June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 1 Volume 17 • Issue 6 • June 2017 Don & Lori Thomas Don

© 90 Departments Features Fish Alaska Traveler 6 Icy Strait Islands by Terry W. Sheely 40 Fish Alaska Online 8 Icy Strait is the major inland passageway for Fish Alaska Gear Bag 10 hundreds of thousands of salmon returning to Fishing for a Compliment 14 Southeast, and after leaving Cross Sound, the strait squeezes between a trio of island complexes, which Fish Alaska Conservation 18 concentrates the schools of salmon, halibut and Fish Alaska Families 20 bottomfish. Terry Sheely takes us there. Salmon Sense 24 Modern Rockfishing Techniques Fish Alaska Fly 26 by JD Richey 50 Fish Alaska Boats 28 Alaska’s near-shore waters contain countless Fish Alaska Saltwater 36 shallow reefs teeming with all sorts of colorful and tasty bottom dwellers. Here JD Richey offers a Fish Alaska Stillwater 38 couple of cool new techniques for targeting these Fish Alaska Recipe 108 inshore zones that really make the fishing fun— © Terry W. Sheely W. © Terry 40 Advertiser Index 110 and productive. Final Drift 112 Gearing Up for Halibut by Conor Sullivan 60 Halibut fishing may not seem complicated, but successful anglers are prepared anglers, and here Conor Sullivan offers his dossier on where to fish, when, and what you’ll want to use. Releasing Large Halibut by David Bayes 68 With conservation of large halibut at the forefront of everyone’s mind, this timely feature from David Bayes offers a primer on how to successfully, and safely, release trophy halibut. How to Choose a Lodge in Southeast Alaska by George Dennis 70 Fishing opportunities abound in this vast wilderness state, but identifying where to spend your fishing vacation can be complicated. Here, George Dennis uses his decades of experience as a charter captain to help us whittle it all down. Ultimate Alaska: The Inside Passage by Scott Haugen 82 Aboard the 60-foot Huntress, Scott Haugen travels through some of Alaska’s most stunning scenery while enjoying one of Southeast’s more memorable adventures. From exploring

© JD Richey 50 clear mountain streams to fishing exclusive nooks and crannies of the Inside Passage, this trip has it all. Fly Rods in the North Pacific by E. Donnal Thomas, Jr. 90 Saltwater fly-fishing offers variety impossible to attain inland, and since one can only catch so many salmon and trout, Don Thomas lends his well-considered ruminations on what makes fishing the salt so unique—and appealing. Glacier-Fed Flatties: Yakutat Halibut by Terry Wiest 100 Perhaps under the radar, Yakutat remains a world-class halibut hotspot, with barn-door- size flatfish available from late April through September. Follow this guide to go get your own trophy.

COVER / Charlie Neff with a boatload of halibut. © Kristin Dunn/Kodiak Custom Fishing Tackle © Conor Sullivan 60 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 3 2 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 3 PUBLISHERS Marcus Weiner Melissa Norris ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Patrick Speranza Kathy Anderson EDITOR Troy Letherman OPERATIONS MANAGER Wayne Norris EFFICIENCY MANAGER Ana Taylor ART DIRECTOR Bailey Anderson PRODUCTION MANAGER Russell K Porsley III GRAPHIC DESIGNER Melissa Wong

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Greg Brush, Troy Buzalsky, Andrew Cremata, Les Gara, Scott Haugen, Pudge Kleinkauf, George Krumm, J.D. Richey, Terry Sheely, E. Donnall Thomas Jr., Jeremy Anderson CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Hastings A. Franks, Ken Baldwin, Anthony Madden, Tony Davis, Kristin Dunn, Brian Woobank REGIONAL SALES MANAGERS George Krumm (907) 529-6172 Rick Birch (907) 394-1763 SALES REPRESENTATIVE Alan Mariner (907) 345-4337 Fish Alaska Magazine PO Box 772424 Eagle River, Alaska 99577 Toll Free 1-877-220-0787 (907) 345-4337 main (907) 223-8497 advertising www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com ISSN 2475-5710 (print) ISSN 2475-5729 (online) SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Check out our specials at www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com Already a Subscriber? Call for our renewal specials! (907)-345-4337 Toll Free: 1-877-220-0787

Fish Alaska magazine is published ten times annually in January-July, Aug/Sept, Oct/Nov and December by Fish Alaska Publications, LLC, P.O. Box 772424, Eagle River, Alaska 99577. Send all address changes to P.O. Box 772424, Eagle River, Alaska 99577. One year subscriptions are $30 U.S. dollars for subscriptions in the U.S., $50 U.S in Canada, and $80 U.S. in all other countries.The single copy price is $6.99 in U.S. dollars. To subscribe by phone please call 907-345-4337. Editorial correspondence should be sent to Attn: Editor, Fish Alaska magazine, P.O. Box 772424, Eagle River, Alaska 99577. Unsolicited manuscripts and photos will be considered, but must be accompanied by a self- addressed stamped envelope. Although we will take care, Fish Alaska is not responsible for the loss or return of unsolicited materials. The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the opinions of Fish Alaska magazine publishers and editors.

©2017 by Fish Alaska Publications, LLC. All rights reserved.

4 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 5 Things to do in Southcentral Alaska (When you’re not Fishing) by Melissa Norris Fish Alaska readers want the complete Alaska experience, which necessarily means venturing off the water at some point and sampling everything the state has on offer. For some, it’s as simple as traveling to Alaska with their family, not all of whom are A trip to the AWCC allows you fishermen. Similarly, many readers are Alaska to observe Alaska’s wildlife plus residents and we all host our fair share of contribute to their conservation. relatives from the Lower 48, and when we do © Doug Lindstrand we want to share Alaska in all its glory. The common thread is we all want to get into contributing to their future by being there. some great fishing and experience other cool Learn more at alaskawildlife.org. Alaska moments under the midnight sun. In Now whether you stay on the Seward this magazine we cover the basis of where to Highway or veer off towards Kenai, there is fish, how to fish it, when to go and who to go great fishing down the road plus some other with 99.9% of time, so here are a few ideas cool things to see. Fishing is the draw to that come to mind when recommending Seward and this month there is the annual what to do in Alaska beyond fishing. halibut tournament. While you are there you should check out the Alaska Sealife Anchorage Center, take a glacier tour or simply walk If visiting the mainland you’ll fly into around this historic city. Anchorage and it’s worth staying a couple If your itinerary brings you to Soldotna or days to check things out. In addition to the Kenai contact one of the local flight services strong fishery taking place downtown at for bear-viewing and flightseeing. The Ship Creek, fly-out fishing from Lake Hood non-fishing people in your group should and easy fishing day-trips, some of our best try to join you for your fishing charter on restaurants are in our largest city and so is the the Kenai. Even if they don’t get bit by the Anchorage Museum (anchoragemuseum. fishing bug they’ll enjoy the incredible scenic org). The museum is a fantastic place to learn float and wildlife you’re likely to see. You about our state’s history as well as witness should plan to take a side trip to Homer for thought-provoking exhibits. Active things a couple days. to do in Anchorage include climbing Flattop mountain for an incredible view of the Mat-Su Valley cityscape and Cook Inlet. A rental car from If your plan is to head north to fish and see Midnight Sun Car Rental makes it happen. Denali you should spend a couple days in From downtown you can walk or rent bikes Talkeetna. Talkeetna Air Taxi (907-733- to tour the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail that 2218) can take you on an incredible tour follows along the coast ending at Kincaid by air of Denali and the Alaska Range. They Park. From Lake Hood right near the airport can even take you to land on a glacier or you can book a sightseeing tour of Denali or for a flight tour by helicopter. For added a fly-out to view bears with Trail Ridge Air adventure contact Alaska Offroad ATV (trailridgeair.com). Adventures (907-360-2651) for an exciting backcountry tour on four-wheelers. Alaska Kenai Peninsula Offroad offers half- or full-day trips for If you are driving down the Seward Highway beginner to expert ATV riders. And it’s not make sure to stop at Chair 5 in Girdwood only exciting, but authentically Alaskan to for lunch and then hit the Alaska Wildlife rip around on a quad to see the sights. Conservation Center just a few miles past Whatever your group’s interests there is Girdwood. Most of the animals being something to see and do in all of our state’s cared for at AWCC were either orphaned main fishing communities. These were some or injured. The caregivers at the center suggestions for some popular areas but if rehabilitate these animals and either release you are looking for ideas on other things them into the wild, relocate or give them to do in other areas just fill out one of our permanent residence at the center. The center trip-planning service questionnaires on our provides outreach and education as well as aid website and we’ll make some suggestions for in conservation projects such as preserving your group personally to have a great time wood bison in Alaska. Your group can even under the midnight sun. get up close and personal with a behind-the- scenes tour. It’s an amazing experience to see Melissa Norris is Publisher of Fish Alaska all these animals in a beautiful setting while magazine. 6 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 7 Anglers in The Last Frontier are swarming the state’s various waterways this season, and Fish Alaska online is here to help ensure your season is as bountiful as possible. Visit Fish Alaska online for our in-season fishing report, latest online articles, both of our June Angler’s Special Offers, our favorite featured videos and much more! June 2017 Highlights: This month we have a new blog online in which the fish-fighting pros at Alaska Drift Away Fishing give us an overview on fish-finders and putting them to use in Alaska. Find more on our website. Go online to take advantage of two Angler’s Specials this month! We’ve got a great offer from Ramblin’ on the Rock, an amazing fishing and adventure service on Kodiak Island offering fishing, scenic tours, and wildlife viewing from expert guide Stig Yngve. We’ve also got a special discount from Onyx, an industry-leading manufacturer of PFDs, wet-weather apparel and other outdoor gear for Alaska outdoorsmen. This month’s featured video titled Luhr-Jensen® TECH TIPS: Jet Divers™ proper application and rigging is online! Back-bouncing rivers with lead weights can be a frustrating endeavor. The Luhr- Jensen Jet Diver alleviates the challenges of orienting baits and lures close to the bottom where salmon and trout are most Bonus Online Only Content often found. Learn how the Jet Diver works and what sizes to choose, as well as how to properly rig this incredibly functional diving planer. Don’t forget! This is your last chance to enter the 2017 Fish Alaska Sweepstakes to Monti Bay Lodge in Yakutat! Enter on the Sportsman’s Warehouse website through June 30! Links to the contest entry form and details can be found on our site. Find out what fisheries are hot and what’s working to catch fish. We funnel exclusive fishing reports from top level fishing guides all over the state directly to our readers. Look for the Fishing Report icon on our website and search out your destination.

www.fishalaskamagazine.com 8 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 9 Beckman Chinook Penn Squall Lever Drag 2-Speed Reel Landing Net, 6-foot handle www.pennfishing.com www.beckmanfishingnets.com The Penn Squall Lever Drag 2-Speed is basically a Penn International Diamond D Leather Guide’s Choice™ G. Pucci and Sons has recently acquired made out of graphite, and this reel is exactly what anglers need to Chest Holster Beckman Fishing Nets and will be continuing the tradition of tame big fish in saltwater around Alaska. They are lightweight and www.diamonddcustomleather.com practical and tough landing nets. They are available in a range of corrosion-resistant and come in three sizes—with the differences We’ve been wearing this holster for models, with both treated and untreated netting, in multiple-sized being capacity, max drag and gear ratio. The Quick-Shift 2-Speed nearly a decade and continue to handles. The Chinook is well-suited to saltwater fishing and comes in and Dura-Drag systems have been perfected in their International appreciate its design and how effectively either a 4-foot or 6-foot handle length. It features a drawn aluminum reels and passed on to these Squall models. The main and pinion gears, as well as ball bearings, are made from stainless steel. it spreads the weight of our wearer’s handle, strong and reliable hoop, internal Y-bar construction, which 54-ounce .44 Magnum Ruger Redhawk gives strength to the hoop, bonded nylon Sport-Mesh material for the Sea Eagle Packfish 7 Can-Am Maverick X3 across his torso, positioning the revolver netting, and a quick-connect channel that allows the hoop to connect to www.seaeagle.com www.teamcc.com in a supremely-accessible position. the handle quickly and store in a smaller space when not in use. This one-person fishing boat is 7 feet The Can-Am Maverick X3 is a 72-inch long, 3 feet, 3 inches wide, weighs only wide side-by-side that offers 20-plus New advancements include a custom Izorline Fluorocarbon Leader 21 pounds, and comes with its own inches of suspension travel and FOX cut-down for the newer Glock 40 MOS www.izorline.com backpack, making it a viable solution racing components, making this an off- that has the ability to mount a reflex Izorline’s Fluorocarbon is very dense, which allows it to sink faster than for fishing lakes and floating rivers. It road vehicle that can handle just about sight such as a red dot or delta point, other lines due to its high specific gravity. This helps you get your bait allows anglers to hike in and reach more anything. The 900 cc Rotax ACE engine and a personalized touch with initials or lure down to the fish more rapidly. Another advantage lies in its remote locations. The seat is comfortable kicks out 154 hp and 113 foot-pounds stamped on unique reflective index, which makes it practically invisible underwater. and inflatable, and the boat also has 2 of torque, making this one serious 4-Up the shoulder It is available in a very wide range of tests in multiple spool sizes. rod holders and 2 storage pouches. The side-by-side. It has many features, including an ultralight, rigid chassis to protect riders, as well strap. Two 5-foot oars are designed so they will as a heavy-duty full HMW skid plate designed to protect the bottom of the machine on rough useful SeaArk 2060MV Super Jon not fall out of the swivel oarlocks when terrain. There are multiple models and options available. Go visit Team CC in Eagle River or www.seaarkboats.com accessories you are fighting a fish. The bottom of Wasilla to check out these awesome machines. SeaArk Boats is known for building high- are available: the boat has tracking strips which adds quality, tough and durable Jon boats. Their stability and allows the boat to track Alaska Paracord Designs Firestarter Survival Products a reload 2060MV Super Jons are constructed of straighter. The boat comes in a Deluxe www.alaskaparacord.com pouch and .100-gauge marine-grade aluminum. They Package which includes the boat, In Alaska, we love to go exploring off the beaten path, and a magazine are all-welded with reinforced fasteners on decks and seats where areas of stress occur. They backpack, oars, seat and foot pump or it is important for adventurers to be self-sufficient when pouch. The the Pro Package which also includes a they go searching for that trophy rainbow trout or king use oversized ribs on all models and heavy-duty extrusions for keels and cap rails. Standard salmon. By definition, a survival situation is something you holster is features include: 3-degree all-welded MV hull, floored area for battery/fuel tank and a bow 5-pound wooden floorboard made available for a for casting. didn’t see coming. By wearing an Alaska Survival Bracelet deck. SeaArk Super Jons are available in Bone, OD Green, Sharkskin or Tan paint. You can or putting one of their key chains on your fishing vest or life jacket, you will be capable of wide range of customize your Jon boat to include the following: fuel systems, consoles, cabins, ATV ramps, handguns. starting a fire and signaling for help. All products contain military-grade firesteel, waterproof storage boxes, Gator-Hide interiors, camo paint, flotation pods, ice runners and live wells. tinder, ceramic blades and other critical components you need to survive.

10 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 11 Seaguar Abrazx Musky/Pike Leader www.seaguar.com This fluorocarbon leader material has been designed as a replacement for wire leaders when targeting fish with big, sharp teeth. We think this would be a good choice for northern pike and lingcod. It’s tough and nearly invisible, providing excellent knot strength. Plus, it’s easier on the fish compared to wire if they roll up in the leader. Choose from 80-, 90-, 100- or 130-pound-test in 25-yard coils.

Wilderness Pack Specialties Lure Bag www.wildernesspacks.com The Wilderness Pack Specialties new lure bag is constructed from heavy-duty 18-ounce vinyl and allows you to carry 28 large plugs and 24 medium plugs. The large front pocket fits two Plano 3600 series utility boxes with room for pliers and other accessories. Two polymer D-rings on the back allow you to hang the bag for easy storage and access. This bag prevents plug finishes from getting chipped and scratched up. BugBand Tick Repellent Spray Lotion www.bugband.net This lotion is an excellent solution to repel ticks, mosquitoes, flies, fleas, gnats, no- see-ums and chiggers. It does not contain propellants and relies on a highly effective metered pump sprayer to dispense a fine mist over the area to be treated. By spraying BugBand lotion directly on your skin, the active ingredient Geraniol, which is derived from geraniums, provides a protective barrier to deter insects from biting. It is also safe for use on clothing. When applying on people, start with shoes, socks, and then around the ankles, working your way up. For animals spray toe-to-tail and don’t forget to spray under, around and directly on the collar. Use once for hours of protection and reapply two to three times per day depending on humidity and perspiration.

12 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 13 Abbey Wilwert of Juneau, AK, Marilyn Campnell of Chugiak, AK, lands with her first king salmon of 2017, a mature rainbow trout while fishing the Skyler, 8, and Terren, 11, with taken back in January. upper Kenai in late November. their dad Matt Sugita on the Kenai and a mess of silvers they caught in September 2016. Michael Borys and his daughter Emma, 9, with her first king of the season on Ship Creek.

Phillip Randall Erickson with a Deshka River king. LaDonna McCray of Oklahoma with a beautiful Russian River rainbow in 2016. Greg & Lisa Black of Highlands Ranch, CO, fly fishing the Kenai River. Red Schlichting with a humpy on the Egegik River in August 2016.

Alex and Mark Sumida of Chattanooga, TN, salmon fishing on the Iliamna River in July 2016. Send us Your Fishing Photos! E-mail hi-res .jpeg photos to: [email protected]. Subject Line: FFC. Please include vital caption information in the e-mail. You can also mail photos to: FFC, PO Box 772424, Eagle River, AK 99577. Include a SASE if you want it returned. Include a separate caption for the photo. Do not write on the back of the photo. We will let you know when your photo will appear in the magazine.

