Labor Day plans in SC AK?

So its starting to firm up a bit.  Parenting is getting in the way of fishing....

My current plan is to head to Homer Saturday.  Hopefully, I will get out and try the salt for leftover silvers, always present kings, and maybe get lucky with a halibut.  Plans are to launch from the condo area and just fish out to the green buoy.

I plan to drive to Valdez on Sunday, hopefully early enough to get a few hours in on Sunday and then hit it hard in the morning on Monday and get back at a reasonable hour since I fly out to Seattle Tuesday morning early.

That's a thousand miles over the weekend...argh.  But ya gotta do what ya gotta do I guess....

I've got a four day weekend, so lots of things to choose from.  I definitely have some unfinished buisness in Valdez sometime this weekend, so I will definitely be making a trip down.  Between that, berry picking, moose/caribou hunting....it's gonna be a full weekend for sure.

Ugh. Flight Tuesday departs 6am.  At any rate...

I gotta gotta gotta get to Valdez.  I want to experiment with a few setups and it's important to have good numbers of fish which from what I can see, Valdez is the spot right now.

I want to try a 4 to 6wt fly rod on my downrigger.  As well as just fly fishing.

I also need to test a different downrigger setup in preparation for kings. Basically just attaching flashers to the ball vs line and such.

Finally, if I hook a pink, I want to send it back down again in Deep Water. I need to check but I think it's legal there.  If not ill hopefully catch one silver I can soak a head for a bit.

So as of now, I hope to be in Valdez early evening on Sunday. Will post again. Hopefully I'm not too worn out from the Homer trip or who knows start hammering kings close. 


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Not sure yet how the weekend is going to shape up, but you both have me hoping that Valdez can figure into the planning. It's not a long weekend for me, though, so I might have to set my sights a little closer. 

I'm really curious about Kard's mashup of downrigger and a 4-6 wt fly rod. Silvers on a flyrod are huge fun. But I've never landed one on anything lighter than my 7 wt. Wonder who will tire out sooner on the trout-weight gear -- the fish or the man. Maybe bring along gloves so you don't get burned palming the reel.

I'm putting my money on CRV84 -- those silvers don't stand a chance this time.

Not sure yet how the weekend is going to shape up, but you both have me hoping that Valdez can figure into the planning. It's not a long weekend for me, though, so I might have to set my sights a little closer. 

I'm really curious about Kard's mashup of downrigger and a 4-6 wt fly rod. Silvers on a flyrod are huge fun. But I've never landed one on anything lighter than my 7 wt. Wonder who will tire out sooner on the trout-weight gear -- the fish or the man. Maybe bring along gloves so you don't get burned palming the reel.

I'm putting my money on CRV84 -- those silvers don't stand a chance this time.

WHAT?!?!?!  You are betting against me???  That's actually smart money given the Valdez trip is sandwiched between Homer and Seattle.  And the Law of averages dictates CRV84 is going on a streak of landing everything that nibbles!!

What I have found is that the lighter you go, the easier it is to land a silver in many respects but the drawback is they don't seem to fight nearly as hard as when you really apply the pressure to them with solid tackle. They sort of just swim around and finally they get close enough to net.    I can't say I have done it in Saltwater.  I am too lazy to swap lines so I plan to just topshot my conventional floating line with 30 or 40 ft of mono. 

A few reasons.  I like long soft action rods most of the time.  If I can get away with a set up like this, I may do a lot more of my trolling with flyrods.  It's just so much more fun for me.  Also, in the past I have found these long soft rods to be great mooching rods with lighter weights if you are shallow enough (not good jigging rods) But I would drop the flyline and go straight mono.  This is also a precursor to trying to "troll" halibut with a flyrod.  I'm not sure I can get myself to do it for kings until I get much better at it.  I want to avoid encumbering light gear with heavy flashers so that's where I am going to try and run the flashers off my ball.  I'll be trolling fish pattern flies but will likely switch to herring to mooch. I am also angling for a specific  "video shot" I think I can pull off in high coho density areas...we will see.

Always fun to try new things.  But i HATE getting blanked so I plan on taking on tray of herring a day.  no more so I can force myself to use artificials.  I have NEVER had artificial outfish herring in saltwater for silvers or kings.  But it'd be fun to come with a system where I had some confidence in and didn't have to carry bait. 

Well I'm back! I can't go fishing though. I've got to bring family to the fair, make the yard ready for winter, plan another hunting trip for next week, ect ect.

I hat this time if year. It's so cruel.
It's like trying to hold a handful of sands of time and just watching them fall out at a rapid pace knowing that once your out your out for months.

I didn't get a moose either so I still want to try and track one of them down. And I'm thinking that will take priority over fishing.

I don't know. I'm hopeful I can get one more trip out staring at that beautiful sail and hopefully a bend in a rod

Oh no no Kard -- it was in the contest of Angler v. Silver that I was putting my money on CRV84 this week.

Not likely to ever put money against the Dean of Alaska Kayak Fishers. Not in any fish-related contest I can imagine.

Sorry you didn't get your moose Matt.

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Thanks ak. I had my chance. Should have practiced shooting skills in between fishing trips.

Oh no no Kard -- it was in the contest of Angler v. Silver that I was putting my money on CRV84 this week.

Not likely to ever put money against the Dean of Alaska Kayak Fishers. Not in any fish-related contest I can imagine.

Sorry you didn't get your moose Matt.

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Lol. You know I jest.   I still have to get there!  Angler vs fish? fish usually wins but persistence by angler does eventually payoff.

Love the thought of one battle after another on a lightweight flyrod without the hassle of endlessly flogging water which is nearly impossible with the bulkier silver flies. Open water, nobody to snag up to...Ok, so I'm not a purist.  I will take a setup to cast.  It would have worked great the last time I was there.

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You folks have fun...........I'm still working.