Alaska Page 4 - Skilak Lake
Wednesday we hired a guide to take us fishing for King salmon in the mid river up to Skilak Lake. We head upriver at 5:00 AM with the sun just coming up over the mountains.
Again, we got a break when the sun came out making it another beautiful day with temperatures in the 50s. Several other guide boats were heading upriver. The sun really show the amazing color of the glacial water.
Gil enjoying the scenery while we did a little back trolling in one of our guide's favorite spots.
Gil and Huk
Huk got into a nice rainbow trout.
It was nice but he released this one. We want one of those monster kings!
Some loons on the water. I'm glad we weren't the only ones.
We move on upriver a bit more. A few rain clouds pass over but it looks good up ahead.
A guy in another boat landed a king. It was about 35 pounds.
Of course Gil had one of his custom knives on his belt.
Our Guide calls some his guide buddies to find out where the fish are hitting.
Our guide, Terry Sappah. There are about 2,000 guides on the Kenai during the salmon runs. Many are from out-of-state. Terry was born and raised in Alaska and has been fishing the Kenai for 40 years. He's a great guy and knows these waters as well as anybody. If you are planning a fishing trip on the Kenai, I highly recommend you give Terry a call 1-800-434-0699 or check his website www.kenaiking.com .
We move on up to Skilak Lake. This is the third largest lake in Alaska. A glacier feeds the upper river, which feeds this lake, and then the river flows on to the Pacific Ocean at Cook Inlet. Skilak Lake is over 600 feet deep in places. In other places, there are huge boulders just under the surface. You need to know your way around here in a boat.
The lake today is calm and beautiful but things can change in a hurry up here.
Our guide's wife, Anna, is also a guide and she came up with a group from Australia.
The beauty of this lake is a memory that will last forever.
More loons on the water. Larry, Moe and Curly. I'm not saying which is which.
After a break on the lake we head back down the river.
Gil hooks onto another sockeye.
This is a really nice one at 15 pounds, only about a pound under the record.
The color of the water continues to amaze me.
Seagulls basking in the sun.
More combat fishing. Every river in the area is lined with fishermen during the salmon runs. We are very lucky to have our own private little piece of the river thanks to our hosts.
Eagles along the river.
This one is guarding her nest.
Well, we didn't catch a king. Gil got a couple of sockeye. Here is his 15 pounder back at Terry's camp. It measured 33 inches.
Terry not only provides all of the gear and bait for fishing, he also filets your fish for you using custom made filet knives made by Gil Hibben.
Every year, Gil brings Terry a custom made filet knife and he is getting quite a collection of them.
This is a 94 pound king that Terry caught last year.
Another great day in Alaska.