14 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 15 16 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 17 their hands in the process. If you would like to offer your feedback on what you’d like to learn about we’ll do our Our Responsibility best to address these issues and report by Melissa Norris about them objectively. We’ll hear from the people who volunteer with relevant No matter the user group—whether In the current state of Alaska’s I am not saying ignore the obvious organizations, ADF&G biologists and primarily a sport-, commercial- or fisheries, we feel we must be one of the decline in Southcentral kings or to address topics such as catch-and-release subsistence fisherman—we can all agree voices for sport fishermen throughout blithely accept the unbalanced halibut tactics, fisheries of concern and more. that the diminished status of fish stocks the state. We each need to be mindful regulations in Southeast, but for some And yes, I fully realize that it can be in Alaska is a terrifying thought. Fishing of our individual actions and our impact fisheries the numbers reported from last hard to imagine the collapse of a fishery is an industry in Alaska, and it’s a way on the waters we fish, as well as educated summer were stronger and that is very while standing amidst a squadron of of life. And with the way our fish and on the issues and focused on what we encouraging. returning salmon or when a two-hour fishing reaches throughout our lives and can do to improve our fisheries. We need We have broad issues that we need flight, boat ride or hike in any direction economies, it’s not a stretch to say that to articulate to the fisheries managers to band together on to make change will land a person smack dab in the any decline in the health of our fisheries our concerns, because if we continue to in different regions. It’s not one user middle of some of the planet’s most is a detriment to everyone in the state— stand by and idly enjoy Alaska’s bounty, group versus another, it’s conserving prolific wild trout and salmon habitat, and all of those who visit. we’ll slowly lose what we are fortunate to the resource for all. I believe we all have but let’s also remember that line of Fish stocks for the most part are receive. The same is true for every single what we need. I associate with the kind thinking has already led Alaskans to the healthy and viable in Alaska, however, sportsman in this state, residents or of people who don’t like to waste so point where these debates are necessary. and it’s our combined responsibility non-residents alike; we are the only ones we go out of our way to package small Early in the state’s history, long before to ensure that it remains that way, just who can make a change, and together servings we can use in one meal. We statehood or before the U.S. government as it’s our duty to protect any stocks we are a loud voice. simply have to each do our own part took an interest in managing the region’s of concern and demand through both Many of us have more than we need. and it starts by being conscientious of fisheries, early salteries would be built action and attention that they are I’ve been fishing in Alaska for 20 years how much fish your family needs and near a productive stream or river mouth revived. It’s our mission at this magazine and there has always been opportunity to leaving fish behind you won’t use even and after a cycle of salmon runs, the to focus on all the positives in Alaska’s harvest quality fish. I have experienced if it means leaving your limit unfulfilled. salter would move on, not leaving nearly fisheries, but to also remain abreast of many amazing opportunities to catch We don’t have the answers but we enough escapement to provide for future issues affecting sport anglers and the fish all over the state in that time, and do have questions and we’ll be looking returns. long-term health of Alaska’s fisheries. while some people are grumbling about deeper into some of these issues as this Subsistence and sport anglers were For these reasons, we have added the fish numbers, it helps to remember column develops. At the start we’ll hear hardly better. Salmon returns appeared Fish Alaska Conservation Column. we have lots of abundant fisheries. from a number of sport fishers who have boundless, and that appearance was taken as fact. And for the longest time, if a gamefish wasn’t commercially important, then in accordance with regulations in place in Alaska, it wasn’t important at all. A bounty was at one time paid to anglers who didn’t mind killing a few Dolly Varden, and even into the late 1970s and early 1980s restrictions placed on rainbow trout and steelhead fisheries were so loose entire wild populations were nearly wiped out. Thankfully, much has changed, and today sport-, commercial and subsistence anglers are united in the mission of preserving Alaska’s wild fisheries, with all of us coming to understand the folly of believing that our state’s salt- and freshwater fisheries will continue to provide what we need just because we need it. For now, with the season at hand, please act responsibly. Take what you and your family need and leave the rest to reproduce another generation of great Alaska gamefish. It’s really your choice. Conservation is a shared burden.

Melissa Norris is Publisher of Fish Alaska magazine. 18 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 19 Ocean Fishing for Kids Story and photos by Becky Schwanke

The Schwanke family seeks outdoor family time as often as life permits. At this very moment shrimp pots are being set across Prince William Sound by Alaskan families hopeful to cash in on a bounty of tiny and tasty crustaceans. To me, that’s a bittersweet realization as I sit here writing this article considering my family has made many a shrimp opening in recent years. While we look forward to our first trip to Valdez for the year, the big tides this weekend just did not play into our hands. If you have ever lost a shrimp pot or had a difficult time keeping your line on the saltwater floor, you know what I’m talking about. Big tides bring big risks to shrimping, and they have a way of ruining perfectly good camping spots on the beach. They can be just as problematic when trying to bottomfish with the family. Once the tides settle down, we’ll be back exploring our favorite coastal fishing destination. These early trips offer some of the best outdoor family time there is. Rough and unpredictable winter seas give way to a spring calm that offers an opportunity to explore and unwind. While we enjoy the early bounty of shrimp, these outings are about much more. The herring spawn, if you are lucky enough to witness it, is an amazing act of nature seemingly impacting every living creature in the area. In some years snow still reaches to the water’s edge, keeping the wayward mountain goats or Sitka blacktail deer down low near the beach. Ocean birds, sea lions and sea otters bask in the spring sun, reveling in the new daylight and warmth. Affecting us the same way, newfound sun rays and fresh ocean air revive our sense of outdoor freedom following a long, chilly winter. One of the best parts of these early trips is getting to enjoy the beauty of our coastline while our pots do all the work. Bottomfish can be caught, but they often remain elusive early in the year. Considering kids haven’t the patience for this type of fishing, use the opportunity to check out icebergs, beach-comb, search inlet streams and hidden marsh environments for wild clues. You have to admit, we rarely slow down to see our coastline from this vantage point when saltwater fishing is hot. Considering salmon don’t show up in real numbers in Prince William Sound until July, our pursuit of wild ocean fish until then is relegated to halibut and rockfish. Often we don’t think of these as kid-friendly fish, but they can be if you know where and how to find them. On a calm day, you may want to check out shallow structure (30- to 100 feet) where you can turn up juvenile rockfish using small jigs. Be wary of the regulations, however, as limits are low for certain species. One benefit to fishing shallow is being able

20 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 21 to safely and easily release rockfish. With a our kid has caught by just letting his rod can be a great way to feel the bite, practice good sonar and a keen eye for feeding birds, sit in the holder. If you have an anchor and setting the hook and learn to fight feisty, you may luck into a school of pelagic black plenty of line, consider setting up shop for a beautiful salmon all on their own. rockfish. while, ensuring your bait scent has a chance If you don’t own your own boat, consider As you move into deeper water in search to attract fish. Need a little extra something a charter trip for the family this summer. of larger rockfish, halibut or lingcod, tides to get the fish to bite? Consider using a Do something a little out of the ordinary. become increasingly important. Kids have little good-smelling chum with a shrimp When choosing a charter boat, make sure limited skill when it comes to bouncing bait canister or a perforated bag attached to to ask if they are family-friendly. bottom, so pick the best times to introduce your anchor or downrigger ball. Looking for a budget opportunity to take them to the technique. Periods of small While saltwater bottomfishing isa kid salmon fishing this summer? Head to tidal changes are best, and you want to be an option most of the summer, when Campbell Creek or Eklutna Trailrace near ready to fish daily just before and during the salmon start to roll in, kid’s fishing Anchorage or the Homer Spit in late June slack tide (the shift between low-high tide opportunities really start to ramp up. where you’ll find dedicated youth fishing and vice versa). Before you get out there, do Whether pursuing Prince William Sound opportunities. In late July you may want a little research. Look for knolls surrounded pinks and silvers, or silvers and kings from to try for pinks out of Valdez. Be sure to by deeper water. Ask around, you may find Kodiak to Southeast, Alaska offers some note the Valdez Kid’s Pink Salmon Derby is a friend that will offer up a GPS location great opportunities to get kids on some fast scheduled for July 22 this year. or two to try, especially if you mention it’s and fun summer saltwater action. Looking for late summer fishing for the kids. Good salmon numbers bring increased opportunities before school starts? There When the water and wind cooperate, chances of hooking up. If you have ever are a good number of creeks in the Susitna you can keep a kid’s line on the bottom fished with kids before, you know this is River valley north of Wasilla along the without a lot of weight. The standard circle the Holy Grail. Kids need to experience Parks Highway to check out for pinks, hook, cannonball weight and herring setup success to really enjoy fishing. Throw in a silvers and chums. What a way to spend offers good passive fishing, or consider warm, sunny day and a fish they can keep a weekend outdoors. Camping and fast- using a 3- to 5-ounce jig. It never hurts and they’ll be hooked. action fishing is a pretty good way to close to tip the jig with some bait, but keep the One of our favorite annual fishing trips out the summer for any kid. bait small since most jigs are designed to is for silvers out of Valdez in August. Once give an effective presentation themselves. good numbers of silvers start to move into Encourage kids to hold and jig their rod, Prince William Sound, trolling or jigging Becky Schwanke is the owner of Tuff Kids but when the fun wears off, it’s okay to use can result in great fishing for the whole Outdoors, as well as a Hunter and Outdoor a rod holder if the bottom isn’t too rocky. family. We don’t often think of jigging as Education instructor and former wildlife We’ve been surprised at the number of fish a method to catch silvers, but for kids this biologist with ADF&G.

22 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 23 I would have never guessed that’s where the Starry flounder are most often Since I haven’t personally eaten one, I had name came from! I have noticed that starry caught by accident in Alaska. to resort to doing some online research. And Alaska’s Forgotten Flatfish flounder skin (on the eye side) feels kind of the results were pretty inconclusive. I found Story and photos by JD Richey like sandpaper but I have never taken the people on fishing message boards who said time to look more closely to see the stars. it was delicious and delicate, while others Much has been written about Alaska’s My accidental encounters with flounder rated it as “not bad,” “okay” and “mushy.” favorite flatfish, the delicious and sometimes have always come on inshore waters, but it I think my favorite description was: “Starry massive Pacific halibut. But what about its turns out that they, like halibut, go deep in flounder are totally decent table fare.” Kind small little cousin, the starry flounder— the winter. As spring arrives, starries move of a ringing endorsement for mediocrity, where is the love? close to shore and hang around shallow tidal I suppose. You just don’t read or hear much about flats in bays and estuaries. I read in several places that starries are starries, so I decided to dig a little deeper and Spawning occurs from fall through often sold as “sole” in seafood markets. I’m see what their story is. spring, depending on the location. What’s not sure exactly how to read into that...is it Could it be that Alaska is simply so loaded pretty interesting is that starries, particularly that starry flounder isn’t a very marketable with hard-fighting and tasty glamour species the younger ones, can often be found quite the Arctic and across the Pacific to Japan and walleye are revered wherever they exist, name or do they have some bad reputation? that flounder just fly under the radar? Maybe far upstream in rivers. As they grow older, Korea. Apparently, they are pretty prolific despite the fact that they reportedly fight like After digging deeper than probably they are as of yet undiscovered? Or is there their need for saltwater increases and they little buggers! But, the fact that they live a wet sock. So, using that logic, it seems hard anybody ever cared to look into the merits of a more practical reason that these half-pint head downstream. I’ve seen them close to 10 within range of so many population centers to chalk up the flounder’s lack of popularity the starry flounder, it’s becoming clear to me flatfish are largely ignored by anglers? miles upstream on some rivers in Alaska. yet aren’t pursued much got me thinking. to its underwhelming fighting skills. that anglers’ collective apathy towards them Before answering these questions, I Flounder are ambush predators just like What the heck is wrong with these fish? It’s even more confounding when you isn’t due to any one factor. Rather, I believe figured I’d better get more aquainted with their big cousins. The little guys munch consider how popular flounder fishing is it has to do with the fish’s generally lackluster the starry flounder. I’ve caught a fair number on worms and small crustaceans while the What’s wrong with flounder? in places along the Gulf Coast and Eastern marks across the board in the important of them over the years but it was always by larger ones eat everything from small crabs, Is it a size thing? Starries don’t get large—a seaboard. I know some guys who have caught categories: culinary, sporting and size chief accident while fishing for other species. To sand dollars, small herring and smelt. And, 22-incher is a really good one in most tons of 50-pound stripers and monster tuna among them. that end, I really don’t know the first thing as I have found out, they’ll also occasionally places—so perhaps their lack of bulk is a out of New Jersey and yet when the flounder Oh well, that’s probably good news about them... grab trolled spinners, egg clusters bounced strike against them. But then again, bluegill are in, they forget about all else and focus for the fish themselves and the handful of Like, for example, why the heck they are along the bottom and sardine-wrapped and crappie are among the most popular solely on the little bottomfish. anglers who pursue them. called “starry” in the first place. Flatfish intended for salmon. Very few folks fish in the country and they rarely crack the Those particular guys are all about eating Well, a little Google research led me to the Starry flounder have a pretty large range target flounder. The 2-pound mark. flounder. While those Eastern flounder are answer. Apparently, they have small raised, in my experience; I have caught them from ones who do say It must be the starry’s less-than-stellar a different species, it would stand to reason star-shaped plates on their backs. Not that southwest Alaska down to San Francisco Bay. they are delicious. fighting abilities, right? After all, when that most flatfish from halibut to sandabs JD Richey is a contributing editor for Fish I’d spent more than about 30 seconds of Other people hooked, it’s often difficult to tell one from are pretty tasty. So again, I ask: What’s the Alaska magazine; he can be reached through As it turns out, they can be found in an even aren’t so sure… my life pondering that, but I’m pretty sure broader area—from Southern California to a waterlogged slice of rye bread. Of course, problem with starries? his website at www.fishwithjd.com.

24 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 25 Step 10: Take a half- Step 11: Take pencil-width of your approximately a pencil- Ripple Ice fiber and width of the brown tie-in on top of the Farrar’s; this hunk you want AK-Chovey white Farrar’s fibers. to tie-in the middle, but do Fly pattern & photos by Mike Brown Materials: This material may not cut it off. Tie this clump be a little shorter in on top of your previous Over the last few years, we have seen an influx of folks coming in to Mossy’s Fly Shop looking to tie Main Hook: Daiichi 2546 Sz 1/0 length. two materials. patterns for kings and coho in the salt. A large percentage of these folks are using flies instead of bait Rear Hook: Tiemco 600SP Sz 1 to troll in the salt. When I saw saltwater fishing was this month’s topic, we started brainstorming ideas Wire: Rio Bite Wire 40-pound for a good pattern for Alaska waters. Body Tinsel: Veevus Silver Tinsel and With capelin, herring and sand lances all being common bait for kings and coho; we felt something Veevus Red Tinsel along those lines would be an easy and fun pattern to play with. Since folks are trolling these more than anything else, we thought incorporating a trailer hook, much like a herring rig, would help First Wing: Farrar’s SF Blend White increase hook up rates. If the rear hook is not needed, it can be removed without affecting the fly at all. Second Wing: Ripple Ice Fiber UV Pearl This is a fun and easy fly to tie and the pattern can be tied in a variety of color schemes and sizes. Third Wing: Farrar’s SF Blend Mullet Brown Enjoy! Flash: Holographic Flashabou Olive Head: Fish Skull Fish Mask #7 Step 13: Take 20 strands of your flash and tie- Step 14: Using a red marker, color the Step 12: Fold the brown Farrar’s back over down in the middle; be sure your flash matches bottom of the head red. Using an olive Mike Brown is the owner of Mossy’s Fly Shop in Anchorage, AK. A lifelong Alaskan with a passion for Eye’s: Fish Skull Living Eyes Ice 7mm the top and lash down good and tight. in length for both halves. Now fold the front- marker, color the rest of the head. Using family, fly fishing and fly-tying, Mike pens theFish Alaska Fly Column monthly. facing flash back over the top. Build a nice your ZAP-A-GAP or Super Glue, put a tapered head. good coat over the entire head. Step 15: Slip your Fish Step 16: Rotating the fly to its Mask over the hook-eye side, put a small drop of UV resin and push into place; you into the eye socket. Now place should have enough room your eye into the socket; then to build a small head in cover the entire eye with UV resin front of the mask to keep and cure with light. Repeat this step for the other side. Step 2: Cut an 8-inch length of 40-pound bite Step 3: Fold both wire ends back. I like to place it securely in place. Step 1: Start your thread about two wire. Fold the wire in half, matching the two one down each side of the shank to make a hook-eye-widths back from the front ends evenly, and put a few turns of thread more uniform body. Put a few good, tight turns and wrap it back to just before the around the wire to hold in place. Adjust the of thread down to hold them in place. bend starts, approximately about the rear loop to be about 1 ½ inches long. Wrap point of the hook. your thread down the wire and hook shank up to where you started the thread.

Step 6: Wrap your tinsel up to about two hook- eye-widths from the end of your thread. Step 17: Now trim your body material to Step 4: Wrap your thread good and tight shape using tapering cuts down both sides over the front end of the wire; build a Step 5: Tie-in your tinsel for the body. and bottom. You can trim this to whatever nice taper for your tinsel and then wrap shape you want to mimic. I trimmed this one your thread back to the end where you to have a slender profile tapering to about started. Cover the thread with some 1-inch past the rear hook. ZAP-A-GAP or Super Glue to add a bit of security from all this pulling apart.

Step 8: Wrap your red tinsel down over the end of the bump of wire to approximately one hook-eye-width from the hook-eye. Step 9: Take approximately half a pencil-width of the white Farrar’s Blend and tie-down at Step 18: Attach your rear hook with hook- the base of the bump from the wire. You want point facing up. By facing the hook up, you the Farrar’s Blend to extend past the rear wire can tuck it up into the material to hide it. Step 7: Tie-in your red tinsel. loop by a couple inches.

