On October 12th, Stacy and I stood in the Middle of the Kenai River above Hog Bend.  We toasted the end of another Mystic Waters Fly Fishing season for Stacy and another annual trip back for Fred.  We are both planning some big changes in our lives this next year, but Mystic Waters Fly Fishing will carry on.

Jay from the Montana Fly Project came up with Fred and a crew from Montana.  Stay tuned for a YouTube vlog series about Jay's trip.

Fall on the Kenai River in Alaska is a bittersweet time.  Alaska summers are so busy, that it feels like they consume us. The season is frantic and it can wear you down but it goes by so fast.  It seemed like only yesterday, the Ruck’s rolled into Cooper Landing and had us out so early or late, that night and day were irrelevant. 

Anna Grace was clearly worn out from early morning sockeye fishing. 

JoelZ returned with the family and they did their thing.

Salmon season is a frenzy, but Stacy manages to keep his cool and keep on keeping on.

It helps when people are having fun!

 ...

Have you heard about the Fly Project?  If you are wondering what Fred has been up to for the past 5 or so years, this is part of it.

We started “The Project” in Sam’s garage with Paul, Calvin, Fred, Denver, Matt, and Ben in 2015 building rods and designing fly patterns to make some side money so we could afford to buy tickets to fish some places further away from home.

By 2017 we had constructed a make shift rod shop called “The Shed” along the Missouri River just south of Great Falls, Montana where we first built all of the original reel seats, handle designs, rod wraps, and tested all the blanks on golden bones behind the rod shop.

We set out to build a fly fishing company that fit our life, and our......

It's hard to beat fly fishing the Kenai River in September. 

It's a magical time with foggy mornings breaking into beautiful golden days.

These are Mystic Waters.

This year has not been normal, but the Upper Kenai River continues to be a happy place and the fly fishing remains amazing.

Does anyone know where the other shoe went?

New Interstate Travel Protocols to begin on August 11During the July 28 press briefing, Governor Dunleavy announced that starting on August 11 all non-residents must arrive with a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to departure. Testing will no longer be available for non-residents when they arrive in Alaska. 

Everything is in flux right now and travel arrangements can get complicated.  Here is a link to a great account from our friend Heather Hodson.  She hosted a group to Rapids Camp Lodge in Bristol Bay, so they had additional travel connections after arriving in Anchorage.  @northwestflygirl

Keep up to date, follow the rules, stay safe and healthy and enjoy the Mystic Waters.

Shon and Ky Kim have been fishing with Mystic Waters for many years.  Father and son time on the water is a special thing.  This year they enjoyed a bountiful harvest of Sockeye Salmon.

Sockeye Salmon are really fun to catch while fly fishing.

When carefully processed, sockeye salmon are delicious.

Sockeye are the foundation of the Kenai River.  They make the Kenai River great.  Marine derived nutrients from sockeye drive the food chain and support a host of other species beyond maintaining themselves.  The Sockeye Salmon fishing is really good right now.  It will continue to be strong though the month and well into August.  There is something really special about sustainably harvesting ...

After testing negative at the airport Meade and Anna Grace Shirley safely enjoyed three days of fishing the upper Kenai River, including an epic opener with full sockeye limits in less than an hour.

After the sockeye, some very good trout fishing followed. 

The weather was fantastic, allowing canyon floats all three days. The trout were healthy and very aggressive.

As long as people can travel safely, and preferably get tested before travel to Alaska, we are hoping for a good season on the Kenai River and moving back towards "normal". 

Be safe and hope to see you soon on the Mystic Waters of the Kenai River.

If you are scheduled to visit Alaska this coming season, here is the plan.

Click the image to open the PDF for easier viewing.

We will continue to monitor these phases and follow the guidelines along the way.  We are all in this together.

As Recreational Anglers and Fly Fishing Guides, we are all struggling to figure out how to continue to "go fly fishing" in the middle of a pandemic.  There are many personal, social and commercial concerns to address. We appreciate and would like to share this excellent exploration into the issues from Kirk Deeter.

SARSCo-V-2 and Fly-Fishing: What Next?

April 28, 2020 By Kirk Deeter On Behalf of Trout Unlimited and Angling Trade Media, and in partnership with the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA)

As we seek an “out” from strict “stay-at-home” orders, how should anglers fish, and how should guides conduct trips? 

A month ago, I tackled the fly-fishing &......