Two more! Part III personal best kayak halibut Whiskey Gulch - video

Video compiling but here's another perspective. http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VIcs7unKgy4/U6e86TuJRfI/AAAAAAAAFFY/f0bIcsy9y5U/s1024-no/IMAGE_717.jpg

After the 57 pounder on Friday, you know I had to try and get out again.  So I leave Anchorage at 7am on Sunday.  In the water at 11:30am at Whiskey Gulch.  Waves were a little larger than I like but manageable. 

Current took me North.  First Halibut went smoothly.  Second one not so much.  I went to hit it with the harpoon and must have hit the spine.  The harpoon tip just bounces off.  WTF???  The only saving grace was that it must have hit a spot that paralyzed it since it was pretty lifeless after that.

Both fish caught in 45 ft of water at High slack.  Herring and an oversized hooch slow trolled across the bottom in less than an hour and a half!

I still want to try the shark hook method.  I have one.  Just need to sharpen it. 

So a 15, 57, 34, & 43 pounder for two trips this weekend! Roughly 150 pounds of halibut at 46% recovery I read online, that’s nearly 70 pounds of fillets! 

It's actually 60 pounds of filet. You forgot to subtract the 10 pounds you're sending down to Oregon.
Very nice Rudy!

Man you are killin it rudy!!

You're killing me Rudy!  I can't wait to join you!!!

-Mark-

Can't wait... Fingers crossed on the weather. You're making WG look good, sir!

AKFishergal...don't believe Rudy. I bet he's photoshopped and edited this entire thread so that we all go to Whiskey Gulch and he has free reign over everywhere else.   

"Jeff...that's so mean and uncalled for..." you say. But weekend before last, I was going to go to WG to fish on Saturday, and Rudy suggested that he was going to fish Deep Creek. Being a copycat, I changed my plan to match his itinerary, but he didn't show....and struck out. Next day he texts me pics from his day trip to WG with 2 nice little halibut. I don't trust that guy...Not even a little bit. 

:-)

none.

-Jeff

AKFishergal...don't believe Rudy. I bet he's photoshopped and edited this entire thread so that we all go to Whiskey Gulch and he has free reign over everywhere else.   

"Jeff...that's so mean and uncalled for..." you say. But weekend before last, I was going to go to WG to fish on Saturday, and Rudy suggested that he was going to fish Deep Creek. Being a copycat, I changed my plan to match his itinerary, but he didn't show....and struck out. Next day he texts me pics from his day trip to WG with 2 nice little halibut. I don't trust that guy...Not even a little bit. 

:-)

none.

-Jeff

lol.  Jeff is ON TO ME!  Dang it!!

In fairness to Jeff, he is right about what I said.  I have until the past weekend always done better for larger fish at Deep Creek.  The problem with Deep Creek, is unless you can drive a few miles down the beach, you are stuck launching when the tide is headed out to get out past the closed areas.  My civic won't do that.  On tournament day though, daylight is at high slack and the the tide will be falling.  So it's an option.  Also its an option you should scope out because as of right now (which is way to early) they are calling for 2ft in the inlet but 4 ft in the Kachemak Bay.  That kind of forecast sometimes means big swells which impact Whiskey Gulch a lot more than Deep Creek. 

But now I really am thinking about fishing Whiskey Gulch due to recent results.  I will also say that I have caught my larger fish a little deeper than I normally fish in the area.  I like fishing shallow.  But the fish seemed to get larger in the 45 to 50 ft range for me.  But the sample size is too small to make a determination.

I think I have a system in the works and so far it seems to be producing for me.  I'm going without a downrigger since I will need the deck space for a 100lbs slab.  My tactic of choice will be slow trolling and backbouncing during heavy current 12 to 24 oz of lead and pulling a large J-hook (maybe circle) with a hoochie and a large herring.  I keep bait checks at minimum length to keep the scent trail intact.

So far I have been trolling slowly changing about 5 feet of depth then stopping and pounding bottom while trying to maintain a stationary position.  After 5 to 10 minutes I pick deeper or shallower, slow troll another 5 ft of depth change (probably 50 to 100yards) and repeat.  If I troll slowly enough, I can see my gear on the 53khz frequency sonar and it stays within a foot or two of bottom.  In fact, I am pounding the bottom as I troll and maintaining contact every few seconds.

So far the weather looks good!  Get psyched!!!