Anchor Point Saltwater May 29, 2011
Early start at 6am since winds were supposed to pick up in the afternoon. During the low morning slack the bite was on fairly solidly for everything but Kings. Pulled up 6 halibut. Too bad they were all small. Kept one for an eater, maybe 10 or 12 pounds. Gotta keep the other one open just in case the big one strikes.
Saw a dozen boats or more fishing near me. I only saw one boat hook a fish and even then they released it at the boat before I could see how big it was. No one I spoke to had a king, but everybody limited out on halibut.
My morning GPS track says I traveled about 5.5 miles. Yeah some of it was drifitng, but most of it was paddling against a current!
Afternoon high slack was pretty dead. Waves built to 3 ft or more and it was a rodeo for a while on the Yak. Not unsafe until you got broadside unhooking an Irish Lord.
Had a blast, nothing notable but just banking the hours until I hammer the big one!!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Anchor Point Saltwater : May 21, 2011
After checking the weather, I decided I would try Seward by the Fourth of July Creek area since Anchor Point seemed too marginal weather wise. Get to Seward and the weather there was not so hot either Tried it for a couple of hours. Had three solid hits but all three time I came back up with no bait or just the head. I have no idea what it was. It felt fairly heavy but not overly active all three times.
About 2pm I check the weather and make a call to the tractor launch in Anchor Point. One footers? What? They were calling for 3 and 4 footers. Darn weather forecasters. So I high tail to Anchor Point area and I am in the water fishing by 6pm for a 7:30pm high tide. Rigged a whole herring to roll. Drifting the bottom, then paddle against the wind to reposition and drift again,
2 cods and 3 Irish Lords in the first 30 minutes. Well at least the fish are active.
About the the 4th time I repositioned in about 35 feet of water, I get hit and the line starts peeling. I just stare at my rod for a few seconds in disbelief and it is definitely not the bottom. Wow!
That's the third king in three trips for my kayak group, It's the second one for me in three trips and the time I didn't get one, I got a 14 pound halibut. Amazing.
The king was definitely a feeder. Absolutely no roe or milt. It was STUFFED with 6 hooligans and several sand lances.
Not huge but 34 inches. Probably a touch over 20 pounds given the length and girth.
After checking the weather, I decided I would try Seward by the Fourth of July Creek area since Anchor Point seemed too marginal weather wise. Get to Seward and the weather there was not so hot either Tried it for a couple of hours. Had three solid hits but all three time I came back up with no bait or just the head. I have no idea what it was. It felt fairly heavy but not overly active all three times.
About 2pm I check the weather and make a call to the tractor launch in Anchor Point. One footers? What? They were calling for 3 and 4 footers. Darn weather forecasters. So I high tail to Anchor Point area and I am in the water fishing by 6pm for a 7:30pm high tide. Rigged a whole herring to roll. Drifting the bottom, then paddle against the wind to reposition and drift again,
2 cods and 3 Irish Lords in the first 30 minutes. Well at least the fish are active.
About the the 4th time I repositioned in about 35 feet of water, I get hit and the line starts peeling. I just stare at my rod for a few seconds in disbelief and it is definitely not the bottom. Wow!
That's the third king in three trips for my kayak group, It's the second one for me in three trips and the time I didn't get one, I got a 14 pound halibut. Amazing.
The king was definitely a feeder. Absolutely no roe or milt. It was STUFFED with 6 hooligans and several sand lances.
Not huge but 34 inches. Probably a touch over 20 pounds given the length and girth.
The final odd thing was as I was loading the kayak up, the "Time Bandit" from the "Deadliest Catch" shows up, drops a skiff, picks some folks up and then they take off again. I wonder what they were doing in Cook Inlet? 30 minutes earlier, I was battling my king in the exact same spot.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
May 14, 2011 Anchor Point Calcutta King Derby.
So for the first time ever in the 17 year history of this derby, 4 kayakers entered the tournament. The team consisted of Mark C, Lori C, Greta, and Rudy. I know Mark from the Alaska Outdoor Forums.
