We’re Only a Few Days Away!
We launch the 2021 AU season this Sunday with the first evening of Hook It and Cook It. The highly skilled and wonderfully entertaining Chef Ludger Szmania presides over four delicious evenings of instructional cooking and gourmet dining. Our full fleet heads out Monday for the first of four Hook It and Cook It fishing days. What could be better than the daily rhythm of pursuing kings, halibut, lingcod, and rockfish paired with gourmet instructional cooking by night? Guests leave with their perfectly processed catch, an instructional packet of the recipes from the four nights of cooking, and hands-on instruction on how to transform their take-home catch into gourmet meals.
Fishing Report
The reports this spring have been quite positive for kings, with the fish being found close to home. Our crew was out on Wednesday and located good numbers of kings less than a half-hour from the dock. The king numbers should do nothing but build from this point forward. Lingcod, halibut, and rockfish seem to always provide reliable targets in May.
Lingcod Open: May 16 marks the opener of lingcod season which nicely dovetails with Hook It and Cook It. This year we caught a break on the lingcod regulations with the slot limit expanding to 30 to 40 inches, up from the challenging 30 to 35 inches. The annual limit remains one, which puts these fish at a premium, but the new slot should make it a bit easier to get that lingcod you’ve been dreaming of.
Going, Going, Gone!
We are booked nearly to capacity from our opener on Sunday until we shut down in September. We do have one prime set of dates in May remaining – arriving May 21, fish May 22, 23, 24, departing May 25. That’s less than 2 weeks away. Call it an impulse buy of the finest kind and join us for the outdoor fun. Cancellations are not at all common, but you can always check with our office to see if something opens up.
COVID-19 Updates
We can’t wait for the day we don’t have to mention this. As of now, there are no mandatory mandates for entering Alaska, but there are recommendations. We carefully track developments on this front and will do our best to keep you up to date via our website and social media. We encourage our guests to get fully vaccinated prior to travel. If you can’t vaccinate, please get a COVID test less than 72 hours prior to travel in order to help us operate safely and provide protection for your fellow guests.
AU is working hard to get our entire crew vaccinated by the time we start operations. We will be cleaning our suites, cars, and boats to provide the greatest safety. We will limit indoor social gatherings until we get the green light from the State of Alaska. We encourage mask-wearing in closed spaces – like our office and in the cabin of the boats.