Kachemak Bay Bonanza

I got a call this past week from my friend Boo Kandas of Tall Tale Charters and was asked if Jane and I wanted to help him take his saltwater boat out for the season. For those of you not immersed in fishing slang, "taking out the boat" is code for one last fishing trip. Considering neither one of us has had the time to visit Homer, and that our freezer was devoid of halibut fillets, we couldn't say no to an offer like this.

We left the Homer dock at 8:00 am. A little bit of maritime fog greeted us, but it would soon give way to a sunny day.

As you can see, the seas were calm...a perfect day for a guy like me who isn't fond of waves. And the fishing, well, it was incredible.

I've always been told if you fish for halibut in the fall all you're going to catch are small ones. Last year was my first time fishing in the fall and Boo put us on a nice mess of fish. I thought maybe we just got lucky because, you know, you only get small halibut in the fall. This year the quality of fish was even better with the largest topping 100lbs. That's proof enough for me to know it's not about luck. It's about having the right captain who knows where to fish in the fall. 

Thanks again Boo, for a wonderful day, and for cleaning all the fish. I hope you call us again next year to help you take your boat out...






Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

King George....Fishing Report Ending 6/27/10

Another interesting week of fishing. The action was okay but the sizes of the fish were definitely on the side of small. As my friend Kyle said to me on the river the other day, "someone forgot to invite these fish to the buffet."

George took top honors for the week with the salmon pictured above. After showing everyone else the Kenai and what the king fishing is all about he has now officially scaled the mountain. His brother Jerry still points out that his king in 2008 is still the largest amongst their family. The bottom photo is Linette proudly posing with a 60lb halibut that she caught with her husband Mike.

See you next week.

Fishing Report Week Ending 7/26/09

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The best because I'm guided a lot of friends but the worst because the king fishing was not as expected for this time of the year. As far as I can tell there were two factors that kept the catch rate down. The first was the low numbers of kings entering the river. The second is that the river is at flood stage due to rain in the mountains and the increased melting of the glaciers that feed into the Kenai. This has produced high and muddy water, a bad combination for fishing.

The few fish that were caught include Sarah, Dave, Ursula, and Adam. In addition, there is a photo from the halibut trip that Jane had taken with the Sporrer/Johnson/Dawson group. A definite positive this week is the red fishing with most groups limiting out daily. Also, the minus tides produced great clam digging for many of our guests.

Four days left in the king season. I hope mother nature will be kind..........

Week Ending June 21st

The run and the catch rate for Kenai king's this past week has been difficult. The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game has amended its forecast and now says the first run of king salmon will be below the historical average. I will agree. We had a few chances this past week but could not put a king in the boat. Each day we would see about 6-10 kings landed but in spite of that my clients maintained a positive attitude and enjoyed their day on the water. Thank goodness for good weather, moose, eagles, and the occasional boater running aground on a gravel bar to keep us entertained.

The saltwater fishing for halibut continues to be good and the Russian River red salmon run continues to be strong. This year has been more important than ever to be flexible and to spread out your fishing adventures to cover other areas. Luckily my clients this week planned in advance to not only fish the Kenai, but Homer and in Seward as well. Somewhere in their week they'll have one of the best fishing trips of their lives. My fingers are crossed that it will be the Kenai.

Halibut, Cod, but no Kings

Yesterday was exciting time to be fishing in Cook Inlet. I went out with some friends and it was one of the best days that I've had fishing for halibut. We caught at least 60 halibut......each! Needless to say my whole body hurts.

We started out trolling for kings but had no luck. We switched over to halibut and after a couple of moves we found the honey spot about 30 miles out from Homer. There were times that the halibut were in so thick that my jig never found the bottom. The largest was about 50lbs but on average they were 15-20lbs. I've caught larger fish but this by far was the most action that I've seen for a whole boat.

So the fishing was great, the camaraderie as well, but the best part of the trip was the ocean was completely FLAT the whole time (check out the water in picture above). I, for one, am prone to being seasick and this was a welcome relief.

So here's an update on the Kenai for salmon fishing. The sonar count has been picking up as of late. Yesterday 79 kings passed through the counter. The trend has been up so hopefully the bite will pick up over the weekend.

For all of you fishing over the weekend, good luck. Otherwise have a safe Memorial weekend.