The rest of the day was simple socializing. I had king crab for dinner, thanks to mom. Boy was that good!

It was decided that we would go to the river Wednesday morning, so we are going to spend Tuesday preparing. We have a lot of work to do and it's late so, good night!

TUESDAY: Busy, but uneventful. We spent the day preparing for the Kenai. Kathy and I also made a point of buying some additional warm clothing. We gave mom a list of recommended movies and rented "While You Were Sleeping" for her. Great flick! I cry every time I watch it. At 10:30, we went to return the film, as we won't have time in the morning. We saw the most beautiful rainbow lifting from the base of a mountain and cascading over the entire range! A rainbow at 11pm, go figure! Tomorrow's the big day!

Wednesday: Up by 6:30, to Bev's by 7:15! We headed out around 8:15 to sunny skies and high hopes. The 3-hour trip was pleasant, with good company and clear skies. We stopped at the halfway point for ice cream - good stuff too! We got to the camp, in Soldotna, only to discover that Milt's boat had sunk in the heavy rains of the past week. A neighbor had pulled her out, but she needed work. There will be no king fishing today.

The skies were possessed! Raining a downpour one minute, sunny and hot the next. Back and forth all afternoon. Milt took advantage of the sunny spots to work on the boat. I try to make myself available to make the job go smoother, but I sometimes feel like a 5th wheel. I am good at tying tackle, though, and I got 20 king rigs tied today. I'll do some more tomorrow (my thumb is tired...)

<INSERT KING RIG SKETCH HERE>

I took advantage of a quiet moment to say 'Hi' to the Kenia. God I've missed this river. After 2 years, it seems I never left. A piece of me stayed behind in '95. It was sitting here, awaiting my return. It felt good.

It didn't take long before I could see the reds jumping. I reached my threshold and went for my hip boots and fly rod. A few steps from shore reached near the top of my boots. Waves from passing boats have washed over my boots and wet my crotch. The Kenai may dampen my shorts, but not my enthusiasm! I didn't catch anything, but this river has now twice bitten me.

I took a break from the fish to watch the boats and catch a nap with Kathy. Something's missing there. It's kinda sad. Didn't nap long before dinner was up (coldcut sandwiches). After that I tied some additional rigs (gotta show Joey how to do this!) Then Kathy and I went for a short walk around the site.

When we returned, I decided to try for reds again. Kathy wanted to join me! So, I got her a pair of hip boots and a rod and off we went. I gave Kathy a quick casting lesson. She seemed to pick it up real quick, and was casting like a pro in no time. So I stepped away and did likewise. No fish again, but they were jumping all round. After a while, Kathy decided she was done, and I took a break. When I went back, Bev joined us, fishing from shore, as Kathy watched. Still no luck (our neighbors, Carl Malone and crew (the basketball star) got one. Then Milt joined in, also from shore. Watching the fish jump, and not catching any, Milt said "alright, time to get serious", and he went off for his chest waders. With his chest waders, he was able to stand considerably farther from shore. That shouldn't really matter, as the fish are surfacing very close to shore (all around me!). I was taking a break, talking with Kathy and Bev when... ...WHAMO! "Fish On!" "Son Of A Bitch!", I mutter under my breath...

I grab the net and hop into the river. Milt has to move way in, if I am to net this fish. I try to meet him half way and in my over zealous state, I step in over my boots. 40-degree water - BOY, that'll light your eyes up quick! After a short struggle, we landed our fist red of the trip, Milt's!

Wet and cold, I was also determined. Milt gave me a few pointers to add to what Bev told me and I told Kathy "gimme that rod!". For crying out loud, they're jumping all around me! Milt got another one, bigger than the first! It didn't take too much longer before I really began to feel the cold and conceded this first day to the Kenai. I helped locate the equipment to clean the fish and went to the cleaning station where Milt was.

