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We put a new meaning to meat rack up here as we do our bachelor parties a bit different than the rest.

 

The Sea Quest was filled with mainly repeat clients and friends from Alaska trying to beat the rush and capitalize on Seward’s awesome spring fishing.  It was our first trip to Montague Island this year. After a 2.5 hour boat ride we dropped our anchor in a shallow area hoping for a few monsters. Spring fishing can be unpredictable.. some days you can’t get the bait down fast enough and others we really have to work for them.  We made a few adjustments and moved, as the tide switched a little earlier then expected.  Our second spot a few miles from the first was steady, nothing too big but a few 30 pounders hit the deck followed by one at about 50 lbs caught by Scott of Anchorage.

The King Salmon run strong this time of year in the area that we were targeting Halibut and Jay from Palmer was able to get a good hook set into a nice 15 pounder.  The fish ran all over the boat reminding us of why we call them King Salmon.  We were finally able to slide her into the net about 10 minutes after the initial hook up.  Great Job, Jay!

Word on the water was that the Spiny Dogfish (sand shark) were covering the ocean floor in our last fishing spot and despite what the fleet said we decided to go there anyway.  Much to our surprise the Halibut bite was off the hook- or better yet on the hook.  We only managed to catch about 15 shark and limited the boat with a nice load 12-22 lbs Halibut.

Great Job everyone and thanks again for always choosing us to fish with. We appreciate your dedication to our business and promise to always provide you with the same quality trip. FISH ON!

Welcome back to another season fishing with Alaska Northern Outfitters.  We slapped some new deck paint on the Sea Quest, painted the engines and outfitted the boat with all new gear for the 2015 summer.  The boat is running great and the fish have been biting.

Our first trip was the Combat Tournament.  Armed service members from all over the state got to try their hand at catching their limit of plump Halibut on our May 20th trip.  There are many prizes and giveaways for those who caught the largest Halibut to those who did not catch at all.  It’s a great event that we’ve participated in for as long as I remember.

The morning of the tournament started with a shotgun start out of the Seward harbor.  We motored out into Prince William Sound about fifty-five miles from Seward.  It was a slow start as expected, as we were waiting on the tide to start flowing.  After about an hour of waiting and chumming, the fish started to appear one by one.  The fish coming up were of nice size ranging from 35 lbs to the largest at about 76 lbs.  The fish seemed to have no preference as to what type of bait to bite, as we got equal amounts of fish on bait as we did jigging.  By the afternoon we ventured out into deeper water where we were able to limit the boat with some smaller ones.

At the dock the fisherman all weighed 1 fish each to enter into the derby.  After weigh in was the banquet where all the armed service men and women had a nice dinner and award ceremony.

Lots of hungry fish and happy fisherman! It was a great beginning to another productive Seward fishing season.  We look forward to fishing with you all again this upcoming season.  Thank you for your service and dedication to our country. FISH ON!

Mother Nature finally gave us a break and allowed us to venture out into the gulf to catch a few Halibut.  Yesterday, we travelled as far as the weather permitted which was about half way to the Halibut grounds.  Although we fell short of where we normally go we were still able to catch a limit of small halibut fairly quickly.  After, we tried a few Silver Salmon spots that were out of the weather but unfortunately we only collected a few.

Today’s trip was definitely the calm before the storm.  The weather was calling for 15 knots of south wind but as we travelled further and further towards Montague the weather got increasingly better.  We even saw some sunshine for the first time in seven days and were able to strip off some rain gear and fish in t-shirts.

As we pulled up to our spot we could see the giant clusters of bait all over the ocean floor.  We positioned the boat directly on top of one and started to Halibut fish.  It took about an hour to catch twenty two people a limit.  After pulling in the last ‘but we switched our gear over and fished the same spot for Silvers.  The bite wasn’t hot but it was better than what we have seen over the past four days.  All in all we pulled in thirty three Silvers, forty four Halibut, one King Salmon, three Lingcod and a variety of Rockfish.  It sure felt good to do some bottom fishing.

The weather is picking back up tonight with winds in the 35kt-40kt range kicking the seas up to an estimated 14′ by tomorrow morning.  Looks like another day in the bay fishing for silvers.  It’s the last day of the derby… Hope the bites hot.