26 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 27 striking rocks, reefs or other on-the-water and although not bulletproof, can take the sometimes even dog-walker, Bruce Nyblod hazards. strike from a rock or log, oftentimes not along with his two sons, Russell and Aluminum made its boating debut causing massive damage or critical failure. Brandon, steers the ship. Bruce believes Ocean Mania: The Making officially in the early 1920s, but there Aluminum is also low in maintenance, their success is attributed to building boats of a Great Salt-Going Vessel are reports that date back to Napoleon’s especially if allowed to naturally oxidize, that offer optimal performance, great styles creating its very own natural protective and lines, and excellent craftsmanship Story by Troy Buzalsky time when the first official pond boat was manufactured. During this period barrier. without compromising on safety or To make anything great you need three aluminum was more expensive than many This column will explore Cold Water, functionality. things: a well-engineered design, top- precious metals, so the boat was more for KingFisher, Northwest Marine Industries Nyblod got his start on the water at the caliber materials and skilled craftsmanship. opulence than practicality. In the ’40s and Silver Streak Boats: four top-cabin spry age of 15 in Puget Sound and Bristol In the watercraft world I call this the aluminum started gaining traction as a boat manufacturers who have great designs Bay while commercial fishing. It didn’t take Boating Triangle. Remove or compromise practical and seaworthy material, and since and feature top-notch construction in their long for Bruce to become more intrigued any one of the three legs of the Boating then, aluminum has carved a niche in the quest for boating excellence. with boating and vessel design, building Triangle and not only will you have a less- boating world by being easy to fabricate, his first boat in 1975. The initial Cold than-great boat, you might not have a safe low maintenance, lightweight with Cold Water Boats Water Boats (formerly All Points Marine, or seaworthy vessel. tremendous fuel efficiency and durable… Every boat manufacturer has a story, and Inc.) were tailored for gillnet anglers, and Typically wood, fiberglass andreally durable. A well-designed aluminum Cold Water Boats is no different. At the it didn’t take long for sport anglers to take aluminum serve as the material of choice hull can easily take the hydraulic forces the helm of Cold Water Boats for more than notice and steer Nyblod and company to for boat builders, and each have their sea has to offer, can be repeatedly beached 41 years, owner, operator, president and start building boats for private anglers, pros and cons. Wood boats tend to be less commercial charters and destination expensive initially, but over time, care and pleasure cruisers. maintenance come into play, reducing the Nyblod designed Cold Water Boats’ prominence of this once popular material. unique construction around many of Fiberglass has some outstanding properties, the tried-and-true concepts found in the including the ability to be favorably shaped gillnet and commercial industry. Built for ideal performance, being well-insulated entirely from marine-grade 5000 series for warmth and sound, producing less aluminum, the hull is shaped and formed sweating and generally more eye-appealing utilizing a combination of precision vessels. The downsides to fiberglass boats router-cut components and proprietary include their overall weight and fuel extrusions along with a full length ½-inch efficiency, care and maintenance, and the keel, longitudinal and transverse web fact that fiberglass is subject to damage Cold Water boats are among the most seaworthy fishing vessels available on the framing, and a formed bow wrap. “These when trailering, docking, beaching and market today. © Cold Water Boats. are common features in the commercial industry but were virtually unheard of in the recreational market,” explains Russ Nyblod. Applying these features has allowed Cold Water Boats to created one of the driest, strongest and most seaworthy vessels found in this category of boat today. Cold Water Boats focuses on the 31- to 37-foot market and are built around three basic hull designs: the WalkAround, the PilotHouse and the SRX. Each is designed to maximize their clients’ experience, whether fishing, cruising, camping, sightseeing or even for just enjoying a day out on the water. With any Cold Water Boat, you start with one of the basic hull designs and then the customer has full customization of the interior and amenities. The flagship WalkAround is literally the boat that put Cold Water Boats on the map and earned them Hall of Fame status among charter captains, lodges and veteran anglers alike. The 34-foot WalkAround is the prototypical six-pack charter vessel that performs as well as it fishes. From tip-to- toe the vessel, when equipped with triple outboards, runs the tape at 42 feet and features a super-wide 11-foot beam. The angler’s dance floor is a full 100 square feet of unencumbered space, the cabin almost another 100 square feet and you guessed it, the berth has room for a head. The weatherproof 6 ½- x 10 ½-foot cabin is insulated top and bottom, providing both 28 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 29 Hardcore fishing is what the KingFisher warmth and sound-deadening benefits. 3425 Offshore is all about. Measuring almost 6 feet, 8 inches, at the © KingFisher Boats. ceiling, the roomy cabin features a front- helm captain and co-pilot station and can and toughness, helping catapult KingFisher be fitted with full seating or incorporated as the fastest growing all-welded heavy- with a dinette, sink, single burner cook-top gauge aluminum boat brand in the world. and mini-fridge. “We constantly do our utmost to The berth-forward trunk also has improve our product,” shares Sales & optional use features including a full storage Marketing Director Mark Delaney. “We design or a combination of single sleeper, always listen to our customers and our marine head and sink. The WalkAround dealers and fittingly make changes.” is a great fishing, camping and day- For 2017 KingFisher unveiled the 3425 cruiser, but it’s fair to say it’s not designed Offshore at the Vancouver, Portland and as a honeymooner… for that, check out Seattle boat shows, and it’s fair to say this the SRX! boat caused quite the buzz and even some In 2015 Cold Water introduced drooling from those who took a peek. Generation 3. “We took everything that The 3425 Offshore is a new design for was right already and improved upon it,” KingFisher from the ground up. Larger in explains Russ. “Our goal was to create a size, weighing in at 13,000 pounds, with better ride in our typical waters; the sloppy a mighty 35-foot, 1-inch, overall length, 3- to 4-foot wind-waves we experience in 10-foot beam, 91-inch bottom, and 42- the PNW while giving the boat a new, inch sides, this angler’s dream is trailerable sexier design.” Consulting with two Naval and easily fits through the Anton Anderson architects, changes were made in the sheer Memorial Tunnel (aka Whittier Tunnel)— line and the hull was modified with a the longest one-lane highway tunnel in sharper bow-entry angle while raising the North America and the route of travel footprint of the chine. “The performance from Anchorage to Whittier with access to improvements are dramatic, and it’s fair Prince William Sound. to say when a Cold Water pulls into the Coastal cruising and hardcore fishing harbor, everybody takes notice.” is what the 3425 Offshore is all about, Cold Water Boats have become and it is available in either a Weekender an industry standard: Time-tested to or upgraded Destination cabin perform and designed with function in interior package. “More and more, the mind. That’s why professional charters diehard angler wants to include his count on Cold Water Boats, season spouse, family and friends,” explains after successful season, as their boats Delaney. The Destination package does not of choice. For more information go to compromise on the many angler-friendly www.coldwaterboats.com. features; it just ups the ante on creature comforts and high-end appointments. KingFisher Welded Sportfishing Boats The oversized comfortable cuddy sleeps The manufacturing facility’s name says it six adults and showcases hand-crafted all: the KingFisher Center of Excellence. cabinetry, a V-berth queen bed complete This 55,000 square-foot manufacturing with memory-foam mattress, carpeted Shangri-La, located in Vernon, BC, is touted storage and ergonomic overhead storage to be the most modern, technologically shelves. The interior is fully trimmed advanced and greenest complex for welded with marine-friendly and beautifully heavy-gauge aluminum boats in the unusual Sapelli (Sapele) wood, the same world. Building boats from 16- to 34 feet, wood Cadillac uses in its luxury line KingFisher has earned the “Best in its Class” of automobiles. reputation in ride performance, fishability Angler-friendly features include two 30 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 31 Sea Sport boats are already known oversized cockpit fish lockers, a watertight in the industry as one of the most bulkhead, walk-through transom door, versatile and rugged boats available. hydraulic steering, a walk-around bow with © Northwest Marine Industries. railing, transom fish locker with cutting board and fish rail, and an aft fishing in Anchorage and the Boat Shop in station designed by anglers, for anglers. Fairbanks. For more information go to The serious fisherman can add cockpit www.kingfisherboats.com. gunnel pads, rooftop rocket launcher- style rod holders, interior rod holders, Northwest Marine Industries net holders, a fresh- and saltwater wash- A new company with old roots, Northwest down system, and even angler-friendly Marine Industries manufactures C-Dory, deck lights. Osprey, Sea Sport and Skagit Orca boats. There are many features with the At the helm of the operation is Ron Wright KingFisher Offshore series; however, it (Managing Member), who established the might be the craftsmanship that catches Sea Sport line more than 30 years ago with the angler by surprise. In true craftsman- his brother David Wright and David’s son, style, KingFisher hires the best welders David A. Wright. and fabricators in the industry. They start Now co-owned with his son, Mark with raw marine-grade aluminum sheets Wright and son-in-law Ryan Binning, with and 5000 series stock. Once the craftsman Greg Little, VP of Operations and new starts the hull fabrication they follow the production manager Michael Millison, boat from start to finish. In other words, no the Northwest Marine Industries team is assembly lines! Each builder is prideful and committed to producing and distributing accountable and would proudly sign their the highest-quality products for boaters name to their work. across the world. KingFisher Boats exclusive Pre-Flex Sea Sport boats are already known in technology makes traditional hull design the industry as one of the most versatile concepts obsolete. The KingFisher hull is and rugged boats available, but Northwest built on a jig system, forming the hull with Marine Industries will also be building all “Pre-Flexed” components. Pre-loading the models of the C-Dory, Osprey and Skagit hull components prior to welding forms Orca lines. Of particular interest to Alaska a hull with unparalleled strength, impact boaters and anglers, the C-Dory TomCat resistance and the comfort of sound- is the only catamaran in the C-Dory line. dampening. “This boat offers remarkable stability “We Understand...We Fish Too,” is the and comfort in a boat in this size range,” mantra at KingFisher. This philosophy Ron Wright explained about the 25-foot, helps KingFisher build the most fishing 5-inch, TomCat. “This is truly a boat that and family-friendly vessels for Alaska you have to ride in,” Wright continued. waters, designed to be tough, smart “Feel for yourself how good the ride is.” and safe. KingFisher is pleased to have The TomCat also has a full queen-size berth two authorized dealers in Alaska as forward, which just adds to the comfort of well: Alaska Mining and Diving Supply this boat.

32 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 33 basic hulls to jaw-dropping mini-yachts. bow, providing both space and headroom The Silver Streak lineup includes the in the fully-insulated and upholstered Duck, Open and Sled hulls, the river-ready V-berth. Front and rear navigation stations Jet Sled, the Soft Top and Centre Console offer greater flexibility, while the full skiff. With loading, unloading and access in floatation offshore bracket is rated for 300 mind, the Landing Craft series is available HP, enough ponies to make this Silver in jet drive, inboard or outboard models Streak scream. with options including a centre console or Silver Streak hulls feature fully-welded full cabin. For the saltwater enthusiast the chines, self-bailing cockpit decks and Hard Top, Cuddy, Pilot, and Swiftsure lines aluminum inspection hatches and doors. are sure to please even the most fastidious The bottom of the Swiftsure is made boat connoisseur. from ¼-inch one-piece 5086 heavy-gauge The mission for Silver Streak has always marine-grade aluminum and the transom been “to create a quality product at an If you’re looking for a premier, all-welded aluminum boat, look no further than a corners are mitered to a precision fit. Under affordable price for the avid outdoorsman Silver Streak. © Silver Streak Boats. the deck and gunnels all Silver Streak Boats The C-Dory TomCat is the only catamaran in the C-Dory line and the comfort and their families,” shares Barry. To meet saltwater fishing boat and destination space and more design flexibility, making feature closed-cell polyurethane foam, and stability in a boat this size are notable. © Northwest Marine Industries. their mission Silver Streak is quick to cruiser? You might consider the Silver for an ideal family-outing watercraft. which provides sound-deadening, warmth proclaim that they do not build a cheap Streak 24-foot Swiftsure XW Cuddy Designed to accommodate six adults, the and floatation. And you will not find any Also of note, the Sea Sport Kodiak is the Visit www.nmiboats.com today for more boat; rather they proudly attest to building Cabin. Ideal for angling, crabbing, trolling, 24-foot Swiftsure XW boasts an impressive wood in a Silver Streak hull. These and most popular boat in the line, and as Wright information. a better boat, opting for the use of domestic mooching and shrimping, this all-purpose 9-foot, 6-inch, beam with a full 8-foot, other standard features create a safe and explains, it’s for plenty of good reasons. products and backing it up with a lifetime runabout is the quintessential family boat. 8-inch, floor that creates a spacious aft sound boating and fishing platform made “It provides ample room in the cabin for Silver Streak hull warranty. “We actually use our own If fishing isn’t your thing, load the boat’s dance floor for your angling needs. The to last a lifetime. comfort, whether cruising or fishing. It also Canada’s premier all-welded aluminum boats, constantly testing them in the harshest hardtop with kayaks and start exploring cabin measures 7 feet x 8 feet, 6 inches, Commercial-grade is synonymous offers an enclosed stand-up head with an boat manufacturer, Silver Streak Aluminum conditions. Whether it’s completing the remote destinations from water’s level. with 6-feet, 8 inches of ceiling height, with Silver Streak Boats, with more than optional shower, and along with the cabin Boats, has been manufacturing versatile circumnavigation race around Vancouver Regardless of how you use the Swiftsure, plenty tall for non-NBA types. The XW is 30-years of boat-building experience space, the Kodiak provides great space and seaworthy vessels since 1987 from their Island or halibut fishing 60 miles offshore, it’s guaranteed to have the family begging specifically designed to be large in size and crafting these go-anywhere, do-anything in the cockpit for multiple anglers.” The Sooke, BC, location. Owned and operated or even bouncing off rocks on a remote for their next day on the water. huge in features. boats. For more information go to features don’t stop there, either, as large by Andy Barry, Silver Streak’s coastal river on various hunting adventures, we are The Swiftsure XW is specifically The Swiftsure XW all-weather cabin is www.silverstreakboats.com. fish boxes and storage add to the cockpit, Vancouver Island location has proven to be constantly driven to provide our customer engineered for rough waters, featuring considered 100% watertight and features but performance is where this boat really the ultimate testing ground in their quest with the most up-to-date, well thought- a 22-degree deep-V hull and an extra- a forward-leaning three-piece windshield shines, with a stable, fast, dry deep-V hull to be the best boat manufacturer possible. out, tested product on the market today,” wide footprint, hence the name XW. The with 360-degree visibility through Troy A. Buzalsky is a contributing editor for providing unsurpassed performance for a Silver Streak offers a plethora of models shares Barry. additional width provides a supersized Diamond Sea Glaze tinted windows. The Fish Alaska magazine and pens the Boats 26-foot boat. from 10- to 32 feet that range from bare, Looking for that perfect family-friendly cabin cockpit, which translates to more cuddy’s exterior style incorporates a stylish Column monthly.

