Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament

Last Saturday was the 24th annual Winter King Tournament here in Homer. Winter kings are "feeder" king salmon that are here are their time in the ocean in which they are fattening up and growing until it's time for them to return o their natal streams to spawn.

I know this is hard to wrap your head around but these kings are here 357 days a year and that means we can catch king salmon any day we want to go out fishing! Many of these kings are from British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington state. Because they are not ready to spawn they are super fatty and rich,  wonderful fish to put on the grill. Needless to say, we're spoiled.

Above are fishermen on the "Miss T" high-fiving one another after they netted their first fish of the day. We lost a fish nearby right before this and we believe they picked up "our" fish!

Below are the top three winners in this year's tournament. Ron Johnson, center, won the tournament with his 25.65 lbs fish, and took home $48,241 as Champion. Yup, a pretty good day of fishing.

Team Skookum went out and we hooked two fish...and lost two fish. So we weren't exactly skunked, but we didn't have anything to weigh-in at tournament headquarters. But it was a gorgeous day on the water, and a great event to be a part of.