I have several past newsletters on this page that you might find of interest.
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November 8, 2011
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2011 Catch Rate Comparisons
Fishing Reprt
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful!
Quick Links
HIGHLINER NEWSLETTER
Closest to the Fish!
Dear ,
Stop! Don't delete this newsletter! Please unsubscribe by clicking the button at the bottom of the page. It won't hurt my feelings if you think I'm boring... Or a braggart. It's probably better if I face the cold hard facts... maybe I'm not as charming and witty as as I think I am.
Better for me to get over my delusion, don't you think?
So "Go ahead, make my day", click that unsubscribe link...
For the rest of you... Thank you for your continued interest in the Highliner Lodge. We strive to bring you honest and interesting fishing reports and keep you updated on changes in the charter fishing industry and our own Highliner Lodge & Charters operation.
Steve & Jill
2011 Catch Rate Comparisons
As promised, I am presenting our Highliner Lodge catch rates for the 2011 season and comparing them to the rest of southeast Alaska. (South Central Alaska: Homer, Kodiak, Seward, et all, don't have any 2011 published catch rates, hmmm wonder why?)
Who the hell said it? Mark Twain? No one really knows, but...
'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'
Some folks are rightly suspicious of statistics, especially during this highly contentious election season... most people are smart enough to know that many times "statistics" are cherry picked and massaged to serve the purpose of the presenter. To a certain extent, you must rely on the integrity of the presenter. And it seems like, for every political issue there are enough numbers to satisfy (or falsify) any just about any claim!
Speaking of politics, I challenge any and all competing fishing lodge owners to a debate. Subject: Best Fishing in Alaska.
Most of us have been around long enough to know that we end up believing what we hear the most...that is why big business pays a lot of money to get ads on the super bowl and why unscrupulous political candidates often use negative advertising. Advertising and propaganda work!
As an owner of a fishing lodge; I am aware that hyperbole works. The lodge owner who has the biggest internet presence (think: search engines), the biggest and fanciest display at the sportsman show, the most money to spend on marketing, inevitably gain the best name recognition. Couple that with the willingness to say (or imply) that he has the best fishing in Alaska... has a great advantage over those who may in fact have a far superior product (fishing and otherwise)!
The Highliner lodge may, or may not, have the best website, or the most pictures of big dead fish, or the biggest and fanciest display at the sportsman show... but, don't hold that against us! What we do have, that nobody else has, is hard cold facts (yes, statistics... but hey, you trust me, right?).
I am not trying to yell louder, use more gimmicks, pay experts for search engine optimization, buy bigger displays using bigger pictures of dead fish, and simply saying anything to book a trip. (Well ok, I am doing some of this too) The point is: I am supplying verifiable information (yes, statistics... don't fall asleep on me here, I haven't even presented any numbers yet!) that YOU can use to make an informed decision.
Words like "BEST FISHING!!!!!!!!!, GIANT BARN-DOOR HALIBUT!!!!!!!!, FANTASTIC FOOD!!!!!!, GORGEOUS SCENERY!!!!!!, BEST THIS!!!, GREATEST THAT!, BLA, bla bla... ad infinitum... are totally meaningless after awhile.
We can't all be the best, can we? Ever notice how some lodge owners try to give the impression that all of Alaska has great fishing and beautiful scenery? NOT TRUE! Run away from that guy... fast!
(Notice that some lodges that can't even keep a fish over 37" are still implying that you can... "oops, forgot to change the photos and details on the website"?!)
Ok, here it is, short and sweet:
Catch Per Rod Hours
Data from: Alaska Department of Fish & Game and our 2011 Highliner ADF&G official log books (that's where all this information originates).
