Kings and a Queen

The fishing for king salmon has been very good lately here in Homer, Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula. This is the time of year that we are able to target the kings around the bait that is coming in the form of hooligan and herring that are arriving to spawn. These are fat fish and very good eating. I had the pleasure of taking the “Gorton’s Fisherman” (their head of marketing) and his son last week and we caught some dandy kings. Rick actually gave me one as he said that “I had exceeded his expectations as far as how much they would catch!” I was so happy to accept a fresh king to bring home to Debra. On Sunday, May 1st, we had six people out on a halibut trip and since it was the opening day of the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby, I encouraged everyone to buy a ticket. My intention was to target the area where we had tagged the fish for the derby just a couple of weeks earlier. Well, fishing was slow in that area, so we moved out toward Point Pogibshi a bit and anchored in 200′ feet of water. The fishing was difficult in the current with 3# of lead, but we were catching halibut, our target. Jean Manson hooked a fish that was heavy and after a good battle, we boated a 90# halibut that made her the leader in the ladie’s division of the derby for May. Not sure it will hold up, as May brings some big fish, but it was fun to see her standing next to her fish.