I'm baaaaack!!!!!

[BearBio]

Just got in from Alaska and a successful halibut trip. Spent 3-4 days in Anchorage then down to the Kenai Peninsula. Before we left Anchorage, we took a trip North to the town of Talkeetna.

https://preview.ibb.co/mGwJ25/Talkeetna_2.jpg

Anchorage was fun, as always and it is definitely a change of pace to head south on the Kenai. Saw only two moose on the way down and they caused a small traffic jam, so no pictures!

https://preview.ibb.co/dthrN5/Kenai_Sign.jpg

Stopped off at beluga Point but no belugas were there!

https://preview.ibb.co/ip7VFQ/Beluga_Point.jpg

On the way, we stopped at Hope, a small mining town from the very early 1900's. Typical, we were a couple of hours before the museum opened but the curator was in her office and saw us walking around the exhibits and opened up early for us.

https://preview.ibb.co/mXb7vQ/Hope_Mining_Town_3.jpg

https://preview.ibb.co/dKnfFQ/Hope_Mining_Town_4.jpg

https://preview.ibb.co/m7Sah5/Hope_Mining_Town_1.jpg

The first day was pretty windy, so the Skipper decided to take us out of Homer. Homer is "The Halibut Fishing Capital of the World".

https://preview.ibb.co/dBNmpk/Homer_Welcome_Sign.jpg
https://preview.ibb.co/dk7EaQ/DSC06748.jpg
https://preview.ibb.co/cZ11N5/Homer_Glacier_2.jpg

Surrounded by glaciers, Homer sits on Katchemak Bay and Homer Spit is about 5 miles long and juts out into the Bay, and is covered by shops, restaurants and the "famous" Salty Dawg Saloon.
https://preview.ibb.co/euLT25/Homer_Spit.jpg

However, you couldn't prove it by us! We only caught a single "small" (under 28") halibut each and I caught a couple of dogfish and a single Alaskan cod==BUT, we saw many marine mammals! First was a sea otter in the harbor. Then.....WHALES! We saw a total of about 2 dozen Orcas ("Killer whales, another dozen sea otters and a dozen "humpies" (humpback whales). The orcas were cruising by checking out the fishing boats (not us!) and the humpbacks were breaching and fin-waving.

https://preview.ibb.co/i3iFh5/Homer_Sea_Otter_1.jpg

We returned to the "Spit" and had good halibut and chips at "Boardwalk Grill", across from the Salty Dawg (good and pricey!).

The winds were supposed to die down the next day (they did!), so we went out of Deep Creek... Due to currents, they can't create a harbor, so they launch from the beach!

https://preview.ibb.co/msOLFQ/Dry_Gulch_Launching_1.jpg
https://preview.ibb.co/iX7fFQ/Dry_Gulch_Launching_2.jpg
https://preview.ibb.co/ih7fFQ/Dry_Gulch_Launching_3.jpg


Fishing was..........weird! One side of the boat had their limits (One long and one short) before the other side got a bite. Anita caught one that was barely a long (28.5"). then nothing from 6:30 AM until 3 PM for us (I got a shark and that was all). Then, about 3:30, we got a long about 25-30 pounds! Nothing more until about 6 PM. Skipper told us to re-bait for a last drop and then we were heading back to the beach! At this point we had 2 longs and 1 short. About 5 minutes later, I got bit and so did Anita. We landed them at the same time, so we were limited out. Get this: Mine was a 45-50 pounder (we released Anita's long which was still alive and swam away) and also kept hers which was the short we needed! All in all, everybody got their limits!

https://preview.ibb.co/fDjAFQ/DSC06794.jpg

(I'm the one with the beard!)
https://preview.ibb.co/jRRwpk/Dry_Gu...de_by_side.jpg

All in all, we brought home about 45 vacuum-packed bags of halibut and two of Alaskan cod!

Saturday, we had a red-eye flight to Seattle then a 3-4 hour drive. We went back to Homer to kill some time and then faced the Saturday traffic jam of motor homes. We reached Anchorage about 4 PM and turned towards the airport to get dinner at a Tibetan place on Spenard. One mile from a mall and 1/2 mile from the airport, I saw several people crowded upo\ against a fence and holding their dogs in close, so I made Anita turn around and go back. What we saw was a large bull moose on a bicycle trail. Remember, this is DOWNTOWN Anchorage!

https://preview.ibb.co/mAHxvQ/Anchorage_Moose.jpg
https://preview.ibb.co/fe9MN5/Anchorage_Bull_Moose.jpg
https://preview.ibb.co/hV9XUk/DSC06814.jp

 

[Gator89]

Looks and sounds like a great trip.

 

[pete44ru]

.

Good thing that you're back -You just missed the Orca attacking a fishing boat in Sitka yesterday:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/orca-whale-attack-sitka-alaska-victor-littlefield-fishing-excursion/


.

 

[BearBio]

.

Good thing that you're back -You just missed the Orca attacking a fishing boat in Sitka yesterday:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/orca-whale-attack-sitka-alaska-victor-littlefield-fishing-excursion/


.

Saw the news this AM. My boss was supposed to be over that way the week before I went but cancelled at the last minute.

 

[coach]

Looks like a fun trip. How do you catch them? I've never been halibut fishing.

 

[BearBio]

Looks like a fun trip. How do you catch them? I've never been halibut fishing.

Basically, typical bottom fishing. A large chunk of bait (usually a mix of salmon innards, half a herring or piece of Pollock, and maybe some octopus. A piece of shark if sharks are being a problem. Dogfish won't eat dogfish but halibut will) on a circular hook. Heavy weight (2-3-4 pounds), 80-100 pound Dacron line on a 3-odd conventional reel and a 30-80 pound rod. Let it sit until you get a "strong" bite (halibut are real light biters). Then crank like heck.

Conversely, a heavy jig, bounced off the bottom. In Socal, we would skip a crappie jig along the bottom above a 1-2 oz sinker. Best way is to charter a boat and guide=about $150-$200 per person per day. Of 4 trips out, we have limited 3 times (for 2 people each trip.) First trip we brought back about 120 pounds=about 50 pounds this trip.

Tips: Have fish processed ($1 per bag at our charter) and take home as checked baggage (last trip, we cut and packaged ourselves and froze in the cabin overnight) Take "disposable" fishing clothes that you can junk.

 

[ifithitu]

Congrats on your trip.Very nice pictures links, thanks for sharing them.

 

[coach]

Thanks for the fishing lesson.

 

[WendyZXZ]

Welcome back! That looks and sounds like a fine trip.