Halibut: How many rod hours it takes to catch a single fish (Rod hours per fish)
Highliner Lodge: 1.9 hours average weight 47.4
Sitka Area: 3.6 average weight 25.3
Ketchikan Area: 5.4 average weight 22.1
Juneau Area: 5.3 average weight 16.2
Petersburg Area: 4.1 average weight 34.6
Yakutat Area: 5.1 average weight 29.7
Prince of Wales Island Area: 2.0 average weight 14.8
These average weights are from National Marine Fisheries Service 2010 data (scroll down and click on ADF&G Charter Halibut Harvest Data: 2010) This is the latest information I could find published on the internet. All of these areas (Sitka, Ketchikan, etc), with the exception of the Yakutat area, are restricted to one halibut under 37 inches per day (about 24 pounds). We are fishing in both areas as we are located on the liner between area 2C and 3A. That allows us to fish either side of the line, as long as we have the proper license and don't fish on both sides in the same day.
(See previous Highliner Lodge Newsletters explaining the regulatory difference between areas 2C and 3A)
Although, I don't have stats for 2011 to prove it, I think it is resonable, and logical, to conclude that the average halibut retained in these areas has declined significantly (with the exception of Prince of Wales Island, where the halibut are so small that even the 37 inch restriction probably couldn't bring the average down!)
I honestly cannot tell you what our 2011 average weight was
(I will have to start keeping records of the halibut size
too, I suppose), but I can honestly say that we had many
more, and much larger fish, than we have ever had before
(see previous 2011 Highliner Fishing Reports).
Note on average halibut sizes: Over the past 15
years in area 3A (South Central Alaska which includes
Yakutat, Seward, Homer & Kodiak) the average weight of
a charter caught halibut has dropped 5 pounds to 15.2
pounds in 2010.
Size matters?
Ahem, well fellows, as much as I hate to say it (after
all...I was once told "you're just a little guy!"...
I keep trying to convince Jill that I am average....I'm
talkin' HEIGHT!... geez...) sometimes size does
matter.
I will go out on a limb (again, I have no stats!) and say that our average halibut is well over the 2010 Glacier Bay area average of 47.4 pounds. While most lodges are suffering a tremendous reduction in both catch rates and average sizes (caused by over fishing, and in southeast Alaska, imposed by regulation) we have continued to both improve our catch rates and increase our average size of halibut!
What does this mean?
It means that on an average day at the Highliner Lodge you will catch a halibut every 1.9 hours and in less than 4 hours of fishing you will have two halibut that average 45 pounds (90 pounds total). You will still have 5-6 hours to fish for salmon on the same day (Sorry, you will have to wait for the next Highliner Newsletter for those catch rates).
Compare that to Sitka: on an average day you will catch a halibut every 3.6 hours and after over 7 hours of fishing you will have two halibut that average 16 pounds (32 pounds total). You have only 2-3 hours to fish for salmon on the same day. Ooops, I forgot to say that you can only keep one halibut per day and it has to be under 37" so you probably will end up with less than 16 pounds of halibut. The good news is: now you have some time to fish for salmon!
Speaking of salmon, I know, I said you'd have to wait for the next newsletter, but I will say (I suppose you have guessed it) that we have the best 2011 king salmon and coho/silver salmon catch rate too!
These are the cold hard facts.
Fishing Report
The last fishing report was on long-lining with my son, Joe, for blackcod. Many of you expressed your continued interest in my reports. Thank you!
Some of you probably don't want to encourage me!
Since I type with only two, or three, fingers (about as fast as I think), I have run out of time for this report, but will continue the blackcod story in the next Highliner Newsletter.
Next week: "DAD, LOOKOUT!!" or "Do you think a peg-leg would be a good marketing tool?"
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful!
Is that a smirk on my face?
Every once in a while, I meet a potential guest at a
sportsman show who has been going to the "World's Greatest
Fishing Lodge" (WGFL) for many years and is convinced that
he has had great fishing. You know how the size and number
of fish seems to grow and grow (like Pinocchio's nose) over
the years? Well, I bring out my book of statistics and
humbly (you know, I'm not very good at humble) show him
that the Highliner Lodge king salmon catch rates are 10 or
20 times better than what he has been experiencing at
WGFL...
You'd think he'd be grateful to be informed of such great
fishing! Ironically, sometimes the response is almost
hostile (as if I'd questioned his veracity) ...
"Well, I don't care about king salmon fishing!" He snaps.
You know I'm thinking: "That's a stunning remark!"
