Poor mans AK adventure or, captain license blog, the sequel

Hey Ken! Congrats.
That Alaska guiding gig is a lot harder than it looks on the resume huh?
good on you mate. Looking forward to the updates. Bring me back some yelloweye, will ya? We can't keep them here anymore :(
 
Ray, we caught a monster yellow eye the other day, it was about 25#, I'll see if I can sneak one of them on my carry on luggage on the trip home.

The boss grilled me today on my readyness to take over a boat, it's looking like I'll be driving the ChillKat in another week, two max, I'm filled with nervous excitement. I've just got to try to remember to shoot the big Halliutt BEFORE I get it in the boat :)

I think I found out why the C.K. may have some quality issues, it was the first one that BlackFeather ever built. Come to find out, the boss bought the mold from C-Dory and gave it to them in exchange for a completed boat.

Tomorrow I may have my first real day off :)
 
B~C":121vyidp said:
I think I found out why the C.K. may have some quality issues, it was the first one that BlackFeather ever built. Come to find out, the boss bought the mold from C-Dory and gave it to them in exchange for a completed boat.
Click to expand...

So the ChilliKat from Blackfeather was originally the mysterious TomCat 30 built by C-Dory, right?

Joe.
 
I would say yes, I hiked all the way across town tonight( it took 10 minutes, I usually takes five but I stopped in at the general store to say helo) to the neighboring lodge where they have two of the old TCats and are borrowing the CKat. They look to be identical boats, a minor difference or two in the transom area and the head location.

man, we had about five humpbacks going nuts around the boat today, rolling, jumping & carrying on extremelly close, it was one of those National Geographic moments
 
Ken, make extra sure to stow that firearm unloaded.
Also, you might want to talk to the other guides about their experiences shooting Halibut and perhaps you should try it with one of them first?
I have had several Halibut in excess of #100 and have never needed to shoot one. I typically harpoon them, aiming just behind the gill plate along the center line. If you ask just right they will smile and strike a pose so you can hit the spot :D . I have heard stories of Halibut ripping cleats and other boat parts off of boats when they were hard tied to the boat, I use a good size float and make sure to pitch the rope and float over before sticking the fish.... having that rope decide to leave the boat quickly regardless what it is coiled around can make life just a bit too exciting... don't ask me how I know this :mrgreen: .
When the big fish hit my deck I quickly hog tie them by throwing a loop around the tail and taking the tag end through the gills and through the mouth, bending the fish and tying it off. This gives you a nice handle to drag ol' flattie around.
I am sure you all have your techniques up there and I don't want you to get laughed off the boat, but I thought I would share what works for me.
Make sure to have some .410 gauge corks just incase you forget and shoot the Halibut after you bring it into the boat :shock: :lol: :beer

That Yelloweye will be worth more than it's weight in beer... I prefer the smaller ones over the big old fish.
 
not to worry Ray, I've been training under some top pros..last week I hooked up, handed off (after the guest put the fighting belt on and the fish ripped off about 100 yards of line) and helped land a 250# butt. At the same time we had on a 100 pounder and a whimpy 70 pounder...tripples. it was insane. The guest was a photograper from salmon & Steelhead Journal, the writer had the 100 pounder on, as the photographer was fighting the fish I told him we would have to cut the line as it wasn't a salmon and wouldn't fit with the theme of their story :) they where pretty good folks.

It's still hard, fun work and long days but it's getting easier and funner...Monday I'll get my first command, they're flying me over to Pelican where I'll be running a new Little Hoquim boat for a week or two for another lodge ..it's kind of a bummer that I may miss Don & Dee of Knotty-C who are working their way up here but I can't pass up the opportunity, when I get back it will be ChillKat time.

Yesterday was a day off so we got to load up about 12 big propane tanks and haul them to Gustavas for filling. We stopped off in front of Glacer Bay and caught us a few hallibutts just for fun on the way over. It was a workout carting those tanks up the dock at low tide...Gustavas was a disapointment, crummy dock, no services, we did manage to hitch a ride with the propane truck up the road to a small store jut to see what a civilization looked like..even got to see some cars, aint seen a car since mid June.

still kickin,
ken
 
just so ya's don't think it's all fun and fishin, I swear every one off my damn fingers has some find of festering cut or wound. Damned if I don't get a digit healed up and another small wound shows up, the smallest little nicks turn into bad news when you're working in fish gravy all day every day....arg
 
Ken,
I feel your pain, O.K., not really, but my hands have been sore after a week at Neah Bay and I had a hang nail once....
I'm waiting for you to post some pictures of some of these monster fish, How much longer is your tour of duty?
 
hey there, I'll get some pictures posted one of these days, maybe tomorrow. The last week in August M is coming up to kick around with me and we'll be flying back together :)

I just completd my first stint as an offical captain, fished two couples from Poulsbo for three days, it went real good. They have been going to diferent lodges in AK for about 20 years and want to come back and fish with me next year, they heaped some pretty high praise on me, and $300 as they left today :) I guess all that grunt work, training paid off :) one of the things that they really liked is that I let them fish and work the gear. Most of the captains are so worried about tonnage all they let the guests do is reel in the fish after it is hooked and half way reeled in. I decided that I would teach, if need be and they would fish, the fish would mean so much more to the guest if they actually caught the damn thing...I went out with one captain a few weeks ago and watched as the day progressed as the guest where actually afraid to touch the rod if it was getting a bite and if they did, the captian would basically grab it out of their hands...poo, another captain told me to never hand off a hallibut caught on a jig as you'll loose it, I hooked up an 80 pounder and proceded to hand it off to a retired NYC fireman and made his day. I told the captain ( in a nice way) that I didn't think the guy paid a bunch of money to come up here to watch me catch a fish. A week later I watched him hand off a jig caught hbutt :)

