They shut it down to keeping kings so its C&R. Meanwhile they give the commercial guys an extra opening to slaughter them by the thousands, but AK residents can't keep anything in most places as far as kings. It used to be 1 a day with a limit of 5 per year. No way people keeping 1 a day compares to the trawlers just raking them in, but they mismanage it. Campgrounds used to be packed and guides made a living off 1 king per customer, but not anymore. Campgrounds are dead during king season now. It's a sore subject for those of us who enjoy the sport of it and like to keep 1 or 2 a year. Only good thing is that less people means catching more for us who still fish when we can't keep anything.
There is a stocked place where they release them as fry and they return just like natural ones. You can keep them there as they have no place to breed. They blocked it for a hydroelectric plant which is why they take some and breed them and release. I really don't like fishing there though.

Man this was a fight. Started peeling line as soon as I hooked it.

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I had a real nice one on tonight but it broke the snap ring on the vibrax and took the hook. Caught a huge rainbow and a nice king.

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I had a couple guys on the bank checking regs and no one was sure so I let it go. I think if I was upstream a little I could have but not at the mouth.

That's crazy. We have seals that come up the rivers following the fish. They were all the way up to the Deshka River yesterday.

Some of the best tasting salmon in the world. Copper River red.

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Yeah, I have been trying to get someone to go dipnetting with me but no takers. I can keep 65 for subsistence. Might go solo this weekend.

Decided to stay local and fish a nearby creek. Got my limit today and all were females with eggs. Eggs make good bait for when the silvers come in, so glad to get those. Probably hit the same creek at 5 am tomorrow when it opens. The creek I fish is so small you could jump over it if you had a running start. You can see the fish and basically run the line through their mouth. We call it flossing. Reds won't bite when they hit fresh water but they swim upstream with mouths opening constantly so it's fairly easy to catch them. All you need a weight about 12-15" up from a hook. Usually tie a piece of yarn on the hook and that's it.

Picked off another limit today. Nothing better than salmon that is only a few hours from catch to cook.

I will grab a few pics today when I take my son down to try for a few more fish. Will probably toss 1 or 2 on the smoker.

Such good looking meat on sockeye.

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Got my son hooked up!

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You can see how small the creek is in this pic.

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Decided to experiment with some salmon. Pureed fresh ginger into some lime juice and olive oil and marinated the salmon for about 15 minutes. Put on a sheet pan with the ginger covering the top. Salt and pepper and baked it off. Squirt of lime after it was cooked to top it off. Absolutely amazing! Cooked extra for patties tomorrow.

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No net, rod and reel. You can see groups of them moving up and sitting in holes hanging out. It's pretty easy to catch them when they are there. More of meat fishing than sport fishing. This area is only open Saturday and Sunday, 5am to 10pm which gives plenty of time to meet the escapement goals. You basically just thread the line through their mouth in this area.

Little Susitna river was at flood levels. Usually people stand here and take pics. Caught some nice silvers though.

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Nice! That ice climbing looks crazy.

Was that glacier pic out of Whittier?

My GZ is docked in Anchorage as of this morning. Hoping it doesn't take too long to get the call. Hope by tomorrow anyway.

I know there are at least 2 places with pins. One is called Koots and I can't remember the other place right now. Never been to either one though, it's a little too far for me. I know there is another place in Seward too if you end up down there, but I doubt pinball will be on your mind if you are in Seward.

Went to the fair on Monday. The fair is always slightly depressing as I know winter is very close behind. I should have gotten more pics of the raptor exhibit. We only took a few pics but there were a ton of falcons, hawks, owls and other birds. They were locked on on their feet to keep them on the pedestals.

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Hoping to get some good pics to share this week. My brother is coming up for his first trip to AK tomorrow. We have had rain almost every day since mid July though and the forecast is the same for this week. Hoping we can find some sunny spots and travel to them. For that reason I have no plans other than checking the weather each day and driving to the best spot. This is normally my hunting week so giving that up this year.

Wow! That's an awesome pic! I have tried to 4-wheel it to that glacier but the water was too high when we tried. If I had a boat I would definitely make this a priority. Maybe next year.

Went to Hope, AK for the first time. It's 15 miles out of the way when we head south so just never made the trip. We usually have a lot of miles to cover when we pass it. It's a pretty cool little town. Stopped at a lodge for coffee and found some games to relax after traveling.

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Right next door was The Dirty Skillet. Really good food and great atmosphere.

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This day was we went to Independence Mine. I always stop before it since it is a pay area. Too many free places to pay to park, but I never knew how cool this place was.

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The mine is at Hatcher Pass and the views are amazing.

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Leaves are turned and fall colors are in full effect now.

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Went to Whittier on Wednesday

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Of course I had to show my brother what real crab legs are.

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Weather was not the best, but we made it a great trip anyway. He say a bear run in front of our car the first day. Saw sheep and a Beluga whale on the way south.

Of course the day he leaves the sun comes out with blue skies.

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We were joking and saying people usually say "I had crab legs for dinner", but up here you say "I had crab leg for dinner".