34 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 35 estimation are slightly offset so that when the Snell or wrap the shank; don’t tie directly fishing line pulls tight the hook point rotates to the eye. Multiple studies have shown that and goes deeper. with circle hooks a ‘snelled’ hook will catch Circle hooks eased onto the sport- up to a third more fish than hooks with lines Circling Naked fishing scene after years of success tied into knotted to the eye. A study of hookups on commercial longlines laid for halibut and snappers, a fish very similar to our yelloweye With Dinosaurs black cod—fisheries that needed self-setting and pelagic and non-pelagic rockfish found Story by Terry W. Sheely hooks that could be popped out of fish quickly that of 358 fish hooked and fought to the Dinosaurs and naked herring are a proven and easily without stopping the retrieve pulley. boat, 210 were on snelled hooks compared combination when it comes to impressing Circle hooks did exactly that. to 148 on knotted eyes. In every test I kings and silvers, chums and pinks. But there Sport halibut hunters, when faced with new researched, snells had a more positive ratio comes a time when even challenge-craving federal slot limits and live-release mandates, of hookups, up to 30 percent more, when Jurassic-moochers like me, dinosaurs from the gradually adopted the commercial circle hook compared to eye knots. time before Plasticized Trolls, need to upgrade. for hallies, but stuck to J hooks for salmon, The real test is on the bite. And that time is here. lings, yelloweye and other rockfish. But today, First step, tighten down the drag. I know, Drifting or motor-mooching a fresh even these fish are in trouble in many areas, but it’s true. In my dinosaur years I mooched herring, plug-cut or whole, is an adrenalin forcing ADF&G to shift to more conservation- with almost no drag, just enough to keep the rush restrained by required finesse. oriented management programs that include line from free-spooling and used my thumb Dinosaur moochers fish with the rod in tighter limits on size and harvest numbers. To for control. Forget that. hand, fingers easy on the line, feeling for stay legal, in many cases necessitates catch- Button down the drag. When that salmon the take, nerves telegraphing the dart and and-release of fish outside those restrictions. takes and turns you don’t want line slippage, spinning fall of the bait, sensing the sniff of And that means circle hooks. you want a taut line that slides the hook a salmon, feeding line, working it, gently, Rather than disappear down the gullet, like around to the corner of the mouth and persuasively talking a suspicious predator into J-hooks, circle hooks rotate into the gristle drives it home into gristle as the fish runs. eating sharpened steel. At the slightest whiff of in the corner of a fish’s mouth—increasing Sounds goofy, but it works. a bite every neuron in a moocher’s body stands survival rates by more than 50 percent. A study Wait until the rod tip plunges and then on end. published in the very serious North American reel down to the fish—DO NOT STRIKE. The ultimate mooch is with a herring Journal of Fisheries reported that striped Simply reel hard and fast, driving the fished naked—no flasher, hoochie, cap, diver bass, a fish about as hardy as our salmon and needlepoint home, then back off the drag or downrigger—just a firm-bodied, chrome- rockfish, caught on bait and held for five days a bit to let the stuck fish run. If, for some scaled herring, well-rigged and seductively had 5 percent mortality with circle hooks and reason, the circle hook doesn’t connect, don’t fished. Herring are the ultimate salmon 16 percent with standard J hooks. Increasing panic or pull it away. Work the bait so that organic: no GMO, lactose, sucrose, gluten or survival from 5 to 16 percent by simply it tumbles and darts like mortally wounded lab-concocted scents, colors or preservatives. swapping hook styles is huge! prey. It’s not at all uncommon for salmon When a fast salmon meets a slow herring The good news for herring moochers is and especially rockfish to lose prey, then turn the outcome is involuntary predator-prey that circle hooks work their best when used and attack a second time. reaction. The same with rockfish or lingcod, with bait. The other news is that moochers Takes a lot of patience, but it works great. bycatch that unfortunately have serious will need to make some serious mental and When a salmon mouths the herring, the conservation concerns but frequently inhale reflexive adjustments in their technique to be rod will pump slightly. Some experts advise herring intended for salmon. successful. reeling in a wee bit of line at that stage to pull A well-mooched herring will do it all, but First step is picking a hook. Lot of choices the herring a little away from the salmon. in different ways. out there. Whichever hook you pick it should The idea is to encourage the fish to make a A big king might hold it, reposition it and be made of thinner metal than our customary, hard, determined strike to keep the baitfish swim before swallowing. Schooled silvers or conventional J hooks. The reason is that circle from escaping. chums hunting in competitive packs, and hooks are set by the pull of the fish against I’m still undecided on that tactic. aggressive swarms of rockfish, yelloweye, the resistance of the rod. There is no “strike” However, I am convinced that if a salmon cavern-mouthed lings and other primitives or driving the hooks home. The fish moves; mouths and drops my herring, the odds are feed with gusto and gulp—open, inhale and the hooks pulls taut, rotates to the corner and very good that I can trigger a reactive second swallow. Fish don’t care that you’re trying to sticks. The thinner the metal, the deeper the strike by flipping the rod tip, pulling the stay legal, fishing against state-imposed size penetration and easier the stick. bait, then stripping line so that wounded restrictions and limits that in some areas can Modified octopus circles, such as the prey falls. Ninety percent of the time the fish be as low as one fish. Lazer Sharp, are built with thinner, stronger will come back and clobber the herring on For better or worse a well-mooched herring wire, which not only delivers more hook the fall, close its mouth, turn and drive the is almost irresistible to any gamefish that penetration but also significantly reduces bait snelled circle hook into the corner of the jaw. swims, and in this era of tight limits rooted tears. If I want this fish for the table, I’m in conservation management or recovery Hook size, like always, is determined by the confident it will get there. If I want to release plans, catch-and-release is the only responsible size of the herring baits. Two-hook mooching it, I’m just as confident it will survive the option, which alone makes a legitimate case rigs for typical three- to five-inch herring release. for replacing J hooks, the standard hook will take 2/0-4/0 hooks for feeder kings and It’s time we learned to handle circle style, with circle hooks, probably the most silvers, up to 3/0-5/0 for mature kings, chum hooks and the patient techniques that go controversial and widely-researched hook in salmon and bottomfish. with them—even old-time moochers with history. My recommendation is a thin-wire, wide- Jurassic roots. In a nutshell, circle hooks by definition are gap either in-line or slightly offset, laser- designed with the point turned perpendicularly sharpened to a needlepoint, with a beak, back to the shank to form a circular or oval sometimes called a hangnail. It should have an Terry W. Sheely is a contributing editor for Fish shape. Some models have razor points curved ‘up’ eye so the line can be fed directly through Alaska magazine and can be reached through inline with the shank. The better ones in my the eye to the shank. his website at www.tnscommunications.net. 36 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 37 my garage. The ladder-hook is screwed not helpful. However, there is a solution. into studs with lag bolts. This saves space Enter the Umpqua ZS Tailgater—a system Transporting Gear and ensures my tube is always ready to you strap onto a large tote that enables Story and photo by George Krumm go. It is also easier on your tube to leave you to turn what was initially just a big it mostly inflated and hanging on the plastic box into a complete transportation Disarray. Frustration. Those are two words wall rather than deflating, packing away system and rigging station. The Tailgater that can be used to describe the state of and re-inflating for each trip. Those of is an ingenious design and is a big boost my gear between trips. My float tube was you using tubes with internal bladders to my ability to transport gear efficiently often deflated and packed in a box, which will definitely get more years out of your and ensure I have what I need with me. I thought made sense. My gear was all float tube or pontoon boat bladders if you The Tailgater has a place for many of the over the garage, and every time I wanted leave the tube mostly inflated all the time. small- and medium-sized items I need to to go fish a lake I had to search through I realize with larger pontoon boats this take with me, and it keeps them in easy- various drawers in the garage, on top of might not be possible; that’s part of the to-find, often visible places. For instance, work benches, in vests, wading jackets, reason I fish from a float tube most of the at a glance I can see if I have a pair of closets, vehicles and the like, trying to time—space and ease of transport. nippers, forceps, pliers, a knot-tying tool, find what I needed for my excursion to The pockets of my SuperCat are extra leaders and tippet, and so on. All of the lake. As often as I fish, it needed to removable, but I don’t remove them very these are easily seen on the front of the change. often. Most of the gear, flies, tools, etc., Tailgater. The Tailgater also has larger Over the years I’ve developed a system stay in my float-tube pockets between mesh pockets on the inside of the tote that to keep my stillwater stuff organized to trips. Having gear, fly boxes, tools, etc., can hold extra reels or spools, a stocking ensure I can quickly load everything I dedicated to your stillwater fishing is a very cap, gloves, extra fly boxes and more. need, and then head to the lake with good idea and will help you stay organized When I’m ready to load my gear in my confidence that I didn’t leave anything as well as prevent you from forgetting truck I take my waders off the hanger in behind. Being organized to transport your things, such as nippers, a certain box of the garage (yes, I hang my waders between gear efficiently will save you a tremendous flies, a hook remover or the like. trips) and put them in the tote. There is amount of time, ultimately making you Next, I bought a large plastic tote already a pair of wading boots in the tote more successful and your fishing more to carry gear in. My idea was to be able as well as my fins. I take my fish-finder off enjoyable. Below are some of the things I to grab this tote, my float tube and my the charger and put it in the tote. I put my do that may be helpful to you. rods and have everything I need for any raingear in the tote. Everything else I need Nowadays, I rarely deflate my float stillwater trip. Throwing everything in the is already in the tote, except for rods and tube. Instead, I leave it inflated and hang tote is kind of crude, and for smaller items, the float tube. it on a large ladder-hook on the wall of they get lost under larger items. That is I take the float tube off the hanger and put it in the back of my truck. I take my rod cases and slide them under the SuperCat, then I put the tote in the truck. That’s it—I load three items in the truck and I’m down the road in a couple minutes. No frustration, no frantic searching for things, no worry about being late. Keeping your gear organized between trips will make loading and transporting your gear easier and more efficient, your trips more successful and you’ll enjoy your fishing more.

George Krumm is a contributing editor for For a given stillwater trip, I load three things: My float tube, my rods, and the tote with the Umpqua Tailgater strapped onto it. Larger items such as my Fish Alaska magazine and can be reached at fins, PFD, raingear and fish-finder are all inside the tote. [email protected].

38 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 39 Background: An Elfin Cove sunset over Icy Strait. Overlay: A typical’s day catch for the area.

40 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 41 The first plug is Inian Islands, a scattering of nine smallish islands around dominate Inian Island. Together they clog the center of the strait, forcing currents, fish and boat traffic into narrow and powerful passes on either side. Five miles east is Lemesurier Island, and beyond that along the mainland east of Gustavus is the 19 square miles of Pleasant Island, the largest in Icy Strait. Each offers a different type of structure and fishery but together they form the almost unheard of 23,151-acre Pleasant/Lemesurier/ Inian Islands Wilderness Area. And a salmon/halibut/lingcod/ rockfish destination that I’ve found always worth the investment in time and travel. The only way of reaching this salmon stop is by boat or floatplane. The bulk of fishing pressure, and it’s so comparatively light that I hesitate to describe it as ‘pressure,’ originates in the small communities of Elfin Cove and Gustavus as guided charter boats and self-guided rentals. Occasionally, an ocean-capable boat from Juneau will be spotted, but it’s a rare event even at the peak of the seasons. Which means that the handful Top: Salmon in the net. Bottom: Trolling on the Cross of boats splaying outward from the small Sound side of the inians. Inset from top to bottom: Jim hubs of Elfin and Gustavus constitute all Kearns landing the author’s halibut near Lemesurier of the fishing pressure on this vast funnel Island. Jim Goerg poses with a hefty Pleasant Island silver. of multiple salmon runs, halibut flats and rockfish beds.

Inian Islands Sitting just outside the diminutive boardwalk community of Elfin Cove, the collection of Inian Islands forms a broken land barrier cracked by channels and powerful chutes that divide Cross Sound and Icy Strait. The half-dozen- plus small islands form a buffer that blunts ocean swells rolling from the open ocean, offers protected refuges where fishermen in small boats can fish for concentrated salmon, on reefs for lingcod and rockfish and long, tapered flats where halibut feed in less than 150 feet of water. The open Cross Sound side can be tempestuous and bouncy in anything but an east wind and the Icy Strait side is predictably sheltered. Check the wind and pick your hotspot. Inside the islands, channels and chutes are fishable and productive on slack tides but on running tide changes can argue forcefully for boat control.

42 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 43 Sometimes the catch defies description.

Two main channels skirt the island promising option. complex and link Cross Sound and Icy One of the sweetest plusses of this Strait: North and South passes. entire area, for me and my lower back, is Both can be a challenge on running the abundance of shallow-water halibut tides, but one of the blessings of this action. I’ve caught 100-pounders in 80 nest of islets is that somewhere it always feet of water and rarely found it necessary provides a safe, productive place to fish. to go deeper than 120 feet, especially in Anglers based at Elfin Cove quickly learn mid- to late summer when millions of that when Cross Sound is kicking white- pink salmon are rolling into the passes capped snits the peninsulas, rocks, reefs, like an endless conveyor belt of halibut coves and kelp inside and behind Inian lunches. If you ever had night terrors of offer smooth-water alternatives. hooking a halibut on a fly rod this can be Any species that swims in Cross Sound the place that dream comes true. Knot can be found in the rocks and rips at on a huge wet fly—half-a-rabbit patterns Inian. are good—saturate with herring, salmon Finding productive water is as easy egg or bloody tuna scent and drop it into and difficult as finding structure. Both 50 feet of water, such as the good halibut North and South passes are salmon and lingcod water at Dundas Bay, Fern highways, with recommendations going Harbor and the mouth of Idaho Harbor. to Point Wimbledon on the north and Most of the reefs and channels inside Point Lavinia on the south. Truth be the island complex and outside against told, some areas are good, some areas the mainland hide some halibut, good are great and when you find which area numbers of lingcod and tons of rockfish. holds the most salmon that day you’ll Charts reveal deep holes that can be find a boatload. jigged for yelloweye. Schools of inbound kings arrive The only development here is a 5-acre in May and June, supplementing an exception to the wilderness classification enviable number of exceptionally large called “The Hobbit Hole,” a fitting feeder kings that hang year-round. namesake companion to Elfin Cove. From mid-July through September At the back of a cove is a 90-foot dock wads of ocean silvers, chums and pinks suitable for floatplanes and small boats stack off the islands and any typical and a cluster of houses and workshops. I structure—rips, points, tide-lines—is a have caught halibut in the Hobbit Hole 44 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 45 and heard of good kings. strip. This jig will take both kings and halibut and this place delivers both. It’s Lemesurier Island also been my experience that mooching The second largest island in Icy Strait, or motor-mooching herring is more Lemesurier covers 10.6 acres and soars productive than trolling in this tight from the steep rocks at water level to little area. 2,180 feet, making it a landmark for Icy Last summer, we fished an outgoing Strait boaters, feeding trough for whales, tide that forced us to swing around to stopping point for migrating salmon and the west side of the island where the cafeteria for halibut. bottom tapers quickly into deeper water. Lemesurier is about five miles east of While killer whales rolled in the silver the Inians on the Chichagof Island side salmon corridor just north we caught opposite the wide entrance to Glacier Bay chicken hallies, true cod and a couple of National Park. I’ve fished here multiple nice rockfish. Kings, both spawners and times with Jim Kearns, almost always feeders, and pinks seem to spend a lot of starting on the southeast corner when time in the quiet, herring-packed water Jim almost always reminds me, “right off between Lemesurier and Chichagof, this rock here I caught a 48-pound king while silvers tend to pass along the north and a couple of nice halibut.” shore riding tide rips. But any species It’s also where I now remind him I can be anywhere at any time. reeled up a 103-pound halibut in 60 feet of water while state and federal fish cops Pleasant Island were in the Alaska Dream cabin arguing The largest island in Icy Strait at 19 fine points of the halibut slot limit and square miles, Pleasant Island lies next charter vs. non-charter statutes. I kept door to Gustavus in Icy Strait along the the hallie. north shore mainland. The fishing area Lemesurier is a stopping point for is within sight of the moored fishing most of the migrant salmon coming into boats and charters that work these waters Icy Strait and because it holds baitfish from the state dock at Gustavus. Close, it’s a live-in for resident halibut, too, convenient and predictably productive, especially along the protected south Pleasant Island is a favorite destination side and on the drop-off that slides off and attracts more fishing boats than the west end. I’ve caught kings, silvers, any of the other two. In this case, more pinks and chums here, with a few sea- fishing boats, means half a dozen craft. run Dollies for good measure. Jim runs Pleasant Island is a salmon hotspot a charter boat out of his Gustavus B&B, with solid halibut options. Fairweather Adventures at Glacier Bay, I’ve had my best luck here in late and makes no bones about this being August and early September trolling one of his favorite and most productive herring and/or plastic squid flasher rigs hotspots. When the pinks are running for big, square-headed incoming silvers. we throw spoons and spinners to put a A personal aside, it’s also where I caught few of the small salmon in the fish box my first and only quadruple—four for lunch. bottomfish on two hooks. Casting and jigging Point Wilson The south side of the island is the deep Darts, butterfly jigs and chromed spoons side following a tapering bottom not a works on everything, it seems. sudden drop into Icy Strait. Tide changes set up almost ideal rip lines parallel to A big part of the reason halibut the island that silvers and silver chasers concentrate here is for the follow like road maps. These silvers are just 20 miles from the ocean, bright easy pickings on pink salmon, as bathroom chrome, aggressive and and the way an incoming tide feeding hard. Put a limit of six in the fish box and there’s a pile of prime fillets. will roll the fish and bait Hot as they can be silvers aren’t the around the island and pack it only game at Pleasant. into a near-shore eddy. You’re Big kings haunt the green kelp lines in May and June, picking off baitfish, just as likely to find a big king and the Pleasant Island Reef, marked feeding in the eddy as an even by a green can buoy, is due south of the bigger halibut. island and a very productive halibut and yelloweye spot. Any of the deeper water Because of the species overlap I love south of Pleasant to the flats in Icy off to jig here, dropping a Point Wilson the mouth of Glacier Bay will deliver Dart to the bottom, sometimes naked, halibut and yelloweye, along with gray sometimes sweetened with a herring cod and assorted rockfish. 46 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 47 While kings are early-summer migrants through here, the real action comes in August and September when the froth lines along the shore fill up with silvers, chums and pinks; salmon that the local halibut consider lunch. First come chums—tougher­ and brighter than anything inside—and pinks starting in July with a few leading- edge silvers. By Labor Day the silver action is memorable, and these are typically big honking hooknoses with penchants for speed and cartwheels. These three island complexes on the west end of Icy Strait represent some of the finest combination salmon and halibut options in Southeast. The number of individual species rises and falls with the whim of the ocean and food, but the sheer number of salmon that funnel into these islands is mind-blowing. Factor in lodges with four-star meals, outstanding shallow-water halibut options, yelloweye, lingcod and rockfish, then for fun add sightings of sea otters, humpback and killer whales, seals and sea lions, sometimes brown bears and maybe wolves, in a remote wilderness with light fishing pressure—and well, that’s always enough for me. Elfin Cove is the hub for fishing the Inian Island complex. It’s a small, summer community with half a dozen lodges and resorts with big-water boats. There’s also a fleet of self guided 20-foot boats available. The base for fishing Pleasant and Lemesurier islands are the scattering of B&Bs, inns and resorts in Gustavus. Some have their own boats, and those that don’t will have links connecting to guides and charter operators that offer day- and package trips. Alaska Air provides scheduled summer flights from Juneau to Gustavus, and accommodating lodges in both Gustavus and Elfin Cove will arrange small plane shuttles, also from Juneau. We recommend Alaska Seaplanes. Gustavus is also a stop for the Alaska Ferry out of Juneau. Nearby Glacier Bay tours and kayak adventures make world-class side trips. All three islands can be fished in less than an hour running time from either port. But it’s not necessary, as any one of the three is enough for most days.

Terry W. Sheely is a contributing editor for Fish Alaska magazine and can be reached through his website at www. tnscommunications.net. 48 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 49 Traditional rockfishing—with baseball-sized leads, thick lines and broomstick rods—could be considered more of a harvesting method than fishing. Effective, yes, and sometimes essential, the heavy-tackle route, however, is fairly low on the fun index. You just don’t get much fight out of the fish this way. But it doesn’t have to be like that! Alaska’s near-shore waters contain countless shallow reefs teeming with all sorts of colorful and tasty bottom dwellers—places where you can leave the heavy artillery at home and have a ball catching fish on light gear. There are a couple of cool new techniques that I like to bust out when targeting these inshore zones that really make the fishing fun—and productive. To be perfectly honest, drop-shotting and butterfly-style jigging aren’t new, but they are not widely used in the light- © Brian Woobank

Top: The author and a solid shallow-water rockfish. At left: Yelloweye rockfish like this make for awesome sport on light tackle. Below: Assist hooks look funky at first, but they will increase your hooked-to-landed ratio!

50 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 51 tackle Alaska bottomfish arena…yet! Let’s take a closer look at these methods and see how we can adapt them to catch a bunch of rockfish and lingcod.

