| Sitka Alaska 7/22-7/25
Stayed at Kingfisher lodge in Sitka Alaska and fished three full days. 7/22 through 7/25. Spectacular fishing and awesome scenery. Kingfisher Lodge runs a great operation that I would highly recommend.
Day 1: Sunday, July 22nd.
Woke up and was down at the boat by 6:00 A.M. Four (4) anglers to a boat, so our family fit perfect. Myself; my dad; step-mom & sister. Started out with the rest of the fleet trolling for salmon out of the inlet. Inlet where open ocean starts past all the little individual islands is about an hours boat ride. We were fishing off the Scotty downriggers, trying to find the right depths for the King Salmon. Got a few decent ones the first day with a bunch of Coho's & Silvers mixed in. About noon we decide to make a run and try for halibut. Halibut fishing up there is a little different that what I am used to down here. All halibut fishing was done from the anchor, using gangion rope as leader with a big 20/0 Mustad circle hook. Salmon carcass & guts for bait. Put out four lines and just waited for the current to carry the smell and for the halibut to find their way to us. We were fishing in roughly 330'-0" of water. First day no luck for us on the halibut, but we had a pretty good day of salmon fishing, with some good size kings. Lots of nice yellow eyed rockfish (which are pretty much by-catch fishing halibut) and some nice size lings.
Day 2: 7/23/2007:
Same thing today, started out fishing Salmon in the same area, mostly to procure bait for halibut later. Boated a few nice Kings again. Dad had one at 40 lbs, which was one of the biggest the guide has seen so far this year. A few more Coho's & Silvers and then it was time to make a move for halibut again. Started out fishing in 360'-0" of water and began the waiting game. About 90 minutes in without a halibut bite, three out of the four lines in the water went off simuntaneously. We had three nice halibut on. Dad boated one that went 105 lbs and I got one that went 145 lbs. Beautiful fish with nice headshakes and a nice initial run. After that, they come to the boat kind of easy. Definately not as challenging as a bigger model Yellow Fin Tuna, but great fish nonetheless. Put in another 45 minutes of fishing for halibut and got our limits of four (4) for over 32".
Day 3: 7/24/2007
Started the day with a new guide, Scott, who was great. Best day of Salmon fishing so far. With not many kings being caught as of late, we get lucky and get our limits by 10:00 A.M. Dad boated another fat one close to 40 lbs.
With our limits of salmon again, we set out for another halibut spot one last time. Set out our lines and began the waiting game once again. After about 2 hours, we started getting bit. At first, it was all chicken size hali's, 15-20 lbs. Then dad hooked a fat one that went around 100#. At the end of the day we had our limits of four (4) over 32" and four (4) under 32". Just phenominal fishing. It is like Jurassic Park up there with all the fish on steroids. It is crazy seeing halibut that big and ling cod pushing 50 lbs. Kingfisher is a great operation and I would definately recommend it to anyone headed up there for some fishing. Enjoy the rest of the photos.
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