Alaska

Just returned from a 7 day trip in AK. Had a great time with lots of laughes and met some good people. Fishing was solid and we had some moments where it was just plain silly good. I would say over all, we had to work for them and we were rewarded with some nice fish in the end. Particularly the Streamer fishing for quality Bows. The rainbows and dollys were a lot of fun both wade and drifting through about 15 miles of river. Accomplished a good hike into lakes that held Grayling and came up empty. I did have have some shots at cruising fish and lost my only hook up that came on a dry. A little dissapointed considering I hiked nearly 10 miles RT for that fish through some very Beary back country.  Pleanty of Bears, Eagels and just plain beautiful scenery through out the Kenai Pennensula. The summer crowds are gone and we enjoyed  large uncrowded stretches of River to our self. .

Since we stayed in Cooper Landing we concentrated on the Canyon run from just out side Cooper to down the the SW end of Skilak lake and also the Middle Kenai where is flows out of the lake too Dotts landing. With in close proximity of Copper Landing is the Russion R, Six Mile, Quartz Cr, Cooper Cr and host of other small tributaries that hold fish from one time or another. Theres lots of water here folks. One things that is strikingly different than the lower 48 is the Trout and Dolly's dependence on Salmon. It really is the catalyst for there survival and there whole life revolves around the returns into the Kenai. With out them, this would be a tough place to fish.

This time of year many of the lodges are closed, or are getting ready to wrap up there season. I had made reservations in Feb at http://www.drifterslodge.com/and they set us up in a small room in the main lodge and we took care of ourselves. Drifters Lodge was clean, affordable and right in the middle of everything I wanted to fish and see. I can honestly say it was a great place to stay and super friendly staff. If something wasn't right, they went out of there way to correct it. What else can you ask for? So, If you want to get up there and dont mind taking care of your own needs give them a shout. They also do more involved fishing packages as well, but we just needed a place to crash, heat up some food and take a shower. It was perfect.

Kenai Lake

The guides that fished us really worked hard. Kept us in fishy water and never rushed us on down river. Really professional the whole time. Water was way up and still is. Infact, it was at flood stage just prior to arriving and had me concerned. But, everything came together and we caught some repectable fish. The river dropped every day we were there and we had sun and mild weather by there standards for almost the entire trip so we were blessed. If you have never been, get up there. You'll love it! Here are a few images from the trip and I will post more in the next day or two.