Captain’s Chuck McNamee, Greg Mohs and DJ will be in Chicago this week at the 32nd Annual America’s Outdoor Fishing and Hunting Show. The show is being held in the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. We will be in booth #244. If you are in the area, please stop in. We will be having a guess the weight of the big halibut contest. Hope to see you there!
32nd Annual America’s Outdoor Fishing and Hunting Show
The First Annual Pinehurst outdoor bon spiel (Curling tournament) was held this past week in Naytahwaush, MN. Pinehurst Resort is owned by Captain Ben’s in-laws. 64 teams were registered, and for most of them, it would be their first curling experience, as it was for Team Angling Unlimited. Several of the Angling Unlimited employees were in attendance, along with several former employees so it was great to get reaquainted. Team Angling Unlimited won it’s first two games on Saturday morning putting us in the winners bracket. However we lost our third game at 8PM Saturday night. Game time temps dipped to a chilly10 degrees below zero on Saturday night. Everyone had a great time dispite the cold temps.
”So what are you going to do over Christmas break?” our friend Missy asked my son Jack. “I don’t know”, Jack said. “We should build an igloo on the lake” Missy suggested. The rest is history. It didn’t take long before the ideas and plans were flying around here like snowflakes in a blizzard. Ice tonges began to get dusted off, chainsaws were being sharpened, crock pots were getting counted, invitations were sent out, and the excitement was building. After a couple late night planning sessions, the blue prints were scratched out with a color crayon and we were ready to build. December 29th was a perfect 30 degree day here in Minnesota, with no wind. The kids showed up by the dozens, and seldom gave the sleds a break. Many friends, neighbors and family joined the fun as we built the Ice Castle. The depth of the ice on the lake was a solid 12 inches. Everyone had a great time. Thanks to everyone that helped put this together! I’ve included a photo gallery on this site, check it out!
If you’re looking for a crystal ball into king salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska for the upcoming season, ocean productivity in the waters off the Northwest and British Columbia is a good place to start. Cool water regimes prove much better for survival of juvenile salmon and, thankfully, that’s where the north Pacific appears headed again. All indications are that a La Nina is developing, which won’t be great for the weather this winter in the Northwest – more rain, more snow, cooler temperatures. The silver lining is higher ocean survival for the young king salmon that will eventually make their way into the Gulf of Alaska, grow to maturity, and migrate past Sitka as maturing adults. It will still be months before official forecasts of next year’s king salmon runs come out. And, we’ll wait until April to get the abundance index that determines our regulations. Best guess right now is for things to be as good as or better than they were in 2010. Stay tuned.
Most charter services are already done for the season. The fishing grounds are delightfully vacant of boats and wonderfully fishy. The Earl Parrish group fishing with Captain Chuck McNamee landed 22 silvers up to 16 pounds, two kings in over 20 pounds, and a limit of halibut including a 155 pounder on September 2. They also released a halibut estimated to weigh 250 pounds. The 155 pound and 250 pound halibut bit at the same time making what was the biggest halibut double header in Angling Unlimited’s 16 year history. The Tim Thompson groups, fishing with yours truly Captain Tom, came back from a slow start due to a little mal de mer and landed 16 silvers plus two kings in the last three hours of the day. Almost all the silvers are over 10 pounds and 15 pounders are getting to be relatively common. The past week has delivered some of the best action of the season for big silvers and big halibut, plus kings. Weather has been good except for a short blow yesterday morning, but by afternoon the seas were calm again. Outlook for the Labor Day weekend is good weather and great fishing. We wrap up fishing operations on Sunday, but stay tuned for Captain’s blogs throughout the off season updating you on what’s happening at AU, what to expect for 2011, and how you might help get involved in helping the cause of sportfishing in Alaska.
