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We ventured out to some new territory at Montague Island in search of big halibut.  We dropped anchor in a little deeper water than usual and slid back on anchor just behind a big rock pile.  We pulled all sorts of fish off the spot including Yelloweye Rockfish, Halibut, Black bass, Quillback rockfish and bunch of big Lingcod. We arrived just in time to catch the tail end of the incoming tide and for as long as the current was strong we were catching fish.  By 11:30 we hit slack tide and had to make a move to an area more productive for an outgoing tide.  Unfortunately, the fishing was nowhere near as hot and heavy as the previous, still we managed to hook a few small halibut and lost a giant one right under the boat due to a tangle with another rod.

Matt Lewallen with a 90lb Halibut he chose to release for some better tasting chickens

A premiere day on the water, the sun was out and not a ripple on the surface of the water.  In the afternoon we made a third move off a rocky shelf where we anchored on top of a large school of candlefish (bait).  Everyone on the boat had fish on at the same time and we limited the boat with small halibut in a matter of 1 1/2 hours.  The drive home was spectacular, whales were breaching and large schools of Kittywakes were feeding on bait that the pink salmon were driving up from the depths. The gulf looked like a postcard in every direction making me feel very fortunate to have the best view. Kudos to all my fisherman today, job well done.  Another good day of fishing and weather on the horizon.  See you tomorrow. FISH ON!

Carly Rose from Seward with her 55lb Halibut

Justin Hoskins with a Yelloweye Rockfish

Yelloweye and a Black Bass

The ride out this morning was as predicted, NE 20 knots of wind and 5′ seas.  We beat through the waves and chop to one of the deeper spots inside Prince William Sound.  It didn’t take much time to get the halibut biting.  We were catching 25lb to 35lb halibut, however nobody on board was willing to keep any so I pulled the anchor and moved to a shallow spot to soak for some big ones.  I was always told to never leave fish to find fish but sometimes you have to roll the dice.  After two hours of soaking in the shallows we pulled a few out but only one of size, about 50lbs.

By 2pm our bite had died as well as the current.  I made a move to set up on the flats to catch the rest of our halibut.  By the time we arrived the tide had switched and we had a strong incoming tide that produced fish as soon as we dropped.  It didn’t take more than an hour to limit the boat.  You can see in the picture below that we pulled right on top of a large school of bait the halibut were feeding on.

Mid way through the day the weather had switched around completely, the sun came out and so did the T shirts.  Alaska’s weather still continues to amaze me daily.

Next trip is Monday, check in for a report. FISH ON!

Anthony Wenzel with his beautiful Yelloweye Rockfish caught on a 12oz jig

Turnagain Dental treated their hard working employees with a day out on the water.  We left the dock at 6:30 am and pointed the bow towards Montague. My first two choices for fishing spots were already occupied by other charter boats in the fleet.  I dropped anchor in a spot I haven’t fished for a few years and stirred up a good halibut bite.  We caught many fish in the 25lb range, however we were on the pursuit for something bigger.  It didn’t seem like the bite would transpire into a hog bite so we made a move to another spot known for a little bigger sized fish.  Angela caught a halibut around sixty pounds but the bite died off shortly after.

No matter how much chum we dropped or how many times we moved spots we just couldn’t seem to get any more bites from bigger fish.  The weather was beautiful today and the group we had were a blast to fish with.  We filled the boat up with average size halibut at our last halibut spot of the day in about 230′ of water.  After catching the last halibut we still had a little time to fool around.  We drove to Puget Bay and fished for some pelagic rockfish for a bit.  I made the 5 minute call and Carrie from Anchorage hooked a very nice female King Salmon on her rockfish rig.  We have released two big kings over the past two trips because clients didn’t have a king salmon stamp, so I was relieved when she showed me that she had one.  I figured a 18lb Chinook would be a great way to cap off an awesome day of fishing.

The new Halibut Derby leader is 260 pounds, pushing our 171 pounder into the second place spot.  260  pounds is a hard fish to beat but it can be done.  Hopefully tomorrow will be our day. FISH ON!

2014 Turnagain Dental Trip

I wasn’t sure how this day was going to pan out as we pounded into northeast chop this morning on our way out to the fishing grounds.  When we arrived at our first destination the wind started to die down and blue skies appeared.  It’s been a while since we’ve had a break in the weather.

