Alaska fishing advice

colvosview · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:53 pm Post subject: Alaska fishing advice

My wife's brother-in-law and uncle have charged me with the job of putting together a fishing venture to Alaska next summer. We're looking for a 3 or 4 day salmon and halibut charter, with the opportunity to fish 3 or 4 to a boat. When I look online, of course every place claims to have the best fishing in Alaska. What thoughts are out there among you C-Dory guys?
Thanks

Jeff and Julie · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:55 pm Post subject:

I prefer Sitka. The fishing is fantastic, the scenery is beautiful and there are plenty of things to see and do within walking distance of town.

Julie

doc · Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 4:41 pm Post subject:

Julie is probably right. The fishing seems to be better on the outside than in the inside passage nearer Juneau etc. Prince William Sound, out of Valdez, Cordova or Whittier is beautiful as well and offers pretty decent fishing too. Going out of say Homer and Kenai can be good, especially for halibut but lacks the scenery that the other areas mentioned have. No matter where you chose, most professional guides will do a pretty good job for you.

Bearbait · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 12:33 pm Post subject:

Do you just want serious fishing? How about sight seeing, would you prefer a remote lodge or to be in a town? There are lots of options.

jdoskoch · Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 29 City/Region: Charlevoix, MI

Lived and fished in Sitka for 4 years. Excellent king salmon & halibut fishing! Yes, the fish caught average much larger than places like Juneau or Ketchikan. Check the stats in local fishing derbies. Plus an interesting town with incredible scenery. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to fish in SE AK.

My last visit (go back every couple of years) I chartered with Big Blue Charters, and they really did a nice job. To investigate check out the Sitka website Sitka.com.

Chivita · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 6:56 pm Post subject:

David,

I've tried to stay quiet on this one as I do not wish to post an advertisment to this site, but it is difficult to do so since I live and breath Sitka fishing every day. According to the survey's that judge overall catches, Sitka does have the highest catch rates for Kings and Halibut in the Southeast corridor. One of the Charter boats that ties up to our dock just came back from two days of King fishing and everyone caught their limit both days and there were several 40 to 50 pounders as well as a few that were so big that they could not boat them (ahrg!).

Big Blue is a great company as is Sea King Charters and Sitka Charters www.sitkacharters.com - www.sitka.org is the visitors bureau web site and can give you an idea of the town as well.

There have been some big butts out there in the 150 to 250 pound range the past two weeks, but you have to get out in the rough stuff or head down the coast a bit to find them that big. The more local butts are in the 30 to 60 pound range.

Should you decide to make the trip, let me know if you need suggestions or assistance as I deal with the majority of the Charter guys and girls every day. (They pick up and drop off on our dock) And if you want to stay in town, let me know as I'll hook you up with the C-Brat special at the hotel. www.totemsquare.com

My apologies if I offended anyone with the advertisment, but we do have the best hotel in town and the best fishing around and it's kinda hard to keep quiet about that stuff!

Da Nag · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:36 pm Post subject:

colvosview · Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:00 pm Post subject:

Thanks for all the good advice. I knew I could count on benefitting from all the experience out there.
I'm just back from a short San Juans cruise as guest on a friend's yacht. At Deer Harbor, we met some nice folks from Mt Vernon on a 22 Cruiser named Skookum, plus a family with a brand new boat soon to be named "Short Story", who will use it for a water taxi from their place on Shaw Island. They were out trying to get a few more hours on it so they could go to Anacortes next week for the 20 hour servicing on the Suzuki. Because of its intended use, they opted to have a bench seat instead of a galley. At Roche Harbor, we spotted a 19 footer rafted to a big craft, but never saw anyone to speak to.

thataway · Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:46 pm Post subject:

The best place for us in Alaska was Pybus harbor, near Petersburg. We always limited in a short time with nice fish on the North side of the cove. There are a number of charter boats in Petersburg Co-ordinates for the place is: 57deg 19.180 min N and 134deg, 02.542 min W.

There is also a book by the Alaska Bureau of Fisheries: Salmon Holes and Hallibut Hills--for sportsfishing Alaska--gives some good clues.