It is always fascinating to watch Milt clean fish. He is so quick, so sure of the fish and his knife. He would filet his salmon in 90 seconds flat, with never a missed cut. Two filets bagged, carcass into the river, next fish!

Now we can relax, then get ready for bed. We packed the 4 kids into a too small tent (tight quarters. I'm sure Joe doesn't mind.) We had talked of buying Joe some hip boots and decided to get me my Father's Day chest waders instead.

THURSDAY: Good night's sleep, till 7am! After a hot cup of coffee, Bev and Milt launched the boat and Milt took it out for a 10-minute test drive. I cleaned up some tackle (preparing to tie more) when Bev said we were going on a king run. The kids were still asleep, so Bev, Milt, Kathy and I went. What a thrill to be heading upriver for the first time in 2 years! The same busy boat traffic, the same guides and the same Sunday drivers! Bev and Kathy caught dolly's (Dolly Varden trout), we all caught snags, no one caught kings. After about 7 drifts, we headed in. We saw 2 other boats netting kings, so we know they're in!

On our last drift, Kathy, Milt and I all nailed the same snag. What a mess of knots when we got it up! When we went into town we couldn't find any chest waders with cleated boots, so we got hip boots for Joe instead. Later this afternoon, we went to the sand bar for reds. Milt and I went up, the place was packed! About 40 people, 10 feet apart, swinging 9 foot fly rods! Talk about "Combat Fishing"! what a hoot!

Milt gave me some pointers, left me with the net, and went back to get the rest of our crew. Man, people were catching them all around me! One woman caught one on her second cast...

...3 times in a row!

I finally nailed one! Put up a nice fight, but I had 'im. Problem was, I was fighting the fish, the current and a collapsible 6-foot net! I lost the fight.

But I got another one. Same fight, same results... The third one broke my leader and got away also. Very frustrating! I had all three of these fish at my hip at one point and lost them all.

Milt arrived as I was walking back to the anchor point. I had extra sinkers and flies, but no leader material. With the boat back, I could fix that and now there was someone to net the fish for me. That is, of course, if I could catch another one. It took a while, but I did. Two, in fact. Joey got one (after hooking and losing about 10); Milt and Bev each got a couple and Monica got one on her

second cast. Tara got a couple too. Jen tried real hard, but no luck. Maybe next time. Kathy really got the hang of it and had one on a couple of times. Boy did she get excited! All in all, we caught seven, and came home with our keep.

I had gotten my butt wet again, so I quickly striped off the hip boots. Milt began fileting the fish (I'll do a batch tomorrow) and Kathy and I helped bag them up for the freezer. We took one of the freshly caught reds and fired up the grill for a bar-b-que! What a taste treat! Thirty minutes from water to plate. As Milt said - "the only way to have them fresher is if they'd jump out of the water and onto the grill!"

The kids did the dishes (their river front chore) and I helped Milt with cleaning the fish box. It was then that I noticed the water was aboil with reds. I grabbed the chest waders (Milt's) and my fly rod and jumped into the river. Hell, they were all around me, even splashing me at times. Couldn't catch a one - not even a hit.

So, here comes Bev...

...Casting from shore, in 10 minutes she had one on! I netted it for her and bent back to my task of swish fishing. Nothing. Then Bev hits another, but loses it. After another half-hour, my arm is really tired from casting and call it a night. Milt hinted at a King run. It's getting late though, so I don't know if we will be able to go.

It's quiet now. The kids are in watching TV and Kathy is inside reading a book. Bev and Milt are working on the boat and I'm trying to think of more to write. Everybody seems to have a joke to crack about how prolific I am with this journal. Even our neighbor, Jim. He told me I could save a lot of time by taking my 1995 journal and changing the dates... ...what a card. Actually, while someone reading these journals may come to the same conclusion, the two trips really are completely different.

FRIDAY:

Up at 6am, coffee and out for a king run with Bev, Milt and I (no chance of getting the kids up at this fishly hour). We drifted five to six times, a couple of snags, no kings (persistence is the key).