Drop-Shotting If drop-shotting sounds familiar, it’s because this is a go-to technique for freshwater bass anglers in the Lower 48. One thing that makes it great for saltwater fishing is the rig is very streamlined and gets down to the bottom quickly. Another benefit is the fact that the sinker, not the hook(s) is the only thing that touches the bottom—so snags are greatly minimized. And because the bait is up above the bottom, the fish have a better shot at seeing it. The action of a drop-shotted bait is also unique and hard to match with any other style. The rig looks like this: Start by tying a hook inline on your leader 1- to 4 feet above the end. A simple Palomar knot is used, but it’s hard to describe on paper, so just Google “How to tie a drop-shot rig” and you’ll get a million tutorials. What’s important to remember is that the hook point needs to be facing up when you are finished. The hook you use will be determined by the size and style of your bait, but generally they are similar in shape to the octopus hooks used for freshwater salmon fishing with roe. A dropshot rig keeps To the end of the leader, tie a snap— your lure in the zone and that’s where the sinker attaches. I and out of the rocks. like torpedo-style sinkers from 1- to 4 ounces in weight for light-tackle Rockfish in shallow water fight way better than their fishing. The idea here is to use just deeper swimming cousins and can give you all you enough weight to keep your gear can handle on light gear. straight below the boat. Fishing a drop-shot rig is simple. Use your graph to get directly over a school of fish—or a likely-looking spot—and drop straight down until the lead hits the bottom. Reel up a few cranks and lightly jig or twitch the rod tip. You don’t need a ton of action here—just enough to get your offering to dance around a bit. Bites generally are fairly subtle—a slight “tick” or bump on the line. Set the hook hard and start reeling immediately to keep the fish from heading back down into the rocks. plastic and natural baits that work well with this method. The 5-inch Berkley Try to keep the boat directly over the Gulp Sand Eel and the Gulp Squid are good all-around choices, but you can spot—it’s much harder to control your also catch plenty of fish on big tubes, Zoom Super Flukes, B2 Squid, hootchies, rig if the vessel is drifting quickly and various grubs, and when big lingcod are on the menu, I love the 5-inch Hogy you have a lot of line scoped out. Flounder. You can also run bait on the drop-shot rig. Salmon-belly strips are awesome, along with squid or herring. Baits As far as offerings go, the sky is the Rods/Reels/Line limit. There are tons of really good Rods for drop-shotting should be fast-action so you can quickly set the hook on 52 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 53 fish that are well below the boat. Some more effective. That’s where the butterfly system really power in the lower end is also essential The origins of the butterfly jigging shines—it seems to be able to “light for keeping big fish out of the rocks. method come from Japan, where up” stale fish that otherwise don’t seem Length can range from 7- to 8.5 feet anglers developed it to target big tuna to be in a biting mood. There’s just and is really just a matter of what feels down as deep as 500 feet. The name something about the presentation that comfortable to you. comes from the fluttering action of the turns fish on! Reels need not be fancy but some lure when fished properly, and scaled When first starting, it takes a little preferred attributes include a large down, it works great in shallow water time to get the rhythm and the proper line capacity, smooth drag and high- for Alaska’s denizens as well. rod-and-reel action, but butterfly speed retrieve rate. When spooling up, It’s important to note, however, jigging is pretty simple once you get braided line in the 20- to 60-pound that there are a few major differences the hang of it. Begin by dropping your range is really the only choice for between this and standard jigging. jig to the bottom and then immediately several reasons. The thin diameter of First, jigs designed for the butterfly start cranking on the reel. Your rod braid helps lures sink faster while also method have aggressive angles on one should always be in the horizontal giving your reel more line capacity. side designed to cause the baits to position and you only need to lift it Braid’s lack of stretch means you get dance and flutter. The hook rigging slightly—the key thing to focus on is more positive hook-sets and better is also quite different and so is the the action comes more from the reel action out of your lure. It’s also much retrieve method. than the rod. You’ll be reeling all the more sensitive than mono so you’ll be When jigging for rockfish and lings, time and it’s a very short, compact better able to feel bites or contact with the standard technique has always been motion with the rod hand, almost the bottom. For a leader, tie a 6-foot to drop the lure to the bottom, reel up mirroring the circular motion of the section of 30-pound fluorocarbon or a few cranks and then aggressively snap reel hand. If you are getting worn out mono to the end of the braid with the rod tip up and then let the lure fall quickly, you are probably working a double Albright knot and you’re again. At the bottom of the drop, the everything too hard. in business. tip is jerked straight up again and the Unlike traditional jigging, you don’t whole process repeats…lift, drop, lift, ever want to allow the head of the jig Butterfly Jigging drop. Most strikes occur as the jig is to drop. Zooming out a bit, picture the Vertical jigging with heavy spoons falling when fishing this way. lure hitting the bottom and then you has long been a favorite way to The old-school jigging style is still start working the rod and reel at the catch rockfish and lings and the plenty effective, but I think the fish same time. The jig starts rising but also new butterfly method takes it a step sometimes get tired of watching the has a side-to-side action to it. You just further and makes this technique even lure yo-yo in front of their faces. keep a nice, steady rhythm going until

54 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 55 you are up out of the strike zone—at which point, simply drop the lure back down to the bottom and start again. Your cadence should be generally on the slow side for rockfish but I like to speed it up now and then just to mix it up. Where you stop your lure’s ascent depends on the fishing spot. If there’s a big pinnacle you want to work for lings, fish from the sea floor all the way to the summit. The same holds true for big edges and drop-offs. Many species of rockfish also suspend well off the bottom, so it often pays to work your jig all the way back to the surface. Plus, when you get up off the bottom, you may also get some bonus kings or silvers, too! Butterfly-style jigs tend to be flat on one side and feature flutter-inducing Keep a keen eye on your graph for good structure—and angles on the other. schools of fish. Jigs then darker purples and browns to dramatic departure from traditional which makes unhooking and releasing Shimano popularized the term imitate juvenile rockfish. rigging. Rather than having a treble shakers much easier. “butterfly jigging” with a lineup As I mentioned earlier, butterfly-style hook on the bottom of the jig, there’s I prefer to rig my lures with just one of spoons of the same name. Their spoons are different from traditional a single hook attached via cord that assist hook—but some folks will run Butterfly and Flat Fall jigs are excellent jigs because they are asymmetrical. A hangs off a ring at the lure’s head. two off the top ring. I have had enough but there are also many others available “regular” spoon is flat on both sides Called “assist hooks,” you can make close calls while unhooking fish when on the market today, including while the ones used in this technique your own or buy pre-made ones. one hook was buried and the other was Big Fred Contaoi with a big rockfish he battled on light gear. You just never know what the SPRO Abalone Sushi Spoon, are flat on one side and sharply angled They look like they shouldn’t work at swinging all over the place as the fish you are going to hook on a given day! Williamson’s Abyss Speed Jig and on the other—and that’s what produces all but I have found that assist hooks was shaking that I’m keeping it to one the Mango Speed Spoon. For Alaska the erratic action. are deadly effective and far out-fish hook these days. Get one in the hand waters, I like white and silver patterns You’ll also notice that the hook trebles. They also keep the fish from while the other is still in the fish and to match baitfish such as herring, and configuration on butterfly jigs is a getting deeply hooked in most cases, you have a situation!

56 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 57 make it back down to the bottom. However, when you move out a little deeper—say beyond 30- or 40 feet— the fish can suffer pressure damage, or barotrauma—a distended belly is the most common sign, though fish from deeper water may also have bulging eyes and part of their stomach coming out of their mouth. The old-school way to release these fish was to poke a hole with a needle at an angle behind the pectoral fin to relieve the pressure. That can do more harm than good, though, if you don’t know how to properly do it. Luckily, there are easier and safer methods! For years, we’ve kept a milk crate on board for releasing rockfish. The crate has a 60-foot line tied to it and some lead sinkers to weigh it down. We flip it upside down, put a fish in it and start lowering slowly. The fish will stay in the crate until the pressure has equalized; at that point, it swims off on its own. Usually, about 30 feet is all it takes. If you search around online, you’ll find that there are also some products on the market designed for Top: The variety of species you may releasing fish in deep water. One that encounter with these techniques is mind- looks interesting and very simple is boggling. Halibut and silvers like this one that bit a drop-shotted plastic are made by Shelton Products (www. frequent visitors. Bottom: In addition to sheltonproducts.com) and is only $6. “rockcod,” you may also encounter some Whichever device you choose, learn true Pacific cod from time to time, which how to use it and be prepared to make for a nice, tasty bonus. release the fish as quickly as possible to decrease mortality. This is especially Rods/Reels/Line true with deep-water rockfish, where There are a few must-have items to barotrauma is more pronounced. make this technique work properly. Starting with the rod, you’ll need a Weather stick that has a reasonably soft tip to Shallow-water rockfish are more allow the lure to work properly. Fish affected by rough weather than their these jigs with a stiff rod and they just deep-water cousins. If there’s a big don’t swim as effectively. Be sure not swell, inshore fish tend to hunker to go too parabolic, though, either. A down near structure and are less likely rod with a lot of bend tends to stifle to chase lures. That’s why I like to save the action. my shallow-water fishing for nice, calm We’re looking for the same qualities days. Plus, we’ll often get in pretty in a reel as we were in the previous tight to exposed pinnacles and rocks so technique: A good drag, plenty of it’s just much safer when seas are flat. line storage and a high-speed retrieve. The fishing can also be tough on Braided line is also the way to go and days when the current is really running. be sure to use a 4- to 10-foot section of Again, the fish lay pretty low under mono or fluorocarbon for leader. those conditions to avoid expending too much energy. Plus, it’s hard to keep Catch & Release? your gear down below the boat when There is no denying that rockfish the water is ripping. and lingcod are some of the best- tasting critters in the sea and I love to fill a cooler with them any time I JD Richey is a contributing editor can. But I also release a bunch. If you for Fish Alaska magazine and can are fishing shallow enough, you can be reached through his website at simply toss the fish back and they can www.fishwithjd.com. 58 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 59 Halibut are one of Alaska’s most popular sport fish; gear up to bring in your own this season.

It was a trip that my brothers, Rory and Patrick, and I would not soon forget. They both had flown up to meet me in Kodiak to do some halibut fishing. I had been saving a spot for them I nicknamed “Valley of the Giants”—a series of gravel hills that had yet to let me down. We got to our numbers and dropped the anchor just up-current of the humps. Once fishing, we had a steady pick of 40- to 50-pound fish until Pat’s rod doubled-over. Big fish seem to know which hook is attached to the smallest rod. Of course Pat was using my lightweight salmon rod, more suitable for inshore rockfish than a Pacific halibut. That Shimano Trevala rod doubled over and then bent some more as the line came tight. Pat was in for a battle and that little Avet SX reel was earning its keep. Generally, you can gauge the size of a halibut by the number of runs. One small run, the fish is under

60 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 61 to have all the luck when it comes to a fishery that at first glance does not seem to have many tricks up its sleeve? After having plenty of good days, and some bad ones, too, here is what I have come up with.

It’s All About the Location To me, location is the single most important aspect of chasing halibut. Even with the best bait, you cannot catch fish that are not there. Halibut are ambush predators, and like a hunter in a tree-stand, they position themselves on baitfish traveling routes and wait for a meal to come by. More important than depth, tidal stage or geographic location, a contoured gravel bottom is what I key in. Providing a smooth and clean surface to lie on, gravel bottoms support a productive array of feed and the contours allow for Quality, stout gear is necessary for trophy Alaska flatfish. perfect ambush sites for a halibut to lay and wait. 25 pounds; two solid runs, 30- to the harpoon, button-hooking it and Depth sounders and even charts don’t 50 pounds, and three-plus big runs securing its capture. With our last fish always provide the clues needed to typically means the halibut is closer boated, we finished a fantastic trip, and identify this bottom type but one trick I to three-digits in weight. As Pat’s fish while none of the flatfish were giants, we use is to take note of what else is biting. took its third big run, I knew it was a had ourselves a limit of perfect eating- If I am getting lingcod or rockfish, I good fish. size halibut, each one between 40- and know it is a rocky bottom and I will His halibut came up smoothly after 90 pounds. shift away until I stop catching those the third run and Rory drilled it with What makes certain fishermen seem species. Having pursued halibut from

62 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 63 Think about how to handle halibut at the more natural and has resulted in some boat before you head out on the water. good days for me. Terminal Tackle This is the point where I usually break with tradition. Most commercially available halibut rigs are tied on 200- to 300-pound-test leaders with two monster circle hooks, and then they are fished off a rod and reel combo that looks like it belongs on a tow truck. It is a lot of firepower, and this is coming from a guy who does a good deal of marlin and tuna fishing in Hawaii. In all my days halibut fishing I have never had a fish tangle me in the bottom, cut me off or spool me, so I am not sure the necessity for big-game tackle. Fishing two hooks often leads to more

Sitka, to Montague Island, to Kodiak, under the boat or farther back. One my favorite spots are gravel areas that note on anchoring is to be sure you fluctuate in depth by 20- to 40 feet, and are proficient at getting your anchor that are adjacent to rocky areas. The unstuck. I will often attach my anchor rocks will hold an array of bait and the line to the crown (the bottom where the halibut will lie down-current of these flukes come together) of the anchor and areas on the gravel, waiting for feed then use a zip-tie to attach the anchor to either swim into or depart from the line to the ring on the top of the shank. rocks. When I am ready to weigh anchor, I just need to pop the zip-tie off with To Drop the Hook or Not a hard tug and the anchor is retrieved Once I have a spot under the boat, backwards, freeing itself in the process. my next decision is whether I want to Anchoring in an elevated sea state is also drop the anchor or drift-fish. Both are a potentially dangerous situation so use productive but each have their time and prudent risk-assessment before securing place. your boat to the bottom. If the current is moving, I prefer to Drift-fishing is my go-to technique anchor. Positioning myself up-current on tide changes. With no current to of my intended gravel hump, I want the carry the scent of my bait around, boat to settle just forward of the peak. slack tide is a great time to drift with This allows me to lower my rig down so what little wind or current exists to that my bait is in the halibut’s ambush actively find fish. I have even bumped zone. Precision anchoring is often a the engine in and out of gear to cover a challenge in deeper water, but err on the bit more ground on those longer slack side of being farther up-current than tides. This prospecting also helps me down; the scent of the bait will pique find new spots, as I may inevitably drift their interest and you can always veer over the new honey holes. Drift-fishing out more anchor line to adjust the boat’s is also when I like to swap out bait rigs location farther back. for jigs. Dragging heavy sinkers across You never quite know what you’ll Another good trick is to vary the the bottom usually doesn’t end well catch when fishing in Alaska’s weight of the sinker on each angler’s and I never felt the bait looked natural saltwater environment, so be line. It will reduce tangles and also either. A hopping Twister Tail jig, prepared for all comers. give you input if the fish seem to be enhanced with a strip of bait, looks far 64 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 65 fish in the cooler that season. An added benefit is how well it stays on the hook. Unlike herring, there is no way that a fish can pick a piece of octopus off the hook. If all you have available is frozen herring, that is perfectly fine, too, just be aware that fish can strip it off, so check your bait after each hit. One tip that might help is to salt the herring before you use it. The salt will toughen up the often mushy fish and keep it on the Good gear will help ensure your day on hook longer. the water starts, and ends, well. A wildly underrated bait to use is live bait. In many places, herring can be jigged up in harbors, or other assorted tangles and an excessive use of bait, but species such as greenlings are also great rarely more fish. My preferred halibut when available. It is hard to beat the rig is a simple, single-hook dropper real deal gently hooked in the back and rig. These homemade rigs, tied on 80- lowered down but be sure to verify in to 150-pound-test, position the hook the fishing regulations what species can approximately 18 inches off the bottom and cannot be used as bait. and it rarely tangles. To sweeten the deal, Nothing reminds me of the beauty of I like to add a small glow-in-the-dark Alaska summers more than a successful octopus skirt above a medium-sized day of halibut fishing. There are no hard circle hook as a teaser. The circle hook and fast rules when it comes to halibut does not have to be huge, usually a hook techniques and every Alaskan fisherman in the 12/0-16/0 range is plenty, but has his or her own special way of catching ensure that it is razor-sharp. Remember these delicious fish. But remember that not to set the hook when using circle location is key to consistent, successful hooks either, something I forget to do halibut fishing. Take the time to find an once in a while. A circle hook is self- area that seems productive and provides setting and when the distinctive double- the right conditions for these ambush hit of a halibut is felt, just slowly start predators to set their trap. If you have reeling until you feel the weight of the confidence in an area, do not give up fish. To control myself, I will often keep on it without investing a bit of time. the rod in the holder during the bite so The scent of fresh bait travels far and I don’t mistakenly rip the hook away your triple-digit fish may be honing from the fish. I finish off the rig with in on your bait as you discover your the lightest sinker I can get away with, own Valley of the Giants soon enough. usually in the 8- to 12-ounce range. For instance, the summer after my As for my rod and reel combo, I brothers visited, I found another gravel really enjoy using an outfit that is light bottom adjacent to a rock pile and enough to hold in one hand all day. I fished just up-current of the structure. found that a lightweight yet tough After sitting in the same spot without combo is a 5-foot, 8-inch Penn Torque a bite for over an hour, I hooked and jigging rod teamed with an Avet LX reel boated a 180-pound halibut on my and 65-pound braid. It is a formidable single-hook rig. outfit that has landed nearly all of my halibut. Regardless of your rod and reel choice, the key is to use braided line. With nearly zero stretch, braided lines allow you to fish lighter sinkers and A lifelong outdoorsman, Conor Sullivan also feel each and every tap of potential holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marine bites, or bait-stealing small fish. Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Bait for halibut can be a highly Academy, a Master’s in Marine Affairs subjective topic but freshness is more from the University of Rhode Island, as important to me than type. Fresh bait well as a 200-ton master mariner’s license. will stay on the hook longer and provide He has been recently published in Fish more scent regardless of what it is. That Alaska and Hunt Alaska magazines and said, my all-time favorite bait is octopus. currently lives in Hawaii with his family I can remember the day my friend Josh of four. Conor can usually be found along and I caught an octopus while halibut the 500-fathom curve chasing marlin and fishing. Using it for bait that day, as well tuna. He can be followed on social media as many trips after, we put some serious @Sullivan Lures. 66 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 67 Releasing Large Halibut Story & photos by David Bayes

Releasing a large halibut might be your preference.

