King Salmon Season begins! Homer, Alaska

[Kardinal_84]

So I try and take a gander at these forums to see the different species and to daydream about being able to fish without a drysuit. lol

While most folks are putting way their hunting gear and prepping their ice fishing gear, here in Southcentral Alaska, it is time to gear up for the winter king salmon. Typically smaller than the kings we intercept on their way to spawning rivers, these Kings just mill around the bay for a few years util they head back south to their originating streams.

Had not caught a September King and waited till the final weekend. Went 3 for 6 on both Saturday and Sunday. Kept 5. This batch of kings make it 13 consecutive months I have caught a king salmon from my kayak in Alaska! Should be great fishing through December!

The video:
https://youtu.be/UzAhssXcrpk

A few pics:

[ful-rac]

Well good news is that you'll probably never have to worry about your fish going bad on you while you stay out there all day...Lately around here your time is limited...from the time you catch your fish to the time you get that fish on ice. Your fish can go bad fairly quickly, with all this warm water around here.

[kayakfisherman]

Wow. How much fun is that?? Plus, you get to eat
Salmon!!! Way cool!

Great Video. Yanni

[Kardinal_84]

Thanks!

Man, I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. Yellowtail? Bonito? Any sort of tuna???? Wow, yah if it was possible I would swap pound for pound and I'd pay shipping. lol.

So here' last night's dinner.

Put Fresh king on parchment paper.

Roasted peppers, artichoke hearts, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic from the supermarket Antipasto bar. Chop them up and keep the olive oil residue.

Salt and pepper fish to taste.

Cover with Antipasto stuff.

Cover with grated parmesan cheese.

Top with lime slices and a pad or two or three of butter...

Wrap up in parchment paper.

Place in 425 deg preheated oven. Mine fillet from a 15 pound fish took 15 minute and even then the thick parts looked translucent. Thinner parts were good. I will say this method makes it hard to over cook. I've cooked thinner fillets in 6 minutes using this method.

I don't know what i would call this. My kids called it "GOOD!" lol.

[Geno Machino]

Looks so delicious!!!







Geno

[Ro12]

I don't know bout everyone else
But I dream of heading out your way
Pretty sure a lot of others feel the same way

[grey zone]

That's great fishing, nice fish.

[Cadillyak]

Nice video. Nicer fish. Is that a Hercules u are fishing. If so, I don't blame you. Super strong rods!

[taggermike]

Great job and video. For a guy thats used to tying on a hook then putting a live mackerel on it, Salmon gear often looks crazy complicated. Notice you're not using one of the long parabolic rods. Are those used when running off a down rigger? Looks like youre running a fairly light wieght in ftont of your flasher. Were your fish fairly shallow? Spoons, plugs, hootchies, plug cut, rotery gizmos, how do you decide? Thanks. mike.

[Kardinal_84]

Thanks everyone. I have alrady taken Nick out from these forums. Had a blast. Anyone who finds there way to Alaska should look me up !! Let's fish!!!

Originally Posted by Cadillyak

Nice video. Nicer fish. Is that a Hercules u are fishing. If so, I don't blame you. Super strong rods!

It is a Seeker Hercules. SRH-60 rate for 40 to 80 lbs braid. I use it for halibut and kings mainly.

Originally Posted by taggermike

Great job and video. For a guy thats used to tying on a hook then putting a live mackerel on it, Salmon gear often looks crazy complicated. Notice you're not using one of the long parabolic rods. Are those used when running off a down rigger? Looks like youre running a fairly light wieght in ftont of your flasher. Were your fish fairly shallow? Spoons, plugs, hootchies, plug cut, rotery gizmos, how do you decide? Thanks. mike.

In this video, I was fishing over 60 ft of water about 20 ft down. So a 12 oz sinker ahead of my flasher gave me about 30deg of ine angle so I let out about 70ft of line. You can only attache flashers that spin in line directly to the weights. The flashers that swing side to side, you need at least 6 inches of line between flasher and weight.

