Sitka, Alaska

I'm just back from a two day fishing trip to Sitka, AK. Catching big fish in a far away place was an awesome experience. I have never fished for either species and it is always interesting to learn how fish are caught in different areas. I was fishing with my uncle and two of his buddies from Washington State.

On day #1 we focused on catching salmon and halibut. We took turns fishing with two rods dedicated for each species. I caught a nice king salmon and lost another one. I also caught two halibut. The big one was 64" (134lbs according to the length & weight tables). Hauling it up from 200' on heavy tackle was an awesome battle. The rough seas also added to the fun. Our limit of 8 halibut also included another one that weighed about 70lbs.

On day #2 we fished for salmon. It was very slow and we picked up fish sporadically throughout the day. There were some long dry spells without any fish being caught. I only caught one king salmon all day but it was another memorable fight. The fish and I circled the boat a couple of times and it made several nice runs when I got it close to the boat. The other guys scored two more king salmon and five coho (silver) salmon. We took a break from salmon and caught a few rockfish but nobody was very excited about it. I'm not sure why the Captain decided to do this.

On the return flight I checked 1 box of frozen & vacuum sealed halibut and salmon fillets that weighed 50lbs. I also had a 10lb box of rockfish fillets. Due to some airline issues my flight back involved visiting 5 airports (Sitka, Ketchican, Seattle, Portland, and San Jose). The fish remained frozen even though my trip took about 4 hours longer than expected.

The other 3 guys that I fished with are veterans of many alaska trips and they thought this was the slowest fishing they have ever experienced. They also weren't crazy about our captain. I have to agree that I think he lost interest about half way through day #2.

Belize

Well, my parents had a good run of luck and decided they wanted to take the whole family to Belize for a week. Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister-in-law, Niece, Nephew1, Nephew2, Bekki, and I all piled in a plane and headed south. When we go there, we set up camp here:

My goal while there this time was to fish, snorkel, and eat as much lobster as I could. I had grand visions of tarpon fishing the flats, but that was not to be due to weather stirring up the sediment. So we settled on half-day reef fishing.

The first guide was not all that glorious. He picked us up at 8:00 am and quickly informed us that we needed to go catch bait because he didn’t bring any. At about 10:30 am with about 50 baits in the live well, we decided to start fishing. I had already downed about 3 beers and was fighting the urge to strangle the guy. About 5 minutes later we had a bait out and the fishing commenced. Granted, once we started, we caught a good number of little barracuda and snapper.

It was great fun for about 45 minutes then the “guide” decided it was time to go try for a big fish. I won’t get started on this. Suffice it to say that I could have done just as good drinking a rum and not fishing. So we headed back to the dock. That’s right 45 minutes of hardcore steady pulling one fish after another. That was the extent of our “6 hour” trip.

To blow off some steam, Bekki and I decided we should go snorkeling, so we booked a trip and headed out to see the sharks and rays. Our guide for this trip was more than good. There were 4 other boats in the area that we went. NONE of them had ANY critters around them. This was the view from our boat:

After gearing up Bekki and I dove in. I knew we would get to swim with the sharks, but I didn’t know the guide would let me hold one – MUCH LESS TWO!

Well that was all the excitement for that day. The next morning, I tried the pier again. For some reason the puffers were running that day. I caught 6 in a little under 15 minutes, but nothing to stink the pot.

We saw the island and all sorts of other stuff, but since this is a sportsmen’s (and sportswomen’s) site, I’ll just stick to the sporty stuff.

Our next half-day fishing charter went much better than the first to say the least. The guide showed up at 7am with bait and in 20 minutes we were fishing. We caught probably 16 million grunts which were thrown back as trash fish. The keepers consisted of queen triggerfish, mutton snapper, yellow tails, and porgies. Then Bekki, whose first and only redfish was bigger than any of mine to date, hauled off and caught a grouper. This is something that I have been seeking for a long time now. Shortly after releasing that one, she rubbed it in a bit more by catching a second grouper.


It also was released, but that didn’t help things any especially since she reminds me about both the redfish and the grouper at least once a day now.

Finally, I got a break and added a fish to my life list. And, dare I say, I am the only one among the core group here who has successfully caught a nurse shark? It was very strange – 15 lb test line, no leader, coral reef, and boated a ~50 pound shark. My mind can’t comprehend the unlikelihood.


It was a great trip. All the guides are very conscientious of the fisheries sustainability, and the importance of keeping everything clean and “untouched” by people. If ever you get a chance to go, do it.

Don't forget to see my blue water trip below.

Is anyone getting jealous yet?