The marine forecast for Saturday calls for South 20mph, Seas 4 ft. Hmmm..that's past my comfort zone especially since I am taking Greta who has been in a kayak twice and will be using a newly acquired Perception pescadore 12 footer.
We wake up to North 10, Seas 2ft. Sweet! thank you forecasters for being wrong AGAIN!
The day starts out at low slack and the action is fast and furious. I was the last to launch and before I am on the water the team lands 2 or 3 fish...Irish Lords....great... But the bite is on and fish are active. Within 5 minutes of trolling my rod goes off and its peeling line! THIS IS NO SCULPIN! Yeehaw! But soon with the head shakes I realize its not a salmon. Up comes a 32 inch halibut which by the weight charts would be 14 pounds. After dealing with it, I have no idea what I am going to do with a 50 pounder. We will deal with that when it happens...
The rest of the day goes by with a Irish Lord here, a cod there, one more teeny halibut but nothing more. Greta says she needs to be heading back around 3pm. So at 2:30pm we call it a day and start paddling to shore.
100 yards from the launch Greta hooks up! SWEET! LAST CAST" pays off once again! As long as your line is in the water you have a CHANCE! It was amazing to see how fast the fish was pulling her kayak around.
Greta does great. Rudy...D-minus!!! The only reason I get a passing grade is we GOT THE FISH! There's no sense trying to explain everything when I have a video that really says it all.
Tournament money on the line, the tournament's first ever fish caught from a kayak, Greta's first sport caught king EVER let alone from a kayak. Could there be ANY MORE PRESSURE??? I CHOKED! Clear and simple. But you can see on the video that the fish seemed to be taking off the other way but still. No excuses. Happy and a HUGE relief that we landed her nice 25 pound fish!
Met some great people, had a great time, and I feel every bit as good as if I caught the fish. Well better really. So satisfying to see happy smiling people because you helped them (well sort of "helped" them this time) catch a memorable fish!
So for the first time ever in the 17 year history of this derby, 4 kayakers entered the tournament. The team consisted of Mark C, Lori C, Greta, and Rudy. I know Mark from the Alaska Outdoor Forums.
The marine forecast for Saturday calls for South 20mph, Seas 4 ft. Hmmm..that's past my comfort zone especially since I am taking Greta who has been in a kayak twice and will be using a newly acquired Perception pescadore 12 footer.
We wake up to North 10, Seas 2ft. Sweet! thank you forecasters for being wrong AGAIN!
The day starts out at low slack and the action is fast and furious. I was the last to launch and before I am on the water the team lands 2 or 3 fish...Irish Lords....great... But the bite is on and fish are active. Within 5 minutes of trolling my rod goes off and its peeling line! THIS IS NO SCULPIN! Yeehaw! But soon with the head shakes I realize its not a salmon. Up comes a 32 inch halibut which by the weight charts would be 14 pounds. After dealing with it, I have no idea what I am going to do with a 50 pounder. We will deal with that when it happens...
The rest of the day goes by with a Irish Lord here, a cod there, one more teeny halibut but nothing more. Greta says she needs to be heading back around 3pm. So at 2:30pm we call it a day and start paddling to shore.
100 yards from the launch Greta hooks up! SWEET! LAST CAST" pays off once again! As long as your line is in the water you have a CHANCE! It was amazing to see how fast the fish was pulling her kayak around.
Greta does great. Rudy...D-minus!!! The only reason I get a passing grade is we GOT THE FISH! There's no sense trying to explain everything when I have a video that really says it all.
Tournament money on the line, the tournament's first ever fish caught from a kayak, Greta's first sport caught king EVER let alone from a kayak. Could there be ANY MORE PRESSURE??? I CHOKED! Clear and simple. But you can see on the video that the fish seemed to be taking off the other way but still. No excuses. Happy and a HUGE relief that we landed her nice 25 pound fish!
Met some great people, had a great time, and I feel every bit as good as if I caught the fish. Well better really. So satisfying to see happy smiling people because you helped them (well sort of "helped" them this time) catch a memorable fish!
