Had to get out on the water. Temps in the 20s but no wind. Nice little break from reality. Long live the Oncorhynchus mykiss!













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That first pic is terrific! The rest just proves you suck.

pickiest fish in the water. well done

Looks like the fish in the first two pics is sea run, the other pics look like residents. So were you fishing the river on the KP that's supposed to have one of, if not the, most northern anadromous populations of O. Mykiss?

The Kenai is hundreds of miles south of the most northerly native anadromous O mykiss runs... that would be the Gulkana...

That one does have some resemblance to a steelhead. We did catch two that were definitely sea run fish. The trout were all fat and healthy but were not as bitey as I had expected. Lots of feed in the water still. They were puking up eggs and flesh when we would land them. Silvers all over the place. That spawn will be strong through early winter I would guess.

There were lots of swans down there too. More than I ever remember seeing before. That last pic I was trying to get a seal that was propped up on a rock that was just under water. He dove in just as I was taking it.

There were lots of swans on Potters marsh from September up until it finally started freezing over last week. Never tried to count them all, but I'm thinking at least a couple dozen if not more.

Fish of a lifetime in the lower 48. Nice!

Dirty, Dirty Pinner..... :-)

Nice Fish!

I'm stark, "Raven" mad for the pin. Almost like cheating�.almost.

A bunch of swans have been wintering in The Braids below Skilak for several, maybe more, years now. I see them all winter when I fly over the area.

Beautiful fish! Brings back lots of memories of fall steelie fishing down there. Thanks for sharing that!

Ed

P.S. My biggest Steelhead was a 34" hen caught in Deep Creek halfway between the bridge and the mouth.

Looks like a nice day of fishing and enjoying the great outdoors.

Thanks for the pictures and story.

Amazing...nothing like that where I live. Sounds cold but looks like a great time.

I just want to know how you were able to pose for hero shots that didn't have any other boats in them. I always cut loose with 2-3 rounds of 3" steel whenever I hit the dunes- helps encourage people to keep there distance. Plus my dog doesn't mind retrieving mergansers and goldeneyes. I like it best when guys get in the current and hold themselves with their jet or maybe prop depending how much water there is- just like they were in a drift boat using oars only louder and scouring the bottom way more thoroughly.

I can't stand power drifting. Drift fishing with oars is ok, but I prefer to get out and cast. That day we only saw 4-5 boats I think. I was pretty surprised. There was a pile of ducks on the water. Saw some guys headed out to hunt when we were taking out. Have to figure they did a bunch of shooting if the ducks got up.