Incredulously, "You don't care about king salmon?!
"We're up here to catch silvers (cohos) because we can keep
six a day!" He's a real Smarty Pants now. He thinks he's
trumped me.
And apparently he had given up long ago on kings.
I flip my stat book to the "Silver Page" and show him that
the Highliner Lodge has a two or three times better catch
rate for silvers than WGFL!
We didn't even get to halibut page, before he stormed off.
I realize I'm not the slickest salesman barking from my
sportsman show booth. I have a lot to learn! But I have a
trump card to play: I built my lodge... "Closest to the
Fish!"
Thanks again for considering the Highliner Lodge!
I'm off to fish blackcod again tomorrow. The forecast is for ten foot seas, and that's about as good as we get this time of year. When I return, I will start to revamp the website and order a new display for the sportsman show. You'd think being "Closest to the Fish!" would be enough, but I have to get the word out!
Good fishing!
Steve Daniels
Highliner Lodge & Charters Inc.
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| October 14,2001
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2012 Bookings up 63%
2011 Catch Rates
Fishing Report: "Deadliest Catch"?
2012 Rates
Quick Links
2012 Bookings Up 63%
Book early, Book often!
Our confirmed booking are up 63% to date. I suppose it didn't hurt to catch so many big halibut last season. The 466 pound (could a been) record breaking halibut has focused a lot of attention on the Highliner Lodge! I know it's hard to make a commitment a year ahead of time, given the economy and sometimes health issues, but please recognize that we have a very limited capacity and that making an early commitment insures you get the dates that work best for you.
HIGHLINER NEWSLETTER
Closest to the Fish!
Dear Steve,
Thank you for your continued interest in the Highliner Lodge. We strive to bring you honest and interesting fishing reports and keep you updated on changes in the charter fishing industry and our own Highliner Lodge & Charters operation.
Today's report is about my recent experience blackcod fishing... this is not a sport fishing report, but rather a glimpse into the world of commercial fishing. Is it a "Deadliest Catch" experience? Well frankly, yes, it can be. Once you make a set of longline gear, you must wait 6-8 hours to let it "soak" and then it takes 3-4 hours to haul it aboard. The weather forecast may call for 20 knots winds and 9 foot seas... but in late September and October the actual weather can quickly change to a 30-40 knot gale with 12-16 foot seas! Once you set the gear you are committed. You are also 20 miles off shore in a boat that travels at 7 knots!
If you ever get an opportunity to eat blackcod (aka Sablefish) don't pass it up. It is the best tasting fish in the ocean! It is expensive, but it won't disappoint you. Warning: Halibut will never taste the same.
Steve & Jill
Highliner Lodge Catch Rates
As promised, next week I will provide our Highliner week by week catch rates for 2011. The catch rates are affected by several factors. The day by day, or weekly, fluctuations should not be interpreted to accurately pick one week over another to fish at the Highliner Lodge. Sometimes the weather prevents us from fishing where we can obtain the best catch rate. Sometimes, the individuals at the lodge are more interested in sightseeing than fishing (I know... that's hard to believe). However, the data does help establish our claim to be "Closest to the Fish!"
Fishing Report
The blackcod fishing was amazing... we started hauling the deep end first. It was set in 550 fathoms of water. (That is 3,300 feet or over a half-mile deep!) We hauled the deep end first because we couldn't find the shallow end...
Did we set the shallow end into too deep of water? Did we sink the buoy? We looked for an hour for it (it was kind of lumpy out on the ocean) but couldn't find it! The wind and seas started to pick up, and after looking for the deep end for another hour, wondered, where the hell was IT?... Finally, I spotted the orange buoy! It had drifted in the current almost a mile from where we had set it, before settling in this location!
I don't like
hauling the deep end first because it is too "heavy". It
has over 600 fathoms of line with about 500 hooks on it and
sometimes it has a fish on every hook... that is a lot to
drag up from the bottom! Every fathom of line, every hook,
and every fish creates drag as it is pulled though the
water. The line pull is close to a thousand pounds!
