Deep Creek halibut attempt

Deep Creek Halibut Fishing
May 1, 2011

Went halibut fishing off of Deep Creek with a Kayak.  Rented a AIRE Seat Tiger inflatable Kayak from Alaska Kayak and Raft and took a friend with me.  I used my Malibu – Mini-X.  First time fishing in a Kayak for her, but she’s a tough Alaskan who commercial fishes so no issues there.  Reality is I brought her along to save me when I got in trouble!  Couldn’t get any of my “guy” friends to go.  Hmmm…

I get there about 10pm the night before.  PERFECT conditions just like the forecast.  Slept in my car, woke up the next morning to North 10 mph with some chop.  No problem, Greta Shows up, we drive 3 miles south of Deep Creek campground to get out of the no fishing zone.  The plan is to launch, let the current take us South, and when the tide turns, let the tide carry us back.   That was the plan at least.

The wind picks up to, the tide turns creating currents that flow against the tide.  It causes a chop of one to two feet to form.  A fog bank comes barreling down on us and next thing you know it’s just miserable out there.  Not unsafe, just cold, damp, windy and rougher than I like.  The Sea Tiger was a great Kayak but with so little of the Yak in the water and the fact it’s an inflatable made it tough to handle in head winds.  If she got 10 to 20 deg off directly against the wind, the wind would turn her around.

It was also interesting the major difference in effect of the current and wind on my mini-x versus her Sea Tiger.  That was to be expected but I was a bit surprised how fast we would get separated.

No bites in the morning session.  Friend had something… Snag or fish we will never know. Notice in the tracking map where the wind just got too bad and we beached it and walked 1.5 miles back to the truck instead of waiting for the currents to shift or the winds to die down.

So we wait for the high slack.  We talk to a group thinking about launching their drift boats.  We saw three drift boats total.  My friend ends up catching a ping pong paddle and about a 10 pound halibut.  She also lands a pacific cod.  My tally?  Two Irish lords.  So Winner by TKO is GRETA! Had she caught anything over 25 pounds, it would have been a complete KO.  Next time!

A small skiff trolling for kings said they had landed a really nice one.  I was surprised at so few boats.  Maybe the word wasn’t out about the launches.  I only saw three or four boats that required a tractor launch.  All the other boats appeared to be small skiffs, river boats, drift boats..and oh yeah, kayaks!

Greta did a better job of takiing pictures so hopefully I get those to post as well.

here's the link:


A few pics





She took a bunch of pics.  Post those when I get them.  That 10 pounder looked like a BLAST!  I can't WAIT to hook a 25 plus pounder!

Damn nice report kardinal!  You've got some beautiful fishing grounds up there.

I'd take that 10lb butt.  Heck, I'd take any Halibut at this point. 

-Spot-

Greta rocks.

Nice report great fish

As Spot's kids would say"you got powned!"

So Greta gave the lessons, eh?

Nice fish- I'd be happy with the cod, too. Too bad WA state screwed up the management of them, down here.        

Hey Kardinal_84,
I'd say that was definitely a successful trip.Even if Greta caught more/bette fish than you.At least you  got to play with an ugly one (irish lord).That starts the adrenalin flowing.One of the best parts of fishing salt,you never know what's on the end of your line.Looking forward to more........

Here's a few pics courtesy of Greta.  I thought she had better pics of her fish which is a lot more interesting then pics of me but here's a few additions.

My Copilot - Greta.  You gotta kinda be a little nutty to hang with me....



A few other pics.

A few more pictures courtesy of Greta

This power boat is small for these waters.  I look like a dot!  Definitely need the safety flag.  These guys had landed a nice king salmon.  The captain was talking to me like no big deal but the other passengers were just shaking their heads.  lol.


Here's one for Pisco.  Not a row boat per say but I was amazed that out of ten boats I saw, three were drift boats! 


Mooching/drifting herring.  I like using fairly long hang back for the last hook.  I think both her fish were hooked on the back hook.  Problem was it was prone to snagging everything on the bottom.

Way to go   

It's nice to see the pictures.

I've seen folks using drift boats, with trolling motors on the bays of WA and OR. Heck, I've seen a couple on Puget Sound and on the Strait. Good rough water boats; they're just not going to get anywhere very fast.

Hey guys! You're givin' us KYAKON boys a run for our money! We fish the WHOLE Kenai Peninsula! See ya on the water!!