When we came in, after the runs, we got Kathy and the kids up for a quick breakfast, then up to the sand bar for reds. Milt dropped Kathy, Bev and I, along with a pipe (to subdue those nasty salmon) and 2 nets snagged on the anchor (to keep them from floating away). One net to land the fish, one net to hold our catch from drifting away. We set up down stream, where the currents are slower and reds are more densely packed.

	A couple of casts and WHAM! First hit, couldn't set the hook. Then Kathy got one that took her hook. While I was tying a new one on, Bev got one and I had to net it, then tie Kathy's fly on. As I went to cast, Kathy got one. I got the net. As I stuffed that one into the storage net, Bev got one. Then Kathy hooked a big one that took her whole leader! While I was replacing that, Bev caught
another, etc., etc... While they caught 4 fish, I didn't get my line in for more than a score of casts.

I was getting very frustrated! They were hitting like mad, and I couldn't partake of the bounty! Then Milt returned with the kids and the fun REALLY began!

This spot, with 40 fishers, never dried up! In one hour, we had caught 44 red salmon! One fish every 90 seconds! I got to see Kathy catch her first. Boy, was she excited! Jennifer, too, caught her first red (and her sixth!) as she didn't catch any in 1995. By the time we were done, we had all caught our limit, a total of 48 reds!

We had so many that Milt had to return to camp to empty the fish box. It was so full, you couldn't close it! At one point, we had three reds on at one time, and only 2 nets. What a rush! The strangest catch had to be one involving Tara and I She was 10 feet up stream from me. She hooked a red just as I was casting. Her fish swam down stream, towards me. As a result, my line went over hers (risky, as this can seriously interfere with the landing of a fish). Sure enough, my hook snagged her line, so I had to ride this out with her taking care to cause the least disruption.

Then my hook started to slide down her line, towards the fish. Suddenly, Tara's fish broke loose from her hook. The backlash of the taunt line dislodged my hook from her line. As it fell towards the water, her fish swam right at it and hit the fly. I nailed it and set the hook! We landed it in a few minutes! Really one for the books - and witnessed by about 20 people!

We figured that we landed about 400 pounds of red salmon, by fly rod, in about 90 minutes. Man, that was fun! We left the sand bar and headed home. A good beginning to a days fishing. We still had kings to catch! We got home and unloaded our catch, adding them to those milt had already dropped off...

...oh man, we had a lot of work to do!

Well, have to take the bad with the good. And the "good" was REAL good. I could live with a lot of "bad"... Milt and I fileted, Bev and Kathy bagged the filets after Tara and Joey washed them. Monica sterilized canning jars and Jen floated from job to job, helping where needed. Milt would filet 3 to my
	every 2 - and his filet's had a lot more meat on 'em too! We went through so many fish that we had to stop twice to sharpen our knives! But we got through it. Now we can King fish knowing our reds are done. We will spend a good part of this weekend canning and smoking our catch. We rested a bit, did some shopping in town and Milt and I went out for another king run before dinner.

No kings, but a pleasant hour on the Kenai. Milt had one for about 5 seconds. I thought I had one, but it wasn't a king, just my imagination.

Spaghetti for dinner. Milt says we will hit the river around 6:30 when all of the guides are off the river. It is now 6:45... Milt is napping...

7:30, we headed out. Bev, Milt, Kathy and I. We went down to Eagle Point this time. Long drift. After that we went back up to our regular spot, around the bend, near the sand bar. No luck tonight. We did catch an interesting snag... We're drifting along and Bev's pole folds over - "FISH ON!", "No... ...wait - SNAG!". We all start reeling in our lines. Kathy, Milt and I were all knotted together in one big mess! How that could happen with Bev and Kathy in the middle I'll never know!

The kids don't seem too interested in king fishing. Guess they feel sitting in the boat drift after drift is a waste of time. If they only knew. I can stand here at any time during the day and count dozens of boats drifting for kings. Right now there are 27 in sight.

