BOB FRALEY GOES FISHING

[Bruce Caldwell]

http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=8956634
Kenai silvers fishing report
Silvers were rolling on the Kenai River this week. (Eric Sowl/KTUU-TV)
There wasn't too many people out on the river. (Eric Sowl/KTUU-TV)

Jimmie Jack of Jimmie Jack fishing (Eric Sowl/KTUU-TV)
Jimmie's former college track coach, Bob Fraley, caught his first silver. (Eric Sowl/KTUU-TV)
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by John Carpenter
Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- There was little traffic on the Kenai River on this mid week morning.

Maybe folks didn't know that the silvers are in!

Once again, we went with Jimmie Jack of Jimmie Jack fishing and he had a plan.

"We are fishing with plugs, just sitting on anchor waiting for them to hit," said Jimmie. "So they're swimming up and we're sitting in their way. It's pretty easy fishing. It's probably the easiest fishing you can do."

He wasn't kidding.

Sandy, a friend of Jimmies, hooked a silver right away.

"There he goes. Got him? All right!" said Jimmie.

Soon after, I hooked a fish, sort of.

"That's a fish."
"Oh, it's a pink in the back."
"Yeah, I think it's a snag, ix-nay on the oot-shay."
"You got to get a pink in the back every once in a while."

Not Sandy, she caught her second silver a couple of minutes later.

"Nice! Again, quick limit," said Jimmie.

"This is how easy it is with Jimmie Jack," said Sandy.

I caught three humpies.

But my "humpy hex" didn't last long as I hooked and landed a silver.

"Oh yeah, there's some weight to that one," said Jimmie.

"Look at that!" said Sandy. "That is a big fish."

Meanwhile, Jimmie picked up a new passenger; his old college track coach Bob Fraley, who a long time ago taught Jimmie how to pole vault, yet he never caught a silver salmon.

Until now.

"Golly!" exclaimed Jimmie. "There you go coach. Right on!"

"The first time I saw him I called him Jimmie Jack. I'm not sure why, but it stuck with him," said Fraley.

"Because you said I didn't know jack about pole vaulting," explained Jimmie.

"That's right, I said you don't know jack about pole vaulting and for a long time he was proving me right," said Fraley.

The fishing proved to be so good on this day, even my photographer Eric Sowl caught his limit.

Jimmie Jack may have been slow catching on to pole vaulting but when it comes to catching fish Jimmie knows "jack".

Just ask his coach.