Headed back up to Prince of Wales Island for my annual salmon fishing adventure.
First flight to Seattle in a few hours then up to Ketchikan and over to the island.
17 trips to POW makes me not quite a local but no longer a tourist...So I guess I'm a local tourist now.
Other than one trip to Icy Straits in 2011 for halibut only, I have found that POW fits me well.
This is the first summer trip for King Salmon as the others have been for the fall coho run so this will be a new treat for me.
Will start posting catches as soon as it happens, this evening through Monday next week.
I was considering the TANK for the halibut but the guided regs state a non-resident may harvest a reverse slot fish up to 44" or over 68". So unless the entire boat wants to anchor up and kill a bunch of fishing time targeting a big halibut, we each get a smaller slot fish.
Therefore the TANK would be overkill. The lodge owner even thinks his halibut gear is on the bulky and heavy side for small fish. I will have two Omotos, two Okumas = a 40s Trio and a Komodo baitcaster, and some Japanese jigging rods. The Kings will be handled with Abu's or Shimanos and 10' GLoomis rods, mooching and maybe trolling.
Good luck brother, keep pics coming!!!!
Good luck!
Thanks. Fishing is good. Limiting on Kings and halibut each day. Had a break today, fishing again Monday.
Wi-fi is sketchy and slow at best.
A better, full report later.
I will get pics downloaded asap.
Sounds like sucess to me.
Looks like success!
Very nice.
Thanks, got piles of pics. Just getting over my sea legs. We had flat seas on up to 15 foot rollers.
Limited on Kings each day as well as halibut. Added rockfish and lingcod to the fish boxes as well.
When mooching was hot we mooched herring from 100' up to 50 or so and back down. Picked up Kings near the bottom frequently.
When the mooching bite died we dropped the downriggers to 60' dragging a flasher and hoochie.
The Kings had bellies full of 6" squid.
Got back home and a killer busy catch up day at work.
Few more pics.
A few mo'...
And some mo'...did I mention we had Dungeness crabs two nights for dinner?
Some other lodge meals(sorry no mouth watering pics) included: Big steaks, beer batter halibut chunks, fresh salmon with a killer seasoning rub, cornish game hens, Bayleys Irish cream cake, blueberry cheesecake, carrot cake, needless to say I was unable to fish the pounds off each day and came home weighing 5#s than when I got there.
More, more, more...
Sea Lion -1...Steve - 0
Had a pesky sea lion snag my halibut. After a brief tug of war with me yanking the fish away twice I lost the battle. The sea lion surfaced with the fish across the belly and shook the head clean off.
Pulled a few fish prints in the evening and the lodge staff really dug them so I passed on some to those who wanted one. Watch in the pics for scale.
Looks like a blast. I love me some of those Yellow Eyes.
Ron
Yea, we had a good time. One or two more days would have been nice.
Me with a keeper size halibut....this was one of the few for the trip that taped right on the max inch limit. We released a lot of little chickens and over sized fish.
I reeled up a 50, 75 and 90 # fish. Another reeled up a 120# and the oldest angler - a 150 # . The boat rods were Trevalas with Avet reels.
WOW!
great report and pics Steve....Thanks!
did the mooching yield bigger salmon?
steve
Great looking trip. Thanks for sharing.
Steve, you never disappoint us... great trip! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Great Work Steve-O!
Looks like a great time.
Thanks for taking us along.
Quote from: swill88 on June 16, 2016, 10:25:52 PM
WOW!
great report and pics Steve....Thanks!
did the mooching yield bigger salmon?
steve
There were two groups of 6 at the lodge that week. Only one angler caught a salmon that weighed in the high 20s. Not sure if he caught it mooching or not. All the smaller shakers were caught on the troll. Most fish were "cookie cutters" right around 17 #s. We caught one chicken halibut mooching and a lingcod and black bass rockfish on the troll.
Trolling depths were averaging 60 feet. We marked fish, the captain called it and one or the other down rigger rods popped out of the clip. Fish on!
