Homer report ...Team Alaska - Plans Sept 27/28?

Well it's finally Thursday...typically the most stressful fishing day for me as I plan my weekend and the weather reports get close enough to be accurate.

Inlet looks a tad rough (7 ft on the regional forecast) , K-Bay looks ok.  I think if I try I will be going all the way to Homer.  I need to figure that area out a bit more though the pollock can be trying. 

The problem are the tides.  High tide is at 5am and 5pm roughly meaning you don't get a whole "falling tide" cycle as the sunrise isn't till 8am and sunset is at 7:50pm.

One option would be to float the Kenai but it was insane the number of people i saw at the put in and take outs.  I am going to let Mother Nature freeze out the fair weather fisherman before I try that. 

So, my top three options are....

1) Start early in Homer and even try out my underwater lights while dark?  I may spend a few hours trying to shoot underwater video footage.  If that is the case, I actually want to video some pollock to see if there is absolutely anything a person can do to avoid these pests. 

2) Catch the low tide at Whiskey Gulch,  If I catch one, I can always go to Homer to catch my second king though that sounds tiring and frankly unlikely.

3) Lake Louise trip for big Lake trout...something I want to do before freeze up.


What is everyone else up to???

I'll be headed out to the Tangle Lakes this weekend to put my buddy Deke to work on the birds (waterfowl & ptarmigan), since he's becoming too much of a pet.    But I would definitely be down for some Lake Louise action on the weekend of Oct 4th!

I'll be headed out to the Tangle Lakes this weekend to put my buddy Deke to work on the birds (waterfowl & ptarmigan), since he's becoming too much of a pet.    But I would definitely be down for some Lake Louise action on the weekend of Oct 4th!

I have a king derby in Homer Oct 4 & 5.  But it should be good right until the lake freezes.  I've caught nice lakers through the ice, but its definitely a big and scary lake when the wind kicks up.  Let's stay in touch on the Lake Louise trial!!!

I made the the odyssey to Seward on the 21st, the wind was blowing and I wasn't feeling it, folks were still snagging fresh slivers, Monday I  went to WG , the wind was gusting to about 20 Knots, I tried surf casting but there was so much stuff floating around I gave up. I drove to Homer and caught the dropping tide and caught pollock until I could hardly crank my reel. The highlite just as it was different was a large sculpin. Tuesday, WG was beautiful small seas and I had the tide just right. I caught a sculpin and had a pretty good bite from something big. My wife decided to check on me with a beach visit and freaked out because she could not see me and was having a fit because she thought the water was too rough. fought the tide and wind to get back so she could see that I was alright. 10 minutes of fishing. Homer, Wendsday (24th), beautiful day many many pollock. I found out that they will hit anything I had in my box including a bass plug. I got a good sunburn. No keeper fish. I tried hoochies, moochies,  herring , fake herring , dodgers of three varieties. I don't get skunked very often but this trip was a fishing failure. I did spend quality time with my wife and consumed some good food so it was a win. 

I made the the odyssey to Seward on the 21st, the wind was blowing and I wasn't feeling it, folks were still snagging fresh slivers, Monday I  went to WG , the wind was gusting to about 20 Knots, I tried surf casting but there was so much stuff floating around I gave up. I drove to Homer and caught the dropping tide and caught pollock until I could hardly crank my reel. The highlite just as it was different was a large sculpin. Tuesday, WG was beautiful small seas and I had the tide just right. I caught a sculpin and had a pretty good bite from something big. My wife decided to check on me with a beach visit and freaked out because she could not see me and was having a fit because she thought the water was too rough. fought the tide and wind to get back so she could see that I was alright. 10 minutes of fishing. Homer, Wendsday (24th), beautiful day many many pollock. I found out that they will hit anything I had in my box including a bass plug. I got a good sunburn. No keeper fish. I tried hoochies, moochies,  herring , fake herring , dodgers of three varieties. I don't get skunked very often but this trip was a fishing failure. I did spend quality time with my wife and consumed some good food so it was a win.

