I’ll start at the beginning. This past fall and winter, I was working with the At Risk Youth programs in FL for Outward Bound (NCOBS) down in Key Largo. While down there I would go on three week canoe expeditions into the backwaters of FL and got to know some of the other staff pretty well. One of the full time guys, Mike, had fished for Sea Base down in the Keys a few years before I ever got there and we got to talking about all that and would fish together in our off time.
Mike told me how he went up to Alaska to fish as a guide at a lodge for the summer a few years back and showed me all of his pictures. From the point, I KNEW that this wa something I wanted to do. It was more than a want, it was a NEED. I started watching all sorts of videos of fishing in Alaska and researching salmon and halibut fishing techniques and would spend hours reading the CF.com of Alaskan fishing forums. I sent out a dozen applications and within a week and a half, I had a job offer as a Fishing Guide at an awesome fly out sportfishing lodge outside of Ketchikan called Yes Bay Lodge (http://www.yesbay.com). A couple weeks later I had a plane ticket and all of my gear and I was ready to go! Problem was, I was still two months away from the season and I was getting super itchy feet.
Fast forward a couple months and that puts me right here, right now. This afternoon, I flew into Ketchikan and, after a quick ferry ride, I got all settled into Eagle View Hostel. We fly out to the lodge on Monday and I’ll be out of cell phone range for the next 4 months. Super excited about that. There’s something freeing about not using/needing a cell phone. When was the last time you went 4 months, let alone a week, without yours?
I’ll keep this post updated with pictures and reports and whatnot instead of making multiple photo dump threads. If you have ANY questions about anything, PM me and I’ll answer to the best of my ability!
We just got settled in and are getting our boats ready while we go out with the guys who’ve been around for a few years learning the techniques, hot spots, what to look for, species, etc. Tuesday afternoon was our first trip out and today was our first full day of fishing the morning and afternoon sessions. There are tons of regs up here detailing what you can catch and the sizes and possession limits and annual limits and what you can and cannot use for bait and what you can and cannot stick with a gaff and all sorts of stuff. When catching rockfish, you must keep all of a certain category of species until you catch your aggregate limit of those species without culling the small ones due to decompression at such depths. Lots of regs to learn!
Hopefully, after this post, the majority of pictures will be of wildlife or FISH!
Keg grill at the hostel
Pirate Airworks flying for Yes Bay Lodge
The view out the window of my room
The main lodge building
The mouth of Yes Bay
Capt. Troy’s first fish in Alaska during our break in training
First morning trip with Capt. Slammer and Capt. Troy. 106 lb Halibut and a mess of Yelloweye and Lantern Jaw rockfish all caught on jigs
Over the past week we’ve been getting the boats ready and exploring the area with the other new guides experimenting with all of the different fishing techiniques. We saw a few days of action with the King Salmon but haven’t seen any in the past three days. There have been quite a few halibut taken in the last week and I’d say the average is 30-40 lbs with two 100+ lb fish and a few little guys. I had a chance to hike the 1 mi. trail up Wolverine Creek yesterday to experience some of the freshwater and see the Steelhead, Rainbows, Cutthroats, etc in the clear, cold water. There’s also Lake McDonald that is about a 2-3 mile hike away where we do other freshwater stuff but we fly the guests into it. I haven’t had the opportunity to check that out yet but am looking forward to doing so. Our first round of guests get here this afternoon so I’ll start fishing tomorrow.
Hey Rap, have you run into the Brown Family, up there in Ketchikan yet? They are on a TV show called Alaskan Bush People. That’s one hard luck family! They have one son that chases down salmon in the streams and catches them by hand.
Awesome adventure, you’re living the life man. Keep at it.
Mark
Pioneer 222 Sportfish Yamaha F300
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
Rap… Hat’s off to you and your sense of adventure and willingness to do something about it. ! Careful on your inshore adventures as mosquitoes and other biting bugs are very intense in Alaska.
Thanks for the photos! Beautiful life fulfilling experience your living.
