Saturday, July 13, 2013

Soldotna, Alaska waiting for fish

So in the last post I said that I would post again when we started catching salmon.  Well, we have been here almost three weeks and we have not caught a salmon yet.  Keith has caught one, Ron two, and Chuck two.   We are hoping that the fish will start coming in in the next few days.  So we have been waiting and waiting.  But we have done a few things besides waiting for salmon.
We are parked at a wonderful place near the airport in Soldotna.  It is free and we are with not only our group but about 30 other RVers.  We are within walking distance to shopping in Soldotna and the Kenai river.  With our group (Moore's, Poutney's, Schindel's, and Keith and Sandy) we have celebrated two birthdays (Gregg's and Jan's), the birthday of our nation (4th of July), and numerous happy hours.  It is great fun being with such wonderful friends.
The second day we were in Soldotna we tried our luck at fishing the Russian river.  I lost about 7 hooks to the river and finally gave up.  None of our group caught anything.  The only ones that were catching were the experienced fishermen who could actually see the salmon in the water.  During the first week we also went clamming at Clam Glutch.  The first day we got about 100 clams (there were 6 of us).  The second time we got about 36 ( there were only 3 of us).  We have had sauted clams and fried clams.  Very good.
The second week was mainly a rainy, cold week.  We did see a lot of moose in our campground.  We went to farmer's markets, took a set-netting tour, and attended a Hobo Jim (Alaska's balladeer).
This last week all of us went halibut fishing.  Moore's and us went on Monday the 8th.  We had rough seas, strong tides, and didn't catch as much as we wanted.  Dean caught 2 and I caught 1(which was the largest of our group).  We came home with 24 lbs of meat.  Ron, Keith, and Sandy went on Tuesday and caught a lot.  In fact Sandy caught a 60 pounder.  They came home with 49 lbs.  Schindels got up early on Friday (had to be at Ninilchik by 5).  They had beautiful weather and caught 2 each for 27 lbs. We went with Ninilchik charters and had a half price coupon through our toursaver book.
On Wednesday of this week, Dean and I did a day trip to Homer.  We had beautiful weather.  We had
a beer at the Salty Dog Saloon and ate at Captain Patti's.  I had a wonderful baked halibut.  Since we took Chica, we walked the beach and around the shops on the Spit.  Lovely day!
Today Moore's and us went to tthe Funny River Festival.  It was not much but the parade was kind of fun.
So the fish should be showing up in the next few days.  Hopefully i will have a good report soon.