Friday June 24.Kodiak is a great place to live this time of year. There are so many places to fish and so many species to target all with in 70 miles. On friday morning i am trying to decide on fishing for reds 4 miles away, pink salmon 30 miles away, bows or kings only 3 miles away. I finally decide on kings because i have only caught a few in the river and they are starting to show consistantly in the ocean. The ocean is much more of a test than a small river such as the one i have been fishing. The ocean is where a king has unlimited places to run and can truly show his fighting greatness. I arrive at the beach at low tide and see several kings 75 yards out finning and breaching. That of course is to far out to simply wade so a carry my 70 pound dave scadden pontoon boat 200 yards down the beach hoping the fishing will make me forget that long painful walk. I paddle out to a school of kings that are obiously feeding vorasiously as i could see baitfish fleeing out of the water all over. I am finally ready to make a cast and i launch a 60 foot shot 10 feet in front of the school. On the fourth or fifth stip with my lefty’s deceiver my rod doubles over and i set the hook. Immediately i see a chrome figure headshaking and i know i am in for a battle. The fish quikly peels off about 80 yards of line followed by a few magnificant leaps. After that the slow process of reeling the fish in begins. Several minutes pass before i finally land the 18 pound buck. The next two hours went by like a blur, i landed 8 other kings and all fought like the first. King salmon are undeniably hard to beat in terms of brute strength and i am certainly lucky to be abe to experience that brute strength without driving hundreds of miles or paying thousands of dollars. World class fishing only minutes from home is certainly a dream come true.
kodiak….Man…that must be sweet…Those fresh kings must rip! 9 in 2 hours…I would imagine that could put your gear to the test! Nice work. Any Alaska Rainbow Trout fly fishing in your near future plans?
Thanks jeremy, those kings do put your gear to the test. I use a 9 weight wit a stout drag but still get manhandled by those kings.
As for rainbows i am always fishing the lakes on kodiak in fact last week i lost a bow that was 7 or 8 pounds. I am also going to fish the naknek from september 3 to 9 , this is my favorite river i fished because of the tecniques used and the average bow is 4 pounds with 10 pounders aplenty. Needless to say i will take plenty of pics and maybe some video for a fish tale.