Left Handed Halibut

Since my last post was about halibut I figure I should stay on topic. Back in October, I mentioned in a post about white king salmon that I would write about "left handed" halibut.  Well, here ya go.

It's true.  There are right handed and left handed halibut.  By far the majority of all halibut are right handed while the lefty's are more rare.  Not exactly one in a million, but biologist claim that 1 in 20,000 are left handed.

How do you tell the difference?  The eyes and dark skin are on the left side of the fish.  In the photo above the left handed halibut is on the right and the "normal" halibut is on the left.  For me, the best way to tell them apart is when halibut are hung on a fish rack.  All good charters will hang halibut with the white side facing out and the head up.  The stomach on a "normal" halibut will be on the left side (it will look like the fish swallowed a baseball or softball).   The stomach on a left handed halibut will be on the right side.  

One last tidbit about halibut that might win you a bar bet.  Did you know that they are born with their eyes on opposite sides of their head and as they grow one eye migrates over to the other side? You're welcome in advance.....

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Charter Halibut Regulation Changes 2016

I've been getting quite a few calls asking about the halibut regulations in Seward, Anchor Point/Ninilchik, and Homer.  I figure it was time I posted the changes.  The aforementioned halibut ports are on the right side of the table above, Area 3A, SouthCentral, AK. 

Keep in mind, these regulatory changes are for charter boats only. There are no changes for private boats. What's different from 2015 is this: yearly halibut limit decreases from 5 fish to 4 fish,  and the day that you are not allowed to halibut fish from a charter boat switched from Thursday to Wednesday. 

Hope this information helps when planning your trip to Alaska.




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Skumpy!

The 1st Annual Skumpy Tournament will be held on the Kenai River from August 13th through September 3rd. The event is part water skiing, and part humpy fishing, hence the name.  The event is based on the Peoria Carp Hunters as seen in the video above.

Director of the tournament, Lirpa Sloof, said "this tournament will add some excitement to the days on the river when the silvers just don't want to bite.  We won't be using tiny nets like they do down south.  We're using big old fashioned Alaska dip nets just like we do in July."

Categories for the tournament include:

• biggest Wilbur (humpy)
• most Wilburs (humpy)
• most pounds of Wilburs (humpy) TEAM EVENT
• Humpysaurus Rex (biggest male humpy)
• least coordinated skier
• skinniest legs

Registration is $25 per individual or $75 for a team of 4.  If you can spell Tennessee correctly there will be an additional 5% discount.

Hope to see y'all there!    

Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

2016 Homer Winter King Tournament

The 23rd Annual Homer Winter King Tournament was held on Saturday, March 19th.  448 boats with 1508 registered anglers fished in near perfect conditions in pursuit of Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, the king salmon.

In the seven hour event, 448 king salmon were caught and registered. The largest was 26.45lbs and the payout for the winner was an amazing $31,668. The total payout for the tournament was over $180,000.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday in Homer, Alaska.




Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Spring is Here!

Today marks the first day of spring.  More daylight and warmer temperatures leads to thoughts of fishing opportunities right around the corner. Since the May/June king fishery has been put on hold, I'm looking forward to the Russian River red salmon run and it's now less than three months away!

The Russian River "combat" experience is not always everyone's cup of tea. If you start with the mindset that it's going to be social, you won't be disappointed fishing this popular destination. Remember, attitude is everything and how you approach your day will determine your success.  If you find you cannot tolerate the attitudes of the people around you, don't let that ruin your day.  The easy solution is to move until you find a group of fisherman who are like minded.

My best advice for the Russian River has always been to fish real early, like 3am-4am early.  I have found the crowds to be light and the people who are crazy enough to get up that early to fish know what they are doing. As one of my friends would say, "if you go from 9-5 you'll be dealing with the amateurs, and lots of 'em".

Russian River 2016......count me in!

Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

150,000

This week, the Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service blog surpassed 150,000 visitors. A big thanks to all of you who think what I share is mildly entertaining and informative.





Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service

Dog Humor: In Honor of the 2016 Iditarod

Funny stuff.

Last September, I was on an emergency run to Trustworthy Hardware to replace a few lures I lost while guiding. I parked my truck and while I was walking into the store I saw this.  Initially the the two St. Bernard's caught my attention.  It wasn't until I came back out of the store that I noticed the license plate. 

Anyway, today is the official start of the Last Great Race on Earth, the Iditarod sled dog race. I could explain it but the video below from Hobo Jim is all you need to hear.  Enjoy!

Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service