Ah it’s another Dolly my buddy said as he tried to get it off his hook as fast as possible so he could try and catch a rainbow trout. I was looking at the Dolly and he was a Toad. I love to catch the hard hitting and fighting Dolly’s. Dolly’s are absolutely beautiful in the fall, and can get huge just like the trout. Here’s a picture of a nice Dolly caught on a guided trip on the Kenai River, He enjoyed the battle from start to finish and gave him a proper release.
Sockeye Salmon run into the Kenai in great abundance most years and have many different obstacles to avoid before the spawn. I’m a fishing guide on the Kenai so Sockeye are a sport fish that is fun to catch on fly rods and also very tasty to eat. Some of my good friends wouldn’t use a rod to catch a Sockeye to save there life if they can use a net. Regardless of tool used to catch or harvest these fish everybody that pursues these fish loves the action. I personally like to keep and kill about 20 fish a year so I can smoke some, jar some, and freeze some fresh. Everybody has there magic number, and that’s ok as long as none of the meat isn’t getting wasted. It’s the meat mongers of the world that ruin things for everyone, wether they use rod and reel or net. As Alaskans we have the right to harvest these fish how we please, and that should come with responsibility. Whatever weapon you choose it’s your responsibility to not be wasteful and to cherish the meat you get. Don’t kill more than your going to eat, we need the fish too spawn so we can enjoy them year after year, from generation to generation. Please be responsible so we can all enjoy our natural resources year after year. www.jasonsguideservice.com
What’s the best time to fish, morning or evening, when is the salmon run the best, when should we book our trip, these are just a few of the many questions we get as guides, that have no right or wrong answer. As a fair chase fishing guide on the legendary Kenai River, I get to see and experience it all. I can’t predict the weather or the salmon runs. I don’t know when the best of the day is gonna happen until it happens. I deal with Mother Nature and what she throws my way daily. What I do know is that a good guide controls the controllable’s and let’s Mother Nature take care of the rest. Control the controllable’s means you use the best gear, have a clean boat, show up on time, have all the local up to date knowledge on the fishery, and are willing to crawl across barb-wire and broken glass to give your people a great fishing trip. So when you pick a guide to fish with on the Kenai River pick one that controls the controllable’s and you’ll have a great trip.
Yesterday I was catching em on big flesh in a deeper water column, today I can’t buy a bite. I hear this all the time, sometimes the fishing was tougher the next day sometimes my friends didn’t adapt to the daily changes we experience everyday on the Kenai River. The moral of the story here is yesterdays success was just that yesterday. An angler needs to be in the now if they want to consistently put up numbers. www.jasonsguideservice.com
Cassidy Kim fishes just enough to remember some things and not others. Cassidy decided to try float fishing with a spinning rod, instead of her usual fly fishing. Cass doesn’t fish often but when she does she fishes with Jason’s Guide Service, not enough to be great just enough to catch fish. Cassidy is somewhat of a natural with a fly rod, but spinning gear troubles her from time to time. We fished an afternoon with the float rods with determination and some laughs we managed to catch some fish. It’s not always the big fish or the most fish that make a great day, sometimes it’s the little fish or the only fish that makes it. www.jasonsguideservice.com
