Inaugural Whiskey Gulch Yak Classic!

First of all, thanks to everyone who came! I know the other thread was long and full of planning, so I thought I'd separate out the final report. I will keep adding pictures as I upload them. I hope others have pictures, vids or stories to share!

 A HUGE thank you to Ashore Water Taxi in Homer ( http://www.homerwatertaxi.com/) and Sweeney's Clothing (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweeneys-Clothing/448069055236528) in Soldotna for being one of our sponsors for this small get together.  It will grow quickly!!!

Day 1 was a blowout. 

Still, we are sitting on the beach and Kenai_guy and rimfirematt can't stand it anymore and they launch in super difficult conditions. Rimfire makes it look easy. Kenai_guy gets unlucky when a multiple set of waves hammers him. Still he hammers through!

Later that evening the conditions almost look better. So I'm going to give it a go. I get to the waters edge and it doesn't look so smooth.

But I'm committed! Probably not the smartest idea. The pics above look super bad but there was a 30 second lull in the sets every now and then. Two different attempts.

Hit a few decent crashing waves, miss a stroke or two and I'm toast. Just EPIC FAIL especially with fiancée holding a telephoto lens and the rest of the group staring.

I'm done after two tries. Only thing I lost was my harpoon stick. No big deal since I've NEVER used it since every halibut I've caught till now fits in my net...uh, no. Big deal.

So day one ends with Kenai_guys single Irish lord worth ZERO AOTY points, but the only fish caught leading the tourney.

Day 2 the weather is much improved. Everyone gets out. But the winds start gusting and it's a washing machine! The fishing is slow. Then I hear CopperRiverValley83 over the radio that she got one! Sweet!

I also talk to Xanfly39 and he says he has a 15 pound halibut on board as well!

I then hook a decent halibut. In fact the largest ever for me off the kayak, maybe 50 pounds. My leader is long, my sinker comes up, my nets in the water, its not fighting super hard. I lead whatever is under my yak to the net. I catch a glimpse and know its not going to fit. It jams about two thirds of the way in, turns around. My clip catches the net and its gone. Should have had the harpoon but I guess it would have had happened anyways.

With just a couple of hours left, I'm the last on the water so I decide to head in while trolling. Quarter mile from the take out my rod doubles over and its fish on. But it comes right to the yak without a fight. I see it's a king and I'm already fighting it with the sinker out of the water in the first 30 seconds. Almost netted it but in & out. But after a great battle I land it.

So the final results were:

First place : Rudy aka Kardinal_84 with a 32.5 inch king worth 165.5 AOTY points. Prize was the trophy. Ironically, I went to my parents house to clean and photo the fish but the filleted it before I photographed it. Argh. Hopefully I'll catch a bigger one.

Second place: Curtis aka xanfly39. 34.5 inch halibut worth 145.6 AOTY points. Prize was a halibut rod and reel combo courtesy of Kenai_Guy

Third place : Sarah AKA CopperRiverValley83. A 32.5 inch halibut worth 138.1 AOTY points. Prize was an Avet sx reel.

Kenai_guy takes day 1 honors and received a carhartt backpack and other goodies courtesy of Sweeney's clothing in Soldotna.

Rimfirematt received a lure kit and t-shirt courtesy of Sweeney's Clothing for his style points for a tough launch but also for his nice huli day one.

I have other certificates for those who participated. When I finalize, I will list here.

Thanks to all who participated!!!

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