The bite was hot and heavy from the start.  Ed from Anchorage dropped one of our light weight rigs, literally, right on a 60lb halibut just three minutes into fishing.  Shortly after we landed his fish, voices calling, “fish on” started to ring around the boat.  It was a savage bite right at the end of the Ebb tide.  I was surprised to do so well because the area we were in is usually better on a flood.

The second fish of the day was landed by one of the only two people who did not buy derby tickets this morning!  We estimate the fish weighed around 155lbs, which would have been good enough for a 2nd place spot in the Seward halibut derby.  That ten bucks could of easily been turned into $2500.  Got to pay to play guys!  Nine of the fish landed at the first spot were all over 50lbs.  We sat for the tide switch but only caught a few chickens.  Later we moved to fill the boat with some halibut under 29″ which has once again proved itself to be the toughest part of the day.  29″ halibut are not an easy fish to catch, a majority of halibut in the Seward region are over 30″.  After a few moves, dragging anchor and an excess of sharks we were able to limit the boat by 4:30.

Ed with a nice Yelloweye Rockfish

The stars were all aligned for the Sea Quest.  Great job everyone, today was one to remember.  Weather is looking like blue skies and flat seas for tomorrows trip.  FISH ON!

We went to the Island today despite the 20 knots of NE wind and 9′ seas.  The boat got a full saltwater wash down from spray on the way out but we were able to find cover and fish in the lee of the island.  We dropped right on top of the fish, which rarely happens when halibut fishing.  It was non-stop action from 9:30- 2pm.  Our biggest fish was 50 lb but we had about 9 all in that same weight class.  In Seward, we call those fish: turkeys.  The peking order for halibut goes: flapper, chicken, rooster, turkey, hog and barn door.  No hogs or barn doors were landed but we had a blast filling the boat with healthy fat fish.

gobble gobble

I had a salmon rod out to try and catch bait but was very surprised to reel in the first Wolf Eel that I’ve seen in at least 6 years.  It was about 6′ long and had really nasty teeth on him.  Wolf Eels are definitely something you don’t want to get bit by.  Great day of fishing but not so great weather.  Tomorrow’s forecast is similar to today’s but is supposed to come down to variable 10 knots of wind by late afternoon.  I would like to go back to the island but not sure if weather will permit it.  Catch you tomorrow. FISH ON!

Wolf Eel

The bite was on again today, as you can see we had another very productive day of fishing out of Seward, Alaska.  Fishing the shallows near Montague Island has been great.  The halibut came up to the boat one by one and as you can see from the pics, it was one of the best weather days of the year.  Numerous fish around 100 pounds were landed and the a few fisherman on the Sea Quest were strapped in for the ride of their lives.

We have had a great season thus far despite a few summer storms that have had us tight to the dock.  I hope that tomorrows storm warning is the last for the year.  NOAA weather is calling for 45 knots of wind and 12′ seas by tomorrow night.  It looks like this system will come in with some fury and be gone by Wednesday.  Great job to everyone on the boat for landing such great fish, I’m sure we will have a few sore forearms by tomorrow.  FISH ON!

Barny’s hand slid through the gill and out the mouth for this pic

here is the result “ouch”

we’re going to need a bigger boat

My best friend from school with his first halibut!
100 pounder

Ethan celebrating his 11th birthday with a 35lb halibut

What a day on the Sea Quest! We weren’t sure if today’s charter was going to happen with the weather as bad as it was for the past two days.  Last night at 11:30pm there was 33 knots of wind and 11′ seas over the fishing grounds.  This morning we woke to blue skies and no wind, however there was a large groundswell which didn’t seem to matter.

The first fish of the day was Greg’s 171 pound halibut.  It was caught on a jig and Greg did a great job of fighting this fish to the boat.  The current leader for the halibut derby was 145 pounds, so Greg took the lead by more than just a few.  There is 16 days left for the Seward halibut derby, I hope this one makes it in the top three.  Greg has been fishing with me for the past 9 years and remembers the days when I was baiting hooks and staring out of the back of the boat rather than the front.  He deserved this fish and I’m glad he was the one to hook it. Great job, Greg!

We also landed multiple fish around 100 pounds and a few nice turkeys to go with it.  I can’t wait for tomorrow’s trip and hope we can keep up the momentum.. FISH ON!

