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Alaska report from Capt Rob 8/26/09 another 400+ pounder!!!
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Alaska report from Capt Rob 8/26/09 another 400+ pounder!!!
This Alaska fishing report is from my 5 day trip from Aug 20 through 24, 2009.
I will let you be the judge, but in my opinion it was incredible.
First off, let me mention that this is a repeat group for me and they were there for my best single day halibut trip ever last year. You can see the report from that trip here:
That being the case they had very high hopes, as did I. The problem was that we were facing extremely large tides the whole week, and the halibut bite died off for some reason (I think I know why but I don't want to sound any crazier . . . ). The fishing was tough, the days were long, but here's how it unfolded.
I had Joe, his dad Larry, brother-in-law Randy and his two sons Cody and Zack. The rest of their group of 10 wanted salmon so they went with my sister ship and I was the halibut boat.
Day 1 first fish of the day was a good one and Cody's first halibut ever weighed in at 145 pounds, nice one Cody! Fishing the rest of the day was slow but we were steady and grinded out a nice box of fish.
Day 2, fishing slow, put in a couple smaller ones and kept our fingers crossed. Last stop of the day and Zack pounced on a fatty 121 pounder, sweet way to end the day,
Day 3 we went to the outer coast to jig up some rock fish and mainly ling cods. We homed in on the lings and played catch and release until we got our slot sized keepers. We caught a lot of fish A LOT! but most were too big to keep. Randy also put in a 50 pound halibut on the jig. We stoppped on the way in and threw in a few more 35-40 pound halibut to top off the fish box.
Day 4 we fished hard and had some of the smaller grade fish (which we were glad to see given the slow fishing last week) and then in the afternoon we hooked up to a GIANT halibut. We put an angler in the fighting belt and all he could do was hang on as the fish just peeled line even with the lever drag pushed to FULL. I went up to tie a bouy off on the anchor because I knew we would have to drift with him or get spooled on a 30 class reel! Then I heard some yelling. I go back to see what's going on and the fish just came loose FUDGE!!!!! This was on a very large circle hook and normally that doesn't happen . . . oh well it's just a fish story now. We ended up okay but that fish really was a heartbreak.
Day 5 we fished a spot I never tried before. It looked good on paper, and the tide seemed about right. We anchored up, put in a small halibut (they had to make flights) and got the gear back down. We hook up to a good fish. It tangles 3 other lines. I had to cut them off to save the fish. Then Zack fights it a while and voila it came off a circle hook. Twice in two days. Now I'm feeling snake bit . . . With only one rod ready to drop back down we sent it down. It was INSTANTLY hooked up in a BIG way . . .
With Randy on the rod we fought the fish hard for 35 minutes, and in that time we got him up 90 feet (in 200 feet of water so there was 110 feet left to go!). At that point the tide was slowing and the current died off, so were fighting fish, not current. I knew it was big and I was nervous after losing two on circle hooks in two days. An hour and 5 minutes into the fight and the fish was still 110 feet under our boat. I had to do something so we hand lined the beast from the deep and I got a harpon in him. Usually they run off after the harpoon goes in but she just layed there for a second. I got a shark hook around the lower jaw and tied her off on a cleat. Then got a second shark hook in and tied it off to a cleat. Then came out the .410 bang stick and put two shots in her. I would have got a third but I couldn't get a good shot as the fish was going ballistic on the side of my boat!
Long story short it was every bit of what I thought it was. 91 inches long and 420 pounds.
So to sum it up, I had a great week with some great friends on board and that's what it's all about!
So to Joe, Larry, Big Fish Randy, Cody and Zack, thank you guys and SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
Rob out.
P.S. I'm still not carrying a camera on board, and these are the only pics I got so far. I will try to add more when I get them.
Alaska report from Capt Rob 8/26/09 another 400+ pounder!!!
