saturday, may 19th - i did all of my laundry, packed my bags, went through all of my gear, fixed all the smaller orders of reels, there are just 3 large boxes of reels left that will have to wait until i get back, and i even cleared my desk of bills. sunday, may 20th - meet my traveling companions for this trip. from left to right are my brother ed, my nephew richie, and my dad yukio. yup. we left all the women behind. even richie! he's 20 years old and has had the same girlfriend for the last 3 years. he's a funny kid. when i was his age i was changing girlfriends every 3 months. our flight leaves at 9am. goodbye, san jose! hello, seattle! and hello, alaska! 3pm local time. we picked up our rental car and hit the road at 4pm. it's 200 miles and 4 hours from anchorage to anchor point and a resort called casa de kings! i was noticing that these guys all seemed to be a little on edge. no problem, right? hey, we've just spent 7 hours in the air. well, as soon as we cleared the terminal, these guys all lit up!!!!!! i was the only one that didn't smoke. yeah, it was a long drive. these guys will have a cigarette every two hours. here are a few shots of the roadside scenery on highway that takes you to seward and kenai. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0363.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0364.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0365.JPG the road finally split. seward to the left, kenai peninsula to the right and we veer right. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0369.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0372.JPG then a funny thing happened. the forest started thinning out. lots of dead trees. it looked like the entire area had been bombed out and was just starting to recover. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0374.JPG at 7pm we decided to stop and get dinner at sal's in soldotna. nice place. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0376.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_03771.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_03781.JPG more devastated forest over the next hour between soldotna and anchor point. we found out later that it was a bark beetle that killed all of these trees. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_03801.JPG mid may is still early in their season and things won't green up until july. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_03811.JPG 9 pm on our first day and we roll into the lodge. phill is the owner, along with his brother james. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0384.JPG hmmmm, open boats. i had actually neglected to as what type of boats we'd be fishing in. i had just assumed they would be cabin boats, not open. this does not bode well. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0385.JPG we got cabin and just flopped out gear down. i should have taken these pics before we messed things up. the rooms were clean and comfortable. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0386.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0387.JPG monday, may 21st - morning wake up call is 3:30 am, breakfast is 4 am. guys are already lined up, four to a boat. first in line are jack, ken, gary and cw, all from oklahoma. this group has been coming here for the last 20 years. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0389.JPG we're assigned to boat #4. roger is our guide. the lodge provides boot foot neoprene waders. we're told we will be getting our feet wet. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0390.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0391.JPG we get our boat hooked up to the suburban and take a 1 mile hop the the beach. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0393.JPG we follow a very steep road down to the beach and lanch straight off of this beach. from there, it's only a 5 minute run and we're fishing. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0397.JPG damn, it's cold! the air temp is 40 degrees, winds 5-10 knots from the north, and variable over the week from 15-20 knots. we fish until high tide for salmon, trolling cut plug herring, 3 ounce sinkers and a flasher. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0398.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0399.JPG well, salmon was a bust. of the 4 boats and 16 rods out, there were maybe 2-3 salmon taken on the first morning. we bailed and went out for halibut and had a pretty steady bite. we were using large circle hooks and big chunks of salmon, octopus and herring. the fish started out small, 11 pounds for this one, and got as large as 30 pounds. i think roger kept this one only because it was out first fish of the day. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0402.JPG from across the cook inlet we could see two volcanos, redoubt and iliamna. this would be the only day that they would be so clearly visible. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0403.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0404.JPG we stuck a limit of 8 small halibut, 11 to 30 pounds, and called it a day. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0411.JPG back at the lodge, we unloaded the fish and lined them up for a little photo shoot. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0413.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0416.JPG the afternoon fish processing worked out fairly well. going from right to left, roger (our guide) skinned the fish, dad took pictures, bill cut the fish up, richie cut the fish into small pieces and stuffed them into vacuum sealer bags, ed held the bags and i ran then through the vacuum sealer. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0419.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0420.JPG dinner consisted of rice, squash, halibut and crown royal. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0422.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0424.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0425.JPG tuesday, may 22nd - wake up call at 3:30 am, breakfast at 4 am, first in line, first on the water. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0426.JPG cold as hell!!!!!! two pairs of socks, sweat pants over the jeans, waders, two sweat shirts, jacket, rain jacket, gloves and hats. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0428.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0429.