Homer Winter King Derby results

Akfishon had a nice king!  Others had good strikes. High tide seemed to be the ticket.  Warmer weather helped!.

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Sweet! Wishing I was there, but great job...those are nice fish!


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Nice fish guys. Great job.

Congratulations Rudy, Ryu, and AKfishon!!!! It was a beautiful day. Special thanks to Rudy and Ryu for rescuing my gear that went swimming!


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Congrats to Ryu for top fish in the Youth Division and a big yahoo to Akfishon for his 17.00 pounder to capture top honors for the kayak division.

All in all 131 fish weighed in. 27 were white kings, including the #1 winning fish of 25.65 pounds.

P.S. There are always a number of folks who landed smaller fish that were obviously out of the money that don't weigh in so the total catch is not known for the day.

Great job out there today guys! Can't wait to do it again! I say a gathering at whiskey gulch in the near future. When the ice breaks up of course

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We will definitely start planning dates for the 5th Annual Alaska Yak Classic. My calendar is oddly full in may and early June this year.

In the meantime heres a video of our two fish from yesterday.

 

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Great video. What strikes me is that just a year ago you were reaching across Ryu's boat to net the fish. Now, you just get to be a camera man. What a difference a year makes.

Awesome video! I love to watch and learn!


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Great video! Thanks again to everyone who provided advice and recommendations to me on Saturday!

My lessons learned:
1. Bring a VHF radio so I can hear where/when fish are caught! I was wondering where all the kayakers went during the fish catching frenzy by the "Can"!
2. Brine my herring so they stay on, stay bright, and spin for more than 10 minutes...
3. Purchase a peddle drive and save the paddle yak for times when friends visit... my hands and back are just beginning to unclench after over 5 hours of trolling with a paddle yak; often against the wind and current.

Regardless of no hookups, any day on the water, where we all make it back safely, is a blast!

See everyone at the next one!

Jonathan

Great video! Thanks again to everyone who provided advice and recommendations to me on Saturday!

My lessons learned:
1. Bring a VHF radio so I can hear where/when fish are caught! I was wondering where all the kayakers went during the fish catching frenzy by the "Can"!
2. Brine my herring so they stay on, stay bright, and spin for more than 10 minutes...
3. Purchase a peddle drive and save the paddle yak for times when friends visit... my hands and back are just beginning to unclench after over 5 hours of trolling with a paddle yak; often against the wind and current.

Regardless of no hookups, any day on the water, where we all make it back safely, is a blast!

See everyone at the next one!

Jonathan

Great to meet ya out there.  Look forward to fishing with you more.  No way I could've been out there as long in a paddle kayak.  I'll make sure to let you know when I plan a trip after ice-out so you can try out the Native drive to assist in your decision on a pedal yak. (I'm sure you'll end up in a Hobie since there are no Native dealers up here).

Nice video, awesome fish. Congrats to you and Ryu!

(I'm sure you'll end up in a Hobie since there are no Native dealers up here).

FYI

I saw native kayak and old town predator at West Marine this Saturday.

A couple of thoughts to consider and/or adopt for our AK saltwater fishing:

My lessons learned:
1. Bring a VHF radio so I can hear where/when fish are caught! I was wondering where all the kayakers went during the fish catching frenzy by the "Can"!

Consider a top of the line handheld 6 watt VHF radio with GPS built in and DSC (Digital Selective Calling) and one that FLOATS. Now that the Coast Guard's Rescue 21 up here is fully operational and covering most of Alaska's marine waters, the DSC function is designed to be a life saving feature not only alerting the Coast Guard but sending that digital distress signal and location to all other DSC capable VHF radios within range. (Most newer fixed base station VHF radios on boats have DSC and commercial boats are required to have it.) I bought the Standard Horizon HX-870 during the holidays on sale and with the company's $40 mail in rebate my total cost was only $139. An incredible bargain. And the GPS allows entering waypoints to mark your fish hookup locations or set up a route and navigate just like a handheld GPS.  Even has a built in strobe light that activates automatically if it gets wet.

IF you have a buddy or 2 with you and don't want to congest the VHF channels with your chit chat (and save your battery power for if you need it), I highly recommend buying a pair of 2 Way "walkie talkie" radios you can get in any electronics section of any store. I've used them on construction jobs and traffic control for 20 years and they are great for talking line of sight over several miles and a set of rechargeable batteries will outlast your day on the water even with lots of chatter. Slip them in a zip lock sandwich baggie....they DIE immediately if they get wet. You can operate them right through the baggie. But for $20 a pair you can't beat them AND if you want to keep your communications "non-pubic" these radios are great for keeping a secret as no one out there is using them.

2. Brine my herring so they stay on, stay bright, and spin for more than 10 minutes...

Always a good idea from several perspectives. Mike's Brite n Tight has built-in dyes as well as the Pautzke brines. Both claim to have "secret sauce" in their brew. Hmm.  Gives you some variables to play with and you can always brine with clear and then dye your baits other colors from available bait dyes by Bad Azz. And probably as important as any reason, your brined bait will not go bad when it warms up so unused baits can be brought home and dropped back in the freezer for the next trip. Saves some $$$. And another advantage of brined bait is if its cured thoroughly it doesn't freeze when stored, so its ready to use immediately without having to thaw it.

Also invest in some of the squeeze bottle gel scents (Mikes has lots). Herring, Sardine, Shrimp, Krill, Shrimp/Krill, Garlic, Anise, etc. The gels stay on your bait longer esp. in cold water than the oils. I keep my different baits separated by baggies and let the scents soak in immediately after brining to give good penetration long before your trip.  And if you get the right kind they have UV components and glow under UV light...or in the eyes of the fish too.

3. Purchase a peddle drive and save the paddle yak for times when friends visit... my hands and back are just beginning to unclench after over 5 hours of trolling with a paddle yak; often against the wind and current.

This is probably an obvious one but I'll add it. Always take along a bottle or two of Gatorade or Powerade for keeping hydrated as well as preventing muscle cramps or for "curing" them if you get one. One of those don't leave the beach without it first aid kits.

See you out there one day.

(I'm sure you'll end up in a Hobie since there are no Native dealers up here).

FYI

I saw native kayak and old town predator at West Marine this Saturday.

Great news, thanks.