Seward Silvers

With much thanks to akfishergal, we headed to Seward on Saturday evening fully prepared for some silver action. --Interject some dinner and beers at Rays, and a walk down by the Sea Life Center....

Sunday morning, we left Lowell Point, heading along the coast toward Caines Head. I trolled a herring with a Pink Lady diver for quite a while (I discovered I don't like the Pink Lady as much as a Deep Six diver....but anyway). My wife trolled a herring with a 4-oz weight slipped into the same swivel that connected the herring rig. Just aways south from Tonsina Beach she hooked into a good silver. Pic below. With two of us, we had no problem landing it. However, akfishergal, I can see how doing this all alone could be seriously challenging!

After that, my Hummingbird was showing all sorts of marks out at the lines from point to point on the coves. If I went in very far toward shore, I didn't see much on the fish finder. We continued up toward Caines Head, and I tried trolling the herring, a couple buzz bombs (pink 4 and white/blue 2.5 I think), and a weighted lure called a crippled herring. I had exactly zero strikes the whole way out.

Heading back, we were in more of a hurry, but continued to troll herring. I also trolled the smaller buzz bomb, just for good measure. I saw marks all over the place on my fish finder...but apparently, only the dis-interested fish show up on that thing.

My wife, in her ocean kayak with no gear other than a rod holder, caught a second silver straight out from Tonsina when the Miller Landing Water Taxi was picking up kayakers. She let out a whoop and the boat gaver her a little toot back from the horn. At this point, I'd rather stop reporting, b/c I was very annoyed that I did all the research, had the plan, bought the bait and lures, watched the fish-finder, and hauled the net and club, etc....so, while I was jazzed for my wife, I was also freakin' annoyed.

Anyway. we wound up with 2 silvers and some serious sun burns. According to my Hummingbird, silvers are all over out there. Closer to the shoreline seemed better than farther out, but that's just my personal opinion.

All in all, it was still a great kayak trip out of Seward. And tonight, we ate one side of the smaller silver. We have maybe 5 meals to go, so it was absolutely a good trip. The drive back was a nightmare with the Kenai traffic. Stop and go all the way to the Whittier road....and I have no idea why...suddenly we just took off as if nothing had been holding us up for an hour.

So...I don't know if that is helpful or not...but it was my day on the water.

Jeff

GREAT report Jeff!  Nice pictures too.

I'm so glad you found some silvers along with the sunburns.  Do you remember the depths at which you were marking fish? It just might be that the divers had your bait too deep in the water column.  Trailing 4 oz, I'm guessing your wife was trolling pretty shallow compared to you.  (I like the Deep 6 too and another called a Highliner.)

If this weather holds (and it looks like it will) I'll be sailing out of Seward Saturday on a friend's big boat and he'll drop me in my kayak near Callisto Head. I can fish all that nice water between Callisto and Caines, and all it will cost is a supper fish for the sailor.  Rest assured that I will be trying a few courses of shallow trolling based on your report and your wife's good luck.

Think of all the good fishing kharma coming your way after all the effort you put into setting up such a great experience for your wife. You're now overdue. 

For depth, it seemed like the most were marking fairly deep in the water (whatever depth they were in--so in 100 feet of water, most marks would be in the 75 and below foot mark). But there were higher marks as well. As you said, the two hits she had were much more near the surface. To set up, Sarah would stop, let her weight hit bottom, start paddling, and once she hit her target speed (2mph-sh), she'd let out another 10 seconds or so of line.

I love your positive perspective! Actually, I was pretty happy she caught the fish--I'd love to have brought something in, but if one of us had to get skunked, I'd rather it be me. And it paid off--after this trip she said she wanted another boat like mine! I figure 2 Hobies are better than one (especially since the final mile or she stopped paddling, and I took hold of her kayak and peddled us both into shore :-) 

Still, I wonder if a fish finder is worthwhile...I felt as if I were "burdened by knowledge." Each fish-mark on the LCD screen fueled my optimism that I was about to hook up. But it also brought out a feeling of failure: "I know they are down there, what should i change to get them untested??" I haven't yet targeted halibut, but I figure that seeing the formation of the bottom will be pretty helpful there.

Jeff

That's awesome!

Great report, thanks. I hope I can visit your beautiful area some day. As for fish finders, I have been using one for a year now and am not sure there have been too many times they have actually helped me catch fish. It seems like they just make me nervous or excited. I think they have saved me some gear by knowing the depth, though.

Great report!!! Fish finder is worth it. In most places, you just do what everyone else is doing and your fine. But when I don't have one, I sure feel naked!

Great fish.  Thanks for the report!!


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That was the best read I've had in a while.    

I've had days where chasing marks and trying everything in my tackle bag fails me.  Some of those days have been saved by just turning off the electronics, choosing 1 think I know works and tuning in to what's going on around me. 

-Spot-

Good to know.  Planning on hitting up Seward this weekend too