Over the past 15 years I’ve rarely posted a bad fishing report in the month of July, but after a stellar day on July 23rd, the day the limit of red salmon was increased to 6 fish per person and 52,000+ sockeye swam past our shore, we witnessed one of the sharpest declines in our history here–so I had to mention it.  July 24th & 25th will go down in the books as the days everyone that was here fishing the Kenai River will say “Where have all the Reds gone?”

You see, the reality is that when the limit goes to 6 fish per person it doesn’t necessarily mean the fish are that abundant or the fishing is that productive. Rather, in the age old battle between sport fishing and commercial fishing, it generally means the latter have prevailed. The fisheries managers try to balance the needs of sport & commercial fishing and if they liberalize fishing for one user group, they have to give the other group something as well. In our case we were given the “bone” of a 6 fish limit, but the commercial fisheries were given more fishing time, a broader area, bigger nets, or emergency openings. The result?  Well, the fish counts plummeted from 52,000+ overnight to >14,000 on 7/24 and not much more than that on 7/25.

My perspective?  Not that anyone necessarily cares what I think, but my motto has always been “If you fish it, they will come.”  I rarely pay attention to the numbers because all too often they would discourage me from even trying to fish. Instead, I make time for fishing whenever I can, I relax and cast my line, and regardless of how many fish are swimming up river I generally have good luck.  So, shake it off folks, get your lines in the water and keep fishing….you may not hook one on every cast, but you may see an eagle buzz overhead, a moose swim by, a giant King splash right in front of you, or you may have a chance to spend quality time with those you love.  Remember, it’s not just fish we catch when we’re fishing….it’s a whole lot more if you’re lookin’ up now and then…like this gorgeous sunset we witnessed earlier this week.