Alaska fishing advice

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colvosview

New member
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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!
 
Chivita":1e3sx85t said:
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!
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Dave - as many C-Brats here will attest to, you've gone out of your way to give back to this community at previous gatherings with your generous lodging offers. You've gone well beyond the call of duty - no need to apologize, I'd heartily recommend any hotel you have a hand in managing. I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping we see you, Sylvia and the boys at a future gathering a little further south...perhaps the SBS this year?

And, to add a little something to Dave's post - if anyone is interested, I know of a prime fishing opportunity next month in Sitka for anyone who can schedule things on such short notice. My Dad, brother and I were scheduled to stay at Dave's hotel next month, but due to health issues with my Dad, we just had to cancel.

During this stay, we had reservations with Gary and Sea King Charters, mentioned and recommended by Dave above. Gary was very gracious in handling our cancelation with no loss of deposit, but I did let him know I'd mention the opportunity here in case anyone is interested.

We booked three days during the typically red hot silver season - Friday through Sunday, August 18-20. As of earlier today, this slot is available - I booked it 6 months in advance. Gary is a small and personal operation, taking 3-4 folks out at a time. And as Dave mentioned, he'll pick you up at the hotel dock each morning. His prices are reasonable, and if anyone can take advantage of this opportunity, I'd love to hear how it turns out for you as I'm definitely going to rescheduled a trip with him in the future.

Send me or Chivita Dave a PM if you are interested, and we'll forward you Gary's contact information.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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