Since I slept through high tide this morning as it was around 7:30 AM, I headed into Homer for lunch. There is a fantastic sandwich / coffee shop in Homer, called 59 Latitude. Sandwich and large moca for $17, and the sandwiches are the best I’ve had in a long time.
I dropped by the Anchor Fly Shop and a guy was in the shop getting details about fishing this area. Brian (owner/manager?) set Mike, the customer, with everything: flies, leaders, beads, all at a very reasonable cost. Brian showed Mike (and me) how to rig the beads and set up one of Mike’s rods for him. Brian stated where to fish tonight based on the tidal influenced areas of the river. As stated in yesterday’s photo, I gleaned all the information necessary to fish here, and elsewhere. WOW.
I spent an hour to rig my 7-weight Fenwick World Class Rod, along with my vest contents, and getting my gear on. I walked the trail to the river, in a slight panic as the mouth of the river was more than 1.5 miles away. Fortunately, after about 600 yards I found a spot than had several people fishing, and one of them was Mike!
I followed Brian’s advice, as I was 2 hours before high tide. I found a nice place to rest, waiting for the fish to show up. Since the river was muddy, the fish couldn’t be seen, but could be caught. Mike hooked a Coho after about 45 minutes, so that was my cue to enter the water. Mike invited me up to his area, and I moved up to him, holding on to vegetation, or I would have fallen in at least 3 times.
I actually got a call from my day hike guide while sitting on the bank, letting my feet become one with the river. We scheduled for Friday morning, giving time for the river to clear (Rain is forecast for Thursday night and all day Friday—it is what it is).
Mike switched over to a bead, and landed a nice Pink Salmon, which he kept, filleted, fed the gulls that showed up out of nowhere, and then had them as fishing partners until a Bald Eagle showed up!
Of course, one guy came down and told us that “Coho were everywhere here last night”. I was going to die if he said “and we limited out in an hour”, but thankfully, he did not. As the fishing was slow, Mike and I conversed and he is a really neat guy, who fishes A LOT in Montana, coming to Alaska every two years or so. Everyone up here is so nice, and Mike is no exception.
I fished for two hours and quit when my back was getting tight. I had no luck, but in the muddy water one probably had to bump the fish on the nose lol…..for real. I’m here until the 2.5 week Coho run is over. Then?? Kenai River turnouts? Kenai River Guided Trip? Halibut in Homer? Grayling above Anchorage. I’m rejuvenated being on a small, walkable and fishable river. Now is the time to experience arm fatigue from catching so many fish!
Tight Lines!