Homer Kings November 8

Well you know its prime time for winter kings so I gotta keep trying.  Left the house at 4am after checking road conditions.  Whittier Junction to Seward Junction was Yellow (caution).  Caution?  I don’t think so.  That road should have been closed.  Right after the restrooms after the first climb, the road was black ice.  I knew it was slick so I was only going about 35mph.  I decide to check the road, tap the breaks…the car speeds up.  WHAT?  That’s not good.  Hit the breaks again and with anti lock breaks, it didn’t even remotely slow down.  I fishtailed down the road for what felt like an eternity.  How I stayed on the road, I have no idea. 

Ok, the fishing.  Get there an hour late around 9am.  I immediately get a few good strikes but can’t connect.  Then over the course of 5 hours, I go 0’fer 2 on real kings.  I manage 4 or 5 jacks and a couple of pollock.  Spoke with Shane of Driftwood charters and it was slow for them too. I am ready to call it a day at 2pm.

Tide changes at 3pm and Shane from Driftwood Charters says “NEVER leave as the tide is changing!”. So I take a quick break and back on the water at 3pm.  From 3:30 to 4:30pm, I had 6 or 7 solid takedowns and managed to go 3 for 3 of the ones I hooked.  I had strikes on hoochies, but all three were caught on the SilverHorde Coho Killer spoon behind a dodger.  I didn’t use bait, but I would consider carrying some.  As long as you stay away from the front of the hotel, the pollock have thinned out.  I caught make 4 all day.

Average size was small. 12, 8, and 6 pounds.  Still perseverance once again pays off.  

Not sure how many more times I will hit it.  Just can’t stay away if there are fish to be caught.  Usually by early December, the fish get fewer and farther between.  

Oh…on Alaska Outdoor Directory, Jeff from Kodiak Combos posted a 61lbs feeder king they just caught.  Can you imagine how big that would have been in May?  I can’t wait!!!  Gotta plan!!! 

Ok, so here is the video.  It was raining on and off so sorry about the water spots.  

Homer Kings. Nov 2, 2014

Made the drive.  That was no fun.  Snow and ice in the pass and from Ninilchik to Homer.  On the way back I ran into a blizzard from the Seward Junction all the way to the Whittier junction.  Crazy.  Hands hurt from holding on to the steering wheel so tight!  lol.

What a difference a week makes.  Only one undersized king and three pollock.  That has to be some kind of record.  Went two for two on real sized kings...only because my first fish was suicidal.  Missed it twice.  I have no idea why that leader was so long.  Also, I know you can't net across your body like I did...or at least I can't.

The other crazy thing was I fished herring for over half of the time and still, all three of my kings came on a silver horde coho killer spoon behind a classic dodger.  The other piece of gear that struck out was the konezone flasher in chartreuse.  I cannot catch anything with one it seems like.  I know others have great success with them.  Hmmm...

So here's the video.  Didn't get my second keeper on video due to operator error. Argh!

A few pics