Well, we got the buoyline and the anchor up and started
pulling in the ground line with the hooks. We didn't catch
a single blackcod on the first 500 hooks. The line was
starting to get tighter... and tighter... finally, I
couldn't pull it up at all, without parting the line. It
was starting to get rough too. Around and around we went in
a circle, trying to loosen the line from whatever was
holding it back. This might be the only chance I had of
retrieving this gear... if it breaks, we may never find the
other end! After an hour of going in circles, pulling as
hard as possible without breaking the line... the line
broke. We had one blackcod. We would've had two, but I
missed one of them at the roller!
Nothing to do now but go back and look for the "shallow"
end (250 fathoms), it was SOMEWHERE about two miles from
the deep end.
My son, Joe and I had baited and set 12 tubs of longline
gear about midnight last night. It was calm when we set the
gear, but the wind came up after, and the seas started to
build in the dark. We planned on drifting all night and
hauling the gear at first light. As the boat rolled and
pitched, the swim plate on the stern started to slap hard
against the swells. Kabooom! A big shudder came from the
stern every few minutes. I wondered how good that was for a
wooden boat? I ended up putting the boat in gear and
slowing trolling around in the dark. I was thinking,
(without really thinking, cuz I had done this a many times
before) "I hope I don't run into a log, or a big kelp
patch". We were about 20 miles from shore, fishing off Cape
Edgecombe. There weren't any boats around. I couldn't see a
thing. It was pitch black. Needless to say, I didn't get
much sleep that night.
Each of our tubs has 900 feet of ground line (150 fathoms) with baited hooks attached with 12 inch leaders spaced 6 feet apart. This adds up to about two miles of ground line with about 2,000 hand-baited hooks. We had baited for two days.
The weather was getting worse all the time. Getting up at daylight and not being able to find the shallow end, then breaking off the deep end... and all for one fish?! Had we lost all of the gear now? This wasn't an auspicious start!
After searching for the shallow end for nearly 2 hours... Joe spotted it, "Eleven o'clock!!"
"Where?"
"It was at eleven o'clock".
I turned the bow 20 degrees to port and looked for the buoy. I looked hard for the buoy. (It was kinda rough... about 10 foot seas and blowing a steady 25 knots). We couldn't see it! Was it a mirage? Wishful thinking?
5 minutes later... "There it is! Dead ahead!"
The orange buoy was half sunk, because the current had been dragging at the line, pulling the buoy underwater. The anchor and buoy line had drifted over half a mile into water that should have been too deep for the buoyline to reach the surface! We could only see the buoy for a fraction of a second before it was "covered" by the 10 foot seas for about 10 seconds, then it would appear again for a fraction of a second...
We pulled along side of the partially sunken buoy and got a grapple on the line and started to haul it aboard. We were back in business!
After getting the buoyline and anchor up, the shallow end was coming up relatively easy... although the boat was pitching and rolling a lot more than we liked.
FISH! Well, actually they were all red fish, also known as shortrakers and rougheyes. They are worth about fifty cents ($0.50) a pound. Buy hey, they were on every single hook! Hook, after hook... after hook... The blackcod that are worth about nine dollars ($9.00) a pound! Red fish are "by-catch" and we are limited to a 7% by-catch. Without catching any blackcod, we were not entitled to sell ANY redfish. They were worthless to us!
We pulled the next four tubs of gear without landing a single blackcod! I wondered what was my son thinking? "Gee, thanks for this great opportunity Dad," Joe can be sarcastic. I don't know what he was thinking, but he said, "Hey, that's fishing". He seemed sincere. He seemed happy. I had hoped this would be a good father/son experience.
