This is Alaska Northern Outfitters’ first time attending the Mat-Su Valley Show. We are all excited to talk fishing and provide you with the most up to date deals and promotions for the 2012 season. Come down this weekend and secure your spot aboard Seward, Alaska’s premiere sport fisher “Sea Quest.” Lets crawl out of our dens and rendezvous this weekend at the show!! We look forward to seeing all of those familiar faces! See you soon…FISH ON!

* Best place to see the most outdoors / sporting Vendors at once

* The 1st Alaska Sportsman’s Show of 2012

* Large Outdoor Space displays for boats, trailers, ATVs, RVS, etc.

* Seminars and demonstrations on popular outdoor topics by local experts

* 142 booths – the majority of which will be from the Mat-Su Valley

* ADF&G’s Laser Shooting Range for kids of all sizes

* Book signing and seminars by Alaska outdoor authors

* FREE Admission for Kids under 12. . . . otherwise only $5

* FREE Admission with Military ID* FREE Admission for everyone on Sunday from 10:00-11:00am compliments of Rene Russ, Financial Advisor, Waddell and Reed

* FREE Parking at the Sports Center

Directions:

Today we had the pleasure of taking out ASRC of Alaska.  The group was composed of whaling captains from up north and some of the best true hunters of Alaska.  We had an ideal tide for targeting some big halibut.  We showed up on slack tide and within the first half hour of the incoming tide, we had already had a few big take downs.  I could hear the drag screaming on the bow, I ran up the side of the boat to see what all the commotion was.  The rod was doubled over and cracked right in half, Rex and the deckhand had to hand line the fish all the way in while the fish ran back and forth tangling lines for 15 minutes.  I wasn’t sure as to how big this fish was until it finally appeared about 20′ down.  It was bigger than we thought, I ran upstairs to grab the shotgun while Sam was frantically tying the harpoon shaft to the buoy.  Sam barley stuck the harpoon all the way through the fish but we were able to get a shot off before her last big dash to the bottom.  After pulling her in we were blown away at how big this fish really was.  My guess was 235lbs because she was extremely wide and thick for her length.  We caught 5 nice fish at our first spot, with another halibut weighing in at 100lbs.

We had a great day fishing with you guys, great job with the big fish Rex, it was the largest halibut of the season for us.  FISH ON!!!

Thanks for a great trip guys…FISH ON!!!

It was a one stop shop for our salmon today.  I have not yet fished this area this summer but it has produced some serious numbers in the past for silvers and halibut.  Driving over to the grounds we saw four large humpback whales all bubble feeding.  The whales lunged at the surface scooping as much food as possible into their giant mouths.  After getting everyone to finally put down the camera’s and grab a fishing rod instead, we dropped down and instantly…FISH.  We were hooking up all over the boat, up to 8 salmon on at once. We threw our 84th salmon in the box by 6:30 and called it a day.  We fished hard all day and worked for every ounce of meat in the box.  Everybody was very patient with the slow halibut fishing and were later rewarded with a savage top water salmon bite.

BP booked the boat exclusively again today for another day away from the slope and to stack a few more pounds in the freezer for the winter.  The weather front hanging over the gulf had stirred the ocean up with 35kt of wind and 10′ swells prior to today’s trip.  We watched the weather closely to see if a big enough window would open so we could go fishing.  The winds died down just enough for us to sneak out of the bay and try for some halibut.  We were anticipating the weather to kick back up, so we went to a spot sure to find a few fish.  The wind kicked up to 20kt by 1:30pm, but we were able to pick up our last 3 fish while the anchor skipped across the ocean floor.   We got out just in time with a limit of 26 halibut.  We made way to Puget Bay to try a few drifts for some ling cod.  We were marking fish all over the sounder but were only able to land one keeper ling.  They didn’t seem to be interested in our jigs.  We figured it was time to bag the ling cod fishing and give silver salmon a shot.

We rounded the corner into the salmon grounds, and were surprised to see some very large and steep 7′-8′ rollers coming in.  At times locating the school of salmon can be tough in bad weather because the salmon tend to scatter.  Today was an exception to that theory.  The worse the weather got the better the fishing became.  We couldn’t keep the salmon off the hooks, it was probably the best bite of the season.  As we netted salmon number 66, we had 10′ waves smashing against the swim step.  The guys all had a ball, but the sick ones may beg to differ.   At the dock BP’s total catch weighed over 500lbs of just fillets…not a bad yield!

Good job guys, thanks Mike and James for bringing another fun group of guys out fishing.  FISH ON!!!

