Tag: fishing

Alaska Halibut Derby near Homer

That’s right, its halibut derby time again in Alaska, and there is not much time left to catch the jackpot halibut this year.  Currently, the leading halibut is coming in at 273 pounds and was caught by Mark Hilts from Grand Rapids, Minnesota.  Also, there are a couple of halibut in the 250 pound range that were landed in July too.

Weather has been typical Alaska weather, tiny bit of sun, tons of overcast and some rain.  Water conditions have been a little bit nasty several of the past few days with quite a few out of town anglers getting a bit sick out there.  But hey, its derby time, and you got to be able to play with the big barn door halibut if you are going to have any shot.

One of the big questions of the year is where the heck is Deep Creek Fishing Lodge right now in this derby?  Haven’t seen crusty man Steve Moe at the weigh in scales yet, so not sure if he has been able to get out of bed to do some fishing lately?  But, knowing him, he will probably be sliding in the winning halibut on the last day of the tournament.

Stanislaus River Fishing July 2010

Another trip to the Stanislaus River has just come to a close today, and here is how the fishing ended up:

For a total of three days spent fishing the river just above and below Boards Crossing near Sourgrass Day Use area on the North Fork of the Stanislaus, we caught a grand total of 1 6-7 inch trout.  Not too great as you can understand.

We used all different types of lures and baits and flies as well.  Compared to last year, the water was noticably higher and several degrees cooler too.

What was impressive was the amount of trout that could be seen breaking water and jumping into the air, but that is only fun for so long. When it gets to the point where you cast our line out and instantly two fish jump right next to it, but nothing hits your lures, then you start going crazy. That is where the funny guys come into play.

The one fish that was landed by Mr B Davis, was taken on a nightcrawler worm. There was one minor strike on the last day on a spinner. One bait that was night tried out were live crickets which seem to work relatively well on this river in the past. We were simply too lazy to go to Ebbets Pass Sporting goods and buy some, as the river is about a 30 minute or so drive to get there each way.

My suggestion to anyone who is headed up to the Stanislaus near Boards Crossing this July is to pick up some live crickets prior to making your way down to the river and seeing what type of luck you have on them. Or, figure out exactly what flies to use, as we surely did not have a clue this year.

Still, fish or no fish, the Stanislaus river is an excellent place to spend some time in the summer. Super nice swimming and beautiful scenery all around.

Stanislaus River Fishing Report June 22, 2010

The Stanislaus is flowing quite heavily this week.  This week may even be the highest volume of water flowing down the river so far this year.  As there was snowfall all the way until the end of May, it appears as though there will be tons of water all summer long in 2010.

Finding some nice slower water is a bit of a challenge right now.  There are several fly fisherman who are having some luck with dry Griffiths Gnat.

Right now, it seems that the fish counts from some of the other locals are less than usual for this time of year, but everyone is optomistic that it will turn into some much better fly fishing on the Stanislaus really soon, hopefully before the 4th of July.

fly fishing stanislaus
Fishing just South of Boards Crossing on Stanislaus

If you get excited about spin fishing the Stanislaus, you will still have some great luck using live crickets with a bobber or some light weight on 6lb test in many parts of the river.  The water is moving fast, so make sure to use propper hooks so the crickets stay on as best as you can, otherwise you will be casting out your bait all day long without any trout.

And of course, if you land a large trout from the Stanislaus, be sure to make a comment on this post and send the picture on over.

Alaska Fishing Lodge Trip Picture Gallery

We took hundreds of pictures on the trip to Deep Creek Fishing Lodge in Kenai, Alaska. Here are a few of them.  The pictures are all from early June 2010. During the fishing trip, we fished the salt water for halibut, the river for king salmon, and a remote glacier fed lake for lake trout.  Some of the greatest times were spent just sitting around the fishing lodge which was located just next to Deep Creek, Alaska.  The staff and the guides and the owner of the Deep Creek Lodge are all excellent people.  With the views across the channel that were to die for, it was a vacation of lifetime that will not ever be forgotten.

One of the most spectacular parts of the fishing lodge experience was taking the float plane to the desolate lake to go fishing for trout. We caught all kinds of trout within just a few hours and then we fried them all up afterwards.  It was super tasty and alot of fun at the same time.

The fishing lodge is called Deep Creek Fishing Club and it is located in Kasilof, Alaska.  There is another deep creek fishing lodge so you need to make sure you fish the one with the captain called Captain Crusty.  Otherwise you won’t be getting the same experience you see in the pictures above.  The first night that you spend at the lodge, you will probably dig into a massive dinner of Alaska King Crab legs which should get your fishing vacation started off right.