Sunday on the Saltchuck - Homer Kings

Well NOAA missed the mark a bit on Sunday. Was suppose to be <2 ft. Ended up 3 ft with 4 ft swells now and then. Definitely reduced the area to cover with small boats while waiting on the weather and water to die down.

[NOTE: I am a KAYAKER. Just have not gotten on the water in the poly craft yet. With my personal participation in the Homer feeder king fishery (from my own boats) just beginning there are many things my zoology/fisheries background is calling out, no shouting out, to be tried, experimented with, and even discovered (or discounted) for this fishery and the benefits of my fellow anglers. That huge list cannot be addressed by experimenting from my kayak with limited range, mobility, speed, depth, or challenging water conditions. So bear with me for a while as I offer what I've discovered, learned the hard way, speculated about, or failed miserably on by using my power boat for now with my downrigger cam system as my personal assistant. I'm itching fiercely and chomping at the bit to get out there in my Outback with the rest of the crew this winter. Just need to take a shortcut on learning some new ropes and straighten that learning curve for a bit longer.]

Today was another experimental day (with marginal visibility for the cam) as well as a knowledge based learning day that has me scratching my head how to capitalize on.

The larger of the two kings I caught on Friday had 3 types of baitfish in its belly. Some 3 inch sand lance, a very large half dissolved body which reminded me of the body size and shape of an adult hooligan with its barrel cross section, and one unidentified fish I went to the master for help with. Sent the photo and a minute later.....capelin. Thanx Shane.  A forage fish in both cold water regions of the 2 northern hemisphere oceans and eaten by most predators - warm blooded and cold. Even human.


The fact that the king was eating 6 inch capelin and a 9" mystery fish had me digging out my vac packed hooligan and the brine solution. Hooligan have a rough skin that doesn't seem to absorb the brine well so my short treatment time fell short of what I will do in the future. After the 18 hr brine I dyed half with Mike's Blue Brite n Tight and the other half red with Procure. I had my doubts about using a 10 inch troll bait Sunday but what the heck. Started with the blue and had two hits that popped the releases but no hook ups. Might have to reconfigure hook arrangement.  That was enough encouragement for me to work on more smelt brines, dyes, and fishing tactics in the future. And its FREE bait! I can see it will take a special hook setup to accommodate a much longer bait. Rudy is a "stomach man" himself and both he and Shane know when the kings are on the hooligan.

Water got rougher and had to pull back to the condos with the rest of the boats. I had switched back to a Procure Redd Hot herring by this time and finally hit a 9 pounder right in front of the hotel. That's 3 kings on red Procure in two days and another lost.

Weather started to lay down and I worked further out. Kinda getting a feel for my "Salty Dawg" hole I line up with. Getting late in the day, out of Procure, so went with natural herring. As soon as I marked fish I got a takedown, 11 pounds.


The smaller of the two fish had an empty belly. The larger fish had a blender of dark fibrous material and grit. This fish was foraging on the bottom rooting out something. Shane has told me that in late winter when many of the forage fish are gone he has caught feeders with scuffed noses and their bellies full of marine WORMS. I'm wondering if this fish was doing the same as there was no bones in the material. Or maybe just searching for hiding sand lance. 

Out of the 4 kings this weekend, 2 were hatchery marked. One very light and pale flesh but not quite white. Didn't pay attention to belly contents vs meat color. I will in the future.

I only witnessed one other fish caught in the half dozen boats. But did see cooler lids being closed, nets and hands washed off, downriggers on the surface, etc. in the other boats indicating a catch. Just wasn't looking in the right direction at the time.

The bottom foraging has me wondering about rigging. Perhaps a light wire spreader with the weight dragging bottom and a clear bubble in front of the bait to hold it up off the bottom. That would be a good rig to drag with a kayak. And the disturbance of the sinker stirring up debris or silt might be a plus too.

Geez, Monday almost noon in Soldotna and 42°F and my snow is gone. Wish I was back down there.

Its tough to leave Homer when this is tempting you to stay over for the next day's first light bite.

Red Sky in the morning sailors take warning. Red Sky at night, sailors' delight.

Thanks for the report, KK.  I couldn't justify the 9 hour drive for 4 hours of fishing on Sunday, so I went chasing birds instead.  If the weather and roads hold up through this weekend I'm planning on going down to give them a try on Saturday. 

Started with the blue and had two hits that popped the releases but no hook ups.

Have you ever tried a rubber band and a Black's release?  Since I started using this setup I've been losing a lot less bait and haven't missed a fish yet that has pulled hard enough to pop the release.  Since the rubber band gives, it's harder for the fish to just pull the bait off the hook, and if the fish pulls hard enough to pop the release or break the band, the hook is already set.

Thanks for the report! 

Been stuck in town with family and work tasks.  Glad to hear they are biting.  That rough weather has been messing with he visibility the last few times out.

I think the worms are of the class polychaetes.  I recall digging them when razor clamming was more productive.  But I think there are dozens of different species.

Not sure when I can hit it next, next few weekends are booked for work.  Argh!

Thanks for the reports. Nothing like it to make me want to get back down there. I'm hoping the weather is decent this weekend. After being out of the game for a couple weekends (although I have to admit the warmth in San Antonio was really nice) I'm looking forward to another go. Besides, the departure time is getting downright friendly to leave Soldotna and get to Homer for first light. Don't even have to set the alarm for that one.

