I did a shakedown cruise on April 14 out of Seward into Resurrection Bay. I thought I could pedal over to Tonsina Creek, and cast for Dollies at the mouth of the creek. But it was so early in the season that the river wasn't even flowing above a trickle. No feeders at the mouth, not yet.
The second trip occurred on April 25 -- and it was an incredible one. I tied into a big fish -- most likely halibut given the feel of the bite and the way the fish ran. Here's the report I filed with Northwest Kayak Anglers:
We didn't go out today, too tired out by yesterday's exploits. Kenai_guy and I had quite the adventure out of Deep Creek, though. When we launched around 4:30, the skies were clear, the seas were gentle with a 2 ft. swell, the wind was less than 10 kts. We pointed the bows toward Illiamna looming from the opposite side of the Inlet and peddled out toward adventure. We found it.
Kenai_guy has some video that he'll try to post, to offer veracity to this tale. Let me say up front -- the fishing wasn't red hot. I only had one bite. But oh, baby, what a bite. I'd been trolling cut plug herring behind a green and silver flasher, with an 8 oz banana weight. Hoping for a King. I hadn't had any action for about 3 hours. I reeled up on last time to check my bait, make sure it was rolling. Everything looked fine, so I sent it back down through four color changes on my line. Didn't have it down five minutes when the familiar pulls of a halibut bite were telegraphed back up the line. I waited, then set the hook hard --- and line started just screaming off my reel.
Here's where I made a critical error -- maybe the first of many I suppose. I'll leave that to the experts to point out. But my mistake was that I set the drag pretty fast to slow that fish. I didn't know how big the fish was, but I wanted to start to get a handle on it. What I failed to realize was that the fish had turned and was swimming fast against the current and directly behind me in the opposite direction than I was pointed. Line was still screaming off the reel, and it was everything I could do to hold onto the rod. I was twisted at the waist pointing the rod in the direction of the fish, occasionally getting the kayak turned perpendicular to the fish. But mostly, it just towed me backwards showing me who was boss.
The first five minutes or so of this was exhilarating. Then I noticed that Kenai_Guy was getting smaller and peddling like mad to keep within range, and I began to understand just how fast I was going. And while that fish was heading in the direction we'd eventually want to go, I figured it was about time for us to part company. So I pretty much pointed my rod tip straight at the fish, and thought he'd break it off. He just picked up more speed. I hung on for the ride.
Against the current. Going backward. Throwing off a considerable wake from the crazy speed of it.
Luckily, after about five more minutes of this my new hero, Kenai_Guy who had been peddling like Lance Armstrong caught up. I asked him to grab onto my boat. I needed to cut the line to end the ride. He grabbed the boat, and the additional drag was just the thing. A few moments later, the monster broke off. I think it was about twenty minutes later when my heart rate returned to normal.
So that counts as my first encounter with a big fish from the kayak. And I thought those rockfish last season were a thrill? Oh my. For the record, all of my knots held -- the line broke and the point of the leading hook on the 40# mono leader I'd bought because it was already rigged up for two hooks to troll herring. All that was missing were the hooks and the herring.
So that's the part of the adventure we could call Close Encounters of the Fish Kind. We still had about 2.5 hours peddling to get back to beach, and then there were the 2.5 hours to get to the truck, and then the 2 hours to get the truck loaded and off the beach, and ... well, you get the idea.
I'll add more in a bit, if only to extoll the virtues Kenai_guy who has a knack for making smart choices and putting his formidable shoulder to the wheel as many times as necessary. I knew you'd want the fish report above all else.
My companion, Andy, posted the video to the same forum. It was a thrill ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKamlqQBj6w&list=FLPQ3ZE6m-i4uZiTlwD0s6ig&feature=mh_lolz
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