Only one boat out today, Captain Chuck, and a good was had by all five guests. Each got a nice King and several more released.
A quick trip to the halibut grounds yielded five halis in a hurry.
More boats will be out tomorrow!
Guest post from AU guest Earl “of Sinitsin” Tanner
Kent Fraley and Joel Merzon with their Kings caught with Earl today.
King fishing in the first week of June has not been easy. It has been work to find the fish and get on the schools, but the work has paid off each day and limits have been the rule. Thankfully the sea lions seem to be getting less agressive. Also, there have been some spectaular whale breaching shows to add to the experience. King runs often come in waves with brief pauses between the next peak. It’s June, it’s Sitka, and that means another wave of kings can’t be far.
I know a guy who owned a megayacht and cruised all over British Columbia and Southeast Alaska exploring the best fishing spots. He could fish the most remote locations, far the coastal towns and villages. He fished them all, kept detailed data on 40 or more years of salt water chinook fishing. About 15 years ago he sold boat and bought a house in Sitka because no amount of cruising could put him in a better spot for kings. You can catch a king in Sitka any time of the year, but the big migrations begin in late April or early May and rapidly build to a high plateau. We continue to catch kings in good numbers well into August, sometimes right until the end of the month. Dead center in all this king action is the month of June, now upon us. The ocean off Sitka has been particularly fertile with baitfish, krill, and whales all spring. We’ve had an excellent May and all signs point to a great June. Stay tuned.
Angling Unlimited had a first on May 30. Captain David Gross, fishing with Carl Hauser, Jeff Hauser, Dave Goshorn, and Ed Barnes got into a wide open king bite yesterday afternoon. After hooking and landing some nice kings they were greeted by a site we’ve never scene at AU – a pod of killer whales arrived and ate the salmon right off their lines – right next to the boat. In my last blog I hoped for killer whales to come eat a few of the sea lions that have been bugging us. It appears the pod that arrived prefers salmon to sea lion for dinner.
Another unusual mammal siting came for Maggie and Tom George, Jim and Anne Smith fishing with yours truly, Captain Tom. After hitting a short frantic king bite and getting their kings each for the day, we headed out a few miles for halibut. Shortly after we arrived, we were joined by a northern fur seal – floppy ears and all. The seal swam around the boat for 10 minutes allowing for lots of view and photos, then took off. We finished the day with our limit of halibut and, once on the inside waters, a sunny beautiful ride to the dock.
We’ve enjoyed light winds, calm seas, and good fishing for the past 10 days. King results have ranged from spectacular to good. The Flint group brought 20 kings to the boat in the first two hours of the morning on May 25. Since then, the fishing has been a bit harder work, but most groups are enjoying king limits. We’ve had problems with some seriously aggressive sea lions that dent in the catch if they get on your boat. Captain Chuck lost 5 out of 8 kings hooked with the Nakamura group on May 27. We wish we could hire a pod of Orcas to take out the sea lions. Unusual for May, we’ve seen silvers, pinks, and chum salmon the catch. Not lots of them, but a few each day which ignites hope of an early and strong run. Halibut fishing has been reliable and relatively fast. All in all an excellent start to the season.
The 2011 seaon got underway with Captain DJ Gross taking American service men fishing along with other boats in the Sitka fleet. It’s Angling Unlimited’s and the charter industry’s way of thanking them for their service. The king fishing has been spectacular with large schools of fish, limits, and plenty for catch and release – more like we typically see in mid-June. The annual “Hook and Cook” gets underway tonight with Chef Ludgar Szmania perfomring his magic.
On April 15th, we randomly selected a winner from the list of 1757 people that are signed up to receive our monthly E-news. With the help of Random.org, Steve Slater became our lucky winner. Here’s a few details about Steve.
Steve Slater (from Wisconsin) moved to Minnesota 29 years ago to lure and catch his college sweetheart Ellen (from Minnesota). Steve & Ellen have two daughters, Emily, attending college at the University of Wisconsin and Haley, who will be attending the University of Minnesota, in the fall. Steve had always been interested in fishing and spends time fishing in Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes and rivers and once each year, ventures off north of the boarder, to Canada.
Soon after moving to their first home, Steve & Ellen met a group of great neighbors and their friends and so began many lasting relationships and the formation of a fishing group, the Windsor Walleye Warrior’s. The WWW group has been fishing together each summer for over 25 years and travel to Canada most often.
Steve saw an article about us in the Star Tribune and met us at the MPLS Sports Show. He and Jay, another WWW member, searched for the giant halibut tail Steve had remembered reading about and they entered the contest.
Steve never thought he’d get the email saying he’s a Winner. Congratulations Steve!
The King salmon regulations have been set for the 2011 season. They are as follows: Non-residents annual limit is 5. 2/day in May, and 1/day for the rest of the season.
Resident limit = 3/day
The forcast is for excellent King salmon fishing in Southeast, Alaska this summer. Last year the limits were 1/day and 3/year for non-residents.
We are looking forward to the big show in Minneapolis, MN – March 30 – April 3. Several captains and other AU crew will be in booth 808 to talk about the upcoming season in Sitka, AK. If your in the area, stop by, we would love to see you. Also, get signed up to Win the Free Fishing Trip. Drawing will be held April 15th.
Sitka named Top 10 fishing destination in US
Family-Outdoors, a fishing, hunting and camping blog out of the Missouri Ozarks, recently named Sitka (home of Angling Unlimited) a top ten fishing destination in the United States.
“Most people believe that the world’s best salmon, halibut, and trout fishing is found in Alaska,” they wrote. “And Sitka is the epicenter for the best action.”
Also on the list:
(click here to see the full list)
We couldn’t agree more that Sitka “is the dream of any fisherman who wants the best salmon, halibut, and trout fishing of their lives” and Angling Unlimited has the experience to make it happen.