Month: May 2017

The boat was rented out for an exclusive trip by Keith of Seward.  Between him and his family there was a total of 31 fisherman.  We turned east out of the bay and made way to Montague there was little wind and seas were glassy.  Our first spot we dropped anchor on was a jagged rockpile in deep water that was sure to hold some Yellow Eye rock fish and some Halibut.  Within the first hour we had landed 15 Yellow Eye and 5 other species of rock fish.  We had yet to get a takedown from a Halibut so we pulled anchor at 11:15 and made way inshore to fish a bit shallower.  We continued to chum and sure enough we got the Halibut to bite for a good two hours.  22 Halibut were caught with weight ranging from 15lbs-75lbs.  By three it was time to limit the boat our so we travel 25 minutes to a more promising spot for a boat limit.  By 5:15pm we limited out with 70 halibut in the boat.

It was a great day with a fun group of people.  Sometimes it pays of to be patient…

FISH ON!!!

Fish On!

SILVER (COHO) SALMON

The Alaska silver salmon has been called the greatest Alaska sport fish. The State of Alaska sport fishing record is 26 pounds. The general weight range of silvers runs from 9-26 pounds. The Coho has certainly had an important place in Alaska subsistence and commercial fisheries. The life cycle of the silver salmon is similar to that of the Alaska king salmon. Silver salmon will stay in the freshwater for a year or two before migrating to the saltwater where they will spend at least 2 years swimming the Kenai coastal waters or in the Gulf of Alaska. Even as young smolt in freshwater the Alaska silver salmon is a voracious and aggressive eater making it one of the best fighting fish in the Gulf. Beginning in mid-July, Alaska silver salmon will begin to congregate in bays and near mouths of their spawning streams and rivers as they wait for nature to optimize water temperature and stream flow before they continue migration to their freshwater spawning grounds.   The Coho or Silver is regarded as top three in the Salmon species and on market the delicious meat can cost up to $16 per pound.  Silvers have dark metallic blue or greenish backs with silver sides and a light belly and there are small black spots on the back and upper lobe of the tail while in the ocean.  In the saltwater, Silver Salmon are known for their crazy antics, they leap, roll and charge around the boat making for a sometimes crazy but fun experience.

You will be provided with the industry’s top gear to help optimize your chances of landing a silver salmon

Mooching for Salmon:

ROD: Penn Mariner 6’ (15-30lb) Salmon Rod

REEL: Penn GTI 320 (4:3:1) High speed retrieval for maximum control

LINE: P-Line #25lb Green Fluorocarbon.   Best line on the market, invisible to the fish and retains no line coiling memory.

BAIT: In the adult stage the Silver feeds primarily of small fish, such as Herring, and Sand Lance.  On our vessel you will be provided with cut Herring and premier salmon tackle.  The fishing style is known as mooching, and is done by moving your rod tip up and down creating a crippled like action from the bait.  Silvers will be scattered through the water column at times and can usually be found between 10-100ft deep.

There are very strict rules and regulations on salmon fishng and your bag limit depends on which fishing grounds the captain is fishing.  If fishing outside the bay the limit is 3 wild salmon but if fishing only in Resurrection Bay the bag limit of Silver Salmon is 6 per person given that there is no Ling Cod on board.

We made way towards the Island of Montague and dropped the anchor in a spot I have yet to fish this year.  Once again the current was extremely strong making it hard to keep the 3lb weight to the bottom.  The jigs were definitely the choice of the halibut this morning, landing the two biggest fish on the boat.  The bite was constant but we weren’t getting much size to our halibut, averaging 15lbs – 20lbs.  At about 12:30 we pulled anchor to a spot that I have done well in the past but received only one bite and landed one fish.  They say never to leave fish to find fish, I agree but the gamble can sometimes be worth it.  August 21, 2009  I left an area that I was catching fish in to run 8 miles in the complete opposite direction from home.  It was late in the day and I was only 6 fish shy of a limit.  Within an hour of dropping the anchor we caught a 305lbs and a 168lbs halibut.  You can see why this is a difficult call at times.