By the spit, it's often not a matter of how good of a king salmon catcher you are but how good you are at dealing with the pollock.  You just have to keep telling yourself that the pollock eat the same thing as the kings.

having said that, my lowrance 4 shows much clearer images than my old humming bird.  Starting to figure out the difference better.  It's also a reason why I want to try and capture some underwater footage so I can try and correlate my sonar signals to fish I can see.

Going faster helps.  Fishing shallower sometimes helps.  I admit I took my ultralight out at last time to think the pollock might be fun at least that way.  Nope.  Just takes longer to reel in. 

I certainly don't have the monopoly on this fishery but here's a write up i did last year for it.  https://sites.google.com/site/kayakfishingalaska/the-prey/king-chinook-salmon/homer-winter-feeder-king-fishery---how-to

NOAA weather report shows bad to worse for WG and the tides do not work at all for drift fishing. So probably winterizing this weekend, which I need to do anyway.

I have a 4 and thought I could see what i thouhgt was salmon. I went out to the buoy and drifted back as well as trolling along the shore with the same results. Those pollock are persistant.  I had a good bite and reeled it up and it was a big pollock that wasn't even hooked he just would not  let go of the herring until he was at eye level. I broke my prop on landing so I am out of the game unless I use my paddle boat. Some guys I met a few weeks ago showed me some pictures of huge char that they had caught out of Big Lake earlier in the month so I may try there. My parents had a cabin on Lake Louise for years and the most scared I have ever been on water was coming across LL in a 12 ft Zodiac , you could see the sky looking up into the waves. I caught a big laker while in a canoe there 2 years ago and many big lakers and ling cod over the years. 

I have a 4 and thought I could see what i thouhgt was salmon. I went out to the buoy and drifted back as well as trolling along the shore with the same results. Those pollock are persistant.  I had a good bite and reeled it up and it was a big pollock that wasn't even hooked he just would not  let go of the herring until he was at eye level. I broke my prop on landing so I am out of the game unless I use my paddle boat. Some guys I met a few weeks ago showed me some pictures of huge char that they had caught out of Big Lake earlier in the month so I may try there. My parents had a cabin on Lake Louise for years and the most scared I have ever been on water was coming across LL in a 12 ft Zodiac , you could see the sky looking up into the waves. I caught a big laker while in a canoe there 2 years ago and many big lakers and ling cod over the years.

I icefish big lake pretty hard for char.  I hear there are some monster pike in big Lake as well.  I have caught them on underwater video camera but have yet to catch one in that lake. 

Lake Louise can get hairy in a hurry.  Don't have to look back more than a few weeks ago when a hunter died in a capsized boat.  But still the big fish.....

Bummer about the prop.  Is it easily fixed? 

I won't be back in state until Sunday evening. But I'll be doing some Kenai floats shortly thereafter... Got any mental health days to spend midweek?

LL Laker last year. New prop $30. easy replacement once it gets here.

Nice laker!  I guess I'm learning how to fish on a rising tide. I'll start as early as I can. Maybe fish halibut at slack. We will see if weather holds for K bay.

Akfishergal. Not sure when I can take off. Maybe Michele would be interested. But if I can, I'd be game!

Man....I feel like the end is ni'gh.

We were going to make a run down towards homer with the kids, but the weather isn't looking cooperative for the long drive and limited fishing...as in, someone needs to stay ashore with the 8yr old.

If I fish at all this weekend, it will be in Sand Lake or some other local lake.

I want to get to Homer for some kings. I continue to deny that summer has ended and that winter is coming upon us.

When I got up on Wednesday in Homer I had ice on my kayak, the leaves have turned and I am done with long distance forays unless Rudy figures out how to get the feeder kings to follow me home. Well at least until my new prop gets here.

Weather taking a turn for the worse. N 20 doesn't sound like much fun even if it is only 3 ft.  Hmmm....

Rudy what about trolling in big lake for char, and pike? I would love to maybe do a float of Kenai for some late season silvers, dollies and rainbows. Homer will be doable if the weather is good. I am also thinking of doing a deer/bear hunt on POW. Was thinking of doing some bird hunts grouse/ptarmigan.