Another team from the oil fields joined us for a halibut/salmon combo trip.  We had a very light load, with only 13 that could make it down, which bought us some extra time to target big fish in the morning.  Typically on a combo, we are just going for numbers, so it was a nice change of pace for us getting to sit for big fish.  The first two fish we landed were a 40lb halibut followed by a 75lb halibut caught on the jig.  This was definitely a good sign of an awesome day to come.  Shortly after, we landed 60 and a 90 pounder halibut.  The tide started to slow down and it was time to move on.  We arrived at our next spot dropping right on top of a huge ball of bait; usually a good sign halibut fishing.  We filtered through small halibut until we limited with 26 halibut worth keeping.  The salmon bite today was also hot.  After a few moves, we finally located a nice cluster of bait fish holding some salmon.  We filled the box with 48 silvers by 5:30pm.  The weather had started to pick up with with a steady 15kt blowing from the SE.  Hopefully this front passes by mid week.

Great job on the rods to day guys, it was a great trip. FISH ON!!

CMI of Anchorage came out on a company trip today with 31 eager fishermen.  Our fist target species was halibut.  We found an offshore rock pile that I haven’t tried in the past and decided to give it a shot.  It was 250′ deep and very fishy looking on the sounder.  Within minutes of getting our gear down to the bottom, there were dogfish (sharks) on every line.  We quickly pulled anchor before losing a bunch of gear (due to their abrasive skin) and moved to a nearby spot in about 220′ of water.  The boat was limited with halibut by 2:45, so we still had some time on the clock to try for some silver salmon.  The bite at the salmon grounds was slow at first, but as soon as the fog finally cleared and the sun hit the bait, the bite was on.  We were getting double and triple hookups at a time.  One client reeled in a line that had snapped from another boat, and attached was a 12lb silver still hooked.  As I hand lined the fish in, I could feel there was still some weight on the other end.  Come to find out, the fish must have hit so hard that it ripped the rod out of someones hand and had been swimming around all day dragging a brand new salmon rod!  I would have to say that was the catch of the day.

We had a blast with the guys from CMI, they kept us laughing all day.  Thanks for bringing such a great group of guys.  We’ll be looking forward to next year company trip.  FISH ON!!!

Today’s trip was the first full day halibut trip that we’ve had in a while.   The crew and I love to sit for big fish, so this was a treat for us as well.  We loaded up the night before with salmon carcasses and brand new jig tails.  We drove to a spot where I have caught 5 fish all over 200lbs over the past few years.  I also landed the biggest barn door I have ever caught there weighing in at 305lbs.  I had high expectations for this particular spot.  The first hour and a half was very slow, only hooking up with 1 fish that appeared to be around 75lbs.  The fish was hooked on a jig, but managed to tangle around two other ladys’ lines and shaking free at the surface.  Not really my favorite way to start a day of hog hunting.  The bite became increasingly steady and we did land two other fish around 75lbs.  Mariam who caught the biggest fish on the boat on a previous trip was able to hook her 75 pounder on a Metzler rig while getting sick at the same time.  Not many people are able to puke and fish simultaneously but Mariam is a rare breed; she loves to fish!

We had multiple big fish hookups but the fisherman lacked the patience to let the fish really take the bait down the hatch.  It is very important while fishing salmon carcasses to let the fish really bury the bait and take at least 10 feet of line before setting the hook.  The 305lb halibut we hooked years back took over half an hour of chewing on the head before we could convince her to take the hook.  If you would like to catch big fish don’t jerk the bait out of their mouth, IT’S THAT EASY.  Anyways, it was a great day and everyone was happy with the load considering we landed 15 big Ling Cod.  The weather was great all day with flat seas and a little sunshine.  It rained the entire way home making Miles extremely thrilled that the boat was semi-clean when it hit the dock.

Thanks for coming out guys, FISH ON!!!

I left the dock with a light load today so we had some extra time to sit for some larger fish.  The first spot we tried, however, did not produce anything but a 6 pound halibut.  After 1.5 hours we gave up our big fish dreams and decided to go for action instead.  We travelled another 45 minutes to a spot that has been great to us the past two days, averaging 15-35lb halibut.  The bite was super fast with fish on all around the boat at all times.  We had 17 limits plus a crew limit in an hour and 15 minutes.  After cleaning all the blood off the boat from our massive kill, we hung the rods and travelled another 35 minutes to a area we haven’t yet tried for Silver Salmon.  There were already a few boats in the spot which can either be a good thing or a bad thing.  Within minutes of baiting the hooks the fish started flying over the rail 2 by 2.  By 4pm we had 57 silvers and 38 halibut.

There was little wind and the fog burned off by early morning.  Blue bird skies and great fishing is about all we could ever ask for.  What a season! I don’t want to jinx the weather but we haven’t been blown off the water all summer.  We have our first all day halibut trip tomorrow and we are excited about the possibility of hooking up with some big halibut.  See you out there!  FISH ON!!!

Jaymes Kine with his first Silver Salmon -16lbs