Inaugural Whiskey Gulch Classic final report - PIC HEAVY

First of all, thanks to everyone who came! Kenai_guy, Rimfirematt, Akfisheregal, CopperRiverValley83, Xanfly39, SmithHarry907 & Friend, Pink Fisher, and Kardinal_84.  We had a few drop out due to weather.  Ya can't help that and it was ugly for a while!

Also A HUGE shout out to our sponsors. 

Sweeney's Clothing ins Soldotna, Ashore Water Taxi in Homer, Kenai_guy.  I'll list the others as soon as I collect from them!  lol. 

I know the other thread was long and full of planning, so I thought I'd separate out the final report. I will keep adding pictures as I upload them. I hope others have pictures, vids or stories to share!  I will post more pictures after I upload them.

Day 1 was a blowout. We should have known. heres a 20 second vid of our camp.



Still, we are sitting on the beach and Kenai_guy and rimfirematt can't stand it anymore and they launch in super difficult conditions. Rimfire makes it look easy. Kenai_guy gets unlucky when a multiple set of waves hammers him. Still he hammers through!




Later that evening the conditions almost look better. So I'm going to give it a go. I get to the waters edge and it doesn't look so smooth.


But I'm committed! Probably not the smartest idea. The pics above look super bad but there was a 30 second lull in the sets every now and then. Two different attempts.


Hit a few decent crashing waves, miss a stroke or two and I'm toast. Just EPIC FAIL especially with fiancée holding a telephoto lens and the rest of the group staring.



I'm done after two tries. Only thing I lost was my harpoon stick. No big deal since I've NEVER used it since every halibut I've caught till now fits in my net...uh, no. Big deal.

So day one ends with Kenai_guys single Irish lord worth ZERO AOTY points, but the only fish caught leading the tourney.

Day 2 the weather is much improved. Everyone gets out. But the winds start gusting and it's a washing machine! The fishing is slow. Then I hear CopperRiverValley83 over the radio that she got one! Sweet!


I also talk to Xanfly39 and he says he has a 15 pound halibut on board as well!

I then hook a decent halibut. In fact the largest ever for me off the kayak, maybe 50 pounds. My leader is long, my sinker comes up, my nets in the water, its not fighting super hard. I lead whatever is under my yak to the net. I catch a glimpse and know its not going to fit. It jams about two thirds of the way in, turns around. My clip catches the net and its gone. Should have had the harpoon but I guess it would have had happened anyways.

With just a couple of hours left, I'm the last on the water so I decide to head in while trolling. Quarter mile from the take out my rod doubles over and its fish on. But it comes right to the yak without a fight. I see it's a king and I'm already fighting it with the sinker out of the water in the first 30 seconds. Almost netted it but in & out. But after a great battle I land it.





So the final results were:

First place : Rudy aka Kardinal_84 with a 32.5 inch king worth 165.5 AOTY points. Prize was the trophy. Ironically, I went to my parents house to clean and photo the fish but the filleted it before I photographed it. Argh. Hopefully I'll catch a bigger one.

Second place: Curtis aka xanfly39. 34.5 inch halibut worth 145.6 AOTY points. Prize was a halibut rod and reel combo courtesy of Kenai_Guy

Third place : Sarah AKA CopperRiverValley83. A 32.5 inch halibut worth 138.1 AOTY points. Prize was an Avet sx reel.

Kenai_guy takes day 1 honors and received a carhartt backpack and other goodies courtesy of Sweeney's clothing in Soldotna.

Rimfirematt received a lure kit and t-shirt courtesy of Sweeney's Clothing for his style points for a tough launch but also for his nice huli day one.

I have other certificates for those who participated. When I finalize, I will list here.

Thanks to all who participated!!!










More pics coming!!

That is awesome ! great job guys! sounds like a good time was had by all.   Oh yea, brrrr! 

You guys are hardcore. Thanks for sharing.

Loved the read. Thanks for sharing and NICE FEESH!

Hardcore guys, good job.

   A most excellent report--thanks for the great write up Rudy.

   A heartfelt congradulations to all those that participated in this inaugural event. Hope to see it become an annual thing . And a special congradulation to the winners. Catching any fish in the given conditions just goes to show (1) that it can be done, And (2) that ya'll are bad ass.

   Well done Alaskans---I'd love to join this party some day.It's been 2 years since I've fished Cook Inlet and I do miss it.

A big thank you to all of you as well. Kardinal for squaring up some prizes and having the trophy made!

Pink fisher for awesome photography.

Akfishergal for a bowl of mean chili!

Akfishergals husband for being a great camp spouse.

Andy for the homemade cake.

It was nice meeting all of to and I'll fish with any of you again

Way to keep at it and looks like a decent overall tournament.

Dino
HOW - NWest

That was the best way I can imagine to overcome the discouragement that a May 17 snowstorm brought on a bunch of spring-starved Alaskans. 

Here's my round of thanks:

RimfireMatt -- for securing the nicest camping spot on the beach with his early arrival. OK, so there wasn't any competition for the spot. And for the early photographic evidence of clear skies even as we were mired in a snowstorm a couple hundred miles away.

Kenai_Guy -- for knowing how to keep a joke alive. Great cake, especially the two-tone frosting.  You know a guy is getting a little antsy when he leaps at the opportunity to frost a cake, outdoors, when it's just 35 degrees out.

CopperRiverValley83 -- for driving +380 miles for the pleasure of camping in a snowstorm with complete and utter strangers while waiting for the weather to clear, and for giving all of us a thrill with her laconic radio announcement Sunday of "Fish Awn".

Xanfly39 -- for bringing so much enthusiasm to his first successful outing, along with the delicious beef vegetable soup.

Kardinal84 -- for getting the ball rolling and keeping it rolling from start to finish. With his determination to grow kayak fishing in Alaska, there's no doubt we'll be having the Second Annual Whiskey Gulch Yak Fishing Classic in 2014.

Pink Fisher -- for documenting the fun in her excellent photographs despite not feeling her best, and for her sensible good judgment when it was time to launch.

I'm also grateful to a non-member, we can call him Way Better Half -- for cutting and stacking enough firewood to keep us warm while we waited and warm us up upon our return. Oh, and for sprinting fast enough to reclaim a few essential yard sale items strewn upon the beach in the aftermath of the epic fail.

Let's do it again!