Clay Duda

Posted on March 6, 2026 by Clay Duda Posted in Fish Stories, Mostly Alaska

That Time I Caught a 50-Pound Lingcod with an Ice Fishing Rod

^{July 20, 2022: The day I caught this big ass fish with an itty bitty fishing rod. Photo by Jonathan Hull.}

This isn’t a story to brag about my Alaska fishing prowess. This is a story about the stars aligning to defy the bounds of logic, and also brag about a hell of a fish I was lucky enough to catch one day in July 2022.

Any fisherman will tell you — there are good days, and there are bad days. That’s just fishing.

One of the things I’ve learned working on a fishing boat is that it’s all a matter of probability. If you fish EVERY. SINGLE. DAY for an entire summer, you’re bound to have some good days, and of course some bad ones, but the more often you have a line in the water, the greater chances that lightening will strike.

Flash back to July 20, 2022. It was a bluebird day in Homer, Alaska. The M/V Diamond Cape “set sail” for the far reaches of the Chugach Islands, a 2+ hour run from the harbor. As we rounded the corner at Point Adams and entered the Gulf of Alaska, the mountains rose like a scene from Jurassic Park in the early morning light. We rode the current through the Elizabeth Channel and eastward towards the far side of East Chugach island.

Posted on January 8, 2026March 6, 2026 by Clay Duda Posted in Home Sweet Homer, Mostly Alaska, Mostly FIlm, Mostly Punk Rock

Cross-Processed Concert Photos — Punk Rock in a Barn near Homer, Alaska

^{Homer-based band Beetle Kill performs at their tape release show in a barn near Homer, Alaska. April 11, 2025. Photo by Clay Duda.}

Editor’s Note: I wrote this blog post nearly a year ago and never published it. I’m really bad at this.

First let’s set the scene:

There was snow pack on the ground in a late afternoon twilight when we pulled to the end of a gravelly road east of Homer, Alaska. It was still early — the bands hadn’t started yet — but already a few dozen dusty locals mingled outside the barn in small groups as temperatures dropped with the daylight.

I was early April, and spring still hadn’t quite sprung in Southcentral Alaska. But inside the barn it was warm with community and potluck. A small merch table was set up in the corner. A basketball goal hing behind the first band’s set up.

Most of these bands I never saw live before, but there are plenty of familiar faces in the crowd and on stage. That’s life in small-town Alaska. They hosted a few shows at “The Barn” before, but this is my first, and honestly all I could do is smile. That’s what the spirit of punk rock is about. No egos, no drama, just a bunch of friends getting together for a good time and some good music.

Posted on June 28, 2025December 25, 2025 by Clay Duda Posted in Fish Stories, Mostly Alaska, Mostly FIlm

One Roll of Film Shot During a Summer Fishing in Homer, Alaska

The first frame on a roll of Tri-X 400 film shot during the summer of 2021 in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Clay Duda. — ^{The first frame on a roll of Tri-X 400 film shot during the summer of 2021 in Homer, Alaska.}

I’ve been working on charter fishing boats in Homer, Alaska since the summer of 2017. I started out deck handing on a six-passenger boat, and I liked it so much I stuck with it and eventually got my captain’s license and started running boats myself.

Summer days are long and summer season is short here in Alaska. And when you’re working a fishing boat, there’s not many down days. It’s easy to get caught of in the minutiae of things when most weeks I’m working every. single. day. That’s right, seven days a week when the fishing is good, roughly late-May through mid-September.

Posted on March 9, 2025March 9, 2025 by Clay Duda Posted in Just For Fun, Mostly FIlm

Wine Parties, Weddings, Beach Vacations, and More from the Long Lost Film Archives of Strangers

The feet of an unknown photographer sitting poolside. Photo from an undeveloped roll of film found in an Olympus Stylus Zoom I bought on eBay in 2024. Photo by Anonymous. — _{The feet of an unknown photographer sitting poolside. Photo from an undeveloped roll of film found in an old film camera I bought on eBay in 2024. Photographer unknown.}

I think I learned it from my Mom — I have a hard time passing up a good deal. For me that’s especially true when it comes to cheap vintage film cameras. Sometimes I fix them up and take photos, other times I just test them out and sell them on eBay to fund my film photography habit. Every once and a while one of the old cameras I buy will have a roll of undeveloped film still sitting inside, forgotten from a time long ago.

Over the past couple years I’ve taken these abandoned rolls of film and done pretty much what the original owners did. I tossed them in a drawer and forgot about them.

Until now.

A few weeks ago I came across @anthonys_lost_film on Instagram, a place where this random internet stranger develops and shares found rolls of film just like the ones I had sitting in a drawer collecting dust. And I thought it was a pretty cool idea. Anthony’s work inspired me to develop my own rolls of found film, and these are the results.

Posted on February 23, 2025February 23, 2025 by Clay Duda Posted in Fish Stories, Home Sweet Homer, Mostly Alaska

Introducing the Irish Mist, My New Charter Fishing Boat in Homer, Alaska

Irish Mist halibut fishing in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Hasting Franks 2016. — _{Irish Mist eight-person charter halibut fishing in Homer, Alaska. Book for summer 2025 with North Country Charters! Photo by Hasting Franks.}

Fun Fact: When I first showed up in Homer, Alaska I didn’t even know what a halibut was. (*gasp*) I know, it’s blasphemy to show up in the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World” and not know much about this world-class fish. But it didn’t take long to get me in the loop.

Within 48 hours of arriving in town I was out on a charter fishing boat catching my first halibut. That captain even offered me a summer job (thanks Daniel!), and as they say, “the rest is history.”

I went on to deckhand on several charter boats and spent winters commercial fishing in Alaska and Oregon before graduating from deckhand to captain status. Fast forward another 8 years (another *gasp* — it’s hard to believe it’s been so long!) and I’m here at another milestone.

I’d like to introduce the Irish Mist, my new halibut charter fishing boat in Homer, Alaska.

BOOK NOW for summer 2025!
North Country Charters
www.northcountrycharters.com
907-235-7620

I am more than excited to get out on the water, catch some fish, and keep doing what I love to do. I hope you’ll join me!

First let’s set the scene:

BOOK NOW for summer 2025!North Country Charterswww.northcountrycharters.com907-235-7620

BOOK NOW for summer 2025!
North Country Charters
www.northcountrycharters.com
907-235-7620