Although we still had a good chance to get our gear back now (I had been worried about loosing most of it) I felt like shit. The weather this time of year can be crappy, even for a "bullet proof" boat, like my old steel longliner the Indigo. But the Pelican, is a "Dude Fishing" boat; seaworthy itself, but not set up to fish the rough, or even semi-rough, water of Late September and October. I was worried about the crows nest: rising 30 feet off the bow, swinging back and forth in the swell, was it pulling and twisting the fore-deck? Was it loosening the planks along the bow? What about the swim step bolted to the wooden timbers of the stern, where the "Dudes" whack the big king salmon? It was being driven into the swells whenever the boat pitched into the bigger seas! "Kaboooom!" The sound it made when we passed over the big swells wasn't good. What was that doing to the integrity of my stern? I was completely anxiety ridden. The weather. The fish. The boat. The lodge. My son. My time... I'm 58 years old! What am the hell I doing out here? I don't need this shit! I should just sell this blackcod quota! I don't have time for this! I have a business to run! A wife to, well... you know! A teenage daughter in the house (it's her senior year)! WHAT THE F AM I DOING OUT HERE! I am too old for this stress and SHIT!
I long-lined 30-50 miles off shore for well over 30 years. Many times fishing into November when there were storm warnings nearly every other day.
When did I go so soft? I can't take it anymore! I never used to be like this! I used to thrive on danger and stress!!!
And then...
we started to catch the blackcod...BIG blackcod. One-hundred-dollar-a-piece-blackcod!
Damn, baby! THAT's what I'm here for! Fish, after fish, after fish! 250 fish landed in the next hour! Sixteen thousand dollars worth... unbelievable! Amazing!
Not the fishing...NOT the money... MY ATTITUDE! I was having a ball! The weather? What weather? Was it rough? Who knows? What’s rough? What pain in my hands, and shoulders... from gaffing and pulling the big beautiful blackcod aboard? As fast as I could get the gaff out of one fish, it was driven into the head of another! Sure it hurt. But now it hurt good!
Epilogue
We are all baited up for another trip now. We plan on leaving tonight. The weather is kinda crappy... again. The current is even stronger than before. I don't know if we can find those big blackcod again. I don't know if the weather will stay "fishable"... or turn ugly. I don't know where the next malfunction of engine, electronics, or gear, will be... or how we will cope with any problem that arises out at sea. But that is what we do.
At least for now.
2012 Rates
We have raised our 2012 rates about 4.5%
There are two primary reasons for doing so. These two reasons are related.
1. Our fuel cost were up over 30% from 2010 to 2011.
2. We have spent over $150,000 for charter halibut permits so that you may keep two halibut of any size per day. (Remember that fishing lodges in Sitka, and the rest of southeast Alaska, are restricted to one halibut under 37").
Several halibut less than 37"
| Julie lying with 275 pound halibut! |
These are related because it is the extra travel to area 3A that is partly responsible for the 30% increase in out costs in fuel.
Remember that we are still $1000 less expensive thanThe World’d Greatest Fishing Lodge, Fantastic Fishing & Fun For All Lodge, and To Good To Believe It Lodge (Not there real names... duh) to name a few in southeast Alaska.
We are a no excuse, top tier fishing lodge with arguably the best fishing in all of Alaska (who else provides statistics to back their claims?) Our boats, accommodations and dining is equal, or superior, to these "luxury" lodges. The extra $1000 may get you as cooking lesson, designer Lincoln-log furniture or perhaps a massage... but I guarantee that it won't get you any more fish!
Not everyone will like my sometimes blunt, and unapologetic, self-promotion. I have never aspired, or pretended, to humble. We work as hard as we can to give you the best possible fishing experience in Alaska and we are proud of what we have accomplished.
I believe that most of you appreciate that I say what I mean, and I mean what I say.
Good fishing!
Steve Daniels
Highliner Lodge & Charters Inc.
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Should we let big halibut go?
Fishing Report
Quick Links
HIGHLINER NEWSLETTER
Closest to the Fish!
Dear Steve,
Thank you for your continued interest in the Highliner Lodge. We strive to bring you honest and interesting fishing reports and keep you updated on changes in the charter fishing industry and our own Highliner Lodge & Charters operation.
I hope you will read carefully my views on whether, or not, to keep large halibut. This has been highly controversial as the halibut stocks decline. There is a lot of misinformation (propaganda) on this subject and I have done my research and want to explain our position.
Also, very importantly, this newsletter gets into the proper care for your fish. Many lodges have mishandled your catch for years. Taking the time to care properly for your fish will make the difference in you enjoying your fillets all year long, or having your wife throw the fish out... because it smells and tastes bad!