At 3pm we pulled anchor and ran 20 min to a spot that was sure to hold some fish.  Within an hour we landed 47 halibut.  It was chaos on the deck but everyone was having a great time.  The deckhands really worked for their money running around the boat enough times to equal the distance of a marathon.  All in all a great day with great weather.  The rain never showed and the sea state was flat calm with no wind.  Can’t complain … this has been a great spring.

Our next trip is this Thursday, See you there…FISH ON!!!

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Bobby Mitchell & Son Luke Happy Fathers’ Day

A slow start this morning for the Sea Quest.  Our first drop was in 60′ of water with a large flood tide starting late this morning.  It was tough to keep the weights on the bottom but as the tide slowed down we hooked two 45lbs halibut on the Jigs.  At 12pm we made our second move to a rock pile 4 miles off shore in search of some larger halibut.  It was a slow pick at the fish but we managed to put a few nice ones in the box.  The two salmon carcass rigs off the stern both had two big take downs, but each fish stubbornly shook free.  It’s always frustrating losing big fish but the challenge is what makes this sport so much fun.

I look forward to tomorrow’s trip, I’ll see you in the morning. FISH ON!!!

The grey skies lifted as we approached our first fishing destination.  Weather was calm with little wind out of the SW.  The morning started off great with the first two fish landed on a jig weighing in at around 75lbs,   As the tide continued to pick up we were able catch 6 more fish all over 50lbs.  After the tide change we were forced to relocate to an area that looked promising for some larger fish.  We sat and soaked but weren’t able to stir up any more big ones on the ebb tide.  At about 3pm we dropped anchor on a shelf in 180′ of water and proceeded to limit the boat out in an hour and 15min.  It was a great day fishing with my friends from Janssen funeral home and the wagoners and friends from Wasilla.  We still have room Fri-Sat-Sun! FISH ON!!!

Keoni Tamayo – Deck Hand Extraordinaire

The fishing is definitely picking-up in Seward.  Everyday the bite seems to be getting better and better.  The weather has been great with blue skies and little wind making for a very enjoyable day on the gulf.  We decided to make the run to the Island of Montague; a long run but worthy ride.  While doing the fishing speech we immediately hooked a halibut setting the tone for the rest of the day.  There seemed to be a fish on every two minutes.  It was a mixed bag of different sizes varying from 15lbs to 145lbs.   Overall it was a great day and everyone went home with quite a bit of fish.  We also had the leading daily derby winner weighing in at 145lbs; big enough to win that lucky fisherman a free fishing charter.  Looking forward to another day on the water with variable 10kt of wind and 4′ seas…should be nice, we left them biting…FISH ON!!!

West winds continued to remain off shore again today making yet another perfect day of halibut fishing in the Gulf of Alaska.  We fished a shallow water rock pile and soaked salmon heads in hope of some larger halibut, but could not get anything to hook up.  Today was not our day for big fish. We moved off shore around 12pm and found  a rockpile that was holding some very decent fish, ranging 15lb-30lb.  Solid fish and we were happy to get them after such a slow bite in the morning.  The sun was blazing down on us all day with light variable winds.  2 giant Octopus were caught off the rockpile and I was able to get some great HD video footage of them in the water that we will soon be adding to the blog.  It was a great day to be on the water, you guys were great! Thanks again for coming out with us.

Next trip for the Sea Quest will be this friday… there are seats left so call (907)224-BOOK to reserve your seat.  FISH ON!!!!

Today was yet another great day of fishing and weather.  The weather front expected to move into the north gulf coast waters never showed making it a beautiful day.  We were able to make it out to the island of Montague just in time for a nice outgoing tide.  We dropped our lines in shallow water and nailed 2 nice fish right off the back.  The bite became increasingly better and the size of the fish grew as the day progressed.  We ended up catching 11 fish over #50lb and 1 just under #95lb.  We left the fish biting as we pulled anchor to limit the boat out with 52 fish at a spot with a dense concentration of halibut.  It was a perfect day with each group landing at least 1 large fish.  Thanks for coming out guys!! FISH ON