We did so well with the reds today that Kathy suggested we treat the kids to Dairy Queen. Monica took them while Milt went for gas. After that, Kat and I took the truck into town for a shower. It felt great but cost $4.20 each and we had to wait over an hour for a shower stall. Then bed. See you in the morning.

SATURDAY:

Forgot to mention the tiff yesterday. While Milt was picking us up from the sand bar, with the second batch of reds, Monica had begun cleaning the first batch. Bev and Milt have no water on their site and rely on the neighbors well when cleaning fish (they buy water in town for general washing and drinking). Well, apparently, the neighbor doesn't want us using the water anymore. From what I understand, she came over and took the hose from Monica and said she couldn't use it anymore. So, we washed the fish in the river (COLD!) and Milt and Jim talked about having their own well drilled.

This morning I'm just sitting here watching the boats go by, and the reds jumpin'!

Milt and I are going on a king run. Kat and Bev don't want to go and the kids are asleep, so it's just the guys. (No kings, though we did see 3 get landed. We're heading in to begin canning those reds now.)

Sixteen jars at a time (they have 2 pressure cookers, 8 jars each). Place 1/2-teaspoon salt in each jar (the jars were sterilized earlier), cut 2 meaty chunks from the thicker part of the filet, roll and stuff into the jar. Take the remaining filet, cut into strips and chunks to fill the voids in the jar.

< INSERT SKETCH OF FILET HERE >

Then you place 8 jars into the pressure cooker, uncovered, fill with water and bring to a boil. This partially cooks the fish, but is mainly to extract the air from the meat. This is called evacuation. This takes about an hour. Then you seal up the cooker, bring to 109 pounds for another hour. Seal them up hot and allow to cool to room temperature. Done!

We took the kids up to the sand bar for some more reds. The bar was empty, and for good reason - no reds. We fished for an hour, nothing. We were very good, however, at keeping dry. Not letting even a single wave wash over our hip boots. Milt picked us up at 1:30 and on the way back to camp a large boat wake washed into the back of the boat drenching Joey from head to toe! So much for keeping dry!

We did a couple more king runs too. Still no luck, but I know our time will come. With 2 hours till dinner, Kathy and I took a trip to Kenai to check out some sights and get a tractor knob for Milt's boat (a small knob that is affixed to the steering wheel. It allows you a free spinning handle from which you can spin the steering wheel).

From the mouth of the Kenai (in the town of Kenai) you could see the dip-netters all camping on the beach and standing in the water netting their reds.

Mom and Fritz came today. It took a while but they got all set up and joined us for dinner. Milt's friend, Gary, also stopped by to say hi. Seemed nice enough, but he couldn't stay long.

It's nighttime now. Kathy went to bed early. Mom and Fritz went in a little while ago. Milt and I just crashed and the kids are now in the tent. I'm alone with about two hours to sunset. It'll be a good two hours.

SUNDAY:

The sunset was a bust. The clouds set with the sun, so no color... ...oh well. King fishing has been frustrating. We went out 3 times today. No luck. We even tried back drifting. We saw 8 kings taken during our runs. None for us. We also did some red fishing. That was off today as well. Only three reds, good ones though. Milt is going back to Anchorage tonight. He is bringing back a load of fish, as we have filled the freezer and have no more room. He'll be back tomorrow.

The top of my head is sore... ...I've smacked the top door jam of our camper about 8 times today. The last time buckled my knees! God, that hurts!

Back-drifting is interesting. Somewhat boring, but much more relaxing than drifting. I prefer drifting, but whatever gets kings is right by me. Kat and I are going to Homer tomorrow for our 20th anniversary. Looking forward to some time with Kathy. Bev gave me her cell phone number so that I could call to check on the fishing. I don't dare! Damn, the fishing may be great, then I wouldn't think of anything else! Not recommended on a lovers get away...