Steve & Jill
Should We Let Our Big Halibut Go?
(or... should we just insist that other people to let their big halibut go?)
Recently I have been personally chastised by someone who
has been on my Highliner Newsletter List.
Here is what he emailed me:
I and my colleagues plus anyone else I can reach via social media will avoid Highliner Lodge so long as the "Mine is Biggest" philosophy prevails."
Before you all feel so guilty for killing a big fish (or secretly wishing you had a chance to kill a big fish) and fall on your fishing knives in despair, please take a look at our Highliner Lodge Facebook Discussion Page to see how I responded:
Should we release large halibut?
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=148370488507139&topic=376
This person doesn't seem to understand that ALL of southeast Alaska fishing lodges fall under the 37" fish rule and can't keep a halibut over about 20 pounds anyway. Some lodges are located in areas where the average halibut is only 9 pounds! They are not taking the moral high ground by talking of releasing big spawners... when you are precluded by nature, or by law, from being able to catch, or keep, them in the first place!
While I am presuming the writer was sincerely concerned about our halibut resource, his knowledge of current management of the halibut, lingcod and yellow-eye stocks in SE Alaska is insufficient to support his argument:
"I and many of my fishing colleagues routinely fish from lodges such as West Coast resorts in B.C. and Fireweed in Craig where the lodge owners encourage the guests to release halibut over about 70#, ling cod over about 40#, and to not target yellow eye. Though they cannot require it, most of the fishers follow those guidelines"
As I wrote above, SE Alaska is already limited to one halibut under 37" per day... and only one lingcod (30-35") and one yellow-eye per YEAR. No one has to rely on the lodge owners to encourage them to do the right thing... it is the law.
BTW, maybe I am the ignorant one here... I wish I knew of a way to measure a halibut in the water! I haven't had any guests who were willing to get in the water with the halibut for the "trophy shot" either! If someone could tell me how to do this, I'd sure appreciate it!
Although Julie was willing to "kiss" the fish, I don't
think she wanted to swim with the fish, so that she might
get her picture taken before releasing it!
If you know me, if you have read my earlier emails and
newsletters, you know that I am committed to good
conservation practices and ethical behavior at the
Highliner Lodge. I have been asking for years, "Don't you
want your grandchildren to be able to catch halibut in the
future?"
If you read the discussion on the Highliner Lodge Facebook
page, you know that
We will continue to celebrate our catch of halibut!
We are fishing in an area without a size restriction (because there is no need for one). If there comes a time (and it may come to this) that fisheries management says that we need to reduce the catch of halibut, I will support regulations restricting the size, or number, of halibut we are allowed to keep.
I have always supported these regulations in SE Alaska (unlike so many other lodges in Alaska & Canada who have been fighting these restrictions any way they can for years!)
One more thing... I am so tired of hearing that big halibut don't taste good and are full of worms etc!
How many of these people who spread this slander have ever tasted a big halibut? We have eaten fillets from these big halibut at the lodge this year and they are delicious. They are just as good as a smaller halibut. The halibut that taste bad are:
1. Not bled
2. Brought on deck thrashing about, bruising the flesh
3. Not gilled & gutted right away
4. Left on deck all day in the sun & wind
5. Not iced
6. Filleted on a table swimming with blood and fish feces
7. Not rinsed properly (blood and bacteria in flesh)
8. Thrown in an inadequate freezer where it takes over 24 hours to freeze
In short, halibut that don't taste good, are halibut that are not cared for properly!
Obviously, small fish are easier to care for and don't add up to hundreds of pounds that overwhelm a the typical Sears chest freezer that most lodges use (we have an industrial blast freezer sized for many hundred of pounds of fillets per day)... perhaps the big halibut taste bad at some fishing lodges because they are not cared for and frozen properly.
