“…this summer is shaping up to be a strange one for sure.  For the first time that we know of in the past 30+ years, the July run of Kenai Kings is closing, two weeks early.  The trawler fleet that fishes the Bering Sea & Gulf of Alaska have taken a major hit on this wild & world famous fishery by incidental catches of Kings, which peaked at 122,000 Kings just in 2007.  We’re all paying the price for that now with weak returns of King Salmon in every corner of Alaska.  It will take some time for the fishery to recoup, and in the meantime we all pray the fishery managers make the right decisions to protect this incredible resource.  On a positive note, the red salmon are entering the river in force, and on our first & last trip of the season for Kings, just before they closed, we hooked two sockeye on King plugs, an anomoly that shows they do strike sometimes.  Cooper also hooked one small King that we gently released back into the river.  That was the only King our family saw this year, and like many we miss both the great fishing and the great flavor of our beloved Kenai River King Salmon.”