Went to Alaska came back with Crabs and more

[Mildog]

Well, I haven't been on for a while went to Alaska, got home and  took care of the Crabs (LOL) Halibut, Coho Salmon and more, then packed for Archery hunt and took off for a few more days. Saw Du Bobs post and thought I would post  this and add some fish porn ! I wish I would have gotten the upgrade Bob got on his flight home. I brought back 100 Lbs and extra fish boxes cost me $140. But I'm not complaining, lots of great fish all Vac packed up. Mostly Halibut. I get plenty of Kokes around here and like them as much as AK Coho Salmon, so I like to bring home Halibut, but I did bring back plenty of Coho as well. Went up for a week with a buddy on a do it ourselves trip the first part of August and also fished with a good friend up there as well. We hit the streams and found lots of willing Pinks taking flies right out of the salt just as they entered the streams. Saw lots of bears. We got Crabs pretty much every day (dungenesse) not the bad kind LOL. Went out in a 17 foot Skiff in the salt and we got into Coho and pinks, lost a nice king guessing 25 LBS at the boat, playing around with too light of gear ( would have let him go anyway, closed for non res. But I would have liked my gear back LOL)
We also went out with my buddy in his Boat, met some nice people from Beaver Utah that were also his friends and we all went out together and spent a half day chasing Coho, could have filled the Boat and got into a bunch of shaker Kings and a couple about 15LBs that we let l go, it was awesome we only fished for a few hours and got into a bunch probably kept 35 in just a few hours ( we could keep 42, but we all felt we had plenty. We had Humpback Whales bubble feeding around us the whole time, it was a great show !
Spent some time chasing Halibut and got into them as well. Great trip can't wait till next year !

[obifishkenobi]

Great report, I'll get there one day.

[FishfulThinkin]

Looks like a great trip! What part of Alaska did you fish?

[SkunkedAgain]

Sounds like a lot of fun... Thanks for sharing it with us... I need to go back, it's so much fun.. Later J

[fishgiver]

Well done! Now it is time to enjoy your bounty.

[Mildog]

Southeast AK

[Bduck]

A good variety of delicious and the fun times. I miss the days of dungeness crabbing off of the west coast. 

[Mildog]

I sometimes think I get as excited pulling in the crab traps as catching a big salmon. I love the variety of the catch the scenery, wildlife, weather, people and the pace of life up there. I hope to make it every year. AK is a great place to visit, fish and more!

[Cowboypirate]

Did ya chase any rock fish or lings,? They sure add to the dinner table and fun.

[Mildog]

Didn’t fish for them this time. Had plenty of halibut and salmon action in the salt. Lots of fun stream fishing to keep us occupied. We had lots of halibut and salmon to bring home, so we spent time doing other things this trip. I like the rockfish, ling and salmon, but halibut is top of the list for me.

[dubob]

Ya done good, Pat.  

[TiteLines]

Well, I haven't been on for a while went to Alaska, got home and  took care of the Crabs (LOL) Halibut, Coho Salmon and more, then packed for Archery hunt and took off for a few more days. Saw Du Bobs post and thought I would post  this and add some fish porn ! I wish I would have gotten the upgrade Bob got on his flight home. I brought back 100 Lbs and extra fish boxes cost me $140. But I'm not complaining, lots of great fish all Vac packed up. Mostly Halibut. I get plenty of Kokes around here and like them as much as AK Coho Salmon, so I like to bring home Halibut, but I did bring back plenty of Coho as well. Went up for a week with a buddy on a do it ourselves trip the first part of August and also fished with a good friend up there as well. We hit the streams and found lots of willing Pinks taking flies right out of the salt just as they entered the streams. Saw lots of bears. We got Crabs pretty much every day (dungenesse) not the bad kind LOL. Went out in a 17 foot Skiff in the salt and we got into Coho and pinks, lost a nice king guessing 25 LBS at the boat, playing around with too light of gear ( would have let him go anyway, closed for non res. But I would have liked my gear back LOL)
We also went out with my buddy in his Boat, met some nice people from Beaver Utah that were also his friends and we all went out together and spent a half day chasing Coho, could have filled the Boat and got into a bunch of shaker Kings and a couple about 15LBs that we let l go, it was awesome we only fished for a few hours and got into a bunch probably kept 35 in just a few hours ( we could keep 42, but we all felt we had plenty. We had Humpback Whales bubble feeding around us the whole time, it was a great show !
Spent some time chasing Halibut and got into them as well. Great trip can't wait till next year !

Great report and great catchin'! I am planning a trip up that way next Summer with my daughter.

[Mildog]

You will both love it and be hooked (pun intended) you will want to go back again and again!
I’m doing it annually , missed last year due to the Covid.
Already thinking about and looking forward to next year!!

[wiperhunter2]

Great report and pics, what is the limit on the amount of halibut you can bring back? How about crab?

[Mildog]

The bag and possession limits on halibut are very confusing ( I read the fed rules multiple times) on most of the fish up there it is double daily limit and depends whether guided or not. Halibut limits fall under federal guidelines and treaty agreements, there are rules on possession while out on the water, say on a multiple day trip of 2 daily limits and fish have to be filleted in certain sections with skin attached etc. Once you hit shore and they are processed you can cut up and package. At that point how could you tell if someone had 4, 30 pound
halibut processed or 4, 150 pound halibuts processed. There is another rule if you are in a boat without fishing gear, where the possession rules don’t apply ?? I think that is for transporting home like if you where on the ferry or boat for transportation?? We stayed within the regs/limits and had plenty of salmon and halibut to bring home. Crab limit daily is 3 for nonresident daily, I believe it is 6 possession, we only brought back 2 each for one meal with families, we ate lots up there.
Mildog out

[wiperhunter2]

That sounds like a lot but I'm not sure if you are saying 4 ea at 30 lbs or 430 lbs? 4 ea at 150 lbs it can't be 4,150

[Mildog]

What I was saying is you could have 4 halibut that weighed 30 lbs each
Or 4 halibut that weighed 150 pounds each.
Some guys fishing near us got a 170 pound halibut and several other large ones.



The fillets off the one 170 pound halibut would be more than you would get off of 4 30 pound halibut by quite a bit.

The common thought is you will get 50% to 60% of the live weight in fillets from a halibut, my buddy up
There uses the 60% figure, he has even done commercial fishing for them so he has a pretty good handle on it.
So if you went with that you would get
18 pounds of fillets off a single 30 pound halibut
And 90 pounds from
A single 150 pound halibut!!
Lots of great eating for sure!!
The bigger ones we caught were about 50 pounders good eating size!!
Yummy!!

[Saltslam]

I did my first trip to Alaska this year. It certainly won't be my last!!!