Salmon Fishing, Ninilchik River

     We got up at 4 to get ready to fish.  It was the darkest morning we have seen in Alaska so far..  I would have loved to have been able to sleep in!  The forecast was for partly cloudy and 61 degrees so we packed rain gear and wore some warm layers thinking that the sun would come out.  Instead, we had drizzle and then outright cold rain.  I wore my clunky rubber boots and was the only one with dry feet.
    No motors are allowed on the Ninilchik river so we fished from an aluminum "drift" boat with oars.  The river this time of year is filled with glacial melt which is cold and pretty fast moving.  We saw many bald eagles as we drifted down the river.  Our guide, Elad, was Israeli who told us that he took the first plane out of Israel after completing his military service because, "they are all crazy over there."

    Soon after starting to fish Amanda caught a young hatchery salmon.  We were all pretty excited and Elad told us it was good practice for the big ones.  Rick got some good bites but no fish.  Pretty soon Matt caught a 27 lb salmon and fought it over to the shallows where we took pictures but couldn't keep it because it was a wild salmon.  Only hatchery salmon caught in this river can be kept.  The wild salmon must stay in the river to keep the genetics strong.
    We spent many hours on the river with Elad trying to be sure that we all caught a good fish.  It was very cold and we were all pretty wet.  Eventually I begged to be put on a small island to pee.  Amanda was grateful that I was the one to ask.  The river was full of fishing folks so we had little privacy among the high grass but by that point it did not matter to me.  Elad gamely kept rowing us back up river to give us time to get a big fish.  Amanda hooked a sea gull and then I got a big strike.  We were in the fast part of the river and it took a lot of maneuvering to try to get get away from the rocks to a point in the river where Elad could net the fish.  Finally he jumped out of the boat in the shallows and held the salmon for us to take pictures.  Again it was a wild salmon an d we couldn't keep it, but over 50 pounds.  It was a super thrill.  Elad said he could not believe that I landed it with my poor technique.  All that experience on Lake Waukenabo, I said.
   We got back to our car and drove to a small cafe for some hot chocolate and a really late brunch.  We had not planned to spend so many hours on the river.  But what a thrill.  Back to the RV for a well earned nap.