Anytime a large fish is approaching the surface, clear everything from the side of the boat where you believe the fish will be landed. In 18 years, we’ve tripped over coolers, been cut by our own knives, rolled ankles on fish clubs and tangled up ourselves, the rod and the fish in the maze of landing nets, spare rods, dock lines and fenders that perpetually accumulate on the rail of a fishing boat. If you can easily remove the lead sinker, get it out of the way ASAP. Lead sinkers swinging off the end of a fishing rod are like mini-wrecking balls, and they have unapologetically removed many a front tooth and vessel side-window. Prepare an approximately 3-foot loop of twine or heavy leader material (this is most easily done by doubling-over the length of line and tying an overhand knot in one end.) The loop-end on this length of twine will be Wrap the loop end of used to hook under the barb of the hook, the line below the hook allowing you to “grip” the hook and pull it out barb and pull while of the fish. simultaneously cutting the leader. Unless the hook is lodged into the jawbone, Cut Leader here most of the flesh on the outer edge of a halibut’s mouth is relatively soft and thin; thus, the easiest way to remove hooks is by simply cutting the leader and pulling the eye of the hook all the way through the fish. To do this, first ensure that the fish is oriented in the water so that the point of the hook is facing up. With a knife or scissors in your off-hand, use your dominant hand to “hook” the barb of the fishhook with your loop of line. Once your loop has caught underneath the barb of the hook, cut the leader above After a long battle, a 100-plus-pound halibut rests less than a foot below the surface—this is the fish of a lifetime! the hook and pull your loop up and back But…now what? (towards the tail of the fish if it’s laying flat in Many who fish Alaska have spent endless hours dreaming of a halibut of 100 or more pounds. However, when actually faced with the the water). If the loop is pulled hard enough, daunting task of landing, filleting, packaging and consuming that fish or for consumption purposes, many choose to release it instead. the eye of the hook will eventually come Though one could just cut the line and let the fish swim away, most prefer to remove the hook, especially if it’s a circle or J-hook through the fish’s mouth and the fish will lodged into the outer mouth. be free. As all new charter deckhands can tell you, manhandling and releasing even a 10-pound halibut can at times be a humbling task. While the smaller fish can often be an annoyance, larger halibut can often be impossible and even dangerous to attempt to pull into the boat for hook removal. Lifelong Alaskan David Bayes is the Having served as a deckhand and also having captained Homer charters for the last 18 years, I have settled on the following steps owner of Deepstrike Sportfishing and to prepare the boat for the “battle” of landing or releasing large halibut and to remove the hook itself. Bayes Boat Rentals in Homer, Alaska. 68 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017June 2017www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 69 69 Located on the Inside Passage, Pybus Point Lodge has the added benefit of being able to fish calm seas. © Pybus Point Lodge.

Icy Bay Lodge is so remote few peolple get to fish Offering the best of both worlds, the guides at Yakutat these waters, making the views outstanding and the Lodge are among the best for both freshwater and fishing unparalleled. © Icy Bay Lodge saltwater fishing. © Brian Woobank.

The fishing at Sportsman’s Cove Lodge on Prince of Wales will blow your socks off and Captain Mac and their friendly staff run a classy, smooth-running fishing lodge. © Clint Benjamin.

70 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 71 Fishing opportunities abound in this Southeast Alaska Lodges vast wilderness state, but identifying where to spend your fishing vacation As suggested within the article, all can be complicated. Well, here are some anglers set on visiting an Alaska recommendations for the first-time lodge should do their research and fisherman who wants to book a charter in make sure it’s the right option for southeast Alaska to ensure a quality fishing them. However, it can be tough to experience. know where to begin, with a myriad Choosing a fishing destination in of options available. Here, is a list of Southeast is not as easy as it may sound outstanding lodges to start with. and the endeavor may require some serious Prince of Wales Island: homework. Of course, you and your fishing partner may follow the advice of Uncle Sportsman’s Cove Lodge Bill who fished in Alaska last summer, but alaskasbestlodge.com the truth is the fish runs vary from year to Sitka: year. You can also cruise the Internet for a suitable fishing destination. A quality Wild Strawberry Lodge fishing resort generally will have a quality wildstrawberrylodge.com website, so it’s imperative that as you shop, Icy Bay: you thoroughly read all information on each of the resort’s sites. You may purchase Icy Bay Lodge a magazine, such as Fish Alaska, and read icybaylodge.com the advertisements in search for the right Yakutat: place to fish or surf their extensive website at www.fishalaskamagazine.com. Some Yakutat Lodge fishermen attend a regional fishing show yakutatlodge.com Top Left: Glacier Bear’s guests in Yakutat revel in some of the most as well, such as the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle, WA, Great Alaska Sportsman’s Leonard’s Landing breathtaking scenery on the planet. © Glacier Bear Lodge. Top Right: leonardslanding.com King fishing in Yakutat is hot in the saltwater not far from the dock at Show in Anchorage, AK, or the The Leonard’s Landing Lodge. © Leonard’s Landing Lodge. Bottom: The Sportsmen’s Shows in Puyallup, WA, or Portland, OR. Believe me, choosing a Glacier Bear Lodge seaside lodge of Icy Bay is in a prime saltwater fishing location. © glacierbaylodge.com Icy Bay Lodge. fishing destination can be daunting. Before plunking down several thousand dollars to reserve a fishing spot for the upcoming Monti Bay Lodge & Resort summer, be a wise fisherman and do your montibaylodgeandresort.com homework. Otherwise, you may be in for Ketchikan: the disappointment of your lifetime. Before looking for a fishing destination, Naha Bay Outdoor Adventures get your priorities straight; don’t expect nahabayoutdooradventures.com to go to Alaska in the summer and bring home enough fish to pay for your fishing If southeast Alaska is the destination trip. What a gigantic mistake! I’ve seen the for you, but you’d like to take more disappointment on the faces of guests who control over your fishing days—and are “bummed” that they aren’t bringing the fishing itself—perhaps a do-it- home three or four 50-pound boxes of fish yourself lodge is the right choice. to offset the expense of the trip. The majesty The region is dotted with DIY lodge and beauty of Alaska is reason enough to options, each providing a slightly travel to the state for a fishing trip. Snow- different level of lodging, service covered mountains, glaciers, verdant and fishing amenities, to include the U-shaped valleys, the ubiquitous feeding boats available for clients’ use. Here eagles, humpback whales, Orcas, sea otters, are some of our favorites: Sitka blacktail deer, black bears…they’re Prince of Wales Island: all part of the southeast Alaska wilderness experience, which will enchant anyone who Thorne Bay Lodge visits. Yes, catching fish may be the primary thornebaylodge.com goal but don’t overlook the experience of witnessing scenic Alaska up close and McFarland’s Floatel personal. I often remind my guests that in mcfarlandsfloatel.com a year’s time, all the fish that are brought home from the fishing trip will have been Alaska’s Fish Tales Lodge consumed, but the memories of the trip— alaskasfishtaleslodge.com along with relationships you develop with Ketchikan: guests and staff—will last a lifetime. The next consideration is whether you Alaska Remote Lodges want to fish inside or outside waters of vrbo.com/375643

72 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 73 Southeast. Don’t get me wrong, world-class to get to your room at the lodge? What is are booked for a fishing trip two or three discover that their preferred style of fishing fishing can be experienced on the outside on the meal menu? What adaptations will months before the event, the lodge owner is a style that you despise. For example, of Prince of Wales or Baranof islands, but the lodge make to their menu if you have may not have hired all their captains for the many lodges will troll downrigger balls it comes with a price. During the summer special needs? Is there a laundry available for season. But a week or two before the trip, when fishing for salmon. If it’s a four-man months, one can expect winds from the guests? How sanitary is the kitchen, dining a guest should be able to contact the resort boat, the captain will generally put down west/southwest at ten- to twenty knots hall and the room in which you will sleep? and find out more about the person with two lines and fishermen can take turns several days a week with four- to six-foot- These questions are important, but more whom they will fish. Find out something catching fish from each of these fishing long ocean swells and wind chop. For the important are questions about the boat about your captain before you get there! rods. On these boats, the captain generally occasional mariner, fishing in unprotected, you are about to reserve. Remember, you At the very least, it will be an excellent sets the downrigger for the guest because if outside waters can be a three- or four-day will spend between eight and nine hours icebreaker when you first meet him/her. a guest does it and breaks a cable, it’s costly nightmare. On the other hand, there are a day for three or more days onboard your A good resort may even have its captains in time and money to re-rig. As a charter many fishing resorts strategically located fishing boat. Be sure to clearly understand logged into a professional website such as captain, I find trolling monotonous. The on inside waters that are protected from the what kind of boat the lodge offers. Is it LinkedIn. Inquire with your resort to see if fisherman just sits there staring at the ocean swell that also offer quality fishing. heated? Is it dependable? Is there a place they use LinkedIn or a similar resource. fishing pole in the rod holder waiting to If you’re even slightly prone to seasickness, to comfortably sit and rest? A breakdown There is nothing more frustrating than get a hit. The other style of fishing is called consider your first trip on waters of the on the water will spoil your whole day to book a trip to a lodge in Alaska only to mooching. If four fishermen are mooching, Inside Passage. and maybe even the entire fishing trip. A The Alaska Department of Fish and reputable lodge will offer first-class, heated Game (ADF&G) welcomes tourists to come boats with washroom facilities, along with to their beautiful state to catch fish, but quality boots and raingear. Be sure to their interpretation of a spectacular fishing inquire. In addition, the boats should be experience may be different from what you fully stocked with top-quality rods, reels have in mind. To ADF&G, maintaining a and lures. As a captain, I cringe when I sustainable fishery is their utmost goal, and see guests hop off the floatplane with their in order to do that, they want to ensure the own fishing rods and reels. A reliable lodge survival of each and every species of fish that will offer first-class fishing equipment that you may catch while on your momentous is made for the stress of saltwater fishing. trip. For example, non-resident fishermen Guests more often misjudge the abuse are only allowed one lingcod per year, but that can happen to their personal fishing keep in mind there is a very restrictive equipment because they aren’t accustomed slot limit to ensure the fishery continues to fishing in such stressful conditions: large, to stay viable. As a result, you may catch heavy boats in big currents with exceedingly a lingcod or two on your fishing trip, but large fish that are generally not found in the the chances of bringing one home can be Lower 48. From my experience, determine remote depending on where you are fishing what kind of fishing gear is offered from the in Southeast. lodge manager and then think twice about So, the first piece of homework for the bringing your own. excited fisherman is to identify the target For anyone who is considering a once-in- species that are desired. Do they run in a-lifetime fishing trip to Alaska, be certain the waters that interest you when you have to become informed about the person who vacation time? Does the resort that you are will captain your vessel. I can’t emphasize considering offer fishing for your species of enough that the success of your fishing trip interest? If you can’t find this information is dependent on the boat captain. A lodge online, contact the resort that you are website that merely states, “All captains are considering and ask them the question Coast Guard licensed” is not giving you about the species you want to bring home. enough information. I would want to know Typically, king salmon in southeast how long my captain has been fishing the Alaska run in May and early June, but some waters around the resort. I think it’s fair to areas are very good for having the next assume that a captain who has fished in one season’s feeder kings show up in respectable area for three or more full seasons is going to numbers. Coho and pink salmon can be be more successful than the novice captain. found in July and August in most areas I would also want to know the likelihood throughout southeast Alaska. Rockfish that the lodge will bait me with one captain and halibut are plentiful nearly all summer when I call to inquire about my captain, months. but switch captains when I get to the lodge. Assuming that you have discovered I can’t overemphasize the importance of the target species of your interest, which having a compatible captain. It can be very happens to be available in the month that unpleasant fishing with a captain who is you desire to fish, you might next research disrespectful, who uses profanity regularly the resorts that are in that region. This step and/or who can be passive-aggressive is very important. Don’t be taken in by with guests. In the event you get stuck beautiful nature pictures that some lodge with one of these unpleasant people, how websites post for the prospective fisherman. accommodating will the resort be to help What are the accommodations really like? you get a different captain? Ask. In all How many stairs will you need to climb fairness to most resort owners, when guests

74 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 75 Clockwise from top left: Plan for incredible fishing and top level service at Wild Strawberry Lodge in Sitka to ensure each guest gets the trip of a lifetime. © Alaska Premier Charters/ Wild Strawberry Lodge. The Edwards family treats guests like family and the cuisine and fishing are among the best at Naha Bay Outdoor Adventures outside of Ketchikan. © Naha Bay Outdoor Adventures. Fish for some amazing halibut, lingcod, salmon and rockfish in the salt with Yakutat Lodge. © Brian Woobank. Views like this from Monti Bay Lodge provide the peace and serenity you are looking for in a vacation. © Monti Bay Lodge.

the captain puts the boat over a school of lodge owner and/or manager. The fishing baitfish and each fisherman will lower his/ lodge that treats fishermen as clients her lure (generally a cut-plug herring) to or customers is a bit business-like and a desired number of feet and then begin impersonal. The culture at this kind of lodge bringing the lure up through the water, is fishing. Period. Get fish for the client. Big trying to attract the salmon to bite. When fish, and lots of them. Give ’em a dose of the fish strikes the lure, the fisherman fights fishing they’ll never forget. Their website the fish to the surface. is filled with pictures of outrageously big From my experience, most lodges will fish… and lots of them. There isn’t much commit themselves to one of these two else happening at this fish camp other than styles of fishing. If you want to be an active fishing. This lodge experience is perfect for and busy fisherman, but get booked in the fisherman who primarily wants to fish the lodge whose fishing fleet trolls, you for trophies or large numbers of fish. may be disappointed in your fishing trip Other lodge owners drill into their staff (or vice versa). Lodge managers who tell that the fishermen who come to the lodge guests they mooch and troll are being a are to be treated as guests, not customers or bit disingenuous. The fleet that mooches clients. The implication is that all members spends hundreds of dollars every day on of the staff treat guests with respect and herring. That means they can’t afford to cater to their every wish. If guests want waste bait if they happen to be trolling on to use the kayaks in the evening, they’re any given day. Most fishing fleets either troll available. Requests for scenic tours, a or mooch, but generally not both. bonfire after fishing, hot-tubbing, seafood Every lodge which I have worked for cooking lessons, recipe swaps, cookies and in the past decade has its own distinctive milk in the evening are all met with a smile culture, which generally comes from the from the lodge staff. Generally fishermen

76 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 77 who are treated as guests develop lasting relationships with staff and other guests and leave with a ton of memories that are more valuable than the one or two boxes of fish they take home. These fishermen are highly motivated to come back for a return experience. Remember, a quality fishing resort will have an informative website and more likely than not a past guest reference list for prospective guests to contact. If you don’t find this list when examining the resort website, be sure to inquire. Fishermen who are contemplating a fishing trip to Alaska are encouraged to “read between the lines” to discover just what activities other than fishing can be experienced. After examining the website, ask yourself if the place you examined sounds like a fun place to hang out. Will you be just another client or a valued guest? Be reassured that if you pay to take a charter, you don’t need to worry about studying the complicated ADF&G game regulations, as your captain will be well- versed in the rules. But upon booking a trip, newcomers would be well-advised to be apprised of what kind of fish and how many they can expect to catch when they arrive. Since halibut is a species of fish that is managed by an international committee, the rules and regulations for charter fishing resorts change nearly every year. Consult your resort of choice before the trip begins so you know what to expect. Nothing can be more deflating than to learn you need to release that 62-inch halibut that’s flopping on the deck because it is both too long and too short to retain. It can also be a shock to most out-of-state anglers to discover that ADF&G does not permit “party fishing.” That means that each angler is responsible for catching his/her own fish. Once you retain your first halibut, you are not permitted to retain a halibut for anyone else on the charter vessel. The same goes for all species of rockfish and salmon. And don’t expect that your captain will permit you to retain a 35-pound king salmon after you have already retained a 14-pound fish. Captains who break ADF&G regulations are subject to stiff fines. Don’t even consider asking for concessions from the captain or resort owner. It’s not going to happen, and it shouldn’t. So, what’s a good price for a three-, four- or five-day fishing trip in southeast Alaska? It’s cliché but accurate: You generally get what you pay for. Start comparing resort prices and accommodations online. If the price of a fishing trip is too good to be true, it probably is, and you are more than likely going to be disappointed in your trip. If there are any bargains to be had, they are generally in June and September

78 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 79 where there are not so many migrating fish. Resorts can also offer “hot deals” at the last minute when guests who have made reservations need to forfeit their deposit because of an emergency. Lodge owners may offer these charter trips at a deep discount. Generally a quality resort that has a one-to-one proportion of staff to guests is going to command and get the highest price for a charter contrasted to the resort that has one staff for every two or three guests. In addition, beware booking with a lodge that charges piecemeal for items such as fish-cleaning, vacuum-sealing fish, using the hot tub, using kayaks, crab fishing or the like. A quality resort includes all of these accoutrements in the price of the charter. Once fishermen pay the fee for the charter, the only other money out of their pocket should be their ADF&G license and a tip. I would be remiss not to mention how one might tip on a charter trip. All resorts have their own policies toward tipping, which are generally written into their website. A ten- to fifteen percent tip is customarily left with the lodge manager to be divided any way the guest desires between shore staff and the captain. The tip that I receive at the end of most of my charter trips exceeds the per- day salary I receive from the resort. Tips are very important to me, not only because it is an important part of my summer salary, but they also reaffirm that I have treated my guests well and they appreciated my hard work. A wise resort owner wants his/ her captains to receive generous tips because it ensures that the captain will want to continue to fish for that resort and that more than likely the guest is also willing to return. The most important thing to remember about the tip is it’s a reward for exceptional treatment and hard work. If you feel your trip has in any way been compromised from staff, adjust the tip accordingly. In the end, do your homework. Read, research and ask dozens of questions before you lay your money down. Don’t trust Uncle Bill who tells you where you need to fish next summer. Bill may have been lucky and you may not have the same tastes and preferences he has. Become knowledgeable about your digital camera, dust off that set of binoculars and do some research about your destination. The more knowledge you have at the time you depart for Alaska ensures you are going to have a quality fishing experience. Go for it, have fun....you’ve earned it.

Captain George Dennis has operated charter boats out of the Columbia River and in southeast Alaska for over four decades. He currently operates a 30-foot Koffler boat out of Pybus Point Lodge. See his full biography on LinkedIn. 80 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 81 At right: Catching limits of halibut was quick and easy for everyone onboard the Huntress.

Catching loads of shrimp was fun and a great change-of-pace while traveling the Inside Passage. Here, the author’s wife, Tiffany, a full-time cookbook author, is excited to not only have fresh shrimp for dinner on the Huntress but to Approaching a small, clear-flowing stream, my wife, Tiffany, and I take some home to create hoped to catch one more coho before trip’s end. Emerging from the magical recipes with. lush, green, forest canopy, a trio of spawning chum salmon caught our eye. We watched as the bucks fought, biting one another’s tails and fins. Slightly downstream a pink salmon hen flailed in the shallows. Inching within 20 feet of her, we watched as she struggled to gain her equilibrium. That’s when, from the trees above, a bald eagle swooped down, dug its talons into the salmon and hobbled it to the shoreline on which we stood. Eight feet from where Tiffany and I stood, the mature eagle effortlessly ripped into the belly of the salmon, gorging itself on ripe, protein-rich eggs. We stood, watching the spectacle unfold before us. No words were exchanged, only smiles. We backed away without wetting a line. Catching a final fish paled in comparison to what we’d just witnessed—an act of nature that was a fitting end to our week of fishing the Inside Passage around Sitka, Alaska.