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0430.JPG we're in boat #1 and james is our guide this time. he pushes us out into waist deep water, hops in, fires up the engines and we're on the move. i still can't believe how tough these guys are. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0431.JPG salmon fishing is a bust again. i get one fish on, maybe 35-40#'s, it's lip hooked and spits the hook right at the boat. so much for cut plug herring. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0432.JPG at the top of the tide, maybe 9 am, we bail for halibut. the fish are a little bigger this time. i was goofing off with salmon gear and stuck this 41 #'er. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0435.JPG ed caught a nice one as well. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0436.JPG we finally got a smile out of the old man. he was pretty cold. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0438.JPG lots of bent rods today, but damned cold! http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0437.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0439.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0440.JPG winds hit 15 knots and it was getting way too cold so we got off the water. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0442.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0444.JPG here's what the first two boats brought in. no salmon, only halibut. my 41 pounder is on the right. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0446.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0448.JPG wednesday, may 23rd - breakfast at 4am. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0450.JPG we got the news that it was too rough to fish. just as well. we had still not thawed out from the day before. it was a rough two days of fishing and we welcomed the break. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0450.JPG we drove 25 miles south to homer. it rained steady for most of the day. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0451.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0460.JPG our first stop was the kachemak gear shop. it's a great tackle shop that carries lots of sport and commercial gear, hunting/camping gear, marine supplies and outdoor clothing. i grabbed some 40# maxima, 3 packs of 8/0 gamakatsu's, some coffee stirrers, and some t-shirts for the kids. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0452.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0453.JPG then we headed off to land's end for lunch. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0454.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0455.JPG took a couple of random shots of the harbor just to give you a feel of what the place is like. yeah, cold!!!!! http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0456.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0457.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0458.JPG one thing i was able to figure out is that alaska is the place that all cars go to die. sort of like an elephant grave yard. it's a very tough environment. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0463.JPG we got back around 2pm and spend the rest of the afternoon playing poker. dinner was baked halibut, rice, mixed veggies and more crown. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0465.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0466.JPG in a semi-liquiored haze, i tied up some single hook mooching leaders and double hook rigs using the 8/0 gamakatsu's and the 40# maxima. then i went rummaging through the garbage for some old plastic milk jugs. we had two days of fishing left with no salmon to show for our efforts. that was going to change. thursday, may 24th - wake up call at 3:30 am, breakfast at 4 am, boat #2 and phil is our guide. i warned him ahead of time that we would be "goofing off" a little. he had no problem with that and was willing to let us crazy californians do what ever we wanted. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0469.JPG the local cut plug herring was just not working for us and we needed to get our mojo back. introducing the "tbr," or the "tani bullet rotator!" the cut plug herring had a big roll to it. i wanted a tighter spin so i made this out of milk jug plastic, a coffee stirring straw, a toothpick, a rubber band and a double hook leader. when the guys saw this last night, it was all they could do to keep from busting a gut laughing. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0468.JPG well, our bait had a nice tight roll to it. ed definitely liked it! http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0470.JPG and so did our first king salmon of the trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0471.JPG the rest of the morning was a bust, though. so at around 11 am, high tide, we headed back out for halibut. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0476.JPG the fish were running 20-30 pounds. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0479.JPG then richie hooked into a nice fish. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0484.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0481.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0485.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0486.JPG by 2 pm it was like a rodeo ride with 15 knot winds. this poor fella was running straight north to ninilchik, 25 miles north. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0489.JPG all we had was a 2 mile run downhill to the beach. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0492.JPG i was up on the bow and richie was facing the motors. phil ran us straight into the beach at quarter speed. 10 yards from the beach, he cut the engines and yelled "pull." richie lifted up both engines and we skidded into the beach. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0494.JPG billy dragged the boat farther up the beach, backed the tralier INTO the boat, then used the winch to pull the boat all the way up onto the trailer. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0495.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0496.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0497.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0498.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0499.JPG then into the suburban and back up the hill. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0507.JPG nice fish, richie! http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0511.