I feel guilty at the lodge I'm at now. I come in, get the boat up to the dock and a crew ties her up and takes care of everything, I just walk away and head for the shower, they treat me like some kind of damn royality

Scared up a limit of nice kings today in the ocean, had to throw a few back in a search for some silvers to round out the load, yesterday it was chicken harvest on light tackle and jigs (point wilson darts) in icy straights (mud bay)....life is good, damn good, I can see doing this for many more summers, it's getting much funner

it looks like I'll have a day off tomorrow which means I'll sleep in untill 5 and spend most of the day working on fishing gear and boat stuff

all for now,
ken
 
Ken, Thanks for sharing... Sounds like you are living the life...
Hey, the very best thing I have found for heakling up those hands is...

O'Keeffe's Working Hands Creme. It isn't cheap but it works great and it won't leave your hands slick or smelling like a French Bath House...


www.workinghandscreame.com


I buy mine at Englunds Marine and they ship it. I wouldn't think about fishing saltwater without it.

Lookin forward to the pics. Enjoy the good life while you can and for your own good take more pictures and keep a journal. It is not only good for reliving the good times but it will be handy to refer back to next year...
 
Good on ya Ken! The last guide I went out with (on the salt) was kind of like the guy you talked about. He got offended if we touched his rods. I didn't leave him a tip when I left. In fact I told him that as far as I was concerned that ruined it for me. I want to fish, not go for a boat ride!

Sure sounds like you are having a great time! I would love to do that for a summer or two myself. Now, if I could just get all these bills paid off! :)
 
It's more than a job, it's an adventure! ®

Sounds like you are living a lot of outdoorsmen's dream, Ken. It's been fun reading your posts... and like many jobs, someone has to work hard so those paying customers can have fun. I admire your spirit.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Ray, I went to the mall in Pelican and couldn't find that hand goop, will check the mall in Elfin Cove when I get back there. It sounds like good stuff, I had that greasy film that most lotions leave.

Bill, I' takingout a bunch of damng burn geologists from Alexco, a mine exploration and reclamation company...do you have any good geology jokes?

got into some bumpy water coming through South Inut today but the 30' Almar handled it well..it's a good handling boat, needs improvment for charter work though. It was a tough fishing day, got a limit of kings but the wind a currents where messing up the hallibut fishing for me.

One aspect of this that I find important is planning the day to maximize productive rod hours...got's to have plans A, B, C ready to deploy...always thinking, If you run somewhere and the conditions aren't good there must be some fall back money holes close by...can't spend the day running around.

later,
ken
 
Ken,
This sounds like a great adventure for a fisherman and boater. The transition from amateur to professional fisherman sounds like a pretty steep learning curve at times.

It's great that you actually let the customers fish. I've been with guides like the one you described. I'd rather buy my fish at the store than have someone else catch them for me.

You once told me that you told your students "learn to weld, but never let your employer know that you can weld." You haven't told anyone up there that you have a degree in Diesel Technology have you? I was afraid that if anyone found out, they would be trying to bribe you with big bucks to spend your time in engine rooms instead of fishing.

Should I book for next year now, before you become so popular that I can't get on the schedule?
Lyle
 
10-roger on the learning curve,in addition to taking the boat and fishing to a new level I find that time management and the hospitality part of are even more important.

I've been able to dodge the mechanic business up here, they know & I did have to look at a guy's engine one day...I was sweating bullets for a while as all of Elfin Cove was powered by one tired, wore out gen set, I kept waiting for it to puke and for them to expect me to perform some kind of miracle to bring it back to life. They finally got their new state of the art power house up and retired the gen set a few weeks ago. I have wrangled up many leads for students that may wish to venture north...world of opportunity for good mechanics up here.

do come up and go fishing, it would be a hoot, and much better fishing than Ilwaco :) Ill bet I could wrangle up a C-Brat special for next July if anybody was interested

one of these days I'll down load the camera
 
Great posts Ken! Sounds like a lot of work but a dream job. I know there's lots of pressure being a charter captain and producing fish on a daily basis but it sure sounds like you have a good handle on it. I'll have to join Lyle in chartering your boat next summer.

Peter
C-Dancer
 
boy howdy, it is hard work, but enjoyable. I just finished up with some guests from Dawson City, great young couple, she was cleaning fish, baiting hooks and working gear like an old pro by the end of their stay. They where interested in buying downriggers for their boat and really appreciated the opportunity to learn about downriggers. They had a blast, I even got a hug from her as they left :) They said the last charter they went out on, the captain was a grumpy old turd that that allowed very little particapation, seems to be a lot of those up here.

if folks are interested in fishing up here, I think I'll start a thread and see if there is enough interest in a group thing. I could probably wrangle up a good deal for next July
 
Ken,

I'd like to be part of that C-Brat group! I've really enjoyed your posts and have yet to fish AK. I hope my schedule will allow it but for now, count me in. Maybe, I'll get inspired and find a second career for after this professor gig.... :lol:
 
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