The Parrish party from left, Allen Thomack, Stan Callender, Earl Parrish and Lee Parrish
Fishing on Sunday produced limits and near limits of the biggest silvers of the year. Average size was well over 10 pounds and a number of coho between 15 and 17 pounds hit the dock. These a big, full bodied coho that run line, jump wildly and really put on a show. Added to the silvers, Erika Sheffiled-Stull, of the Ferguson/Kohler group and fishing with Captain Ryan Refshaw, landed a 32 pound king. Also with Ferguson/Kohler, Matt Slate fishing with Captain Phil Carlson landed a 115 pound halibut. The ocean was dead calm again and late August is continuing to fish as well as any time during our season. We have one more week to go before the end of our season and it looks like we’ll be fininishing on a major high note.
Erika Sheffield-Stull and her 32lb king salmon with Gary Colf and his king salmon for the day
Not much about the second half of season 2010 has been “normal”. The silvers have come and gone more than a few times. The needlefish seem to have disappeared from many of their usual haunts and a lot of our salmon fishing has taken place offshore in deeper water where a krill bloom of enormous proportion continues. With the krill come whales by the dozens – humpbacks driving their heads down and beating the surface with their tales. This behavior appears to create a whirlpool that concentrates the krill and the whales then come up to the surface, mouth wide open, and take a belly full. We’ve observed these whale shows many days, sometimes quite close to the boats. We’ve also found consistent (finally) silver action amidst the krill bloom for over a week now. Oddly, given the late August date, we’ve found quite a few kings mixed in with the silvers. Some of these kings are immature – not going to spawn this year, but a fair number are this year’s fish – plump, strong, and over 20 pounds. Add to that some very good halibut fishing and late August has been as good as it gets in Sitka. We have about a week more to fish and it looks like the home stretch will be a good one.
The Melaleuca party of 10 poses with the days catch on August 27th
20 Pound Silver landed by Jenny Olson - August 27
The morning of August 27 dawned sunny and flat calm morning on Cape Edgecumbe. There was a decent bite going on for big silvers with the odd king mixed in. Captain Ryan Refshaw’s boat “Skute” was participating in the action and went over a school of salmon. They got four bites and two stayed on. Captain Ryan thought both fish were kings until Jenny Olson’s came to the surface. Her brother Jake Bohnsack, former AU deckhand, saw the fish and went into coaching mode. He continued instructing until Jenny brought the fish close enough for brother Jake to net it. Jenny’s 20 pound silver garnered more attention than the 18 pound king that was landed immediately afterward. Big silvers have been the rule through much of the 2010 season, but 20 pounds remains “rare air” for coho.
Long time AU angler Roy Tuschhoff, fishing with Captain Chuck McNamee, hooked a big one on this Tuesday and after a long battle a 255 pound halibut hit the deck. His party also landed 15 silvers and a nice late season king. Jack Martin, fishing with Captain Ryan Refshaw, added a 32 pound king to their catch of silvers up to 16 pounds. Finally, 10 year old Anna Terrano, fishing with yours truly, Captain Tom Ohaus, landed her third limit of silvers in three days of fishing, plus the second king salmon of her young fishing career, a beautiful 25 pounder. All in all, fishing was excellent on Tuesday for a nice mix of silvers, kings, and halibut. Add to that a spectacular whale show with dozens of humpbacks feeding on a massive krill bloom and a rare sighting of a sperm whale by the Roy Reed group fishing with Captain Phil Carlson, and it was quite a day.
From left Tom Tate, Mark Tuschhoff, Roy Tuschhoff, deckhand Matt, Capt. Chuck and Shawn Utz aboard the 7th Sun, with Roy Tuschhoff's 255lb halibut, and a few salmon from the day.
Thank you Chicago!
Captains Chuck, DJ, and Greg attended the American Outdoor show last week in Rosemont, IL, which is near Chicago. We met lots of great people during the five days, and we would like to thank all of you that stopped by to visit and learn more about Sitka, Alaska and Angling Unlimited. Best of luck to those of you that signed up to win the FREE TRIP!