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| waiting for the tractor to launch the boat at Deep Creek |
The plan for Thursday was to meet up with Boo Kandas in Homer and spend the day chasing halibut and rock fish. That plan quickly changed Wednesday night when Boo called to say he had mechanical problems and had to take his boat out of the water to get fixed. Just after I spoke with Boo, I received a call from one of the other guys who was scheduled to go out, and he said since Homer was cancelled, we should haul his river boat down to Deep Creek and try for halibut and king salmon. Not a bad plan B I must say.
Ken, Murray, Pat, and I left Soldotna at 5:00 am and made it to Deep Creek fifteen minutes before the first launch of the day. We were second in line to go out and that was a good thing. If you look over Ken's shoulder you can see the boats staging at the launch and the line of traffic coming down the hill.
Uff da!
Because of the tide cycle it was better for us to start out halibut fishing rather than king salmon fishing. The halibut fishing was steady and in a couple of hours we kept our 8 fish limit. They were all nice eaters with the largest weighing 30lbs. Not a bad haul for guys looking for fresh fish.
We then turned our attention to king salmon fishing. We got our rigs set up to troll and headed to the Happy Valley area of Upper Cook Inlet. Close to 20 other boats thought this was the place to be king salmon fishing as well. We gave it about two hours before the weather detoriated enough that a small boat like ours should not be out there anymore. We caught two halibut trolling for kings and that was it. As far as we could tell, no other boats had any luck for king salmon either. It was just one of those days where the fish weren't there, or they weren't interested in our bait.
I got home that afternoon, filleted the halibut, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to have fresh fish for dinner. A little Shore Lunch fish batter, oil, and a cast iron pan is all it takes.
The final product before being devoured....
This week I have plans to wet a line on the Kenai River. Hopefully, I won't have to have a Plan B and fish somewhere else.
See you soon for the next fishing report.
2 comments:
What's a tractor launch?
Deep Creek is a boat access to the ocean at the village of Ninilchik. Since the boat is launched on the beach, a system was devised to use a tractor and not a pick up truck. The average Joe trying to launch their own boat would get stuck. It's not cheap, $67, but it's safe and efficient. Hope that helps explain a tractor launch.
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