255 LB HALIBUT!

July 30th Fishing Update

Wet and foggy conditions continue. It has rained heavy at times and then other times just a nice mist that seems to go through the tiniest cracks in your rain gear and go right down the back of your neck. Very wet conditions. Ed from Florida brought Jim with him and on the ride into Juneau Ed asked if I had a photo of the Fairweather Mountain Range to show Jim. The next week looks very very good for wind, but I think our wet conditions are going to persist.

Halibut has slowed down quit a bit, not sure what is going on? We are seeing some of the biggest halibut we have ever taken in the last couple of weeks. But at the same time often times the same day we are seeing some of the slowest halibut fishing I have ever seen. The currents were a bit slower this past week so maybe that is a factor, maybe the rain is a factor? The biggest halibut this week was 255 lbs. Jason and his 2 sons pulled in a 255 lb halibut! What a fish! They also had their limit of halibut with this one when they came in, it was amazing to see 2 100lb halibut look so small next to a 255 lb halibut! Some where out at Cape Spencer was where it was caught. One thing that I am starting to see as a pattern is the amount of preparation that is coming from these anglers that are landing big halibut. Jason seems to be researching the maps all winter and has a very thought out detailed game plan as to what they wanna do each day. The other big factor is attitude. Maybe it comes from experience in fishing, but it really is the little things that make the difference. If your attitude gets down then you stop doing all of those little things that might make the difference when chasing these big halibut.

Yesterday was a much better salmon day. The Pink salmon slowed a lot in the past few days. The silvers seem to be getting a bit more size to them and they seemed to be easier to catch, I had several boats start using the dipsey divers, and 3 different boats said they had a Silver take the bait as they were trying to put the down rigger clip on their line. I heard depths of 20 and 40 being reported for down rigger depths and Yakobi Rock seemed to be the hot spot. The commercial King Salmon troll opening is still going on, this is the longest King Salmon opener I have ever seen. They are also going to have a 3 day closer for Silver fishing til the 1st of August.

Should I buy a King Salmon Stamp? I get this question alot. The limit is now 1 per day 1 per year. I personally would not go out there fishing for salmon without a King Salmon Stamp. You just never know when you are going to land a big King. Yesterday my Dad Kern and some of the crew went out fishing. Kamree landed the biggest King of her career, and maybe the biggest King of the year. 38” long 25 lbs and they gutted the King and iced it down on the boat, so how much do the guts weigh? Probably a 30 lb King Salmon! Way to go Kamree!! Looking forward to this next week!

Kelly