Day five of fishing inside Resurrection Bay.  This weather system is starting to wear on us all, it has been a full 5 days without making it to the Halibut grounds.  The storm that has been punishing the Gulf has also put quite a bit of pressure on the Silvers inside the bay.  Every charter boat plus recreational fisherman participating in the Seward Salmon Derby have been bringing in Salmon in spectacular numbers.  Nothing over #16lbs has hit the weigh station yet but everyday of the derby a bigger one has topped it.

It was a rough one during our full day Salmon trip.  Luckily our crew today was a tough themselves, they fished through the wind and rain and although we worked hard for our fish we pulled off a pretty good load.  Our second spot was far more productive than the first.  We were lucky enough to catch 11 Halibut while on anchor as well as 55 Silvers Salmon.

The weather for tomorrow is looking like another day trapped in the bay, I hope the Silvers will put out one more good day of fishing for us.  I’ll keep you

posted on the progress..FISH ON!

Looks like we all had the same idea today

We have been blown off the gulf for the past four days and the forecast is still showing no signs of letting up in the next day or two.  We have been targeting Silver Salmon inside the bay and luckily we’ve been doing really well.  The Silvers have been pouring into Resurrection Bay at a steady rate making for some action packed Salmon fishing.  On today’s charter we caught a total of 102 Silver salmon, limiting a group of 17 people with six Salmon each.  The start of the Seward Silver Salmon Derby has begun and boats from all over the state are down here trying to get their hands on some of that prize money.

Many of the silvers have been in the 9lb-13lb range with a few larger mixed into the bunch.  Most of the Silver Salmon are still at the entrances to the bay and those mooching and trolling seem to have much success.  I expect better and better fishing towards the head of the bay as the Silvers move north to Seward.  We haven’t seen any monsters yet but expect a few in the 16lb-20lb weight class to hit the dock soon.  Hopefully this weather system that’s been hanging over the North Gulf with let up soon so we can get out to the Halibut grounds.  It has been a nice break for the fishery and I’m sure the fishing will be spectacular once we make it out.  FISH ON!!

We ventured into the gulf on a full day Halibut trip, looking for some of size.  Our destination was Cape Clear on the southern tip of Montague.  It was a little rough getting out to the spot, the wind was blowing about 15 knots out of the NE and the swell was 3′-5′.  When we approached the shelf the wind came down a bit and the seas leveled out making for a nice sit on anchor.  We had a small incoming tide of only 3′ which can make fishing slow at times.  Halibut are predators that feed upon the tides and the more current the better.

It was a slow start, showing up at slack tide but once we started to get a little current we hooked a few small Halibut.  One of the small Halibut was hooked on a jig and when it got the surface we could see a giant brown shadow underneath it.  A big Halibut had chased it all the way to the top trying to make a meal out of the chicken.  Once it saw the boat it ran down to the bottom but we knew we would soon see her again.  About five minutes later, the same person that hooked the chicken stuck that big fish with a jig.  it was a great fight, shaking its head and making huge runs.  Once it got the bullet and hit the deck we estimated it was about 105 pounds.  That was the only big fish of the day but we did manage to catch everyone Halibut by our third move.  Mixed into the batch were a ton of large Silver Salmon that were caught on salmon rods and also hooked on our Halibut rigs.

Another weather system is working its way into the gulf and is predicted to be in full swing by tomorrow night.  Hopefully we’ll have time to get to the Halibut tomorrow and back before the wind reaches the estimated 30 knots.  Wish us luck, FISH ON!

Alright, starting to feel human again.  The Sea Quest crew is back at 100% health and ready to enter the month of August with a bang.  We have had some amazing trips the past few days.  The elusive Silver Salmon that we thought weren’t going to show have started to pour into the gulf in large numbers.  Many of the “finish up spots” for small Halibut are covered from top to bottom with bait schools, bringing many fish in for the feed.

Today’s charter alone we caught and retained a total of 210 fish mainly Halibut, Salmon and Rockfish.  It’s been hot and heavy and the Salmon Derby in Seward is about to kick off this Saturday.  The Silvers showed up right in time.  It’s been a few years since we’ve had a great Silver Salmon bite in August.  We’re looking forward to big fish and in huge numbers.

Here are some photos from this past week’s trips that we weren’t able to cover.  Enjoy, FISH ON!

Flu week on the Sea Quest…too tired for blog need energy for fishing, catch up with the catch soon

P.S. fishing has been great!

