2 days of Salmon fishing in Sitka, AK

[Tightlines667]

Well, I managed to get my boss to send me to Sitka, AK for a week of training (to recertify as a marine safety instructor).  After I figured out I could finish what I needed in 3 days, I managed to carve 2 away to get out on the water.  I made a call to a good friend from back home in
MN, and he hooked me up with his local friend who loves to fish Salmon out of his small 17' skiff.  After another quick phone call, arrangements were made to get his boat back in the water.  One more call, the boat was fueled, tied up at the dock, and we were ready to head out for some fishing.  

After weeks of nonstop rain, and small craft advisories, and as luck would have it the weather cleared up today.  Knowing we are a couple of weeks late to the prime Silver party, we opted for a leisurely day of 2 rod mooching with cut herring on the inside and if the fish didn't bite, at least we could take in some stunning scenery, and view some of  the local wildlife.  After eating breakfast, and picking up a few things, we left the dock at the crack of 0930, and headed straight out to one of his hotspots for Coho (where he picked up 13, 3 weeks ago).  This spot was loaded with life (many active seabirds, sea lions, an eagle, and a huge group of bait marked on the Furuno).  We slow trolled (with a 4 stroke kicker) cut plug herring hooked on Gamgatsu blood circles, rigged on 20lb floro, and 14lb mono fished on GLoomis 10.5' GL2 heavy action rods with Shimano Trinidad reels.  The rigs were typically dropped back 45-60ft.  Despite all the life around, we didn't mark many (if any) salmon, and only managed a couple of rockfish.  The first rockfish released must have paused a moment too long on the surface, since a bald eagle quickly swooped down and snatched up his breakfast right alongside the boat.  We continued to hopscotch throughout the leeward sides of a number of islands and rocks, extending throughout the inshore waters south of Sitka.  Despite finding plenty of life (baitfish, sea lions, seals, sea otters, humpback whales, mures, shearwaters, gulls, sea ducks, eagles, and the like), we failed to catch any Coho or have any solid hits.  We caught about 8 or 9 rockfish and seabass though which we released.  We were back at the dock by 6:30pm.

Despite smelling a bit of skunk, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  This is a simple, and fun style of fishing and the weather, scenery, and company couldn't be beat.  I really enjoyed fishing on a small boat with just the captain.  He was quite a character, and having spent the last 40+ years of his life here in Sitka, he had no shortage of fishing and hunting stories and tales to tell.  And he was quite the story teller.  

Tomorrow, we will be going out for round 2, and plan to change it up by heading north, and focusing on casting spinners and spoons around the river mouths north of Sitka.  I brought my Okuma SST 8'6 MH travel rod, and Shimano Stradic 5000fj loaded w/14lb mono along for this reason.  I am looking forward to it, and am keeping my catch expectations in check.  I am grateful for the opportunity to spend some quality time on the water with a new friend in this stunning scenery, and being able to do it for no more then the price of a 3 day license, and a few gallons of gas.  Being able to bring home a few lbs of fish would just be icing on the cake.

Didn't get many photos today, but I do have a GoPro at the ready in case we hook the big one.

Wish me luck tomorrow!

[Tightlines667]

A few more..

[Shark Hunter]

Good Mojo John.

[Tightlines667]

Day2 ....

We left the dock at 0930hrs, and after a tour of some of the scenery north of Sitka, we arrived at the mouth of the Katlian River at around 1100hrs (high tide).  We motored up into the mouth a little ways, and dropped anchor.  I then began casting a blue & silver Blue Fox #4 spinner.

Action was pretty steady throughout the high tide period (for about 2 hours) then tailed off.  I caught 5 nice 12-18lb Silvers (Coho Salmon), and about 15 or 18 Humpies (Pink Salmon).  I kept the captain pretty busy cleaning fish, then we took a short break to jaw a bit with a friend of his who was fishing the same spot, and have lunch.  We dropped back to the river mouth with the outgoing tide, but only picked up a few more humpies, then it went dead.  Incidentally, I did catch a several small Black Cod, and Sculpins.