I am a huge bait fisherman, I also troll 90% of the time. But there are days when you would go broke buying bait with the dozens of pollock I can land in a single day. So on those days, I use a lure. The main feed here are sandlances so skinny profile baits are what i choose. Either the Silver Horde Coho Killer or a Goldstar needle fish hoochie behind an action imparting dodger.

I am not a fan of long noodle rods for downrigging. When the rod snaps up, it might pick up 2 or 3 ft of line max. That's nothing relative to line stretch from mono and the blow back I get when trolling an 8 pound downrigger weight. I prefer short (6ft) fast action sticks that hammers the fish with braid as soon as the line tightens. The shorter fast action stick makes it MUCH easier to control the fish at the side of the kayak.

Down to about 25ft I can use weights. 25 to 50 ft I use deep six divers. I can get better line angle and slightly deeper depths. Anything below that I break out my downriggers.

[carbonbass]

so I have some friends that have told me the fight of a salmon is rather boring, that pound for pound it should be a much tougher fish. Your video seems to debunk that myth, as those look like true fighters to me, do different types of salmon fight harder than others? What is your input on this?

[Kardinal_84]

Originally Posted by carbonbass

so I have some friends that have told me the fight of a salmon is rather boring, that pound for pound it should be a much tougher fish. Your video seems to debunk that myth, as those look like true fighters to me, do different types of salmon fight harder than others? What is your input on this?

Well it just depends in my opinion. What does "battle harder or better" mean? How fast you can get the fish in? Or the quality of the fight (jumps, drag burning runs, etc) while its on the line? I've caught 20 pound halibut and king salmon with a barbie rod. Was that a better fight? I don't think so. You are almost tricking the fish to the surface. It took longer, but in my book the fight was much less spectacular.

For spectacular, my favorite salmon is coho. For sheer power, the sockeyes get the nod. Kings are well, kings. Best eating of the salmon and the hardest to find. Even a pink salmon on a 4wt in a fast stream is going to battle super hard.

Here I am using 50 pound braid with 60lbs fluoro carbon leader. Overkill in many ways. The fish just get cranked up to the kayak or the kayak goes to the fish, then it just pulls the kayak around. They fight pretty spectacularly when you have them on 6 ft of braid 15 seconds into the battle!!

I have never caught the southern species you have in So Ca. I have heard the tuna and such pull harder and faster. I rarely battle a fish much more than 5 minutes...even the bigger kings and halibut. I am a meat fisherman. Both ocean troll kings and halibut fillets retail for $20 or more per pound. That means for every 12 pounds or so of live weight fish, its a hundred dollar bill. I release very few fish. But now that I am catching more, I am going to try and tackle these fish with more conventional gear or even ultralight stuff. But while it might be fun, I am betting the battles won't be as spectacular as with my meat gear since I can't apply as much pressure on the fish. Longer battles, yes. Better battles, probably not. Well heck, let's find out!

[JohnMckroidJr]

Nice video and delicious looking eats, Any luck using your kayak for the big Summer kings off the kenai river or what about the giant halibuts....lots of those in Homer?

[Kardinal_84]

Originally Posted by JohnMckroidJr

Nice video and delicious looking eats, Any luck using your kayak for the big Summer kings off the kenai river or what about the giant halibuts....lots of those in Homer?

Thanks. I have tried the Kenai River a few times with minimal success for kings...as in one hooked. But due to low returns the past decade or so, I have been laying off the Kenai River kings. I've caught a ton of big fish out of there on power boats my biggest is 71. I did my part to knock back the numbers so I am trying to do what I can to not hit them while they are down.



Homer and more specifically Whiskey Gulch about 30 miles North has decent halibut. More numbers than size. But I know of two 100 pound plus halibut caught from kayaks in the area. I managed a 105 pounder but I got it in kodiak.

A video:
https://youtu.be/ZO7VfnLRSX8

[JohnMckroidJr]

Nice pictures and video. I use to work on a ship running from valdez to nikiski so I know a little about the area you are talking about. Once in awhile we would anchor in homer can catch halibut while waiting to go to the berth.

[captnblood34]

👍🏻

[blitzburgh]

Awesome!