Kenai dip net fishing

The "Kenai shuffle". Boats dip netting along the river.

Standing by the boat at the mouth of the Kenai River

After halibut fishing, the boys wanted to go dip netting in Kenai. Only Alaska residents are allowed to dip net. Eric was pretty successful about 1 week ago -got 20 fish in 2 hours.

We did not have the right dip nets to use in our boat, so we only got one sliver salmon. We were all pretty tired and ready to drive home.

Off to Deep Creek again

Preparing dinner in the rain.

This thing is HEAVY!

Boats in the Cook Inlet - about 30 were out today at the "sweet fishing hole"

Karen and Roger reeling in the fish.

That's a lot of halibut!

How big is it? This one weighed about 40 pounds.

A very successful fishing trip - who needs a guided charter?

We took our friends down to Ninilchik for some more halibut fishing. It's been soooo rainy in Alaska this summer, but you can't let that stop the fun. We went to our favorite spot at Deep Creek on Saturday evening, but the tractor operators wouldn't put any more boats in. I guess the water is really bad, and 2 boats took on water. We were told Sunday was going to be nice. So, we went back to camp and made some dinner. It was pouring rain, so we got in the boat and had a "picnic". Oh man, I hope our tents are dry! - They were, thankfully.

On Sunday, we got up and headed down to Deep Creek again. It was CROWDED - about 20 or so boat were waiting for a tractor to put them in the water. Since it was high tide, we only had to go out around 12 miles to our fishing hole. It was a bit of a crazy fishing day. We actually lost a fishing pole to the bottom of the Cook Inlet. We had 4 poles in the water and a halibut snapped the rod holder and everything went into the water. It was a bit upsetting, but crap happens. So, we were now down to 3 poles and 4 people. Once slack tide hit, the fish were on the line like crazy! In about 2 hours we had limited out.

We have so much fish that we bought a chest freezer just for the halibut and salmon!

Weekend trip to Kenai and Deep Creek

Alaskan dip netters along the Kenai river
More dip netters

Eric, my hero!

Cook Inlet

This is where we camp almost every weekend.

More of the campground.

Halibut fishing with the boys

Ron and Art with fish on!
Nice fish Art!

Eric and his dad

Eric and Art

Eric's dad came up from Salt Lake to do some halibut fishing. His dad had a great time. We sent him home with almost 100 pounds of halibut. Art is one of Eric's friends from the village of St. Mary's.

Seward Highway

Eric and I were headed down the Seward Highway to go fishing. During this stretch of the drive, you can always see mountain goats. I usually don't see one this close, so I snapped a picture as we drove by.

Halibut Fishing

This huge tractor is towing our boat/trailer out to the water.

A huge group of eagles on the beach eating fish remains

The first halibut - on the line after only 15 minutes.



A bit small, but we'll keep it!

FISH ON!

Nice "but" boys!

The tractor awaits to pull us to land -our boat trailer is in the water

Mount Iliamna Mt. Redoubt

Our view from the campground

After my half marathon, I quickly showered, grabbed a sandwich and piled in the truck for a fishing trip. Eric and I took our friends Erin and Roger along for the trip. We headed for
Ninilchik, which is 3 hours south of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula. Eric read that the halibut fishing was hot! Eric took a halibut charter the other day out of Seward, so he learned the tricks. We were all excited to try our hand at halibut fishing.

We drove to Deep Creek Campground. This is a beautiful, clean campsite that overlooks the inlet.

Mayor's Midnight Sun Half-Marathon

Rainy start......

Can't catch us! Mile 10

All smiles

2 hours and 10 minutes - our fastest time

The Anchorage Moose!

Brandi and I ran in the Mayor's Midnight Sun Half-marathon. It was pouring rain, but we were pumped! We stood at the start ready to run a good race. Now that we are getting older :) we want to keep beating our time. Yes, running half marathons are a blast, but now it's about the time. How hard can you push it?

We cruised along the miles faster than we planned. We wanted to be careful, so that we had energy at the end. This race is popular for out-of-staters, so we met all sorts of people. As we were headed into the trail portion, we met a guy from Massachusetts. We asked him if he had his bear bells. He had no idea what we were talking about. In Alaska, you carry bear spray and bear bells at all times - the bells are to let the bears know you are around, so you don't spook them. We told the runner that bears are everywhere in Anchorage (the marathoners saw a sow with 2 cubs). Anyway, we told him to have a good time in the woods! We freaked him out. It was hysterical!

The trail part was the best. We cruised through those miles. As we went back on the pavement, Brandi had a saying - every time we went down hill it was "down hill fun time!" So, we would pick up the pace as we went down hill and on the flat stretches.

I knew there was a HUGE hill at mile 12.5. We had ran the entire way, but by the time I got to the hill - every part of my body ached. Brandi pushed me on and told me we are on target to beat our time. I will admit, I start to poop out around mile 11 - this is something I need to work on.

We entered West High School's track and I realized we were going to beat our time, so I pushed as hard as I could so that I would finish strong. Our time was 2 hours and 10 minutes. That was extactly the time we were pushing for.

Next half marathon is Humpy's in August. We are going for a 2 hour time......

Keep on running!