We then moved over to a staging spot on the side of the bay known locally as the 'Log Jam' and after an hour or so of casting I was able to catch 2 more nice Silvers in the shallow slack water.  We wrapped things up around 3:45 and headed back to town.  Back at the dock at 4:30.

I went back to the captain's house, cleaned the fish, and threw them in the freezer.  I plan to pack them in a cooler for the trip back to Honolulu tomorrow morning.  

I really enjoyed catching these fish in this shallow water from a stationary boat on light spinning gear.  The fish fought valiantly, and despite it being quite late in the year, most were on the larger side, and in surprisingly good condition.  I am very happy with how this impromptu 2 days of fishing tacked on to my 'business trip' turned out.  I think the fishing end of things only cost me about $150, including license, fuel/oil, and extra baggage fare, and in mind my mind was a huge success.  I really enjoyed the one on one time with 'Tone', a true local, and a colorful character with many great stories.  I owe my friend Troy from MN one for hooking me up.

After experiencing it first hand, I would highly recommend a trip to Sitka for some salmon fishing.  Just make sure to pack your raingear

I did take a few videos with the GoPro and will try to edit and upload them next week sometime.

[Keta]

Nice.   I always liked our biannual maintenance trips to Sitka.

[lawaia]

Nice, John!  Being in cold Sitka must be a refreshing break from humid, muggy Honolulu.  Whole lotta different kind of fishing too!  If those silvers fight anything like a similar sized aku would, you must've had your hands full on the spinning gear.

[Tightlines667]

Heres a few more pics...

[Alto Mare]

Very  nice John...good job!

[Newell Nut]

Glad you got to go up there John. We sure do miss Alaska fishing.

[Keta]

Are the coho early this year or are you targeting the creek fish?   

[Rancanfish]

Boy lots of fun.  That boat looks like it was built on my boats hull.  Do you know what kind it is?

Fresh salmon in Hawaii, that'll blow some minds. 

[Dominick]

What a great trip.  Thanks John for letting us join you.  Dominick

[Tightlines667]

Nice, John!  Being in cold Sitka must be a refreshing break from humid, muggy Honolulu.  Whole lotta different kind of fishing too!  If those silvers fight anything like a similar sized aku would, you must've had your hands full on the spinning gear.

I really enjoyed the cool fall air, and the scenery, and really didn't mind the rain at all.  These Salmon don't fight anything like a Aku, but they are strong, swift, and have a few tricks up their sleeves.  They were to adverse to trying to run directly at the boat, under the prop, around the anchor rope, towards fallen trees/brush, and they certainly were aerial specialist.  Alot of fun to catch on lighter gear in shallow water.

Are the coho early this year or are you targeting the creek fish?  

Lee,
I was under the impression that they were a bit late actually.  We didn't head out to any 'big water', but most of the locals pretty much wrapped it up 2-3 weeks ago, and we couldn't find any fish out in 'the salt'.  The fish in the river, and staging nearby were still in pretty good condition and I assumed this meant the run was delayed a bit this year due to all of the abnormally high rainfall, and high water temps locally.  I may be wrong.

Boy lots of fun.  That boat looks like it was built on my boats hull.  Do you know what kind it is?

Fresh salmon in Hawaii, that'll blow some minds. 

Not sure what kind of boat it was.  He said it was just over 30 years old, and that he had made several modifications to it over the years.  He actually has it set up to haul basket gear, and traps with a removable hydro system.  Pretty versitile little skiff. 

Actually, these fish I am bringing back are frozen, not fresh, and surprisingly heading to AK to fish is the most common vacation for those living in HI, other then Vegas, so I am sure these are not the only wild caught AK Salmon in the state.

[David Hall]

What a great trip.  Successful on all fronts!
Thanks for sharing.

[Tightlines667]

Here are a couple of GoPro videos I took...

https://youtu.be/kfpvWyDWjGE


https://youtu.be/NBXLoF2y96I


https://youtu.be/QFxdpDyL9_k


https://youtu.be/87ksM8E8DDY