By Rashah McChesney, Morris News Service-Alaska/Peninsula Clarion
There are very few things that can immediately quantify the declining value of sport fishing for Kenai River king salmon as quickly as the shelves at Trustworthy Hardware in Soldotna.
Shelves that once held Kwikfish K16 lures in 75 color combinations — tailor-made for fishing on the deep-swimming king salmon— are now crowded with sockeye and silver salmon gear. Newly crafted Kenai River king salmon fishing rods that generated excitement from guides after debuting with new actions and a low-price point sit in rows gathering dust.
“The guides got real cautious about buying and then of course people are just going to make do with what they have,” said Scott Miller, co-owner of the store. “If the fishing is not good they’re just not going to go out and buy rods. They’re going to buy fly rods or rods for silvers… We’re selling more (king salmon rods) in Washington and Oregon now because they’re having a good run of kings.”
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