Alaska: Still open water fishing in November! Couple of feeder kings

Well, I know people are often envious of anyone who fishes in Alaska.  Well, we are starting to get envious of all the "southern" folk who rarely see snow or ice.  But we still are hitting them despite having to drive through blizzards to get to them. 

A few lessons for me.  Leader was too long.  Not sure what was going on with that.  I think maybe I used that set up last on a powerboat.  Also, everyone is different, but I KNOW I can't net a fish across my body.  While it might seem like a good idea, what happens in the video is what ALWAYS happens to me when I try to net across my body.

While we have been having horrible returns in Southcentral Alaska for kings, none of these fish originate from anywhere near here.  They are mainly from Southeast Alaska and B.C.  They are smaller than typical in-river fish but they are present in this bay year round.  The larger fish was a clipped hatchery which means it has a coded wire tag that I can turn into fish and game to see where the fish originates from...if it doesn't turn into halibut bait for next year!

Here's the video:


A few pics:

Absolutely awesome!!!! To cold for me though....

 

Thank you for the AK report, pictures, and video Kardinal_84. I miss fishing in Alaska!

Great video and nice kings! 

I can't net across my body either so I always try to force the fish to my right side, but that doesn't always work out.   

Thanks for the video and pics.

Love it man, totally makes my day!

Nice fish!  I've never fished Alaska, but one of these days I'm going to give it a go.

Seeing the photos of your yak in the snow gets me jazzed for winter fishing.  I live at 4500 feet in northeastern CA, and unlike most of CA we get a lot of snow and ice up here.  There's something about sliding a kayak across the snow and breaking through ice with your hull and paddle that always puts a smile on my face.  Maybe it's because there are only a hardy few kayak anglers that are willing to do such things  .

Way to go, Rudy! keep on fishin',dude!  I gotta wait until next September to be back up there.

Great video and nice kings! 

I can't net across my body either so I always try to force the fish to my right side, but that doesn't always work out.   

Thanks for the video and pics.

Thanks all.

I don't mind netting to my left ( I am right handed) but I can't net behind me .  Once the net crosses across my body and behind me, I lost he leverage to pull the net out of the water.  On an active fish, that's a problem. 

As for the cold, to be honest, not sure how anyone fishes in warm water.  I guess you can ditch the full drysuit.  Right now is the most comfortable time of year to fish.  You don't sweat like crazy, and the constant trolling keeps you comfortable.  It is a bit weird to dip your hands into the water to warm them up. 

I'll be kayak fishing the rest of November, but then it slows way down.  Might challenge it a few times over the winter.  But ice fishing is coming up and while not as exciting for me personally, its a great way to get the kids fishing where everyone is in close proximity and I can teach them many of the basics.  If I get good shots of that, I'll be sure to post them up here! 

AWESOME!

 

Great job Rudy!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

I am totally digging on that Northern twilight. so cool!
Thanks for sharing the pics and report!

You had me with the kayak in the snow, that was some cool stuff!

Sweet report Rudy thanks for sharing. 

Antonio

I see you're location is Anchorage.  Are you driving down to Homer to fish?  Or are you staying closer to home and doing Whittier or Seward?  I know they catch a good number of salmon right off the rocks there at Whittier (near the ferry terminal) when they are running.  I'm not sure how the fishing is in close to Seward though.  My boat (Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore out of Cordova) used to pull into the railroad pier in Seward a decent bit.  It was always during the middle of winter though so I never did any fishing while there.  I would imagine there has to be some type of salmon run there though.  I do love seeing your pics here and over on the Hobie forum.  It always makes my day and has me wishing to be back up there.  I may try and get stationed back up there somewhere in 2017 when I transfer again.  I'm thinking Valdez, Kodiak, or possibly back to Cordova!

Nice fish!  Hey, what kind of planer is that? Oh, and it was about 65 degrees here on the CA coast today. 

The pic of the kayak cart in snow reminds me of when we'd surf in winter on the east coast.  Not anymore!