Jammer's Going on Another Epic Adventure

  Thursday I'll be taking Jammer to the upper Kenai River in my mini-drifter looking for more sockeye action.This section of the river is some of the most scenic area in Alaska with 7000' mountains,bears(both brownies and blacks),eagles,and monster rainbow trout.Though you can't keep trout over 16" you can sure take pictures.So stay tuned because we will have some pictures to show.
  This will be another awesome day.Jammer is gonna love this...........



























  Gotta go for now and touch base with Jammer.This is gonna blow his mind...........

Whaaaa?  I wanna go!!  Lol. That should be EPIC!!!!  What perfect timing. Reds will be good but make sure he throws some BIG flesh flies for those bows!!!  Be safe! Have a blast!

   Come on down kard-84.There is plenty of room on the river.Sorry,but my mini-drifter only carries 2 people.I guess you could try your Outback out there.That'd be a challenge ,eh?
  And you're right---our timing should be perfect for intercepting that big slug of sockeye.Oh yeah,Ive got the flesh flies,beads,and buggers to nail a trout or 2.
  We'd love to have the company for sure.Hope you can make it .We should be at Sportsman's Landing about 8:00 am.Having 3 weeks off at a time is sooooooo cooooool.Are you jealous

   Woke up to a beautiful,sunny day today looking forward to a float down the Upper Kena River.Made it up to Sportsman's Landing (@ RM 75)by the Russian River Ferry around 8,dropped off the mini-drifter and Jammer,and ran the truck down to our pull-out at Jim's Landing(@ RM 69).Immediately hitched a ride back to Sportsman's  and got ready to shove off.After we rigged up the fly poles down the river we went.Very lttle boat traffc,and not a whole lot of people fishing the banks.As we worked the seams and shoreline we were seeing lots of sockeye jumping and rolling around us.Some were pretty spawned out,some had just started to blush,and some were nice and bright chromers.
   We anchored up in a seam and Jammer got a take-down......and it came unbuttoned......something liked his flesh fly.We pummled the water for a while and weren't getting much action so we continued downstream.Pulled off onto a gravel bar and worked the water around us.The water was so clear you could see individual rocks on the bottom.The water clarity and the bright sunny day might have put the rainbows off a bite or into deeper water,so we figured ambushing them on the move could be a good tactic ,or at least a worth a try.
   A little furthur down river we saw another drift boat pulled off on the north bank,so we slowed down cause they were looking toward shore not at the water.Suddenly,in the alders we saw why---a mother Grizzly Bear and two small cubs.She was about 600 lbs and the little ones about 40 lbs and they were only about 100 feet away.We dropped anchor and got out the cameras for some Kodak Moments.And we did get some......
   Momma was acting a little nervous with us and the other guys watching her,but she never acted aggressive at all.But it was easy to tell she had control of the situation.Her cubs were keeping pretty close to mom except for what I think was the boy...he wanted to play in the water,stand up and check out the people checking him out,and then later wrestling with mom a little bit.It was definitely a "National Geographic Day"
   When mother bear started coming closer to the water,and us,I felt it was time to give her all the space she wanted so we started backing off and furthur out into the river.We got to observe them for about 20 minutes and I have to say--Grizzly bears are impressive animals.
   Jammer told me that this was the highlight of his trip to Alaska,better than catching a few hundred pounds of fish,seeing all the mountains,and even the beauty of Kachameck Bay.And I have to agree with him...that expirence made the day awesome.....
  After seeing the Grizzly bears I don't think either of us cared a whole lot if we caught any fish or not.We did stop for a while at a huge boulder with a deep slot at its base.We could see schools of sockeye swimming by,with an occassional rainbow slipping in between them.Egg sucking leech and flesh fly didn't seem to get their attention so we started throwing spinners.We touched a lot of fish,mostly sockeye,and ended up landing a couple.So we brought home some meat.But it was not the high-light of the day at all.
   An awesome day does not completely do justice to what we got to share today.A rare and wonderful time shared between two new friends.I'm not sure life gets too much better.

Who cares about Jammer fishing Alaska?  (OK, I do!)  I want specs on that mini-drifter.  I think I'm in love (AGAIN!).

-Allen

Nice!!!!  Well let's see, I went work and the dentist today. argh!  Your day was definitely better than mine.

Looks like some killer times. I've lived in AK since 1971 and have never fished from a boat above the Soldotna bridge!  That's gonna change!

Doable from a yak Mark??

   pole-pole;

  That really cracked me up..........but I'm afraid you are SOL......I  quit making them in 2004

  However,I will be moving back to Washington in September and maybe I can hunt down the mold and start making them again.They are a neat little boat,no license,no trailer,only weigh 150 lbs,and can manuvuer like no other drift boat I've ever seen.

 kardinal_84    don't know if you'd want to take that new Hobie down there or not.You got pretty nervous on the lower end and the upper is a lot faster water.Besides that you might put a scratch or two in it

   pole-pole;
 kardinal_84    don't know if you'd want to take that new Hobie down there or not.You got pretty nervous on the lower end and the upper is a lot faster water.Besides that you might put a scratch or two in it

That isn't some kinda challenge is it?  Nervous? sure.  First time on a river.  But that hasn't stopped me before!

Maybe in September and October I will give it a whirl.  Not sure about this weekend.  Promised the kids I'd take them fishing somewhere.  Probably pinks up north or hope.  I may try Whittier or Seward one day.  Not sure yet.

The scratches just make it look mean!  lol.  Not to hijack the thread but I am hoping my winter project is a paint job and potential reinforcement of the keel areas as I do tend to abuse my gear.

  karinal_84,
  No Rudy,that wasn't a challenge.It was a serious concern.Don't want to discourage you at all.You are too adventurous a spirit,I would never attempt to squash that .
  I agree that later in the fall the water level will subside a lot and could be kinder to kayak down.And the rainbow trout won't have the feast they are just starting now so should be ravenously hungery.
  If you still want to do Seward after August 22nd ,I'm game.I have to go to work for 3 weeks starting August 1st til the 22nd.Stay in touch and hopefully we can make it happen.But also be aware Lori and I are moving south soon too.
  Enjoy the next month's fishing with your kids.They need your time and energy more than I do.Plus they are probably more fun than me.........