hello from alaska

[bigfish4you]

wishing to talk to other anglers

[cupboardlad]

elo m8 and welcome to wsf, what sort of fishing do you do m8,:)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
cuberd

[bigfish4you]

throphy halibut biggest last year 275lbs. ling cod 79lbs, we jig for them using 16oz. and 24 oz. jigheads with 11 inch grubs,we have the second biggest tides in the world we also troll for silver and kingsalmon,what kind of fishing do you do,

[PanamaJack]

Hi BigFish4You
And welcome to the forum!

I guess most of us can only dream about those Halibut you're describing - not just their sheer size but also the numbers you catch.

Really it's only Iceland and Norway in 'our neck of the woods' that seems to get anywhere near the size of those fish you've caught. The Atlantic record, from Norway, is 418lbs as opposed to the largest Alaskan fish, taken under IGFA angling rules, one of 459lbs. They're absolutely massive! And I guess a real challenge on rod & line.

I presume though, given the way those big fish fight particularly when gaffed, crews are still using shotguns to 'quieten' them.

The sheer numbers of Salmon are also something we also find it difficult to visualise - other than, of course, through Natural History programs - with those countless thousands, tinged bright red, migrating up rivers. And for anglers only Grizzlies as competition!

Back to your question though. There're a whole range of different, Atlantic species we fish for in this country. It's a different Cod, then there a whole range of related species, things like Whiting, Pollack and Coalfish. (Coalfish are what your 'East coast cousins' would describe as Pollock.) But then we also catch Ling, not dissimilar to your Ling Cod and, and I don't think, there's a similar species in your part of the Pacific, Conger Eels. They can grow up to 9' in length and weights of over 140lbs. I've seen though pictures of commercially caught fish well over 200lbs in weight.

Also there're a range of interesting flat fish, most of which are good eating! The list though goes on.

And we also target Sharks - Blues, plus occasional Threshers and even rarer Makos, and Porbeagles. The Porbeagles are not dissimilar - although a bit bigger - to your Salmon Sharks, they just lack the spots.

I'm sure I've missed a whole range of others species though, some that are anglers favourites. I'm sure they'll elaborate.

And then you'll see from the other postings in the International forums that some of the members get to fish all round the globe. In the Pacific you'll see postings from places like India, Thailand, New Zealand, Panama (what a surprize!) and Taiwan.

What I sure other members would be interested in regarding Alaska are things like seasons, best ports to target species and costs of chartering. Perhaps you could post back with those type of details. I'm sure as well we'd all like to see pictures of some of your captures.
Kindest regards
Dave

[bigfish4you]

hello dave,nice to here from you.are season starts may 25 and runs to the end of october,although some boats start earlier and fish all the way to september.the vast numbers of fish are insane,the words i hear are "please not another fish"and "do you think we will need the gun'. the price for a full day of fishing will be $225.00 for the 6 pack boat and $195.00 for the big boat. homer is the best place to go halibut fishing because if the water gets nasty you have islands you can go to get protected.ialso there is almost total daylight in the sumertime.there are king salmon, silver salmon,red salmon and pinksalmon anyone wanting more info on those fish i can go into more detail.some years the silver salmon are so thick you have to move around to get out of them.they will bite a plain 16/ 0 circle hook.we use a bang stick because its quite if you use a gun you will have other boats come over,we harpoon and shoot them.the halibut derby has also got a program for the biggest fish released.as soon as my new computer gets here i will post pics or i can give you web. address tight lines to all

[Marcus]

ive watched some tv programs on fishing in the kenai!..looks like a lovely place to fish,,would like to try it one day for sure,

Regards


Marcus

[bigfish4you]

hello marcus,the kenai is great your chances of catching a 40lb to 60 lb.king is verygood,they backtroll to catch them there is also monster rainbow trout,they put restrictions on the number of guides that can fish the river,all rainbow trout are catch and release.do you guys catch alot of grey cod we catch tons of them here10lb average,although i had a customer with a 20 pounder. we realease all the cod they are not the table fare that halibut are.good to chat with you (lord bungholio ,i bow with rod in hand) ha ha

[Marcus]

the Cod over here are considered THE prize table fish!...not heard of grey cod to be honest..again ive seen on the tv,some fellas fishing for halibut with salmon eggs for bait,wrapped in womens tights (pantyhose???..lol)..an interesting way to fish i feel!..

ive only ever sea fished,but would like to try for some monster kings and sockeyes one day

Regards

Marcus

[bigfish4you]

hello marcus,we catch our halibut using, herring, octipus and giant plastic grubs we also use 2.3 and 4 pound weights depending on the current,its alot of work reeling a fish in from 200+ feet of water with a 4 lb. weight on. good talking to you again tight lines jim