We take great pride in how we care for your fish. We hear over and over that, "The fish never tasted as good from the last lodge we went to!" Compare our photos of the fish we catch at the end of the day with those of other lodges and you will notice that all of our salmon & halibut are cleaned and iced, and the fish from many other lodges... well most of the others are bruised, never bled & cleaned, or even iced. They have been sitting in box all day long with their guts, gurry and... you know, that F word in mentioned above (f***s)! By the time they are filleted, most of these fish have been unrefrigerated for 10 hours. Would you leave a salmon, or halibut, fillet (at $20-30 per pound) on your counter for hours before you cooked it for dinner?
Ok, the big halibut (above) wasn't cleaned... but all the
others were! The big fish most often are caught in the last
few hours of the day and sometimes are still kicking around
by the time they hit our dock!
Big halibut don't taste bad! The commercial market actually
pays a lot more for halibut over 60 pounds. If they tasted
so bad... the market would stop paying up to $30 per pound
for the fish, or the demand for big halibut would drop
until the premium price was on the small halibut!
Fish that are not cared for properly taste bad...
really bad sometimes!
Please look at my Highliner Lodge Facebook Page Discussion:
CARING FOR YOUR CATCH: HIGHLINER QUALITY
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=148370488507139&topic=370
Fishing Report
It has been over a month since my last fishing
report.
Excuse: I was too busy guiding to get a newsletter out!
The season has provided the best fishing that we have ever seen!
There have beed a few slow periods here and there, in fact, we have been completely skunked a day, or two, this year (not because they weren't ANY fish to catch, but mostly because we spent all day focused on catching only king salmon, or only big halibut in area 3A... because that is what our guests wanted to do).
Stephanie & Lauren's Big Halibut
We have had an incredible unbroken string of great fishing
for the past 5 or 6 weeks! Pretty steady king salmon
fishing, lots and lots of cohos, easy limits on small
halibut in 2C (a fish every 10 minutes on average) and
limits on halibut in area 3A every time we went there
(usually releasing 10 - 30 halibut while getting our limits
too)!
Buddy, Armand, John, cat. Zach and Robert with limits on 3A halibut and that is a 25 pound king salmon laying on the dock as well!
Our next newsletter will include our catch statistics, as
promised!
Please remember to see our discussions on Facebook. Post your photos and opinions too!
...and Good fishing!
Steve Daniels
Highliner Lodge & Charters Inc.
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Quick Links
HIGHLINER NEWSLETTER
Closest to the Fish!
SPECIAL EDITION
HIGHLINER LODGE SETS NEW RECORD WITH 466 POUND HALIBUT!
Dear Steve,
I never thought that I'd be sending out notice that we have broken our Highliner Lodge record of catching a 375 pound halibut... so soon...or perhaps ever.
Indeed, the fat lady hadn't sung yet... We have established a new record... in fact, we have shattered that record!
I believe we may have just broken the Alaska State record for a sport caught halibut. I don't know that we can prove this claim to get into the record books, but I will do some research to see what that entails.
This is a link to an Alaska Department of Fish & Game webpage describing Pacific Halibut:
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/education/wns/pacific_halibut.pdf
on that page it is written that the Alaska State record is 459 pounds.
We did not weigh this fish, but used the length to weight conversion table published in the Alaskan tide book. And the fish wasn't skinny!
94" long = 466. 2# live / 349.7# dressed
Here is the blow by blow report:
Kent Carmichael from Kansas gets a strong tug on his fishing line. He remembers not to try to set the circle hook! Big head shakes ensue. Kent tries to move the halibut, but can't really make any headway. The fish stubbornly refuses to move. He tightens the drag. After a few cranks up, the fish goes back to the bottom. A few more cranks and the fish goes to the bottom. Crank, crank...zzzzzt, zzzzzt, zzzzzt the fish goes back to the bottom! Up, down, up, down, up, up, down...for 15 minutes! Then the fish starts to move ...but it's moving towards the anchor gear!! (no captain wants to see a big halibut get tangled in the anchor line) Finally... Kent turns the fish and starts making headway, slowly bringing the halibut up the water column.
