Well now, wasn’t that a beautiful Memorial Day weekend for those of you who can dimly recall it? The weather was so nice that campgrounds were featuring a few visitors glowing with Phase Five sunburns that could have served as stand-in grills for melting s’mores.

The Spit resembled an Indie 500 parking lot and the road was a whack-a-mole experience with pedestrians popping out from behind vehicles attempting to back out into traffic while struggling to spot oncoming bicyclists, unleashed dogs and motorists gawking at the stores and restaurants instead of the road ahead.

The boat launch was, at times, a primo comedy show featuring guest stars displaying highly questionable skills of trying to propel their vessels into the harbor at impossible angles while impatient rig jockeys were backed up to the Spit Road access.

There wasn’t a lack of fishing yarns either.

I spoke with one gentleman who claimed he hooked into something off Seldovia that it was like battling a halibut the size of Flat Island for over an hour and a half.

It turned out the only smile at the end of the struggle came from the mouth of a skate the size of a Predator drone.

The angler’s recount of the struggle is unprintable, but let’s just say that his wife’s face suddenly turned as red as the south end of a baboon after he went all anatomical with his fish vilifications which were physically impossible for a skate or any other living creature to do. I did not envy that man’s long sojourn back to their Palmer driveway.

Later in the day, I watched as several private boat owners hit the cleaning tables with their limits, but the halibut were on the small side except for some in the 20-to-40-pound class. They didn’t seem to mind the little guys that only dressed at around 10 pounds. One lady remarked, “Hey at the price per pound for halibut fillets in Anchorage, this little critter is probably worth $90. What’s not to like? Besides, the tides were bitchin’.”

Shhhhh… Monday, I spotted a couple of kings hauled out of the fishing lagoon. One was a jack while the other was styling about seven pounds prior to its visit to the cleaning table’s organ reduction and fillet spa.

It’s time now to take a look at the fishing report for the week of May 27.

Freshwater Fishing

The Anchor River and Deep Creek are closed to all sport fishing through July 15.

The Ninilchik River is open to fishing for hatchery kings May 31 through June 2.

Fishing was feeble over the last weekend, but the number of kings loitering in river may build over the week.

Spinners and spoons are your best shot since the fishery is closed to the use of bait this season.

If you incidentally hook a steelhead or wild king, bring them to the bank as quickly as possible then release the beauties without removing them from the water.

Saltwater Fishing

Kachemak Bay/Cook Inlet

Halibut

Halibut fishing continues to add steam as more fish mosey into Cook Inlet from their overwintering waters.

Looking for buffed up flats? Try the shallow water from Bluff Point to Anchor Point.

With the current tides, you don’t need a crystal ball to suggest that you soak your bait around slack tide while chasing ‘buts. Otherwise, you’ll require a barrel of cement to hold the bottom when the water gets it’s roll on.

King Salmon

King salmon fishing south of Bluff Point has been fair with scattered success reports from the Bluff and 4th of July areas, as well as throughout inner Kachemak Bay. Small troll herring or spoons behind a flasher continues to be the most popular setup, but hootchies and tube flies will also bring on strikes.

Surf Fishing

Surf fishing advocates were finding notable successes along several of the Cook Inlet beaches last weekend landing a variety of groundfish including halibut, sculpins, skates, sharks, flounders, and cod.

Hey, don’t forget about fishing off the tip of the Homer Spit — that location can be productive for a variety of groundfish along with sprint training when you land something you don’t recognize and it has you in its crosshairs.

Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon

The king salmon run at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon is still dragging, but some chinook are starting to stick their nose into the pond.

Expect continued poor fishing throughout the week.

Fishing the incoming or outgoing tide is typically your best bet.

Roe, small plug-cut herring, and mackerel hunks under bobbers along with spinners such as blue Vibrax are all successful methods for taking the arriving kings.

Seldovia Slough

King fishing has gotten off to slow creep, but anglers were still finding some success fishing at the bridge. Try cured eggs or herring under a slip bobber, or spinners. The incoming tide is the best time to tie into a king at the bridge. High tide is hotter in the lagoon.

Emergency Orders Reminders:

Anchor River and Deep Creek Closed to Sport Fishing

Sport Fishing for King Salmon Closed in Upper Cook Inlet Salt Waters

King Salmon Bag Limit Reduced from 2 to 1 in Lower Cook Inlet Salt Waters

Changes to King Salmon Gear in the Ninilchik River

Rockfish bag limit reduction: 2 pelagic, 1 non-pelagic. No retention of yelloweye May 27– June 30th.

For additional information, please contact the Homer ADF&G Office at 907-235-8191.

See you next week.

Nick can be contacted at ncvarney@gmail.com if he isn’t busy fighting an invasion of dandelions in the yard instead of fish in the lagoon. Sure he is…