Day 1 ~ The Freshmen Class

The day of reckoning is at hand. For us freshmen, meeting Greg at 5am at McDonald's is darned early; McDonald's isn't even open to serve coffee. It's drizzling...Kel doesn't have rain pants (typical freshman move), but Greg pulls through to help another helpless client. Fishing the Kenai today, and while the Silver's (1 of 4 Salmon found on the Kenai - there is no run of chum/dog salmon - we will come to learn during orientation) are running, there's no cockiness on our part. We have other concerns right now: casting. Don't make an idiot out of yourself! Where is the booger finger supposed to go again? And why does it take multiple instances of neglecting the significance of pulling the bail back, prior to casting, before we comprehend this simple exercise? No matter, we are with the best fishing guide in Alaska. The best guides don't guess where the fish are, they know where they are because they think like fish. ~ Jimmy Buffett 7:38am - FISH-ON! 7:48am - FISH-ON! 8:35am - FISH-ON! 8:56am - FISH-ON! Before 9am we've all caught a fish, the rain has stopped, the weather is clearing, and we are already pondering if the wild Kenai will be able to withstand the onslaught that awaits it the next few days. Before 11am we are doing some serious catch and release, like Russ here (Kel decides to take note of Russ's presentation). From the start, we were all Gentlemen. When one guy had a fish on, we'd all reel up, watch the show, and, inexplicably, all take pictures of the same event. As with chasing women in High School, this respect would only last a day; later, it was dog eat dog, and when a guy had a fish on all that meant is that there was one less threat to someone catching your next fish. The day was a complete winner: good friends good fishing We saw a few Eagles and a nest In between slaying Silver's, we were also catching a lot of Pink Salmon (Silver's are also known as Coho's, Pink's are also known as, uh, Pink's, unless you are speaking to Rich, in which case they may be called any number of colors). While they weren't keepers (not good to eat at this stage of their life), they are wonderful for the ego. There was one sad story. What's wrong with this picture? Russ has his hands in the cookie jar. Why isn't he fishing? The victim of a bleeder, his second fish for the day, meaning he was out of contention (Fish and Game take note, EZ Limit plays by the rules!). All in all, the results for the day were impressive; here are some more pictures from the day.

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