Stream Dreams It was the last week of July, and Tiffany and I had spent the week with noted captain and guide, Bruce Gipple, of Horizon West Guides & Outfitters in Sitka. While Bruce has a team of top-notch guides and boats that base day-trips out of Sitka, Tiffany and I wanted to experience more of the passage. Aboard the 60-foot Huntress, we’d travel early in the morning, fish, eat breakfast, fish, eat lunch, fish some more, then travel to a secluded bay where we’d enjoy excellent dinners and a tranquil

82 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 83 night of rest. This was the routine for Tiffany loved the bottomfishing lingcod. We even caught a couple coho what schools of salmon and baitfish the week, a routine we embraced with action. Having fished these waters while jigging bait for bottomfish off a look like. enthusiasm. for over two decades, Gipple knew rocky spire. A couple evenings we dropped When fishing the Inside Passage exactly where the prime spots were. The One afternoon a pod of humpback shrimp pots and came away with loads there’s no shortage of diversity. My moment our jigs hit the target zone, it whales started bubble-net feeding of the tasty crustaceans. We ate our fill favorite experience was hopping in a was never long before we were locked in the distance. Soon they were of those, and what we couldn’t consume skiff, heading to shore and hiking into in battle. swimming right by the Huntress, even we helped clean, vacuum-seal and place little, clear mountain streams. Here we’d A range of rockfish were caught, directly under us. To see the profile in a freezer to take home. The freezer catch coho, pink and chum salmon, on along with a couple of big yelloweye, as of a 50-foot-long whale on the sonar below deck was plenty big enough to flies, jigs and spinners. The experience well as our limits of halibut and some takes your breath away, a far cry from hold possession limits of salmon and was remote, peaceful and offered the bottomfish for all anglers onboard. action-packed, fish-catching mayhem We shared the week with one other that exemplifies Alaska. couple, two deckhands and Gipple. Unfortunately, we were too late to Everyone got along great, every day, experience the small-stream steelhead and the camaraderie made the trip even and trout fishing action Gipple loves more special. getting anglers into earlier in the One evening we dropped crab pots, season, but we did see brown bears and too. Dungeness crabs are something bald eagles up close. The steelheading we can never get enough of, preferring adventure is something we’ll one day their taste over king and snow crabs. return for. When the ocean was calm, we’d head outside the passage, usually early in The Inside Passage the morning. While the stream fishing was most memorable for me, it was the Inside Open Ocean Passage that Tiffany liked best. Calm Before shifting thermals started moving waters, nonstop wildlife watching and along the outer coastline, Gipple would a diversity of fish meant there was little head the Huntress that direction on days downtime. When fishing and traveling forecasted to be calm. The move paid- the passage, there is always something The 60-foot long Huntress, captained by Bruce Gipple out of Sitka, offers access to one Traveling by skiff and hiking to remote streams to battle salmon after salmon was a off on both occasions. to do, something to see. of the most unique fishing adventures in all of Alaska. highlight for the author while fishing the Inside Passage out of Sitka, Alaska. The first time we only traveled three

84 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 85 miles into the open sea before everyone Passage. Land is always near, and with secured daily limits of king and coho it, calm waters. salmon. We also caught pink and chum salmon, both of which are great eating Ultimate Alaska? directly from the saltwater. It’s hard to pick just one fishing The second time out, the salmon were adventure in Alaska and title it the a bit farther. We traveled seven miles best of the best. In fact, doing so is an then, but once again, we came away injustice to the diversity of fishing the with daily limits of kings and coho. great state has to offer. I can understand With our possession limits of kings ranking fishing based on species, or on ice, the rest of our time was spent location, or fishing techniques, but to fishing the calm waters of the Inside try and capture what exemplifies the Passage. ultimate Alaskan experience gets dicey. In the open waters we trolled and However, our week of fishing together mooched herring. While some salmon on the Huntress, is one of our top Alaska hit the downriggers, others hammered fishing adventures. Mind you, Tiffany the bait as we let line out. Often and I are parents of two teenage boys, schooling coho would swarm around and we have three dogs, and we run our the bait, right on the surface, inhaling own business. When we’re home, there’s it before we could even get the reels in never any downtime. During our week free-spool mode. of fishing the passage, there was no cell The great thing about fishing the service, no internet, no one stopping by open ocean—besides being loaded with to visit, no mail to gather or emails to multiple salmon species—is that should answer. There were no barking dogs to the winds kick-up, you’re only minutes tend to, and no kids to shuttle places. In from the protected waters of the Inside other words, it was the perfect getaway, Scott and Tiffany Haugen doubled on The author with a hefty king salmon their first casts after hiking into this remote caught just outside the mouth of the stream with longtime Alaska guide, Bruce Inside Passage. Catching possession limits Gipple (center). Tiffany nailed a pink on a of kings and coho was straightforward jig while the author battled a chum that on this trip out of Sitka with Horizon West attacked a spinner. Guides & Outfitters.

86 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 87 Catch, clean and repeat. Whether salmon, shrimp or bottomfish, that’s pretty to say our trip with Bruce Gipple and much the daily routine when fishing on the his staff on the Huntress goes down as Huntress with Bruce Gipple and crew. one of the best all-around Alaska fishing experiences we’ve had. at least for Tiffany and me at this point From the nonstop fishing action to in time in our lives. the beauty of the surrounding land, On this journey through Alaska’s wildlife-watching to new friends we Inside Passage, Tiffany and I returned made, starlit skies to silent nights, home with 250 pounds of fish, over fishing the Inside Passage is something 2,000 photos, hours of breathtaking we look forward to doing again. Never video footage and memories we’ll never have we come off a fishing trip feeling forget. Earlier in the summer we’d so rested, more impressed with the fished the Nushagak River for king operation and more excited to one day salmon and experienced the best king return to a magical experience that fishing of our lives. A month later, on exemplifies what makes this part of the Egegik River, the best river coho Alaska so special, so unique. fishing adventure greeted members of the family. Contributing Editor Scott Haugen Having lived for years in Alaska’s can be reached through his website at Arctic, and having traveled much of the www.scotthaugen.com, where his popular state for more than 25 years, it’s hard book, A Flyfisher’s Guide to Alaska, to say which fishing adventure is truly along with other of the author’s titles, can the best, nor is it necessary. Suffice it be purchased. 88 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 89 Wind and rain had pounded southeast Alaska for three sense of solitude. days straight, and our skiff hadn’t ventured farther from We skimmed across the mouth of Tolstoy Bay with Rosy, the dock than the crab pots in the middle of the bay. We’d our hotshot female yellow Lab, standing proudly in the bow. poked around the mouth of the Thorne for Dollies and I was aiming for a point of rock where migrating silvers often cutthroats, but August was already starting to tick away hug the shoreline at this time of year, and as we neared it I cut and we were eager for bigger game. When we finally awoke the motor to gauge the drift. At my command, Rosy yielded to clear skies and water that looked like polished glass the bow to my wife Lori and curled up behind the console from our deck, we wasted no time packing some lunch where she’d be out of the way—or at least as out of the way and rounding up our 8-weights. as a full-grown Lab can be in a skiff with fly lines whizzing Southeast Alaska’s Clarence Strait can turn ugly fast on by overhead. a southeast wind. But the marine weather report looked Earlier that summer, a bald eagle had claimed the water just as benign as the water in front of the house, and when we inside the point as its fishing hole, and I was glad to see the rounded the point at the head of the bay, the sea looked bird perched in its usual tree. It wouldn’t be there unless the calm enough to let us paddle to Ketchikan by canoe if we fish were there, too. As we finished rigging up, the eagle gave wanted. Barely an hour ahead of slack tide, the current us a welcoming scream before settling down again to study was barely moving. Conditions appeared ideal for one of the water. Then Lori and I each stripped several broad coils of my favorite Alaska angling adventures: saltwater silvers on line from our reels and began to cast up-current. the fly. While this piece is focused more on the why of Alaska The weather had brought others out as well, and I could saltwater fly-fishing than the where or the how, a few notes see a dozen boats moving at trolling speed across several on technique are in order. As experienced conventional tackle miles of water outside the bay, occupied by a mixture anglers know, silvers at sea often run closer to the surface than of rain-weary locals and visitors in rental boats eager for other salmon species and trolling at high speed will sometimes their first encounter with a salmon. One great advantage produce strikes right in the motor’s wake. I still like to get of fishing the salt is that the ocean seldom my fly—usually a flashy generic baitfish imitation I designed feels crowded. We were free to move as we years ago—eight- or ten feet below the surface, accomplished pleased across a vast marine wilderness, with an intermediate sinking-tip line pitched into the drift so and even if the number of boats had the fly will settle as I twitch it back to the boat. This tactic can doubled, we’d still be able to enjoy a be quite effective when silvers are feeding anywhere near the

Top: While boats are useful, this can be done from shore. Lori Thomas plays a fly-rod silver caught from the salt near a stream mouth. Bottom: Even lowly pink salmon are a great fly-rod gamefish before they enter freshwater. Ryan Budde plays one from the beach along the Ketchikan road-system. Don hiking down to a southeast Alaska beach to cast for silvers. Don with a fly-rod silver taken by casting near a rocky point.

90 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 91 surface. If they’re not… well, it’s always nice to be out on the water on a sunny day, working on my tan and observing marine wildlife. Our first hour of fishing that day fell into the second category. Trolling conventional tackle, the two other boats in the area failed to hook any fish either, although I couldn’t decide whether that was good news or bad. While it would have been nice for one of them to confirm the presence of silvers in the area, at least we knew that our peculiar choice of fishing methods wasn’t leaving us out-fished. Both craft were manned by neighbors familiar with our way of doing things, so at least we didn’t have to put up with any bemused questions about what we were doing. Our wildlife observation agenda got a boost when I noticed something strange swimming toward land from our seaward side. At first glance I assumed it was a seal, but then I realized that the head protruding above the water belonged to a Sitka blacktail deer. From time to time I’ve read reports of well-meaning anglers “rescuing” deer offshore in the salt, but I’ve observed this behavior enough to conclude that long ocean swims are just a normal part of Alaska deer behavior. Sitka blacktails are the strongest swimmers among all North American deer. As with caribou, this may be adaptive behavior designed to help them evade wolves. At any rate, this deer—which turned out to be two deer as they grew closer—swam by us nonchalantly, clamored out on the rocks, and disappeared into the forest as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Suddenly a shout from the bow demanded my attention, and I looked up to see Lori’s rod bent double. Where there’s one surface-feeding silver there are often more, and sure enough, as I stripped my own line in to exchange rod Bright ocean silver taken in southeast Alaska. for landing net, I received a solid strike, too. Then it wasAmerica’s Funniest Home Videos time, as leaping silvers of success as nets came out repeatedly and there were times when I thought circled the boat in opposite directions, aboard both our neighbors’ boats. the bird was on the verge of drowning. Lori and I ducked and weaved to keep But the eagle topped us all. I had But it never relaxed its grip, and when it our lines from tangling, and Rosy just finished twisting the hook free finally dragged the fish up on the rocks, bounced from one end of the skiff to the from another fish when we saw the it looked as proud as any successful other, barking encouragement. Against bird plummet to the water several fisherman I’ve ever seen. considerable odds, we eventually landed hundred yards offshore and emerge Such are the added bonuses of fly- both fish. with a silver in its talons. However, the fishing at sea. One of the sea’s many imponderable fish exceeded the bird’s gross weight factors had suddenly thrown an invisible for flight, and it couldn’t get airborne. I am not a snob. I grew up fishing the switch, and the bite was on. We landed To our amazement, it began to flap its waters of Puget Sound with conventional several more bright, acrobatic salmon wings laboriously through the water tackle at a time when hardly anyone during the next hour, and we weren’t as it headed for shore. This incredible considered fly-fishing anywhere other the only ones to enjoy the sweet taste journey must have taken 20 minutes, than in freshwater. I still enjoy sharing

92 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 93 undergo profound physical changes as they return to their natal waters and head upstream to spawn. While the rate and intensity of these changes varies by species and drainage, they all begin to lose muscle mass and fat once they hit freshwater. This means that they don’t run as hard, jump as high or taste as good as they did even a few days earlier at sea. I’ve certainly enjoyed my share of fly-rod salmon in streams from Bristol Bay to Kodiak, Cook Inlet and the farthest reaches of the Southeastern Panhandle—but those same fish would Deep-dwelling demersal rockfish make have been even more exciting and tasty an unlikely target for the fly, but they can had I taken them in the salt. The same be taken over underwater “humps.” principles hold true for sea-run Dollies, a boat with friends who fish by trolling, cutthroats and steelhead. mooching or bottom-bouncing, and I Saltwater also offers variety certainly enjoy eating what they catch impossible to attain inland, even if when my own stubborn preferences many of those fish aren’t customarily leave me dancing with the skunk. I stick regarded as fly-rod game species. I with my fly rod nowadays not because happen to love variety for its own sake. I think it somehow makes me a better One can only catch so many salmon person, but for the simplest reason of and trout. Although I’m not ordinarily all: I enjoy it. a record-keeper, I once jotted down Saltwater fly-fishing is a recent angling from memory an incomplete list of the development largely popularized during my own lifetime. It began in warm water when pioneers like Joe Brooks and Stu Apte proved that it was possible to catch hard-fighters like bonefish and tarpon on flies. Its possibilities have been more slowly realized in cold northern waters for a variety of reasons. Our marine habitat is more diffuse and less conducive to sight-fishing, and our gamefish favor deeper water often beyond the reach of most fly tackle. But the possibilities are there, and they are Bright ocean silver taken in nearly endless. southeast Alaska. Why bother with the challenge of the ocean when a few miles inland fish will be concentrated in defined fish species I’d taken on flies over the places within easy reach of flies? years. I was well over a hundred when That’s certainly a fair question. One I quit, and the majority of them had concrete answer lies rooted in the come from the salt. From Alaska waters, biology of Alaska’s most popular family that tally includes multiple species of of gamefish. All five Pacific salmon rockfish, both demersal and pelagic, several varieties of sole and flounder, greenling, halibut and some little specimens even I can’t call gamefish. Oddly, I have never taken a lingcod on a fly despite doing all the things I think I should have done to catch one. That’s why they have bucket lists. If variety is truly the spice of life, the best place to look for it is the ocean, even with a fly rod. Beyond all these factors directly related to fish and fishing, I simply love the sea. All life crawled out of it at some Beyond salmon: sea-run cutthroat taken point in our evolutionary history, and from a southeast Alaska shoreline. perhaps it is the place to which all of 94 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 95 us instinctively long to return. I love its smell, its vastness, its unpredictability. The tides ensure a constant change in characters, setting and plot. It is never the same, from day to day or hour to hour. I love poking around in tide pools and studying sea birds through my binoculars. I love eating what the sea produces, from clams to halibut. All these aspects of the sea appeal to me in the same intangible way fly-fishing appeals to me. What better way to spend a day—or a week, or a lifetime— Salmon anglers armed with heavy tackle than by combining the two? don’t think much of black rockfish, but they are lots of fun on fly tackle. Now the time is late June, the setting Sitka Sound. Once again both the my way—purely, if you will. weather and the sea are beautiful. This This late June trip has become an time around I’m taking the challenge of annual event on our calendar. Sitka Alaska saltwater fly-fishing to a whole resident Doug Borland is one of my new level. Silvers at sea are one thing oldest and closest friends, and we’ve had on the fly, but king salmon are another. each other’s backs in wilderness settings There are lots of easy ways to catch from Siberia to the North Slope. Ken fish on flies at sea. You can troll a fly Russell can turn anything into a joke, line for silvers. You can fish a fly from a and he’s never told a joke that didn’t downrigger. You can juice up a streamer make everyone present laugh. As much with a strip of herring. Once again, I as Lori loves fly-fishing she enjoys am not being a snob. There is nothing eating ocean kings even more, which wrong with any of that, any more than means we’ll go home with fish despite there is anything wrong with motor my stubborn wedding to my fly rod. mooching with herring as Lori and our Although it took us a while to find friends are doing. I just want to do it the fish, we’re into them now. My

96 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 97 companions are fishing conventional tackle in its most refined form, mooching plug-cut herring with light weights and willowy rods that don’t look much different from my own. They have already put four nice kings on ice, while my own success has been limited to one early silver and a couple of black rockfish. I’m using a king salmon technique today—a high-density shooting head that feels like an anchor on the end of a running line, the only reasonable means for me to get a fly down 60 feet to the depths where the kings are holding. The 10-weight is wearing my casting arm out, but with my friends hooking fish regularly I find it impossible to quit. I’m always amazed by the way a 40-pound king can hit a fly more gently than a 3-pound rockfish. But I’ve learned to treat any suggestion of a strike as the best thing it could possibly be, and when I strip-set against the next bump the whole ocean seems to explode in my hands. I’ve taken big, strong fish ranging from tarpon to giant trevally and billfish with this big- game fly tackle, but none has offered anything to top the king’s first wild run. “Getting spooled” happens more often on the printed page than in real life, but suddenly I’m looking at the possibility. On its second run, the king heads for the kelp, leaving me with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. But thanks to luck and stout tackle I’m able to turn him, and ten minutes later Doug is faced with the unenviable responsibility of netting the fish of a lifetime. He knows I’ll forgive him if he knocks it off the line, but he still looks as nervous as a high-school kid headed out the door on his first date. Then, amazingly, the fish is in the boat—my Moby Dick, with a happier ending for me if not the fish. I have taken fly-rod kings in freshwater from the Nushagak to the Kenai, but none quite like this. I know I may never do it again. But I also know that I’ve done something even my best friends weren’t sure I’d be able to do. And that’s why I’m in love with fishing Alaska’s coastal waters with my fly rod.