...and then....this guy showed up! :o
Quote from: Steve-O on June 17, 2016, 01:20:59 PM
...and then....this guy showed up! :o
That's the coolest fishing garb Steve-san! The same's currently taking our shores and Malaysia's by storm too! Only here, the guys sport a fancy coloured wig like pink or platinum blond. I'm seriously looking at getting me a platinum blond wig to join in with the fishing fashion too. ;D
Oh and did you discard the fins and tail of those rockfish? I've tried baking them, and they make nice Hirezake too.
Cheers,
LL
Hello Lawrence-san!
Thanks for the reply.
The guys and gals at the lodge loved the wig and large "bug-eye" sunglasses. Out on the ocean one day the fishing bite for King salmon had slowed WAY down so out came the get up and the spirits were lifted as the mojo started working.
I popped out of the boat cabin and yelled " Wooooooo!" really loud when we pulled up at the dock and the lodge owners and fish processors had a big laugh saying it made their day.
The fish cleaners take over as soon as we dock and send us up to the lodge for a meal so I did not get a chance to save any rock fish parts other than the fillets.
I did however get salmon bellies for smoking and kama ( the collars ) to take home and BBQ. Nobody else was saving the collars.
Hope to go back in September for river and shore based fishing and will definitely be going after rockfish again after the Salmon are caught.
Here is China Rockfish ( limit of 1 - released ) I caught while jigging for the larger Black Rockfish ( limit of 5 per day). You can see my jigging set up below the fish. An Omoto Talos reel with Daiwa metered braid and a Japanese jigging rod.
And the front of my Ray Troll Tee shirt - Death is Certain, Fishing is Not.
Steve, your report and photos are rife with the fun and excitement I'm sure you felt because it comes through in the report. Thanks for bringing us along. Wear the wig more often it's an improvement. ;D Dominick
All you need is the goatee and you are a ringer for Nikki Sixx. ;D
Thanks, Daron and Dominick!
More wig action? Check!
Chronograph watch like Nikki Syxx? Check!
Goatee? Takes a couple weeks
Ink like Nikki? Uhhhh....will need to get out the Sharpie markers and work on that.
Here's one of the big halibut coming alongside for a release.
Wow! What a Butt! :o
Quote from: Steve-O on July 20, 2016, 04:23:40 PM
Hello Lawrence-san!
Thanks for the reply.
The guys and gals at the lodge loved the wig and large "bug-eye" sunglasses. Out on the ocean one day the fishing bite for King salmon had slowed WAY down so out came the get up and the spirits were lifted as the mojo started working.
I popped out of the boat cabin and yelled " Wooooooo!" really loud when we pulled up at the dock and the lodge owners and fish processors had a big laugh saying it made their day.
The fish cleaners take over as soon as we dock and send us up to the lodge for a meal so I did not get a chance to save any rock fish parts other than the fillets.
I did however get salmon bellies for smoking and kama ( the collars ) to take home and BBQ. Nobody else was saving the collars.
Hope to go back in September for river and shore based fishing and will definitely be going after rockfish again after the Salmon are caught.
Here is China Rockfish ( limit of 1 - released ) I caught while jigging for the larger Black Rockfish ( limit of 5 per day). You can see my jigging set up below the fish. An Omoto Talos reel with Daiwa metered braid and a Japanese jigging rod.
And the front of my Ray Troll Tee shirt - Death is Certain, Fishing is Not.
The collars are the best part. Why do they discard them?
Rockfish over your side are humongous! Ours grow to as big as a palm only. But every part other than gills and scales are used. Next time you get rockfish, keep and dry the two pectoral and tail fins. Then bake or BBQ till its smoky and crisp and soak in cheap hot sake for ten minutes. The transformation us so great that you'll never buy expensive sake again except to Honour the Brewer.
Give me a call when you next plan to come to Singapore. We can meet and chat more.