A Few Days on the Water in Homer - Part 1

Though I am typically an "Aisle Guy", an unexpected upgrade put me in a window seat on the flight from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport into Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and even though I arrived after midnight, we chased light as we flew over the snow covered mountains from British Columbia into Alaska.  It was late June and deep snow still blanketed the peaks as we floated overhead.

Even though Hadley had been living in Alaska for over a year, this was the first trip that I had made there.  This was somewhat on purpose since it had been important for my wife to check in on Hadley several times through the year with visits and I knew that if and when I made it to Alaska, it wouldn't be my list trip.  I have a knack for going to places that leave such an impact that I find ways to get back there over and over again.

 

Hadley picked me up at the airport and we stayed in Anchorage for the night.  The next day we planned to drive to Homer to meet up with family friends, the Pearson's, who were camping on the Homer Spit.  They had their boat down there with them and if weather allowed, we'd get a day or two out on the water.

It's tough to say something about Alaska that hasn't already been said and we enjoyed the drive from Anchorage to Homer arriving for a late lunch and poking around on the Homer Spit before driving out of town to our Airbnb near the end of East End Road.  We settled into the cabin and then made our way back into town to have dinner at the Pearson's campsite.  Esther had caught a salmon the night before and they baked the large bright red filet with steaks on the grill.  It was a wonderful welcome to our days in Homer.  Weather conditions were improving and plans were made to meet up the next morning to take the boat out.  Even though my visit to Alaska wasn't specifically a "fishing trip", I was stoked that we'd be fishing.  Hadley was excited with the idea of catching and bringing some fish home to share with our family.  Her time in Alaska has really taught her the value to hunting and gathering and how important it is for those who live there.

We set out of Kachemak Bay the next morning and traveled over open water for awhile before Bryce slowed the boat and prepped each of our rods for bottom fishing with a 16-ounce to 24-ounce jigs with a large rubber grub.  This was a new method of fishing for me and as the heavy jig dropped over 150 feet, and in some places closer to 300 feet, it took a few minutes to figure out the technique.  Once the jig touched bottom that started a routine of a slow lift and slow drop, lift and drop, lift and drop. 
  

It was important to keep tension on the line in order to feel the takes and Bryce worked on making sure we weren't drifting too fast so that our jigs weren't getting lifted off the bottom.  It wasn't too long before we were all getting bumps on our jigs.  We were hoping to catch our boat limit on halibut but started the day with a few Pacific Cod and some large sculpin that would mouth the jigs all the way to the surface before letting go at the surface.  Grandpa Troy, with his hot pink jig and grub, was the hot hand for the morning but there was going on to keep us all attentive to what our own jigs were doing. 

Through the morning and into the early afternoon, we caught Pacific Cod two or even three to every Halibut but both are great eating and were slid into the fish cooler.  We moved around the area to try several of the spots that Bryce had marked from previous trips.  There were a couple of spots that he wanted to revisit in the afternoon since the tide would slack giving us a better drift.   

 

The catching at the last spot we fished immediately transitioned to more halibut while still catching quite a few cod.  While fishing there, we quickly reached our limit with two halibut each.  Add to that several large cod and the fish cooler was filled to the top and we struggled to move it from the back of the boat to the cleaning station. 

The next ninety minutes found us all working together at the cleaning station with Bryce and Grandpa Troy on fillet duty, passing the fillets to Bryce, Jr. and I to skin, trim, and wash before they went into large plastic bags.  Hadley kept the station clean by moving fish carcasses to the dead fish trailer.   

After a long good day on the water followed by our fish cleaning session, we were tired and ready for dinner.  Brats at the camper tasted like a feast and we were already making plans to fish again the next day with Michelle and Esther coming along with us for a second day on the water.