The past week and a half started off slow with an 11 yo fella and his dad from Colorado. He caught a mess of Rockfish, lost a biiiig Halibut and caught one legal King as they were still trickling in but the kid had a blast. One of the guys caught a 35 lb King with an 83 yo lady and he took the lead in the King Pool. All of the guides and a few of the other staff put in $100 each and there’s $1400 for the guide with the biggest King at the end of the summer! Next I had a group of 6 men from all over the country who were gathered for one of their birthdays. We hit the fish heavy all four days they were here and found a hot spot for the Yelloweye Rockfish (Red Snapper in AK) and filled our limit of 1 per angler per day easily. The kings started showing up and up until this point we only had a few fish break the 20 lb mark. One of the guys hooked into a huge king on the 11th hour on the third day of their trip and we pulled a 34lb King on board! It was a hell of a time and all the guides are stoked to know the Kings are starting to show in numbers.
Wolverine Creek, the freshwater creek that dumps out next to the lodge with some good Steelhead and trout fishing. The salmon will move in hot and heavy before too long
Humpback whale jumping. Of course it’s the only day I DON’T bring my nice camera.
Booked in group for the 3rd week in August ( same guys have had it for many years)).
Send a pic of what’s on the bar shelf so we’ll know what to pack !
Had a great time last year; hopefully will be back in 8 weeks.
quote: Hat's off to you and your sense of adventure and willingness to do something about it. ! Careful on your inshore adventures as mosquitoes and other biting bugs are very intense in Alaska.
Not to mention grizzly bears. One of the few things I run from [:0]
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
How great is that job. Love seeing the pictures of the outdoors and all the fish.BUT I have just one question are" those shrimp" hanging in your beard???[:0][:0] I noticed the crabs did you all catch them on rod and reel or in the shrimp nets?? How do they taste. I know to many questions buuutttt, do they use the shrimp nets to catch for bait primarliy or eating. I hope you have a blessed and wonderful adventure be safe and looking forward to some more photos and stories.Okay one more have you hit the streams for Cutthroat yet or is the season wrong ???
How great is that job. Love seeing the pictures of the outdoors and all the fish.BUT I have just one question are" those shrimp" hanging in your beard???[:0][:0] I noticed the crabs did you all catch them on rod and reel or in the shrimp nets?? How do they taste. I know to many questions buuutttt, do they use the shrimp nets to catch for bait primarliy or eating. I hope you have a blessed and wonderful adventure be safe and looking forward to some more photos and stories.Okay one more have you hit the streams for Cutthroat yet or is the season wrong ???
We set mesh shrimp pots for the prawn in 200-300 ft of water and let them soak for a few days at a time. For bait, I use a Gatorade bottle full of dry cat food as they must like some of the oils in the catfood or something. It seems to attract less crabs and non-shrimp creatures than using the carcasses for bait like we do in the crab pots. I have had octopi take up residence in my shrimp trap twice this season so we bring them back for the chef to prepare as revenge for eating all of our shrimp! The shrimp are bigger and have thicker shells than the ones we’re used to in the Lowcountry and they taste a bit sweeter.
The Dungenous Crabs come from our wire crab pots (circular, not cubish like those common in SC) that we bait with scraps and carcasses. We fish those in 50-80 ft of water and generally catch our limit (3 male crabs 6 1/4’ across per trap daily) most days. They’re very good eating and there is more meat than a standard blue crab of course because they’re bigger! I find these Dungenous Crabs easier to pick than the blues as well.
As far as the cutthroat are concerned, I have trekked with some anglers up the 2 miles “trail” by the lodge up Wolverine Creek a half dozen times and there are plenty
I noticed the crabs did you all catch them on rod and reel or in the shrimp nets?? How do they taste. I know to many questions buuutttt, do they use the shrimp nets to catch for bait primarliy or eating. I hope you have a blessed and wonderful adventure be safe and looking forward to some more photos and stories.Okay one more have you hit the streams for Cutthroat yet or is the season wrong ???