Homer Feeder Kings from a Kayak

Over the past two weeks, I’ve had work obligations that required tuexedo’s and suits…YUK!!!!  So since I have a bunch of leave time accumulated, I had to go fishing!  Left Anchorage at 4:30 am to be on the water by 9am in Homer.  I wonder what the day holds?!?!

Water looks relatively calm, a few boats fishing the area, birds working the water so things look good!  I start by trolling a red label herring behind a flasher using a downrigger.  That resulted in a dozen pollock and one tray of herring GONE in less than an hour!  I am a HUGE bait guy.  But I also know from experience that there are select cases where the artificials can out produce bait (think Big Lake ice fishing).

So I decide to try some hoochies I have had forever.  These weren’t your typical hoochies, but ones with narrower bodies.  I was trying to imitate the sand lances.  Pedaling faster than normal, it did minimize the pollock catch a bit.  Just shy of the green can I get my first whack!  Wow, these things do work!  Reel it up and it’s tiny maybe 5 pounder at best.  Well I have a proxy and I am never going to catch four so into the yak it goes. 

Somehow while fighting the fish the line strikes my downrigger cable (100lbs spectra) and the downrigger ball breaks off!  Huh?  You’d think 30lbs mono would cut off first but it didn’t.  Well THAT’S a BUMMER.  Now what?  So I tie on a deep six diver and switch over to my rod that I have loaded up with braid and a short topshot of fluorocarbon.  I caught the downrigger king 40ft down in 120 ft of water so the diver should work.  The other bummer of the day was I knocked one of my rods overboard.  ARGH.  Ugly stick lite and an old abu Garcia 6000.  Should have had it leashed but I didn’t.  Live and learn.  Everyone does it once…unfortunately this is twice for me….

So over the next 5 hours I manage to go 7 for 10 on Kings.  Not a single fish weighed more than 10 pounds.  Two were jacks, but the other 5 were adult kings but tiny.  I’d say if the big fish weighed 8 pounds, I’d be stretching it.  I did cut them open and the meat quality was excellent!!! I have found the tiny jacks (the 12 inchers) are very dry and NOT a “little salmon” at all on the table.  One of the four looked to be a marbled white/red king.

So epic day of King fishing??  Let’s see….Lost a rod and reel, Lost a downrigger ball, skipped work, went 7 for 10 on small kings….hmmm…HECK YA!  EPIC!!!!!!  I had a blast!!!

Here’s the video from the day.