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0513.JPG by now we have the fish processing down pat. billy filets out the loins .... http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0517.JPG ed and jim slice off the skin ..... http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0521.JPG richie cuts it up in pieces and then it's bagged ..... http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0518.JPG scott, sammy and i work the vacuum sealer .... http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0515.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0516.JPG and it goes straight into the freezer. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0522.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0523.JPG the entire process involves large quantities of alcohol, mostly cognac for the lox and crown for us. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0528.JPG friday, may 25th - hard to believe, but it's actually colder this morning. we're on boat #3 with jason. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0531.JPG dad had one salmon and was having a hard time fighting the fish. he was so cold that he was afraid to stand. an hour later he started to shiver and could not stop, so it was time to get off the water. back at the cabin, he stripped off his clothes and took a nice hot shower. 3 pairs of socks and he still had cold feet. i'm figuring he was hypothermic to about 95-96 degrees. any more and it could have gotten dangerous. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0532.JPG saturday, may 26th - up at 2:45 am. debbie made breakfast for us, i loaded up 6 boxes of fish, 50 pounds each, 4 pieces of luggage and 3 very tired family members and we hit the road at 4 am. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0534.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0536.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0540.JPG we check in at 8am and board at 10 am. http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0543.JPG http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0544.JPG goodbye, anchorage! http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0546.JPG hello, san jose! http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0569.JPG and back to reality! http://www.fullspeedfishing.com/gallery/data/500/medium/100_0570.JPG as far as ranking this place, the accomodations were spartan, but they were clean and modern. and i wasn't there to lounge around in the room anyway. the food was not fancy, but it was decent enough and there was plenty of it. the cooks, debbie and mary, put in long hours to make our meals and i'll bet they worked as hard or harder than the men. the guides were top notch. these guys are very tough and they worked very hard as well. and lastly, the fish handling. since i commonly have my fish as sashimi, proper handling is very important to me. on the long range san diego boats, fish are tossed into the hold and processed at the end of the trip. the results can be mixed. at casa de kings, the fish are processed at the end of the day. you can cut up pieces as big or small as you want. just keep an eye on those nephews to make sure they don't stuff the bags too full. to catch these fish off of this beach, there are only three ways. the first is to launch out of harbor at homer and run 25 miles north. the second is to use the tractor launch out of ninilchick and run 25 miles south. the third option is to launch off the beach and run a mile for salmon, then another 2-3 miles for halibut. these open aluminum boats obviously leave you exposed to the weather. and if the weather is bad, it can make for a very difficult trip. the alternative is a 4 hour boat ride that cuts into your fishing. our times spend actually fishing were 8-10 hours per day. overall, it was one of the toughest weeks of fishing i've ever had. ed and richie will go back with me, but i doubt that my dad will want to. casa de kings is not a luxury resort. it is a hard core fishing camp. salmon pass by this stretch of beach to sniff the streams, searching for their home which is usually the kenai river. they would historically be thick off the beach at this exact time of year. unfortunately for us, they were late.
Alan, I am leaving for Sitka, AK on June 28th and I will be there until July the 5th. My brother works for an operation there called Horizon West Guides & Outfitters, Inc.. I'll be going there when the Silvers are running. Should be a good trip. My cousin has been guiding there for 10 years and this will be my first trip. My brother just started deckhanding this year so I decided to make the trip. Your report is getting my hyped up for sure!!
That is a great report and all the pics make it even more realistic. It is cool to see that your method produced the only king salmon of the trip, sometimes you have to improvise it paid off.
I love the detail of your reports. Salmon is my favorite food and the scenery is wonderful up there. Looked like paradise!
a great fisherman improves his technique to match the conditions presented... nice job!! This report was very detailed and made my day... a great read!! Sounds like a very nice, fun trip.
i really didn't mind bagging up the fish ourselves. it was a good opportunity to get together with the other guys. lots of stories and lots of alcohol. mostly we were just trying to thaw out again. it also meant we could bag them the way we wanted. that was the best part. i already had some and the quality is just excellent!!!!! it's not the most elegant place in the world. phil and his brothers actually built the place themselves. they worked all through the winter to get it have it done that first year. i could have had a couch and a sleeping bag and i would have been fine. half of the day was 1 hour to get up and have breakfast in the morning, 1 hour to shit, shower and shave in the evening, 1 hour for dinner, 2 hours for fish processing, and 7 hours to sleep. the other half of the day was spent fishing. that's right, you could actually spend 12 hours on the water. it was a 5 minute run before you had lines in the water. not even the long range trips give you this much time with lines in the water. being this close to the fishing grounds meant eliminating a 4 hour boat ride every day. the down side is having to fish in small open boats. this type of trip is not for everyone.