PART I of the video: The team and Rudy's halibut
Part II: Greta First EVER KING!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Drove down to Anchor Point. Something different this time...pushing the limits BABY. Not one, but two kayaks on top of my 2dr civic.
4pm forecast is not good. South 20kts, seas 4 feet. 15 & 3 I have done. This is out of my comfort zone. Checked the launch site at 10 pm and it's nice and flat. Maybe we will have a little weather window in the morning. Well I always mock the weather forecasters so hopefully it's different than forecast.
So we are here to fish the 17th annual Anchor Point Calcutta King salmon Derby.
I was the first kayak ever auctioned at this event which is 17 year old. Had to pay $125 just to buy my own kayak. Paid the same for Greta's. The bidding start at $25 so that's amazing. The charter boats were being bought for $300 plus but keep in mind they might be fishing 6 rods. So that was nice of people to bid us up though my wallet hates you. Lol. Charity gets 25%, biggest fish gets 25%, and whoever bought the boat gets 50%!! I plan on collecting 75% of the purse!!
Met some cool people from the forums. This is great. Out of this world if we can fish and get one!!!
Greta's new ride. Perception pescadore 12.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
4pm forecast is not good. South 20kts, seas 4 feet. 15 & 3 I have done. This is out of my comfort zone. Checked the launch site at 10 pm and it's nice and flat. Maybe we will have a little weather window in the morning. Well I always mock the weather forecasters so hopefully it's different than forecast.
So we are here to fish the 17th annual Anchor Point Calcutta King salmon Derby.
I was the first kayak ever auctioned at this event which is 17 year old. Had to pay $125 just to buy my own kayak. Paid the same for Greta's. The bidding start at $25 so that's amazing. The charter boats were being bought for $300 plus but keep in mind they might be fishing 6 rods. So that was nice of people to bid us up though my wallet hates you. Lol. Charity gets 25%, biggest fish gets 25%, and whoever bought the boat gets 50%!! I plan on collecting 75% of the purse!!
Met some cool people from the forums. This is great. Out of this world if we can fish and get one!!!
Greta's new ride. Perception pescadore 12.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Deep Creek Saltwater King
May 7, 2011
And here's a pic AKS2000 just posted of me on a forum! Thanks Jen!
Met AKS2000 and COD from the Alaska outdoor forums on the beach. The surf was up by my standards. Swells were 3ft with south 15mph winds. Surf launch looks doable so off we go.
Lesson number one: If you rig up before you launch, strap down the weights or rig up after launch. I broke my rod tip when my 4oz weight whacked my rod tip as I was launching. Good thing I always carry a spare!
With the south wind and incoming tide, it was all I could do to keep my position paddling. AKS2000 in a Prowler 15ft and COD was in a longer sit inside kayak could make headway with some effort. I was amazed at how slow my kayak was. I knew it was slower but its more than an inconvenience thing. I realized how much safety margin I also was giving up. Dang, I guess I need to buy a new kayak for safety reasons!
We troll/power mooch for kings a while with no luck. We see one power boat hook up to a king and another boat managed to hook a seagull. I am still amazed at how few boats are in the area. I was expecting a hundred boats, I saw maybe 20 trailers max. Maybe 4 campers in the Deep Creek campground.
COD takes off after the first salmon attempt. But he saved the day by running AKS2000's truck down the beach so we could drift towards it versus trying to paddle back or walk back a couple of miles. THANKS COD!!! If it wasn't for you I would have never caught that king. Of course if it wasn't for AKS2000 tolerating me as a wingman, I wouldn't have caught one either. So thanks to the both of ya!!!!
SO AKS2000 and I paddle out to about 25 to 30 ft of water which is over a half mile off shore. Between the two of us, we landed probably a dozen Irish Lords. No halibut, no cod, no sharks, no rays. I think that has to be a first for me fishing this area. AKS2000 also said he didn't see any bait balls on his sonar. I saw enough to prep a sabiki rig last week. hmmm.....