Had a day off today so I went out with Steve the captain and owner of Profish-N-Sea to catch some halibut for the freezer.  Fishing with our buddies is the only way for captains and crew to fish halibut this summer.  2014 regulations prohibit us to retain halibut during fishing charters.

We left the dock at 5am and pointed right at Montague Island.  Within the first 1/2 hr we landed a 60 pound halibut and I hooked one at 100 pounds on a salmon carcass. As soon as my fish hit the deck the other salmon head went screaming off the stern of the boat.  The youngest on the boat who grabbed the rod was about 12 years old and when his fish ran it pulled both feet out from under him nearly sending him over the side  It was all very exciting, and having 3 captains and 2 deckhands on the boat made everything go very smooth.  We had a blast, I wish everyday off was like this.  Looks like filling the freezer wont be any trouble after all

Tomorrow we are going to head west towards Kenai Fjords National Park.  It’s an amazing fishery that has slowed down over the past few years.  I feel that this year may be different so we’re going to try our luck.  Hopefully tomorrows fishing report is not one of despair, but you never know until you try…FISH ON!!!

A weather system blew into the north gulf coast yesterday producing winds upward of 30 knots and 8′ seas.  The morning report showed that the wind would be coming down by this afternoon to 20 knots of northeast and a 5′ sea state.  Many boats cancelled their charters this morning due to conditions but a few boats in the fleet decided to give it a shot.

We left the bay and though the water was rough it was still fishable.  We steamed out making between 15 and 18 knots, dropping off the occasional 8′ wave face.  We fished at a rock pile about half way out to our normal fishing grounds.  The bite was slow but we managed to pull of a few nice halibut.

The wind never seemed to let up, so our hopes of making it out to the more productive fishery was lost.  At about 12pm we moved to a different ledge in an attempt to limit the boat.  Everyone caught a limit of halibut and a few non-pelagic rockfish buy 3:30.  I’m glad we chose to go out today, we had a great time and the although the weather was a little rough, it was much better fishing than what what was expected.  Not many boats went out making our chances of winning the daily derby prize pretty good.  Our 47lb halibut won our client Dave and his grandson Matthew the daily derby prize, way to go!

Our next trip is on the 10th and we are looking forward to some big tides and clear skies.  FISH ON!

Oh man do my hands hurt! I think we caught and released over 200 sharks today.  We went back to Montague Island for today’s charter.  Everywhere we went the sharks attacked our bait relentlessly.  Our first two spots were looking very fishy and I’m sure if the dogfish  gave us a chance we probably would have caught some big halibut.  Within seconds of hitting the bottom the sharks were on our clients lines like white on rice…

We tried drifting which is a good technique when trying to avoid a shark bite. We pulled anchor and drifted about 3 miles over some of the best rock piles Montague has to offer.  During our drift we caught a bunch of big Ling Cod and a few halibut.  One halibut weighed about 65lbs.  We tried hard as usual to put our guys on some barn doors but just had a tough day.  Kudos to our clients for fishing through the sharks and limiting out on halibut.

I’m sure everyone will have sore shoulders tomorrow.  Luckily we fished relatively shallow water and reeling in the 8lb sharks was not nearly as miserable as it could have been.

55lb Ling Cod

50lb Halibut released moments later…bummer

We had a small group of fisherman out for a full day halibut charter.  Wednesday’s tide was one of my favorites for a specific spot I like to fish in Prince William Sound.  This particular spot always seems to start off slow so we assured the clients that if they were patient, the area would produce 90% of the time 50% of the time.  They bought it and sure enough the big halibut started showing up about an hour after the tide switch.  We landed 7 big fish at our first fishing spot and lost one over 100lbs due to a line rubbing on the side of the boat.  It’s always a good idea to hold your rod away from the boat when a fish makes a mad dash towards the boat..FYI.

All in all, it was Alaska fishing at its finest.  We had a blast and we look forward to Wednesday’s trip.  The weather system that has kept us all on the dock for the past few days has finally passed.  Hopefully the good weather will hold up for a few weeks now.  The Halibut Derby just started today, June 1st and some nice fish have been hitting the dock..

40lb Pacific Octopus

80 Halibut

Make sure you purchase your Derby Tickets on the boat in the morning.  IF YOU DON’T, I WILL BUY ONE FOR YOU AND PUT IT TOWARDS A NEW TRUCK 🙂 but seriously..buy a ticket because we will be spending a majority of our day in the gulf searching for derby size fish on our full day halibut trips through June.