I'll be fishing Kodiak, the Buskin and American rivers. I'll be using spinning gear and artificial lures. Any experience to share or do's, and don'ts would be appreciated.

Good luck Kensco, let us know how your trip went.

It's going to be a struggle. Left knee about done. Getting an injection before I go. (Replacement in mid-2026.) Brutal sciatic pain down left side.

Good luck with the physical limitations. Hopefully the injection will do the trick.

Everything changed except the fishing trip. We did well offshore; 500 pounds the first day 400 pounds the second. We had six fishermen. We caught halibut, cod and rockfish mostly.

Looked bad for salmon though. We were fishing for silvers (COHO) only. One man caught two silvers in two days. There was a two-silver daily limit. We finally got into them the last day. Everyone caught their limit except one in half a day of fishing.

My fishing partner wasn't having any luck. He finally caught one late and asked another friend to take a photo. The guy asked him to clean it up a little. It was covered in dirt. So he ran it back and forth in the shallow water with his hand in its gills, let it slip out of his hand, and it was gone. We about died laughing.

In all the rivers, you could have walked across the backs of the Reds (Sockeye). They were thick. You couldn't cast without snagging one. With the Silvers, if you snagged him, by law, you had to release him. I caught seven and had to release five. Those expensive baits didn't do the job, just standard pink egg yarn was a killer.

I had to change course medically. I had to skip the injection, scheduled the knee replacement for December, and crippled thru the airports with the sciatica. It was brutal.

I came back with one additional problem. I'm probably going to lose the big toe nails on both feet. The new hip waders felt great. I wore heavy wool socks with liner socks, but obviously something was wrong.

Great weather, and no bears, except for one of our guys who snapped a photo of one late in the afternoon.

Tough trip. Sorry to hear about the toes, bizarre.

Went to Plano Orthopedic yesterday and had the left toenail removed and started an antibiotic regimen. The doctor said I will lose the right one also.

Going for a lower lumbar MRI this morning, then to a pain management doctor later today. Trying to get in shape for Brazil next month. Taking PT for the sciatica. Don't let anyone fool you, growing old is a bitch.