Lesson #2: Secure your battery so the rocking doesn't disconnect it. It was the roughest water I have fished out of and once it unplugged, I wasn't about to open my center hatch so I was without sonar for pretty much the whole trip.
About 9pm I realize we had stopped drifting toward the truck which is still a mile away. So I tell AKS2000 that maybe we should begin paddling. What I meant to say was I should begin paddling. He had no problems making headway. I lumbered toward the truck but at 1/5 the speed. Maybe that was good as I had a whole purple size herring (large) that I was using for halibut but had it rigged so it would roll so I just trolled it back in. I was thinking about just reeling in my line since I was having such a hard time paddling. But moments later! Whammo! Are you kidding me??????? It's not the bottom I don't think. Nope! It's a fish!!!!!
The kayak was stable and AKS2000 makes the perfect net job despite my net being way to small. The only time I just about flipped the kayak was when I took the fish out of the net and it slid off my lap into the foot wells. I guess 27 pounds of weight shifting the edge is NOT good. Felt like I came within inches of rolling the yak.
So no halibut but I did get one of those pesky secondary species! NO COMPLAINTS!
May 7, 2011
And here's a pic AKS2000 just posted of me on a forum! Thanks Jen!
Met AKS2000 and COD from the Alaska outdoor forums on the beach. The surf was up by my standards. Swells were 3ft with south 15mph winds. Surf launch looks doable so off we go.
Lesson number one: If you rig up before you launch, strap down the weights or rig up after launch. I broke my rod tip when my 4oz weight whacked my rod tip as I was launching. Good thing I always carry a spare!
With the south wind and incoming tide, it was all I could do to keep my position paddling. AKS2000 in a Prowler 15ft and COD was in a longer sit inside kayak could make headway with some effort. I was amazed at how slow my kayak was. I knew it was slower but its more than an inconvenience thing. I realized how much safety margin I also was giving up. Dang, I guess I need to buy a new kayak for safety reasons!
We troll/power mooch for kings a while with no luck. We see one power boat hook up to a king and another boat managed to hook a seagull. I am still amazed at how few boats are in the area. I was expecting a hundred boats, I saw maybe 20 trailers max. Maybe 4 campers in the Deep Creek campground.
COD takes off after the first salmon attempt. But he saved the day by running AKS2000's truck down the beach so we could drift towards it versus trying to paddle back or walk back a couple of miles. THANKS COD!!! If it wasn't for you I would have never caught that king. Of course if it wasn't for AKS2000 tolerating me as a wingman, I wouldn't have caught one either. So thanks to the both of ya!!!!
SO AKS2000 and I paddle out to about 25 to 30 ft of water which is over a half mile off shore. Between the two of us, we landed probably a dozen Irish Lords. No halibut, no cod, no sharks, no rays. I think that has to be a first for me fishing this area. AKS2000 also said he didn't see any bait balls on his sonar. I saw enough to prep a sabiki rig last week. hmmm.....
Lesson #2: Secure your battery so the rocking doesn't disconnect it. It was the roughest water I have fished out of and once it unplugged, I wasn't about to open my center hatch so I was without sonar for pretty much the whole trip.
About 9pm I realize we had stopped drifting toward the truck which is still a mile away. So I tell AKS2000 that maybe we should begin paddling. What I meant to say was I should begin paddling. He had no problems making headway. I lumbered toward the truck but at 1/5 the speed. Maybe that was good as I had a whole purple size herring (large) that I was using for halibut but had it rigged so it would roll so I just trolled it back in. I was thinking about just reeling in my line since I was having such a hard time paddling. But moments later! Whammo! Are you kidding me??????? It's not the bottom I don't think. Nope! It's a fish!!!!!
The kayak was stable and AKS2000 makes the perfect net job despite my net being way to small. The only time I just about flipped the kayak was when I took the fish out of the net and it slid off my lap into the foot wells. I guess 27 pounds of weight shifting the edge is NOT good. Felt like I came within inches of rolling the yak.
So no halibut but I did get one of those pesky secondary species! NO COMPLAINTS!
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
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