North to Alaska: Homer: Round One

Homer, Homer, YES Homer, Let the real fishing begin... first let’s set up camp… We arrived in Homer on the 15th of July and set up home on the Homer Spit at one of City Campgrounds on the Spit. Let’s pause here for a minute or two for a geography lesson for those that think they may be on Jeopardy some day. The Homer Spit is a geographical landmark located in Homer, Alaska on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. The spit is a 4.5-mile long piece of land jutting out into Kachemak Bay. The spit is also home to the Homer Boat Harbor. Enough geography, after setting up our camp we decided to scout the area for a couple good places to eat and find a good place to fish while waiting for our friends, Al and Debbie, to arrive, After all,it shouldn't be too hard to find a fishing hole, our new home was basically surrounded by water. On one side was the famous fishing hold and just down the road was the secret hole we were entrusted to keep as a secret. The decision we had to make now was eat or fish, I had only one vote and voted to fish, Linda voted to eat, I told her we needed a tie breaker and she said she was the tie breaker so halibut and chips was what we had (If you have to lose, halibut and chips is not a bad loss). By the time we had finished lunch, Al and Debbie had arrived and set up right next to us. After discussing my findings with Al, off to a tackle shop for bait and on to the secret hole, I know, but Al is only one person. Anyway when we arrived at the secret hole, I’m not sure it’s too secret because there must have been fifty people fishing. So Al and I jumped right in and on the first cast I landed a 4-5 pound Pollock, next cast another one and on and on and on. We caught Pollock, Alaska cod and Alaska flounder (not halibut) almost on every cast. It wasn’t very long before we had all we could carry so off to the cleaning table we go which was located close to our campsites. Check out the fish on the cleaning tables next to our campsites. We actually had to stand in line to get a place at one of the tables. We will be here on the Spit for three days then back to Soldotna and then to Anchorage to pick up our friend Charlie who is flying in from Florida to spend a couple weeks with us. Once we pick up Charlie, we will go back to Soldotna to catch some sockeyes and then on to Homer again for a scheduled halibut trip. Much more to come from Soldotna and Homer. :

The large fish is a king salmon and the smaller ones are Sockeyes

Notice what type knife the lady is using to clean her halibut... It's an ULU. In fact, the guy next to her is also using an ULU

These next pictures are some of the establishments on the Spit. Captain Pattie's is a very popular restaurant on the Spit. We ate at Captain Pattie's, but liked some other places better; however, we have not found a bad place yet.

Debbie is waiting outside the Salty Dog for something or maybe she is just posing for a photo. This is one of the landmarks on the Spit. The custom is to sign a dollar bill and pin it somewhere inside. Al and I thought a dollar was better spent on bait?

How many dollars can you count? There are 4 rooms and it is hard to find a place to put your dollar. I told Linda we ought to take a lot of those dollars off the wall so others would have a place to put their dollars.

Linda is counting her fish, I don't think she knows she is only allowed two...I keep telling her these are all throw backs anyway?

I keep telling her this is what we are looking for... My theory, catch one big'un rather than a lot of small ones, then you only have one fish to clean...

Nice King Salmon

Need a charter, Homer has a lot to choose from. Our charter is not scheduled until next week...

Our campsite on the Spit. It's rough having to sit here and watch all the wildlife, look at the glaciers out the back door and see who's catching what, but I guess someone has to do it.