It was a great day even though the Kenai was packed tight. After a while, you get use to the boats being so close while you fish. You don't like it, you just get use to it. Most people practice an unspoken river ettiquette. Most people are nice.
Porter, Joshy and I had just dropped Kimmy off on the beach so she could go to work while we finished the day fishing. Up til then, not a rod had jumped, but who cares. It is a beautiful day. We fish for the fellowship, not the fish... serious.
Joshy is my best friend. A master fisherman. He's one ugly dude, but I think thats why he's so successful. The fish underestimate him. I've been fishing with him many times, and rarely have we come up skunked. We are down to the last few days of King season, and I'm counting on him to get Porter on a biggun. He's 5, it's time. I don't think he really cares, or maybe he doesn't know he cares. He likes poking their eyes, squeezing eggs out and watching them die. Sick stuff every Alaskan kid enjoys.
Joshy motors around the river for a bit, and before you know it, "FISH ON!". It's tough, but Joshy is able to guide the boat, and help Porter reel in his pole, while I work the fish. It's a nice 40 pounder. As I lead him to the side of the boat, Joshy realizes we forgot a net. I ask him, "What kind of Master Fisherman forgets the net?" His reply is mumbled, but he quickly decides he can scoop it into the boat with his fist. As he begins to roll one sleeve up to his elbow, I quickly think about a big what if. What if he goes in?
I decide he better hang onto that King if he goes in...
Joshy is a big man. Really big, and really strong. Not the most balanced guy in the world. One time he and I took his wife and my girlfriend out to Nest Lake for a date. The girls are in the canoe, and its his turn to climb in. His first step filled the canoe with 4" of water. I grabbed the walls, turned it upright, and shoved off. We paddled across with about 1" of freeboard. I said, "Nobody move and we might make this dry". Don't ask me why we didn't turn around. We did make it, with soggy socks.
Today we only care about strength. It takes pure muscle to haul in 40 pounds of live fish into a boat without a net. He stumbled across the boat, and with lightning like speed, slid a fist inside one gill plate, and heaved the beast into the air. It was a thing of beauty. Not something you see every day. I brained the fish, and Porter started his spectating the death of a King. I look around, and I can see a lot of people are watching. I think the focus is on Joshy netting a King with his fist. He's my hero.
We put Porters kwik fish back in, and it doesn't take long before another King is on. Two Kings in 1 hour is not normal for most people, but its normal for Joshy and I. I holler at Porter to grab on and start reeling. As I hold the rod, Porter slowly begins to drag the beast in, the whole time telling himself, "You can do it Porter, you can do it". It's funny to hear a little kid cheer for himself. Soon he had a 25 pounder at the side of the boat. He was a beautiful red, with very little life left in him. Porter recognized this and said, "We gonna keep him?" Well, he's a little spawned out buddy. "Yeah, let him go." Right then, the hook popped loose, and his first King slowly swam away from us.
What a day! In all, we had 4 Kings on, two in, and one on the bottom of the boat. Not too shabby for a couple of big ugly dudes and a 5yr old...
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