A former resident of the Kenai Peninsula and southeast Alaska, Don Thomas now divides his time between rural Montana and Arizona. He writes about the outdoors for numerous publications. 98 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 99 The Yakutat area produces solid numbers of trophy halibut every year. © Todd Girtz.

The protected waters in and around Yakutat Bay offer some of Alaska’s best halibut fishing. © Terry J. Wiest.

Yakutat, Alaska. Home of the Situk River. Home to one of the world’s greatest wild steelhead runs. Home of world-class runs of coho and sockeye salmon. And also home to coastal brown bears, wolves, bald eagles and plenty of moose. What else could this piscatorial heaven on Earth possibly offer? Well, how about a world-class halibut hotspot—one of the top trophy flatfish fisheries in all of Alaska. Barn-door-size halibut are available in the Yakutat area from late April through September, with the hottest fishing typically occurring during June through July peak. The reason begins with the region’s marine topography and the fact that 18 miles of reef moraine occur just offshore. Moraines are formed through the accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris, meaning Yakutat’s world-famous Hubbard Glacier, which is a spectacular must-see destination on its own, is also responsible for

100 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 101 Solid halibut like this are the norm To further increase success, the author prefers in Yakutat. © Terry J. Wiest. using hootchie skirts when fishing on anchor. © Rob Endsley.

creating one of Alaska’s best natural fishing structures. There’s only one harbor in Yakutat. It features a boat launch and then several docks, but it is very small compared to most ports. Cruise ships frequent the small Alaska city for a gander at the glacier but don’t actually come into port. There are commercial fishing boats and fish-processing ships, but those are anchored offshore as well. Small fishing craft fill most of the slips but the activity level is laid back, particularly when compared with a few of Alaska’s more bustling ports. For the sport angler, there are a few charters that go out on a daily basis (except on Wednesday when fishing is closed to all but DIY recreational anglers). You’d think there would be more activity given the number of fish that are boated in this area, but Yakutat is small in itself and only a limited number of anglers visit each year in search of these beasts—making the town and its halibut fishery one of the state’s best-kept secrets. Most visiting anglers are drawn here by the phenomenal Situk River, and due to the spring timing of the steelhead run, only a handful of those anglers will ever take a charter for halibut. Myself, no matter the time of the season, I recommend at least one day of halibut fishing. My fishing buddies and I go one step further and fish halibut in the morning and then the river in the afternoon. We stay annually at the Glacier Bear Lodge, but there are other lodges and charters in the town that will arrange the same sort of experience for you. Those from the Lower 48 will notice some differences right away when fishing the Yakutat salt. First of all,

102 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 103 eye-opener, because here they typically out your line, take into consideration fish at 80- to 160 feet of depth. the movement of the current and In most of Alaska, there’s a good judge it so your presentations drop just chance you’re going to be anchor behind the edge. fishing, Yakutat is no different. Even For most Yakutat halibut anglers with the shallow depths the current these days, circle hooks are used while can be brutal, but within the confines fishing on anchor—so remember, don’t of Yakutat Bay there will literally be set the hook; wait until the fish sets the hundreds of halibut over any given area hook itself. at a time. The fish-finder will look like In most cases when fishing halibut the seafloor is littered with fish—and it in the Yakutat area, the use of a practically is. These fish aren’t shy about chum bag is not necessary. Read the traveling to find a meal either. Recent Alaska regulations carefully, including video coverage of halibut shows them emergency orders, for the area and time swimming in massive schools before you’re fishing, and if it is legal, you settling into a nice, fresh bait-field. may want to employ this alternative If one of those massive halibut fish-attracting technique. It basically schools doesn’t magically appear on consists of lowering a bag full of your electronics, you’ll want to look munched up baitfish to start a nice for shelves in the structure. You’ll be scent trail. Make sure there is enough in business anywhere there are some weight to keep it down, and also more Most of the halibut fishing in Yakutat takes place in comfortable depths of humps, bumps or cliffs with an edge or weight than you’re using with your 80- to 160 feet. © Rob Endsley. back end to the structure—this is where presentations, so the chum bag drops in halibut will rest and wait for prey. front of your offerings (you want fish there is no bar to cross! That in itself in Yakutat, the most tackled halibut- But it’s not quite that simple. following the scent trail to find your can be a selling point for anglers that fishing grounds are a mere 20- to 40 Positioning your boat can be the baits, not the bag, first). This method tend to get seasick the minute they minutes out. difference between having a banner works great on slow days of fishing, reach the bar. Most anglers think of halibut fishing day and having to work hard to scrape but in Yakutat, thankfully, a slow day Another great feature is the minimal as occurring down to 400 feet of depth together a limit of fish. You must is rare. run to the fishing grounds. Forget about or more, especially anglers who typically position the boat so the anchor is To further increase success, I prefer those multi-hour cruises thumping and fish off the Washington and Oregon dropped on the up-current side of a using big hootchie skirts when fishing bumping around until you hit the spot; coasts. So a visit to Yakutat will be a real drop-off or shelf. Also, before letting on anchor. You’ll also want some scent. Boating big halibut takes a combined effort between angler and crew. © Rob Endsley.

104 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 105 What it’s all about—fine-tasting While most people will just rub the halibut in the boat and ready for skirts with oils, another method is to the grill at the end of the day. © use a scent chamber. There are many Rob Endsley. scents on the market, with my favorite being Pro-Cure Garlic Bloody Tuna. Along with that attach a nice horse herring, salmon head or salmon belly as bait. Drop down to the bottom and you’re fishing. If there’s good current and wave motion there will be no additional movement needed, as long as you’re on or near the bottom. That thump on the bottom is a good thing and should be done every 15 seconds or so. If you’re on anchor and continuously being pulled off bottom it’s time to add some weight. If everyone is hooking up, you’re all good, but even in Yakutat it can take some time for the first halibut to get a whiff of your scent and come to check it out. These slow periods are when half the rods should be fishing as stated above, while the others can be jigging. The sight and sound of jigging can help to draw more attention and get the fish under your boat. There is any number of options for successful jigging, but regardless of the jig you employ, what’s most important is the constant motion and thump. Not all halibut are trophies in Yakutat, of course. The average size is probably like other places, albeit perhaps a little larger at around 30 pounds. But being a fishery with true trophy potential, there is always the chance to boat a 100-pound-plus barn door. However, the smaller (30- to 40-pound fish) taste better and it’s not as hard on the resource if you choose to let the big breeding stock swim free to reproduce another generation of big, bad Yakutat halibut. So, in a nutshell, that’s halibut fishing in Yakutat, one of my favorite places in the world. Rarer and rarer these days, it’s a truly world-class fishery that’s not wall-to-wall boats. I highly recommend a visit. If You Go Glacier Bear Lodge www.glacierbearlodge.com (866) 425-6343

Yakutat Lodge Terry J. Wiest has over 38 years of www.yakutatlodge.com (907) 784-3232 experience fishing for salmon and steelhead, with float-fishing being his Monti Bay Lodge & Resort forte. He has taught and demonstrated www.montibaylodgeandresort.com his techniques at numerous seminars and (866) 513-4744 sportsman’s shows throughout the Pacific Leonard’s Landing Lodge Northwest and is the author of two books, www.leonardslanding.com Steelhead University: Your Guide to (907) 784-3245 Salmon and Steelhead Success, and the recently published Float-Fishing for 106 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 107 thin. Slicing the onion very thin will yield the best results. Add the onion and oil to a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Cook over Grilled Alaskan King Salmon with Balsamic Onion Jam low heat until the onions are caramelized. and Sautéed Spring Vegetables You will need to stir frequently to avoid Recipe by Chef Drew Johnson, Kincaid Grill burning. Once onions are caramelized, add the sugar and the vinegar. Cook this for at least an additional 15- to 20 minutes continuing to stir frequently. Cook until most of all the liquid is reduced. The jam should be thick and tacky. Remove from heat and let cool. This can be cooked ahead of time and will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Sautéed Spring Vegetables 1 lb. fiddlehead ferns ½ lb. ramps chopped (or scallion) 2 oz. white wine ¼ cup chicken stock or vegetable stock 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp chopped garlic 1 tbsp chopped shallot 1 tbsp butter Salt and pepper to taste

Add the olive oil to a large sauté pan. Turn pan on to medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering and hot, add the fiddlehead ferns, shallots and garlic. Cook until slightly Grilled Alaskan King Salmon Be careful as too much oil will cause the fire browned. Deglaze the pan with your Serves 4 to flare up. Cook the salmon to an internal favorite white wine. Cook until alcohol has 4-6 oz. portions Alaska red temperature of 115 degrees. This can be evaporated. Once alcohol is cooked down salmon fillets measured with a probe thermometer. This add your ramps and the stock. Cook this Salt and pepper to taste will ensure the fish remains moist. Serve until reduced by half then remove from the 2 tbsp olive oil immediately. heat and add your butter. Continue stirring until the butter has melted. Season to taste For the salmon: Preheat your favorite Balsamic Onion Jam with salt and pepper. Enjoy! outdoor grill. I prefer charcoal. Pat the 3 large white onions salmon dry and season with salt and 1 tbsp olive oil pepper. Rub the salmon with a light coating 1 cup brown sugar of the olive oil. Place fillets presentation- 1 cup balsamic vinegar side down. Cook until forming grill marks. Salt to taste Kincaid Grill Flip the salmon and continue cooking. 6700 Jewel Lake Road After flipping, lightly baste remaining olive Julienne the onion (long, thin strips) or Anchorage, AK 99502 oil. This will keep the fish from drying out. using a mandoline, slice the onion very (907) 243 0507

108 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 109 Kenai Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center . 93 Alaska Marine Highway System ...... 48 Kenai Golf Course ...... 93 Alaska Paracord Designs ...... 12 King Salmon Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute . . . . .108 Anchorage Bear Trail Lodge ...... 18 Alaska State Troopers ...... 87 Adventures In Eye Care ...... 21 Branch River Air Service ...... 9 Alaska Wild Gear ...... 104 Alaska Boat Trailers ...... 30 Naknek River Camp ...... 111 Alaskan Brewing Company ...... 15, 27 Alaska Hearing & Tinnitus Center ...... 21 Kodiak Diamond D Custom Leather ...... 79 Alaska Performance RV & Marine ...... 39 Andrew Airways ...... 55 Fred Meyer ...... 11, 22, 106, 108, 112 Aspen Hotels ...... 5 Big Ray’s ...... 24 LifeMed Alaska ...... 94 B&J Sporting Goods ...... 56 Budget Car Rental of Kodiak ...... 55 PenAir ...... 111 Best Western Golden Lion Hotel ...... 39 Discover Kodiak ...... 55 Petro Marine ...... 32 Big Ray’s ...... 24 Fish Kodiak Adventures ...... 55 Pristine Ventures ...... 96 Bridge Seafood ...... 17 Kodiak Combos ...... 59 Ravn Alaska ...... 97 Club Paris ...... 16 Kodiak Custom Fishing Tackle ...... 62 Remote Properties ...... 49 Dewey’s Cook Inlet ...... 14 Kodiak Russian River Lodge ...... 55 Sportsman’s Warehouse ...... 44, 114, 115 FisheWear ...... 72 Ramblin’ on the Rock ...... 55 Three Bears Alaska ...... 12 Gwennie’s Old Alaska Restaurant ...... 16 Naknek National Home Instead Senior Care ...... 20 Bear Trail Lodge ...... 18 Acme Tackle ...... 83 Kincaid Grill ...... 17 Naknek River Camp ...... 111 ACR Electronics ...... 86 Mexico in Alaska ...... 16 Nushagak Adventure Products ...... 46 Mossy’s Fly Shop ...... 26, 38 Bristol Bay Adventures ...... 9 Alaska Outdoors TV ...... 76 Oomingmak ...... 77 Nushagak River Adventures ...... 8 American Airboats ...... 35 PenAir ...... 111 WT AK Ventures ...... 98 Ande Monofilament ...... 54 Ravn Alaska ...... 97 Palmer Angler West TV ...... 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...... 59 Izorline ...... 43 Dillingham Aurora Charters ...... 58 Kingfisher Boats ...... 31 Bay Air ...... 9 Sailing Inc...... 19 Leelock Anchor Systems ...... 36 Nushagak River Adventures ...... 8 Sitka Luhr-Jensen ...... 80 Eagle River Alaska Premier Charters ...... 89 Mack’s Lure ...... 69 Eagle River Polaris and Arctic Cat ...... 81 Bayview Restaurant & Pub ...... 17 Mantus Anchors ...... 32 Fairbanks Fish Baranof Adventures ...... 89 Mepps ...... 74 Big Ray’s ...... 24 Soldotna North River ...... 34 Pristine Ventures ...... 96 Alaska Drift Away Fishing ...... 93 Northwest Marine Industries ...... 33 Girdwood Alaskan Fishing Adventures ...... 59 Okuma Fishing Tackle ...... 65 Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center . . . . . 6 Corsetti’s Guide Service ...... 93 Onyx ...... 105 Chair 5 Restaurant ...... 16 Golden International ...... 16 Outfitter Satellite ...... 95 Haines Kenai River Charters ...... 66 Pacific Eyewear ...... 12 Alaska Sport Shop ...... 112 Kenai Riverside Fishing 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Auto Marine ...... 75 Whittier Marine Charters ...... 4 Jurassic Lake Lodge ...... 89 Katmai Yakutat Scotty ...... 37 Angler’s Paradise Kulik Lodge ...... 9 Yakutat Lodge ...... 71 Silver Streak Boats ...... 31 Naknek River Camp ...... 111 Statewide The Emu Outfitting Company ...... 94 Kenai Advanced Physical Therapy ...... 20 Aspen Hotels ...... 5 Alaska Divison of Forestry ...... 77 110 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 111 off my list; but no legal fish could the fifth season in a row. I called J Dock to baited gear to fish for yelloweye find the end of my line. Legal size Fishing Company in Seward to book a rockfish. Deckhand Pat had quite a Bucket List Ling of a “keeper” in the area I fish is 36 silver salmon trip for my wife and me. time keeping up with sliding fish into inches. I caught a 28-incher in 2013 She had acted a trifle left-behind the the fish tank as he kept having to stop Story by Dennis Lattery and a slightly longer one in 2015 but morning my daughter and I departed and attend to more fish coming aboard! Five years ago I realized I had lived in a legal big guy continued to elude Anchorage for the Whittier trip, which I soon caught my second cod and my Alaska for 67 of my 75 years and had me. I had tried fishing out of Homer, was understandable. She had suffered wife caught her two lings. I was so caught about every species of sport fish Whittier once and Seward two times a shoulder injury some years back and proud of her as she painfully struggled available, but never a lingcod. At that with no luck. Getting desperate, I was wanted nothing to do with any heavy to crank those big fish off the bottom. point I placed catching a ling on my considering a flight to Kodiak to try bottomfishing. An easier alternative Both of her lings were longer than bucket list of things to do while I was fishing there. It looked like God just was to book a leisurely trip chasing my longest and she was completely still physically able. did not mean for me to catch a legal silvers around Resurrection Bay out of exhausted when she finally pulled her During each of those past years, lingcod! Seward—or so we thought! last yelloweye onboard. including the last trip in early July, After an annual father/daughter We arrived at J Dock charters in When we motored for Seward 2016, an annual fishing charter was fishing trip out of Whittier in July of Seward at 6 a.m. the scheduled day everyone had his or her limits and we booked in an effort to check a lingcod 2016 it looked like no luck again for and boarded a trim 33-foot aluminum were back in the harbor berth by 3:30, charter boat, the Arctic Cat, ready for instead of the usual 5 or 6 o’clock, a day of salmon fishing. “Not so,” A lingcod has been on the author’s bucket list since he realized he’d lived and our crew had first shot at the fish- Captain Arron Tompkins advised. here for 67 years and not yet caught one. © Marcus Weiner. cleaning tables. Silvers were running late this year and This marked the end to one of the few and far between. We were going this was did not want to come up easy. size of the head. It is at least one third finest charter fishing trips we have lingcod fishing! Everyone, he promised, It seemed to take forever before a light- the size of a bread box and the inside ever experienced and, quite happily, an would catch their limit of two lingcod, colored body, actually a gigantic white- of the upper and lower lips are lined unplanned ending to my five-year quest two yelloweye rockfish and two other colored open mouth, materialized up with rows of long teeth, like cat claws, for that elusive bucket list ling. rockfish. (My immediate thought was, from the depth of green water. With curved pointing back into the mouth. yeah, lots of luck with that one!) gloved hands Pat grabbed the weight Once this creature grabs onto a food It didn’t take much more to suspect and line and lifted this formidable fish it is doomed. a plot than seeing the passenger creature up and into the boat. No need In the incredibly short time needed This is the third time Dennis Lattery’s manifest where my name was followed to wonder if this guy was legal as he to get our limits, one after another work has been featured in The Final by “Wants a lingcod” in parentheses! stretched a good third of the way across enormous cod was pulled from the Drift; he resides in Eagle River and From past trips with these folks the the Arctic Cat’s deck! water. Client after client caught the can be reached through his website, boss who booked this trip was very Most notable about these fish is the ling limit and quickly changed over www.alaskacustomguides.com. familiar with my historic run of bad ling luck. It looked as if Mamma was going bottomfishing that day whether she wanted to or not! Soon after 6 o’clock we were speeding down Resurrection Bay toward the open Gulf of Alaska. We tried in vain for over an hour to catch a silver along the outside coast but they were just not around. (Fishing for summer silvers out of Seward for an hour and not catching one is far from typical!) Next we scooted off to drift around a good rockfish spot and quickly caught a boat limit. “Now,” said the Captain, “we will head for the cod hole and have some real fun!” It seemed we motored around in the gulf for hours until, suddenly, the big Yamaha outboards slowed to a murmur and we were over the spot where we apparently needed to be. Deckhand Pat Gainey dropped the anchor and we were fishing! After a little on-the-job training, regarding the correct way to fish for lingcod, I was the first person rigged and dropped a white rubber-tailed jig to the bottom. As instructed, when my weight hit, I cranked up a bit from the sea floor and BAM! something bent my pole almost down into the water. I set the hook and began reeling. Whatever 112 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 113 114 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017 June 2017 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com 115 116 www.FishAlaskaMagazine.com June 2017