After Milt left, Kathy and I loaded up the dirty clothes and went into town to do our laundry. On the way back we noticed a beautiful view of mount Redoubt. When we got back, we grabbed the camera, and got some shots of Redoubt. When we returned, Bev sat up with us and we talked the night away. Very nice.

Well, off to bed. We have a big day ahead of us!

MONDAY:

Off to an early start, we took a pair of bunk cushions for the back of the wagon. In case we can't find a room, we can sleep in the car. We stopped for a nice breakfast on the way down. The weather was mixed, but it did allow for a nice view across the inlet. We got to Homer about noon time (lots of stops along the way) and hit stopped traffic due to road construction. That's when the car overheated. We were right near a Best Western so we figured we'd pull in, let the car cool off and check prices. $99/night (higher than we'd like). Wanting to let the car cool way off (seeing the molasses slow traffic) Kathy read for a bit, and I napped in the back for a half hour.

Back on the road, we stopped at a couple of places and found prices from $75 to $155. Before deciding, we went out to the Spit (a long finger of land, out into the bay, containing boardwalks and gift shops as well as boat docks, restaurants and hotels). We shopped a bit, then decided we really wanted to find a room and get some rest. On our way from the spit we saw the "Spit B&B", so we pulled in. The landlady said they didn't have a room for tonight, but did for tomorrow night, at $75. She also said that she had an apartment in town, available for tonight. She said, if we didn't mind moving in the morning, we could take the apartment tonight and the B&B tomorrow. I asked the price and she said "well, it's a 3 bedroom apartment that normally goes for $150/night, but since I haven't rented it and you're just looking for a room I'll let you have it for $75, and the B&B at $65." Sounded good, so we took her up on her offer to see the apartment before deciding.

We arrived at a rather plain looking house (multiple dwellings) and went to the upstairs apartment (2nd of 3 floors). We didn't expect much and we were floored when we rounded the corner at the top of the stairs and were looking into a large living room with an open dining area, wrap around couch and Victorian furniture!

To the right, was a large modern kitchen with stove, oven, grill, griddle, microwave, everything you could want and more! Stairs to the right, lead to 2 bedrooms and a full bath upstairs. A door to the left of the living room lead to the master bedroom. Canopy king size bed, with heat lamps, oversized raised hot tub with two shower spigots, dual sinks, toilet and full Victorian décor! This place would be $300 in New Hampshire!

We were in love with it and quickly paid the nice lady. She was a talkative one too. All I could think about was that hot tub (Kathy, too, it turns out), and this lady would not stop jabbering! When she began to show us how the light switches worked, I about died ("Go A-Way", I'm thinking). Finally, she's gone and... (well, figure it out!)

Afterward, we had a cigarette and a nap... Then, with a full kitchen, we decided to go shopping. Steaks for dinner, and eggs and bacon for breakfast. That done, we went sightseeing again. The mountains and glaciers are beautiful! And the Spit is most entertaining. The most colorful place has to be the Salty Dawg Saloon. The image your mind creates from that name is not far from the truth, just add an old, short lighthouse and you've got it!

We got back home, watched some TV, took a shower and went to bed... ...OH, this is the life!

TUESDAY:

I got up and started coffee and eggs. We had a delicious breakfast and jumped into the tub again...

We then, sadly, cleaned up to move to the B&B. No where near as nice, but still better than the car. We got all set up and took a drive up East Hill Road to Skyline Drive and down West Hill Road. Skyline Dr. runs along the top ridge of a small mountain range, affording you a staggering view of Homer, the Spit, the Bay and Saldovia on the other side as well as the massive mountains and glaciers around Saldovia. Magnificent!

We got back to our room for a nap and to see what else we wanted to do today. When we awoke, we decided to travel to the end of East End Road (running northeast, to the end of the bay. The map shows this as the only road left in that area). With picnic lunch in hand, off we went, enjoying the view along the way. 10 miles out of town, we ran out of pavement. Kinda like the logging roads in Pittsburgh, New Hampshire. Some of this dirt road was treacherous! Many homes too. I wouldn't want to be the mailman around here! After 5 miles of dirt road, we saw a sign "road narrows"... ...great.