Another amazing day of fishing on the M/V Sea Quest.  The seas from yesterday’s 30 knots of wind had calmed down and the water was flat calm.  We dropped our lines in around 9:30 and the incoming tide had started to flow into Prince William Sound.  The boat was sitting backwards because of the lack of surface current.  It was slow this morning as predicted, and it wasn’t until 11:30 that we started to see our first Halibut bites.  We missed the first few nibbles then re-set the anchor to position ourselves better behind the rock piles.  As soon as the surface current spun us the Halibut started to show in size and numbers.  We caught a big White King Salmon that took us all by surprise especially because it turned out to be a white King (white meat).  We had multiple double hookups with big fish and each of them peeled line and ran all over under the boat.  It was a bit hectic on deck and despite all the craziness we only lost one out of the twelve big ones we caught.  All together 12 big halibut were landed, four of which were over 100lbs, three over 80lbs and  another five over 50lbs.  One of the big fish peeled out line all the way past the boat and wrapped itself around the anchor line.  We somehow got it untangled and landed the fish after about a 10 minute fight.  It was the last fish landed at the hog hole and weighed around 125lbs.

The fish box was overflowing with hog Halibut at 1:45 so we slid out to the deep to catch some chickens.  There were large schools of bait all over the bottom and we dropped the anchor right in front of it and slid back.  Instantly, we were catching Halibut but the current was extremely strong with the 12′ tides, and every line that came up with a fish was tangled with at least two other lines.  We lost a ton of gear in that spot and it was unmanageable, so we left those biting.  We moved a few miles away to try and get out of the strong current.  At the second spot the tide was still strong but a little easier to fish.  We were catching Halibut left and right but had trouble getting into the under 29″ ones.  We left without a limit but enough meat at this point than needed so we hit the barn.

Spectacular day all together, the fishing was great and the sun was beating down on us all afternoon.  It looks like the weather will hold out for us this week.  NOAA Weather prediction is looking good for the next few days.  Hopefully the fishing will remain awesome as well.  FISH ON!

We made our way out this morning to blue skies and flat seas.  We got to about the half way point, near Bainbridge passage and the wind started to pick up.  At Montague Island was 25 knots of wind and about 6′ waves.  It was definitely an uncomfortable sit on anchor but we fished hard through the rocking and rolling of the waves.  Large Halibut was the target species but we couldn’t get any to bite.  We caught a large Lingcod and a few small Halibut at the first spot.

This afternoon we slid to the western edge of the island and got into a great halibut bite.  The fish weren’t huge but there sure were a lot of them.  We caught a limit of Halibut soon after arriving and we switched the gear over to lightweight tackle to target some Silver Salmon.  There were quite a few of them and some guys on the boat managed to limit out with 3 each.  By 3:30 it was time to head for the barn and the wind was gusting 30 knots with the seas building continuously.  We took a lot of spray on the way home but luckily the wind and waves were hitting us on our starboard quarter so we weren’t slamming too bad.  Again, the weather flattened out when we reached that halfway point and it was all smooth sailing back to the dock.

It was a fun day of fishing despite the slow morning and the sloppy seas and rain.  We made the best of it and came home with a decent load of meat.  Tomorrow’s weather forecast is calling for 15 knots out of the NE, coming down to a variable 10 knots and 5′ by the afternoon.  Great tide tomorrow for one of my favorite spots.  Hopefully she produces, check-in tomorrow to find out. FISH ON!

Another Halibut and Salmon Combo Charter today on the Sea Quest.  We first tried to put the group on some nice sized Halibut at the Island but didn’t get a big take downs.  The jigs managed to hook a few keeper Lingcod that put up a good fight in the strong current.  At about 11:30 we moved a few miles and drifted for some Salmon.  We caught a few on the first drift but the bite soon died off.

We still needed around fifty halibut so we made a move across the Montague straights where we were able to get a good bite going in about 180′ of water.  The boat was limited with small halibut by about 4pm.  There were also a few Silver Salmon on top of the Halibut grounds and some people were fortunate enough to catch a limit of 3 a piece.  Everyone on the boat worked extremely hard for their fish and did a great job at filling their bag limit just in time.  Good work everyone it was a pleasure fishing with you all.  What a fun group of people today.

We have a private charter tomorrow and we look forward to some nice weather and hopefully some big halibut.  Stay tuned for a report tomorrow. FISH ON!!!