Homer Winter King Derby Report - PIC HEAVY

No worries! You were busy catching fish, lol. We'll link up at some point. How's the Whiskey Gulch Classic coming along? Also, I saw in your post that you just went with a heavy lead instead of the down rigger. Is there a reason for that? I thought you used down riggers because I saw one in an earlier video you'd posted where you had it mounted behind your seat.

No worries! You were busy catching fish, lol. We'll link up at some point. How's the Whiskey Gulch Classic coming along? Also, I saw in your post that you just went with a heavy lead instead of the down rigger. Is there a reason for that? I thought you used down riggers because I saw one in an earlier video you'd posted where you had it mounted behind your seat.

The Whiskey Gulch Classic will now be my focus moving forward....after my sportsman show seminars.  lol.

So why did I use a sinker?  Good question.  To be perfectly honest it was mainly laziness.  I had prefished Friday and determined that I would be fishing in under 60 ft of water with most of the marks being in the 20 to 30 ft range.  For me, a downrigger adds significant drag to the kayak.  Just off the top of my head, I think if I can fish 8 hours without a downrigger, I can fish 6 with one.  So that's one element. 

There are times, especially when the weather is cold that fish will stack on the bottom or at a certain depth.  Unless you have pulled the EXACT same setup weight flasher and bait/lure for a LONG time you really don't know where you are at unless you can do trigonometry in your head.  I just determined on Friday that I would concentrate shallow.  If I marked fish deeper or stacked at one depth, I would have gone back and added my downrigger. 

But pre-fishing, the fish seemed everywhere...more shallow than not.  In that case I prefer a sinker.  I can troll, I can power mooch, I can go faster, I can stop.  It's the least effective setup in terms of depth control but its the most flexible.  I almost used a diver because I think its like towing an extra flasher and adds action.  But laziness won out.

I'm glad I caught my fish berfore Eric caught his out in deeper water.  That would have thrown a monkey wrench into my planning and definitely did not fit the "profile" of the fish I was fishing for.  Obviously I was wrng fro Eric's fish...though I did manage onbe of course! 

If there is one thing I'd leave everyone with, its that kayak fishing in Alaska is so dang new that I can just abut guarantee that none of us are doing it optimally.  While its good to have a starting place, I would HIGHLY encourage new techniques, lures, bait, and areas!  Try them all out.  No one has even remotely fished enough out of a kayak to call them or their methods the definitive way at least here in Alaska!!!   That's what makes it fun!!!!

Oh.  I had a few folks ask. I was using a gopro hero 3. First fish the camera was set on narrow view. The second fish I switched it back to wide view.

Carry on...that is all!! Lol.

Awesome man! Great to see so many kayakers at a fishing tourney. Excellent fish, btw.

Yah coho killers are my go-to when i use hardware. Such great action. Love the cop car too!