For the past week, we’ve been fishing north of town to avoid the rough weather that blew in on Wednesday when the wind changed from a northwest to a southerly wind. We found shelter in the Shark Hole, where our boats motor-mooched their way to limits of kings, which was an all-day effort. Fortunately that storm only lasted two days and allowed us to explore other areas and move offshore to catch halibut, but the most productive spots for kings remained in the inside waters.

The Zuck party of nine anglers fished with Captains Bryan and David during their trip over the weekend. This year was a different experience for these returning anglers because of the fishing locations and different mooching styles, but their catch was similar to other years with many memorable moments mixed in.

Linda Williams fished with Captains Bryan and David during her trip and shared her favorite moments with us. During a drift at the Shark Hole, her group had a special triple on kings. They landed all the fish and all were white king salmon – a rare feat. When she was on David’s boat fishing for halibut with five anglers, they all hooked up and had one on at the same time. They also caught their yellow-eye rockfish and learned how the fish are aged using the otoliths. And, the bonus to great fishing is always seeing the amazing wildlife that included whales, eagles, puffins, and many albatross.

During their trip, another group saw orcas, which Captain Bo captured on his cell phone. We had to share the amazing video here.

Now, the ocean is calmer and we have more options. Most of the fleet returned to the Cape where the king action is picking up. There are lots of kings and lots of bait. The last two days, many boats caught their limit within the first three hours of fishing. Then they’re moving offshore for halibut or to rocky locations to find rockfish. Stay tuned for the heart of the king run in our upcoming Sitka fishing reports!