Snowy King- Alaska update

[Kardinal_84]

An update from Alaska!

As every one waits for spring, winter finally arrives in Alaska. More snow in the first half of April than Feb and Match combined.

With my current streak of landing a king off my kayak for 7 consecutive months, Ya know I gotta try for month number 8.

One hour into fishing I have my April King. Green label herring behind a fish flash flasher and 5oz of weight in 25 ft of water.

Once you keep a king, you have to go a mile offshore to fish halibut. Weather was getting worse so I called it a day. 7 hours of driving to fish one hour. Maybe I am nuts...

I've called Alaska home since 1971 and Ya gotta love the flexibility of the kayaks! No way I'm towing a big boat around in snow storms like we had.

http://youtu.be/TYHU0_83PKQ


AlaskaKayakFisher.com
Guidesak.blogspot.com
My personal pages...I'm not a guide.

[h2ofishfo]

Man that background shot is sick !

[walrus]

love it, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!:luxhello:

[spyakker]

That's awesome!

[Lipripper92592]

Beautiful and stunning.......how do you like that release reel?
Nice combo your fishing with.

[blitzburgh]

Nice! :cheers1:

[EastLosYaker]

Wow. Now that's what's up. Wish that was a 7hr drive for me! One day...

[StinkyMatt]

Salmon, the most exciting fish to land on a rod and reel! You never know if they will dog you deep or start jumping in an attempt to throw a hook.

Great video, the mountain shot is frame worthy.

:cheers1:

[FISH11]

Great video and awesome fish, but how do you do it without wearing some gloves. Hands got to be numb. Thanks for sharing.

[captnblood34]

Thats it I'm going to Alaska!

[alanw]

An amazing place, one day...

[lbsurf2ca]

Yellowtail of the north!

[Kardinal_84]

Thanks all. Appreciate you letting an "outsider" post.

Beautiful and stunning.......how do you like that release reel?
Nice combo your fishing with.

Love the release reel. I doubt I ill ever use the 30lbs of drag. I used to run Avet SX reels. Loved those too except they require way too much maintenance. I abuse my gear. The avets, if you don't rinse them every single time, they will bind up. No good for a guy that lives out of his car and doesn't unload it during the work week.

Great video and awesome fish, but how do you do it without wearing some gloves. Hands got to be numb. Thanks for sharing.

LOL. I get that a lot. As a kid in Jr high through college, I ran a salmon processing facility. One of my main jobs was the caviar production. My boss was old school, so he would make me agitate the barely above freezing water with my hands for 20 minutes per load, 20 to 30 times a day. I'm not sure if I got used to it or deadened my nerve endings, but I now have an amazing tolerance for cold in my hands. I only wear gloves when air temp is below 15deg or so. Even ice fishing. Even then, I prefer simply latex gloves. You should see the pile of left hand gloves I have. I always take the right glove off to do something and lose it.

Well for any of you coming up to Alaska, its so much easier when you actually know someone. Now you do!!! C'mon up! Let's fish!!!!

[momo fish]

Looks like your on vacation.. Keep sharing as we are enjoying it all from down south..

[CaliHalikiller]

ROAD TRIP

[grey zone]

You are not an "outsider".

[cell128]

That's a huge ass flasher! I'm gonna steal the stop sign around the corner and strap it on My line...maybe these yellows will bite.....nice fish!!

[Kardinal_84]

Thanks grey zone. I appreciate that!

Cell128...Big flasher? You can see that its by a fraction of an inch, one of my smaller flashers in my lineup. It's my go to color of late. My other favorite is the top one. Traditional Les Davis (or is it Luhr Jensen?) 8" dodger. The large "Swarm" Flasher is typically run just off my down rigger ball. I can't say its upped my catch rate though I know charter captains that swear by them. Still in testing phase.

I will say that from years of watching fish react under the ice to my "dodger and jig" set up ( http://guidesak.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-dodger-and-jig-setup-for-ice-fishing.html) I think that not only does it attract the fish, but once it gets near the jig, the fish thinks the dodger is a competing fish and will more aggressively attack the jig. I know a lot of folks that fish without one. But I do think its worth the extra drag. In this case, I believe more drag can be a good thing. More drag the flasher has I think it generally means the more water the flasher is moving. This translates into more vibrations being transmitted. So I don't shy away from heavy drag flashers...except that I am generally lazy. Argh...sorry about my flasher thesis...lol.

It probably doesn't even mater. But for me at least, its a huge part of the fun of fishing...the quest for the perfect set up. Crazy because if there is one thing my 4 decades of fishing has taught me, it is that there is likely no such thing. Haha.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dzQyHB6_gcA/VS3O1k_BFPI/AAAAAAAAJ2k/Dwh7nGDhjR4/w588-h783-no/IMG_3944.JPG

[grey zone]

Every trip to Soldotna I stop at all the local tackle stores and check out the dodger and hoochie selections. Last year I used a Fish Flash flasher for the first time on the Columbia River and the herring we used were beveled just behind their head which made them roll. The friend that took me fishing was very particular about the roll and if he did not like the action he changed the bait. Do you bevel the herring that you put behind the Fish Flash flasher and does the green label indicate the size of the herring.

[Kardinal_84]

Green label does refer to size. We typically get red label smallest. Green blue purple and black and horse in increasing size.

I use whole herring. Cut plugs don't last long enuf for me since I'm too lazy to brine my bait.

Big discussion on spin roll or nothing for herring. All three have followers. Mine spins though I prefer a roll. But I've caught too many fish to switch. I close the mouth and insert hook point as close to the tip of snout from the side. Then re-insert hook point into the collar area. Trailer hook follows bait freely an inch to a foot behind. Closer if in fishing halibut. Longer if I'm strictly trolling.

If you cut plug baits. Try cutting the head off and attaching to a single hook like above. Herring head spinners outperform cut plugs for cohos at least. Great for mooching too.


AlaskaKayakFisher.com
Guidesak.blogspot.com
My personal pages...I'm not a guide.

[Ramos23]

Awesome video

[janines.fishtales@cox.net]

Kard, you are a lucky man to be able to call AK home. The sportfishing there, combined with the scenery...Off the charts. I had the opportunity to fish there a couple years ago. Next time, it will be from a yak...

Janine

[Fishin Phil]

You are not an "outsider".

X2

You are definitely one of us who enjoys being out on the water. I really appreciate your videos and reports. You show us a part of the U.S. that many of us have never fished. Please, keep the reports and videos coming.
Be safe out there.