Alaska Fishing

RUSSIAN RIVER -- Butch Bishop sat inside his mosquito-proof trailer home late Tuesday night, listening to radio reports from his employees that dozens of anglers were filing into the Russian River Campground for one of the area's biggest days of the year.

"I don't know if I'll sleep through the night," said Bishop, 69, with a two-way radio dangling around his neck.

This season marks the 14th year Bishop, has managed the campground with his wife, Juanita, 70. Campers, he said, generally make their jobs easy, staying out of trouble.

"They camp, sleep and fish," Bishop said.

Take Mike Leahy, the 30-year-old from Cooper Landing who fished a mile or so upstream of the campground with a handful of his buddies. They scouted the perfect honey hole -- a fallen cottonwood -- around 8 p.m., Tuesday and waited four hours for fishing to start at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

"I come here almost every year," said Leahy. "And every year it's a challenge to go fishing in the dark."

Just after midnight, fishing started slowly for anglers flogging the water from Cottonwood Hole upstream to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game marker. Some wondered whether the unseasonable weather that Fish and Game linked to slow start for Southcentral king anglers was also hurting one of the most productive red salmon fisheries in the state.

"It's just too cold," said one angler, dangling his hip boots into the fast current.

By 1 a.m., the sky was still twilight, but it was much too dark to tie on a Russian River fly without a headlamp. The glow of lanterns from anglers re-tying flies and leaders and crimping single split shots indicated anglers on the bank.

"Are the fish here?" asked Matt Richard, a math teacher at South High. "That's the million-dollar question."

Not until 2 a.m. would he find out. Richard fished next to Leahy and his party, who were hooking fish like it was their duty. Leahy used a bait-casting rig rather than his usual Russian River setup -- an eight-weight fly rod.

"I switched to a bait caster because you can get all torn up (with other anglers) using a fly rod," Leahy said.

He wasn't the only angler who decided to use a bait caster on the Russian. Leahy said bait casters offer more control over the streamers used on Russian River reds.

Using bait casters to flip yarn or toss eggs in favored places along Ship Creek works well during combat fishing situations. But the Russian River is nothing like Ship Creek.

"You just jumped from the frying pan into the fire," said Bishop, who knows how crowded the river can become, especially when the sanctuary -- an area along the Kenai River at its confluence with the Russian -- opens.

A test of the bait caster-fly rod theory came 10 minutes after midnight when my rod snapped in half on a snag. It was the first time the rod had seen water all season.

But by the grace of the Kenai Peninsula fishing gods, Richard packed an extra fly rod in his overnight backpack. The six-weight turned out to be perfect for catching red salmon.

"It never hurts to be prepared," Richard said.

Leahy, meanwhile, tossed his fly into the high-running water while six anglers in his party slept along the shoreline in their waders. Some snored loudly beside dead salmon.

Leahy didn't mind. Six fewer anglers meant a better chance for landing his second red salmon.

"You know they're there," he said. "But when you can't see any swimming in the water, you don't seem to catch as many."

The reds seemed numerous Wednesday. Fish carcasses regularly floated downstream and anglers using 8- to 12-foot long leaders with 20-pound test seemed to have the most success.

The number of anglers on the water was reasonable too.

"We should have more," said Juanita Bishop, wondering if gas prices were keeping summer travelers home. "Years ago the line to get into the campground was a half-mile long on the Sterling Highway."

Around 11 p.m., Tuesday, the wait to get into Russian River campground was less than 20 minutes and the Pink Salmon parking lot was less than half full. Mosquitoes swarmed employees working inside the booth.

"I can't believe there's nobody here," Richard said.

Around 4:30 a.m., Richard showed fellow Anchorage School District teacher Matthew Pustina how to spot reds with polarized sunglasses and flip with Russian River flies -- the only artificual lure allowed on this stream. This was Pustina's first Alaska fishing trip and he went home skunked. But he's planning another return Friday; fishing the Russian can become addictive.

He's not alone. Though plenty of Anchorage anglers were exhausted from the 105-mile midnight run south, they were hooked. And they knew Wednesday may turn out to be the most laid back day they'll see on the Russian all season.

DESHKA RIVER SMOLT

Anglers fishing from the bank in the Deshka River need to be careful for smolt biting lines, says Terri Studnicka of Fisherman's Choice Charters.

"There are lots of smolt in the water," she wrote, "and these little guys are aggressive towards any bait.

"We need to make sure they are unharmed and ready to head out into the sea for their big journey, in hopes they make it back."

MAT-SU KING DERBY

The 51.4-pound king salmon Curt Ensminger is clinging to the lead in the Mat-Su King Derby.

Dan Miller's 51.3-pounder is second and Ben Holsclaw is third with a 48.8-pound king.

The derby continues until July 13 at 9 p.m.

Find Kevin Klott online at adn.com/contact/kklott or call 257-4335.

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