Homer Elks Derby 2014

So I tried the Elks Derby in Homer from a powerboat.  I got greedy.  What can I say?  Well it turns out the advantage of the powerboat was that there were some rough weather.  But the results weren't much better than when I fish out of a kayak.

Ok.  So I know others have tried it and wondered "where are all the little kings Rudy keeps talking about."  Well I think I found the answer.  For some reason they LOVE the smaller Neddlefish hoochies.  First day, we ran two hoochie rigs and two herring rigs.  Tally for the day was 14 kings landed.  12 of them under 20"  90% of the small kings came on the needlfish hoochies.  Two big kings came on herring.

The fish didn't have needlfish in them.  They looked like capelin.  But the following day we run mainly herring. Only 5 kings landed on day two.  BUT 3 over 20".

Looks like the hoochies are deadly effective but they do seem to catch more little kings AND pollock.  Pollock hit the herring but not as often as the needlefish hoochies.

Also having a GPS plotter, I was amazed how many of the fish came from virtually the same exact spot even though we were covering miles of open water.

So....

With this knowledge, I plan to fish my hoochies first.  If I have issues with pollock and small kings, I may take a single pack of herring. But I also am going to run something slightly bigger than the hoochies like a brad's cut plug or a coyote spoon.

Weather looks good Saturday...marine weather.  Normal weather calling for SNOW in Homer Saturday and Sunday.  I LOVE fishing while the snow is falling on open water.  Just makes you feel a little more like living in Alaska!!!

So I was in the process of collecting photos and videos from the trip.  But here's an "in progress" clip from the weekend.  Despite the videos looking like decent weather.  We battled big seas both days on the run out and in to the port.  Crazy stuff.  Got snowed and hailed upon in anchor point and the pass driving!!!