many eggs they lay, but I am not convinced they produce proportionally more large offspring compared to a smaller individual - anyone know for sure?

The large kings of the kenai spawn mid stream generally and have a much higher success rate than that of smaller fish, because other species of salmon destroy their reds later in the season. Look at simple genetics, 2 short people rarely have 6'5 kids, where a 2 tall parents are much more likely to have larger children. You can breed dogs to be both small and big. How often do you see 2 60lb labs drop 100lb offspring? Not very often.

 

[O Tshawytcha]

I think that often times people over look the possibility of sending PM's to the person instead of starting a public flaming.

Good post TOC!! :clap: Give me a call so we can set up some Bouy 10 fun!


Now back to the thread...

:lurk:

PS Looks like a great trip Troy. Thanks for sharing!