July 1 on the Kasilof. Restriction lifted today for the protection of the first-run Crooked Creek wild fish, so it was time to bust out those meat sticks and do some serious battle!

How 'bout we start the day with this nice "little" 53 pounder for Jim? Familiar spot, think you have a nice girl picture taken in this very same eddy



The 53 was only "little" when Paul bested it with this 55 a few minutes later:



How 'bout a pic of the pair of them?



Best part was today was also bait opener on the Kenai and EVERYONE was there. Could count the number of people we saw in boats on one hand!

Gonna miss ya this year! 30 more days to go in July and we've already sent two in for certification for AK's trophy certificate program, I hope we can manage a few more ... that is if they keep the nets out some until we get going at full swing!

Get those little ones growin' so you can drag them along with ya!

Wow those are some beauties. Tell us what they took Bob.

Let me guess.
Sardine wrap on K-16.

Damn you, TRBO!

You have ruined the rest of my evening. I can forget about getting any sleep tonight.

You are definitely "da man" when it comes to July kings in the ditch. You did far better than the rest of the Kenai guides who spent most of the day on 10-15# shakers during the bait opener.


You and I need to have some serious discussions on coaxing ADFG into some conservation-minded measures for those late run Kasilof natives. Those are surely a pair of magnificent fish.... we need to make sure we save a few for the gene pool.

Hey Bob, did you happen to tape those fish for length and girth?

Damn nice looking fish Bob. Brings back lots of fond memories and sure gets the blood boiling for this summer. Great pics.

No kwikies this time of year. We always run diver and eggs under the extreme flows we have in July. Water height is about three weeks ahead of schedule and we're at about 3rd - 4th week of July flows right now.

Short leaders, about 18" to a 2 or 0 spin 'n glo with a size 6 corkie above it. Dual 5/0 hooks on 60 lb. leaders and 40 main.

We got very accuate length & girth as we had to take them to the ADF&G office to be certfied (Ken's is not doing that any longer). The bio that is trying to learn somehitng about this mystery run of fish was excited to have a couple of these hogs to tape & pull scales from.

Keep an eye / ear open FnP, since we have had so many early reds, there's a little known fishery writeen into the Kasilof Management Plan for reds that may become a reality that essentially allows an in-river commercial fishery for the reds.

We're trying to learn a little about it and if it occurs, we'll likely be going to the same two groups that sued over the wildlife refuge stocking and we're hoping we might get an injunction against it based on the fact there is no official management plan in place for these kings and such a fishery would likely have large impacts on this wild run of kings of which many spawn within the refuge.

Fortunately, with the restrictions we have in place for limits, days of week, etc. on the small sport fishery that takes place here, I don't hink we have much impact on the run and we'll always be letting a good number through ... the nets gotta let some through too!

Length on the first fish that officially weighed 53.34 a few hours later was 49" with a 29.5" girth. Calculator says 55.02 pounds.

Second fish was 51" with a 29.25" girth. It weighed 54.45 fully bled out (ripped gillraker during pic) when brought into town, so 55 should be about right ... it looked like I'd gutted a deer on the bottom of the boat! Calulator on this one said 56.03.

Pretty close in both cases.

We'll see if we can find anymore today!

Bob

Sent you a PM.

I don't think that should be a question, Bob, as much as a statement of fact! I'm way beyond jealous!

So are some seriously nice Ditch Toads! I really do need one of those for my office wall!

I'm excited to know that starting in around April 2005, my "daycare bill" is gonna exceed my current mortgage payment! I am getting a steal of a deal at $1,800 per month for daycare. :rolleyes:

I am so hosed.

Oh well, let a few toads go so they can do their thing. Maybe I'll get a shot at their kids!

Nice fish bob, this has been the year of big fish on the ditch. I bonked a 42lb clipped fish (digital scales) 2 weeks ago, and have released a couple of wild ones that were bigger. But the average clipped fish seemed smaller? Did you notice that by chance, or am I just imagining things.

OK Bob, I get your drift now. Just took a peek at the comm fish harvest to date. The Kasilof section has been open for maximum allowable fishing times to harvest enough Kasilof sockeye to prevent "overescapement".... here's what they've taken so far:

UCI commercial harvest

All this netting to harvest excess Kasilof reds is also having an impact on kings bound for both the Kasilof and the Kenai. As of July 5, about 2100 kings have been "incidentally" harvested in the nets.... 530 in the Kasilof section alone in just one day!

Granted, they're not all Kasilof fish, but I'll bet yesterday's one-day commercial take may well exceed the entire sport harvest of late run Kasilof kings for the entire month of July! That really puts the impact of killing or releasing a handful of Kasilof hawgs into better perspective. It also underscores the importance of determining the composition of the incidental king harvest in terms of contribution by river of origin, i.e. Kasilof vs Kenai. This info is woefully lacking.... another project to add to our ADFG research wish list.

That said, just remember the ones you are catching have already successfully evaded the nets to enter the river to spawn. If we are gonna target fish for the table, we ought not slaughter our best breeding stock. If it's a trophy mount that a client is seeking, consider suggesting a replica so the fish can be released unharmed. Unlike DV's pursuit of a record ling cod in a clearly abundant stock, the Kasilof late run king stock is presumed to be small, and therefore vulnerable to excessive harvest pressure. With the nets potentially doing so much unaccounted damage to the inriver return, we should tread lightly on those fish that actually escape.... and tread very heavily on fish managers to get a better handle on the composition of the commercial king harvest by river of origin.

BTW I see the sockeye dippers in the Kasilof haven't gotten much of a chance beyond their opening day on June 25 . The commercial nets are not allowing many fish into the river:

UCI Inriver Sockeye Passage

fNp

That was worded perfectly.

I look forward to joining Bob some July so I have a chance to release one of those big Kings!

Jeff

Ya know, I'm not really the militant type...but

I saw an ad once for a slightly used Soviet Submarine...complete and ready to sail.

Think a couple well placed torpedoes might reduce the commercial harvest of those great fish?

G_d, I hate nets, and I don't give a rip whose using them. (I also hate to see good men and women unemployed, but there are other ways to make $ besides gill-netting Salmon)

Dump the nets, honest, hard working guides could have a resouce to fish with clients and the environment would be far better off. Maybe the guys working the nets could also learn to guide, and make a good living as well taking just a few fish a day instead of hundreds.

Only if it was a perfect world.

Mike