On the first day of fishing for the Bammel and Dieser party Captain Chuck wanted to start the day with something different. He took the group to Hayward to play the morning tide. When they arrived, Chuck instantly marked bait and individual fish marks. On the fish drop, they were hooked up on a king. That king would get off, but they landed a nice 23-pounder by Paul Dieser before slack tide kicked in and the bite stopped.

From Hayward, they ventured to The Cape. Crowded as usual, Chuck decided to drift away from the anchored party of boats. His decision paid off. The first drift produced one king, the next two, triples. Soon, other boats were pulling anchor and joining Chuck. Luckily, they bagged their tenth before the bite slowed and went halibut fishing.

The mission for halibut began unfortunately with an arrow tooth flounder, small halibut, too large halibut, and dogfish. Just when Chuck thought about pulling anchor, the rods started to get good action. With a quick flurry of bites, they landed four black cod and five nice slot halibut.

Satisfied with the days catch, they requested to head for home and look for whales on their return. Not long after they began their journey, orcas appeared next to them. Jim Bammel snapped some great photos as the whales cruised by.

The weather was cloudy and hazy, mid-50’s, little wind, and small rollers – very pleasant conditions. Jim, Andrew, and Nicholas Bammel as well as Paul and Dan Dieser are first-time anglers in Sitka. They had an epic first day and can’t wait to see what the next two have in store!