Homer Kings. NO fish but still an adrenalin filled day!

What a crazy day.  Even if I had caught fish, it wouldn't have been the most adrenalin filled part of the day!

I saw some cool activity from killer whales...from several hundred yards away.  Hope they are residents feeding on the kings and not transients looking for sea lions or a kayak that looks like a sea lion from below... especially with my mirage drive "flippers".  I hear they are smarter than that.


So I leave the house at 5:30am.  It's definitely getting colder!



But the roads are dry so no problem...I thought!  After I cross the twenty mile river bridge, my car starts wobbling.  At first I thought it was the wind.  But no, its different.  Do I have a flat?  No...then what the heck could it be?  Then i see a thick bank of fog.  OH DEAR GOD...it's BLACK ICE!  If you know the Whittier turn off, you know the lanes are divided there.  I hit the brakes knowing I have my trusty anti lock brakes and...NOTHING!  The car didn't slow down one little bit.  After about 100 yards I would guess, I have it down to 35 mph.  I am IMPRESSED with the Civic Si's traction control.  Well too impressed, that's what let me drive so fast on black ice in the first place!

As the lanes divide, there is NO WAY I am going to make the corner.  So do I slam into the poles and signs in the divider and risk impaling myself on a post?  I don't rally care about the car at this point.  I have time so I look ahead and nothing is coming, I turn the wheel slightly to the left and I take the corner in the wrong lane!  I'm driving south....One life down...eight left...

NOT good.  But I make it.  I pull over check the road and it is a skating rink.  After regaining my composure, I head back down the road going abot 25mph.  I don't make it more than 400 yards when i come across a truck in the ditch with headlights on and still running.

I jump out holler a few times and then dial 911.  The operator said they were talking to the driver who had been picked up a few minutes earlier.  I did see vehicles parked at a parking pull off earlier.  I hope he is alright.



As soon we get off turnagain arm, the roads are fine.  Well the roads are fine but once I hit Ninilchik, a cow moose jumps in front of me.  By the time I hit my brakes, the moose was behind me.  2 lives down, 7 left.

Oh yeah, this is a fishing log.  Well that's simple, I started at 11:00am finished at 5;30pm and caught NOTHING...well two pollock but that doesn't count.

I had one good take down but it didn't stick the fish.  I thought the consolation was that I spoke with 6 boats and only one boat had one fish.  Okay, it's slow for everyone.  Then I get in my car and check my email.  Klondike Kid from Alaska Outdoor Journal emails me and says, I guess you didn't go today.  My buddy Shane hammered two nice ones at the quart of gas hole (where I was fishing).  WHAT?!?!?!?!  No way!  Well he had the pics to prove it. I did see a boat out there by itself after I left that area and was headed in.

So the video for today is merely a boring video of the conditions.  The wide angle gopro lens does not do the wave size justice.  As an example here is a pic I took with the iphone.  The point being is that I consider this fairly flat.  Flat enough to take my beloved iphone out of its water proof bag.



Here' the vid.  Once again there isn't much to see.  But i know there are folks who are intrested in the type of conditions a yak can handle.  While fun, I wasn't at all concerned.  This was fairly normal water when we were fishing Deep Creek area in the spring.  I know you PNW ocean guys encounter much bigger surf.



While I didn't get any salmon, I did manage three snowshoe hares.  Unfortunately it was with my car... there sure are a lot fo them this year!  Sorry bunnies.....

So today was a day to bank the hours.  It just means the next fish will come that much faster.  Got to keep at it!  I'll be back!!!!!

Yikes! Glad you made it through the hazards -- that road commands our respect in the best of conditions, and our abject fear in black ice.  I also liked the conditions vid.  Looked like another beautiful day on the water.  What an autumn we've had.

Stay dry. Stay safe.

Thx  akfishergal!

I can't believe how cool this yak fishing is...let alone the fact it has extended my open water season. Started in march. Still fishing. I think a goal of catching a fish every month is a possible goal!!

I think I embellish the stories a bit sometimes. It happened the way I said, but had I hit the middle divider, I think I would have been going 15 to 20 mph. So weird to be so freaked out in what was basically slow motion. Plenty if time to assess the situation and take the action I did. But still virtually zero control. Odd feeling. 

I hear they are still catching on the upper. With the marine forecast, I think that's the plan for Sunday. Project day at the house!!! Argh!!


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