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!