An Outdoor View: On variety in fishing

Author’s note: Not much has changed about fishing on the Kenai Peninsula in the 18 years since I wrote this piece, first published by the Clarion in June 1999. — LP

I recently had a nightmare, a really scary one. I was at a Board of Fisheries meeting. After some bureaucrat explained how the proposal under consideration would accomplish “the loftiest of ideals, equality,” the board unanimously adopted a regulation that required everyone to fish with exactly the same tackle and technique.

That woke me up, as most anything will on these short June nights, and I got to thinking about fishing.

One reason fishing has remained so universally popular over the years is that no two of us see it as quite the same activity. Some of us like it simple; others like it complex. Some fish for excitement; others fish for relaxation. Some do it partly for food; others do it purely for sport. Some enjoy the social aspects of fishing; others like fishing in quiet solitude. Fishing seems to be whatever we want it to be.

Part of fishing is discovering what works for you and weaving it into your own ways, means and mojo. Here on the peninsula, we have so many different kinds of fishing that even the most avid anglers don’t have time to enjoy them all.

On Memorial Day weekend, I got my kicks by fishing the Friday night king salmon opener on the Ninilchik River, drifting a luminescent Spin-N-Glo in the dark water at midnight in the dim hope that I could land a king if I did somehow manage to hook one. Others, possibly more intelligent or more patient than I, waited until a more civilized hour to begin. Some of these walked upstream, past the crowded holes, and fly fished. Others cast spinners and spoons from the shore opposite the dock in the small boat harbor. Still others fished from the dock with a bobber and eggs, looking as if they were waiting for a 4-ounce crappie to bite, and not a 30-pound chinook.

Fish for kings at the confluence of the Kasilof River and Crooked Creek and you’ll see an unbelievable variety of tackle and technique. In the fast water, you’ll see anglers flipping flies, Kenai red-fishing style. In slower water, you may see a woman drift-fishing with a Spin-N-Glo and eggs, and 10 feet upstream a man fly fishing with a purple Egg-sucking Leech. On the bank behind these two might be a kid casting a Pixee spoon between them. Like as not, he will have no boots, and the top 12 inches will be broken off his spinning rod. A few feet beyond Pixee range, you might see drift boats, back-trolling and back-bouncing.

Down at the “enhancement lagoon” on the Homer Spit, some anglers cast spoons and spinners for kings, while others sit and watch bobbers, beneath which might be a glob of eggs, a herring or some “secret” bait. In Halibut Cove Lagoon and in Seldovia, other anglers do pretty much the same thing from boats.

Anglers in small skiffs can be seen trolling herring and lures for kings within a couple hundred yards of the Homer Spit. Anglers in larger boats can be seen trolling with downriggers off Bluff Point, about 10 miles from the spit. Some anglers fish from their own boats; some fish from chartered boats.

Then there’s the Kenai River, where within a 10-mile stretch you might see people back-trolling, back-bouncing, drift-fishing and trolling downstream on an incoming tide. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you’ll see something new on the Kenai.

All of the previously mentioned fishing occurs during the same time of year. Thousands of people, all doing the same thing, only differently. The Department of Fish and Game presents it in boring statistics — so much catch-per-unit-of-effort,” or so many “angler-hours” — but it boils down to this: Without variety, our fishing would be pretty dull.

Les Palmer can be reached at les.palmer@rocketmail.com.

More in Life

Sara DeVolld performs as part of the Waltz of the Flowers Corps de Ballet in “The Nutcracker” with Eugene Ballet at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Shona DeVolld)
Becoming part of a ‘magical holiday tradition’

Local ballet dancer Sara DeVolld performs in Anchorage for ‘The Nutcracker’

A copy of Sherry Simpson’s “The Way Winter Comes” is held in the Peninsula Clarion offices on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Off the Shelf: Inhabited by winter

Juneau writer spins haunting tales of Alaska’s darkest season in 1998 short story collection

These festive gingerbread cookies are topped with royal icing and sprinkles. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Rolling out the gingerbread

With Christmas around the corner, it’s time for the holiday classic

Paper chains made of gratitude strips adorn a Christmas tree at Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna. (Photo courtesy Meredith Harber)
Minister’s Message: Grateful and kind

What if, instead of gathering around tables and talking about what has already happened TO us, we challenge ourselves to return kindness to the world around us

Roasted broccoli Caesar salad provides some much-needed greens and fiber to balance out the rolls and gravy. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A toasty, warm salad for a cozy Thanksgiving

This warm side dish provides some much-needed greens and fiber to balance out the rolls and gravy

Nick Varney
Unhinged Alaska: Some things never change. Nor should they

In the dawdling days prior to Thanksgiving, things are usually as serene as a gentle snowfall within our modest piece of nirvana

This photo from the early 1960s shows Jackson Ball enjoying the Christmas holidays with his eldest three daughters. His fourth and youngest daughter was born less than a year and a half before Ball’s death in 1968. (Photo from Ball Family memorial slideshow, 2022)
Human Complexity: The Story of Jackson Ball — Part 3

Misfortune was written across the recent history of the Arlon Elwood “Jackson” Ball family

File
Minister’s Message: Reflect upon our daily joys and blessings this Thanksgiving

There is nothing like missing something like your health to make you grateful for having good health.

Forever Dance performs “Snow” during “Forever Christmas 2022.” (Photo courtesy Forever Dance)
Forever Dance ushers in Christmas season with annual variety show

“Forever Christmas” will bring the sounds and movements of the season to the Kenai Central High School auditorium

Marvel Studios
On the Screen: ‘Marvels’ messy but very fun

Where the film shines is in the stellar performances of its three leads

These snowballs are made of chocolate cupcakes are surrounded with sugary meringue and coconut flakes. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Snowballs for a snow day

Winter-themed cupcakes celebrate a day at home

File
Minister’s Message: God’s selfie

I can think of no one word that encapsulates our age, that defines our collective priorities and focus better than that innocuous little term