Lots of fish refusing to grow up It might be easier to explain quantum physics in a paragraph than clarify the halibut situation. First, halibut are currently at record abundance in the North Pacific – more individual fish and more pounds (1.8 billion) than ever. Sounds great until we drill down and discover that the…
King Salmon: The king salmon abundance index, a number derived by complex biological and mathematic inputs, drives our king salmon regulations and doesn’t become available until April. In the meantime, we’re left to read the tea leaves which include near record ocean productivity off Washington, Oregon and British Columbia in the last few years. We…
Spectacular for Kings: 2009 turned in one of the best king seasons we’ve seen in years. It started with a little scare – the kings were a week late, making our first few days of operating in mid-May on the slow side. Then, the fish showed in force during the last 10 days of the…
The 2009 season hit a brief pothole for a few days beginning on July 8. For some reason the bait flushed from the west side of Kruzof Island and the silvers left with it. Most of our boats were able to find enough kings to bring in limits and halibut fishing filled in for the…
Fishing Report July 8, 2009 The red hot king fishing of June 2009 continued through the last 10 days of the month. Limits with plenty of catch and release action were the rule. Silvers have done a here today, gone tomorrow and back again the next day thing through the first week of July, making…
The good old days returned to Sitka in the second week of June. The ocean came alive with a massive plankton bloom that kicked the food chain into high gear. Whales numbering in the hundreds worked the fertile waters as did big schools of kings. The Wong group enjoyed three days of excellent king fishing…
Great News for 2009: Better king fishing and you can keep them, too. The king salmon abundance index rebounded sharply from the low levels we saw in 2008. That promises faster fishing throughout the season and much better regulations in July and August. In 2009, non-resident anglers can keep one king per day, three per…
July and August: Perception and reality clashed during the heart of the 2008 season. Specifically, the king fishing through much of July and the first half of August was often spectacular. The fish were abundant, large, and close to the surface. That was the reality. The perception of the fishing, after July 15, was altered…
Fishing in June and early July verified the low abundance forecast for the 2008 king salmon season. The schools of kings were fewer and farther between than we’ve ever seen in 16 years of fishing Sitka. On the plus side, our long held belief that Sitka on a bad day is better than most places…
More big kings hit the dock than any May in AU’s history while at the same time fewer total kings were landed than any May in recent memory. The tough fishing reflected the overall down-cycle with king salmon up and down the West Coast. A nasty storm for the Women Gone Fishin’ event and a…