Insearch of Monster Halibut 2009 - Gustavus, Alaska - The Hull Truth

wheresthefishjr · 08-10-2009, 11:54 AM

In Search of Monster Halibut 2009

We just got back from an outstanding trip to Gustavus, Alaska fishing for Halibut. It was a guys’ trip with 3 generations, including my grandfather, father, my cousin, and me. (Grandfather’s and father’s 3rd time, my 2nd time, and cousin’s 1st time) We went to Alaskan Anglers Inn, home of Deep Blue Charters for 5 days of fishing July 24th – July 30th. We fished with Capt. Rob Hankins aboard the Icy Rose. He was topnotch and put us on the fish, big ones too, every day, all day long. We hope to be back up there with him fishing in the near future.

Every day consisted of:
• Breakfast 6am – 7am
• Halibut fishing from 7am – 4pm
• Pink Salmon fishing in the river 4pm – 6pm
• Dinner 6pm – 8pm
• Pink Salmon fishing or dock fishing for Sole, Starry Flounder, Sculpin 8pm – 10/11pm.

I could go on forever about how well we did and all the details, but I will just give a brief overview of everyday’s catch. I will post some pictures, but all pictures and soon video can be viewed on my website: http://www.wheresthefish2.com or http://picasaweb.google.com/cgwatkin...7li-qXurLuoAE#
Tackle-
• 80lb Braid
• 400lb Dacron Leader
• 3 – 4 lbs of lead (Oh boy, our arms were tired!)
• “Big” circle hooks
• Herring and Pink Salmon for bait

Day 1-
First day was the toughest day with the 21ft tide change; however, we still took our 4 fish limit of Halibut (now only 1 per person per day) and released about 20 other Halibut.
1- 103 lbs
2- 69 lbs
3- 50 lbs
4- 50 lbs

Day 2-
The 2nd day was the reason why we went to Alaska. First fish of the day was our biggest of the day and biggest to date for the Watkins family; 188 lb Halibut. We took our 4 fish limit of Halibut within 3hrs of fishing and ended the day early to do some river fishing.
1- 188 lbs
2- 148 lbs
3- 103 lbs
4- 77 lbs

At the end of Day 2, we already had 390 lbs of filleted Halibut. We were only going to bring back 400 lbs of Halibut, 2-50lb boxes each.

Day 3-
We fished for Halibut for about 1 hr in the morning and got 1 at 134 lbs within 15min. We released about 10 others before we took off for the ocean to go Rock fishing. This was new to us, but it was a blast. Who would think Alaska has tropical looking fish. We caught several Black Rockfish (Bombers), some Quillback, and several Ling Cod to 40lbs. The Ling Cod were released since they were out of season. The highlight of the Rock fishing was catching a 20lb Yellow Eye. What a beautiful fish!!!
(1) 134 lb Halibut
(13) Keeper Black Rockfish
(4) Keeper Quillbacks
(1) 20 lb Yellow Eye
(24) Ling Cod (All Released, not in season.)

At this point, we had over 482lbs of Halibut and Rockfish.

Day 4-
The fourth day was strictly a catch and release day. Our arms were ready to fall off by the end of day 4 as we caught and released at least 60 Halibut. We had several in the 60 – 80 lb class.

Day 5-
The fifth day was a half day. On the fifth day, we told the Capt. Rob we wanted to go to “goliath” Halibut spots. We didn’t care if we didn’t catch any fish, we were simply looking for one over 200lbs. Well, we may have hooked that one; but unfortunately, it got away.  However, we did catch two within the 1st hour that were over 100 lbs; 141 lbs & 171 lbs. Since we were way over the amount of fish we were going home with, we made a “charitable donation” of our fish after it was packaged and frozen..

Trip Tally:
Keeper Halibut-
(1) 188 lbs
(1) 171 lbs
(1) 148 lbs
(1) 141 lbs
(1) 134 lbs
(2) 103 lbs
(1) 77 lbs
(1) 69 lbs
(3) 50 lbs
Released over 100 other Halibut of various sizes

Rockfish-
(1) Yellow Eye 20 lbs
(4) Quill Rockfish
(13)- Black Rockfish ("Bombers")
(24)- Ling Cod up to 40 lbs (All Released, not in season.)

To say the least, this was a trip of a lifetime! I give special thanks to my grandfather & father who funded and planned this trip, and to my cousin who made the trip even more fun. Also, special thanks to Capt. Rob who did an outstanding job and put us on the big ones.

I hope to get back up there soon though to continue my quest for a 200lb, 300lb, and 400lb class Halibut….

Visit http://www.wheresthefish2.com or http://picasaweb.google.com/cgwatkin...7li-qXurLuoAE#

JCC123 · 08-10-2009, 01:29 PM

Sounds like a great trip!!!!
Looking forward to getting Capt. Rob back down here to Venice to hunt some tuna.

Was the weather good?
J

wheresthefishjr · 08-10-2009, 01:31 PM

We got amazing weather while we were there. We got 3.5 our of 5 days of pure sunshine and hardly any wind. It would start out in the 50s in the morning and it got into the upper 60's lower 70's while we were up there.

slief · 08-10-2009, 02:12 PM

Great report! Love the pictures! I have always wanted to fish Alaska! You made me want to go even more! Thanks for sharing the great report and pictures!

Neptune 201 · 08-10-2009, 02:23 PM

Great report. Do they ship your catch home?

Sprockets · 08-10-2009, 03:20 PM

Awesome pictures and report. A three generation trip makes it that much better.

I've been in that area of Alaska and it is absolutely stunning.

auguste · 08-10-2009, 06:38 PM

Absolutely excellent adventure and great pics

Brings back great memories

rbhankins001 · 08-12-2009, 03:32 PM

It was my pleasure Craig. Thanks for the kind words and the great pics.

I will get you a bigger halibut one day.

Tight lines.

Tell the family I said hey.

Oh and I wanted to say thanks and describe the "charitable donation" mentioned above. There was a group from New Orleans at our lodge the same week, and we have a mutual friend in common Gerald F. who was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer. He is a hardcore speckled trout and redfish fisherman out of Davant, Louisiana and the Suburban Club. The guys from New Orleans took him a 50 lb box of halibut as a care package. THAT IS FIRST CLASS. Get well Gerald.

-Rob