Thanks for the report, KK.  I couldn't justify the 9 hour drive for 4 hours of fishing on Sunday, so I went chasing birds instead.

Nine hour drive? Are you riding a bicycle from Soldotna to Homer?  I make it in 1.5 hours. lol
How did you do on the ptarmmies? Always good mountaineering exercise if nothing else. Builds up those thigh muscles for pedaling!!

If the weather and roads hold up through this weekend I'm planning on going down to give them a try on Saturday.

I have found this weather page for Homer to be pretty darn accurate most of the time for onshore. Quite often right down to the hour mark on the graphs. https://www.wunderground.com/us/ak/homer/zmw:99603.1.99999?MR=1
 Showing sun from Wednesday through the weekend which should provide good dry pavement all the way. Saturday clear and sunny. Dang, as long as this warm weather lasts I'm not going to tarp the boat yet.

Have you ever tried a rubber band and a Black's release?  Since I started using this setup I've been losing a lot less bait and haven't missed a fish yet that has pulled hard enough to pop the release.  Since the rubber band gives, it's harder for the fish to just pull the bait off the hook, and if the fish pulls hard enough to pop the release or break the band, the hook is already set.

No I haven't used that release. I run a Big Jon Free n Easy release. It gives me infinite adjustment down to even using 2 lb. test line when I was in my world record hunt mode in the 80's. I like it because you wind the fishing line around a smooth chrome shaft so there is no pinching, sharp bends or kinking of the line. It also has the canon ball weight snap as part of it keeping the entire system very compact. The fish is literally pulling directly from the canon ball resistance.

Thanks for the report! 
Been stuck in town with family and work tasks.  Glad to hear they are biting.  That rough weather has been messing with he visibility the last few times out.
I think the worms are of the class polychaetes.  I recall digging them when razor clamming was more productive.  But I think there are dozens of different species.
Not sure when I can hit it next, next few weekends are booked for work.  Argh!

Hmm, you ARE alive!
OK, I guess its OUR TURN to make you drool like you have done to me for the past 4 or 5 years!! HA. I don't even unhitch the boat when I get home. Drag it all over town. Just need to throw in bait and lunch and top off the tank. Wednesday thru Saturday looks like great sunny weather with 2 foot seas predicated for every day!!
Rudy, are you going to be at the BOF Lower Cook Inlet cycle meeting in November for the proposals considerations?  There are a number of feeder king fishery proposals to be considered....some definitely NOT in the anglers' favor, some by ADFG with mixed impacts. I'm going to try and be there.

Easyyaker, yeah the time table is definitely rolling over in our commute time favor for sure. 10:30am first light bite is fine with me!

Thanks for the report, KK.  I couldn't justify the 9 hour drive for 4 hours of fishing on Sunday, so I went chasing birds instead.

Nine hour drive? Are you riding a bicycle from Soldotna to Homer?  I make it in 1.5 hours. lol
How did you do on the ptarmmies? Always good mountaineering exercise if nothing else. Builds up those thigh muscles for pedaling!!

Let's just say I brought home more pounds of ptarmigan than I have ever brought home King salmon.

And yeah, Sunday would have been 9 hours of driving from Anchorage, worst case.  I always budget drive time based on going the speed limit, and the last time I went through the road construction south of Ninilchik I was held up at least half an hour one way. 

Let's just say I brought home more pounds of ptarmigan than I have ever brought home King salmon.

It sounds like you have identified your next priority! 

And yeah, Sunday would have been 9 hours of driving from Anchorage, worst case.  I always budget drive time based on going the speed limit, and the last time I went through the road construction south of Ninilchik I was held up at least half an hour one way.

Road construction has pretty much wrapped up for the season now. Didn't run into any delays on Friday morning/evening or Sunday morning/evening drives. Sure NICE to have almost completely new overlay all the way to Homer now. Almost smacked a moose though Sunday night with rain on that fresh black pavement absorbing all your headlights with two vehicles coming at you in the other direction. Two Seconds would have made the difference between my miss and a total out. Not to mention what would happen to the boat on the trailer I was towing.

Your profile ID shows Soldotna on the location, thus my inquisitive nature.  Whoops, now shows Anchorage!!  Did you just correct that? Or am I hallucinating?

One more ball game to go. And a trip to the vet. Then the rest of the week has a freelance schedule so I'm hoping to get back down to Homer for more camera work and experimenting. The weather and marine forecasts are very good.  Just dug out an 8 pack of hooligan and started thawing for the brine. Going to work up a bright sunset orange dye that says UV (but I doubt it) besides red Procure which does fluoresce and Mike's blue UV which doesn't.  I'm going to also "treat" a couple of Coho Killers with UV fluorescent tattoo inks I bought. The green, chartreuse, and orange are brilliant under black light.

Well here are a few hits and hookups from Sunday trolling. Best to view it in full HD because fish flashes at the bait location are very hard to see due to the algae. Next trip I'm shortening the filming distance to six feet to the flasher or dodger and maybe even down to four feet on some runs.  The first fish is hitting the hooligan.

I'm just sneaky like that.  Actually, I moved several months ago and can't keep up with all the stuff you have to update when you do that.

I'm just sneaky like that.  Actually, I moved several months ago and can't keep up with all the stuff you have to update when you do that.

Yeah, just changing your address is as bad as losing your wallet! You still must track down and contact and replace so many things you are connected to nowdays.