Dick, Jerman, Bob, and Russ have fished with AU for 15 seasons and even after all those trips, they still experienced something new.
The trip began with the long scenic drive to Hoonah Sound. This route takes a right turn at Icy Queen and follows the ferry track towards Juneau. Weaving through islands and strong rapids, it’s untouched and new to many people’s eyes. It was the first trip to this area for these longtime anglers.
This spot has been reliable for us the past month. With lots of bait in a big area, they caught kings and cohos while doing long drifts across the southeast point of Emmons Island. With abundant bait, it’s also the best humpback whale action we’ve seen all season. They surfaced with their mouths open and rolled slapping their peck fins on the water. The water was so calm and the area so quiet that you could hear every surface motion the whales made.
The entire AU fleet made the long drive and every boat brought limits or near limits back to the dock in the two days. Bob caught the biggest coho during the trip on day one – a 12-pound buck. They finished day two with a few drifts at the Shark Hole, where they caught a handful of cohos and Russ caught the largest king of the trip, which was 22 pounds.
On the last day of the trip, Captain Bryan took the men north, but skipped going to Emmons. They were in search of bigger halibut. To get them, they needed to fish the open ocean. So before they did that, they fished Georgiana, Point Amelia, and The Parking Lot for salmon. They picked up a dozen silvers before heading to the deep for the flatties. Many other AU boats were at the same reliable spot in 650 feet of water. Once the baits were down, the group barely had time to finish their sandwiches before the bite was on. Within a half hour, the group had their limit of chicken halibut and one black cod. They capped off their trip with a few silvers at the Shark Hole before heading home.
The weather was amazing for the Newton party’s trip and it will continue into the upcoming week with flat seas and very little wind. Stay tuned as we roll into the middle of August and track the growth of the silvers.