EXTREME FISHING

YOU REALLY HAVE TO BE DEDICATED!!!

This morning at 6AM Doug, (my brother-in-law) and I left Anchorage on the 115 mile voyage to the Hidden Creek trail head. From there we walked about 2 miles down to where the Kenai River drops into Skilak Lake.


The truck on the Skilak Lake Road.

The drive down was pretty dicey. We ran into blizzard conditions in Turnagin Pass which made for white knuckle driving. Did I mention it was total darkness? We finally started to get some day light about 15 minutes before our drive ended. Not that helpful really. Once we arrived at the trail head we dressed into snow pants and boots, loaded up our big packs with fishing gear, food, and the likes and started the walk in. About 45 minutes later we arrived at Hidden Creek where we stopped to put our waders on.


Arrival at Hidden Creek

Once fully dressed we crossed the creek and walked the last 1/4 mile to the mouth of the Kenai. The fishing was a bit slow, we worked the river for about 2 hours. I caught one Rainbow about 20" long and 2 pretty nice Silvers that were a bit on the rosy side.


Landing a Silver!

I let everything go, as filleting fish this time of year sucks. Fishing was pretty tough, the eyelets of the fly rods were constantly freezing up making it nearly impossible to cast (this is a sign that ice fishing season is around the corner). Doug was snake bitten and didn't land any fish. We did have a nice lunch though. Doug built a small fire on the river bank and heated up a couple cans of chunky beef stew. It hit the spot considering it was all of 26 degrees.


The Cook Making Lunch!

It was a great trip, I hope there is one more in the cards before Mother Winter takes over. Stay Tuned!