At eight miles in, we saw a farm with some cattle (only life we've seen, aside from the constant flow of cars. This is a busy road!). At nine miles, we're looking around when we see a lone cow in the woods. Kathy and I look at each other and, at the same time, say "Wild Cow!" and laughed ourselves silly! I stopped and grabbed my camera... ...gotta get a picture of the "wild cow"...

So, I carefully walk up, aim, focus and shoot - *CLICK* The bull, that we thought was a cow, looked up and charged! I turned and ran, Kat followed! I could see the headlines now: "Tourists Trampled By Wild Cow Masquerading As Bull!" I could see the headlines, but not the fence that held the bull... ..."tourists terrified by farm animal!" sheesh!

So, on we went. At 10 miles we came to the end. The road narrowed again, and dropped down a steep slope. A sign prohibited all vehicles except ATV's, horses and dogsleds. The view was pretty, so we decided to eat our dinner. When we returned, we realized that the trip took over 3 hours! A lot of fun, though.

We hit some shops in town and along the Spit, then got an early nights sleep, 'cause we wanted to get up early to see if we could find some bear.

WEDNESDAY:

Up at 4am, off to find bear! It's dark out! Well, not "dark", but darker out. We drove all over, no bear. We did see a moose swim across Beluga Bay though. We had our breakfast with the local fishermen at the B&B (what a couple of "good 'ol boys"!) Then we packed and left. We wanted an early start back so as to arrive at a reasonable time. We loaded up with water and antifreeze, just in case the car gave us trouble (she kept heating up in Homer).

The return to Saldotna was quick and uneventful. We had fun recounting our mini-vacation upon our return. We were sad to have left Homer, but it was also good to be back. I was looking forward to some fishing! We weren't back long before we noticed the reds boiling, so we decided to hit the sand bar.
	Talk about "Combat Fishing"! You've not experienced it unless you've experienced full contact Kenai fishing! Boats all along the, now exposed, sand bar. Fisher persons elbows to assholes, from one end to the other. So many that the folks on the ends were fishing from their boats 'cause there
wasn't any sand bar left. For everyone we caught, we must have hooked and lost 15! We couldn't keep 'em on! I didn't land any myself, but we did land 5 in all. No luck at all king fishing. Of course, we didn't see anyone else with kings either.

Later that afternoon, we noticed the reds were still hopping, so Tara threw a line in, here at the camp, and nailed one right away. Bev began casting from shore (Tara was wading) and she nailed one. I didn't want to bother with waders, so I grabbed a bait-casting rod, like Bev had. Bev suggested I try the rocks in front of Carl Malone's house (That's right, our neighbor is MVP Basketball player,
Carl Malone. Cool, 'eh? He was here about a week. Then left). So, I went to these rocks, stepped out and slid right into the Kenai! Right up to my knees! Bev looks at me (Kathy's laughing into her fist) and says "rock's are slippery, aren't they?"...

Man, was I pissed. Sneakers and pants soaked. So, I sat there, feeling sorry for myself for a bit, then I cast out a few times to no avail. Monica came and caught some and so did Milt!! So I put on my waders and grabbed a fly rod. NOTHIN'!

I was ready to give up when I finally nailed one! Finally! In all we caught 10 tonight, 15 for the day. We've nearly maxed out on how many reds we need. Milt and I cleaned and packaged the days catch. As Milt fileted and I washed them, I looked at Milt and asked "Something's wrong here! - How many of these fish did you catch?" - "none." - How many did I catch?" - "one" - "Where the heck are these grand fisher persons of ours!?"

My arms were sore, I was beat and frustrated. On our anniversary, no less! Well, better fishing (for me, I hope!) tomorrow!

[If you've enjoyed this part of my journal (Part 2 of 4), please go onto Part 3!)