Forty five minutes later, while Zach is landing a forty pound halibut (did I say this was a triple header?) the fish starts to show it's self... on the far side of the boat!? The third fish and Kent's BIG halibut are suddenly tangled together?! Elmo Carmichael (that is Kent's 90 year old dad) realizes his fish... is Kent's fish?! (Elmo's halibut got caught up in Kent's leader... you know, the one that has the BIG halibut) The fish won't come up any further, in fact, it decides to head for the bottom... right now!. Kent and Elmo's line smokes off of both reels at as fast as anyone has seen the line run before! Where will this big fish stop? Having just seen the boat (perhaps the only fish it has seen that is bigger than it's self in many, many years) the fish keeps running toward the bottom!
Will it stop, or just keep on going?
Two rods, two backs, father and son... both finally slow the fish down, and it slows to a stop about half way down.
Together, they begin to lift the fish again. Pump and reel, pump and reel, pump and reel...it's a grueling mindless battle (come on!.... matching wits with a halibut isn't that much of a challenge for most of us... This halibut may have lived as long as Elmo, but if it had any sense at all, it would just take off and never look back).
Every 3 or 4 minutes the fish would pull real hard on both lines, load up the rods until the drag started to release the pressure and then arch it's back and "shake" it's head back up till the line went slack and both rods straitened out (slack line!?) and then dive 20-50 feet. The was repeated over, and over... and over again.
After another 30 minutes, the fish appeared in the water again...
IT
WAS
BIG.
REAL BIG!
The harpoon was ready...the time had come...if mismanaged
now, the fish might realize that it was time to GO!!
Zach, stuck the fish... not perfectly, but stuck her good...and pushed the harpoon shaft all the way to the hilt... What? It's too short?! The harpoon head wouldn't come out the other side of the head! The fish went crazy! Blood was everywhere in the water! The harpoon shaft bent 45 degrees! All that was holding the crazed fish was the two fishing lines... one wasn't even hooked into the fish, but wrapped several times around the other leader. Shit! Shit!! SHIT!!!
The fish was still struggling at the surface, when Zach had the presence of mind to stick the shark hook through the fish's lower jaw, and pull it out it's mouth and then take a wrap around the line again! Now it was either the rope would rip through the lower jaw of the fish... or the halibut was never going to see the bottom again!
It won't be an official record. We never weighed it. We did measure it very carefully several times. We held the tape in a strait line. It measured an honest 94 inches. It wasn't growing. We wouldn't cheat, or lie, about a halibut of this size. (Maybe a smaller, less significant fish, but not this fish) The tide book table said it was 466.2 pounds!!
Kent: too tired to smile, or just "the way we pose in Kansas"?
The fork lift was being repaired, so we couldn't lift the big halibut any higher! Buzz is smiling, maybe he is from Missouri!
Fishing Report
Kings! And now cohos showing, along with the record setting halibut, this group of 4 fisherman caught 15 cohos, 3 kings and 8 halibut (including the 466 pounder) in one day!
Closest to the Fish!
What are you waiting for? Book now and book often!
Steve Daniels
Highliner Lodge & Charters Inc.
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HIGHLINER FISHING STATS
Quick Links
HIGHLINER NEWSLETTER
Closest to the Fish!
Dear Steve,
Thank you for your continued interest in the Highliner Lodge. We strive to bring you honest and interesting fishing reports and keep you updated on changes in the charter fishing industry and our own Highliner Lodge & Charters operation.
Steve & Jill
HOWARD TROTTER SETS NEW HIGHLINER LODGE RECORD WITH 375 POUND HALIBUT!
Fishing Report
Howard Trotter from Utah sets a new Highliner Lodge record
with a 375 pound (what else can you call it?) BARN-DOOR!!
This halibut was caught in the last hour, of the last day
of a spectacular five day trip for Howard and his two
friends from Utah, Bill & Pete. Howard had just
released several very nice 50-70 pound halibut and had one
more fish to fill out his daily bag limit, when he decided
to switch from a baited circle hook to a lead head jig and
scampi (with a little bit of salmon belly for scent). Zach
expressed his doubts about the effectiveness of the set-up
under the circumstances and Howard said he'd bet a Corona
that he'd catch a halibut over 100 pounds in the next 15
minutes. Zach figured he'd made a sound wager and no doubt
was looking forward to enjoying the beer back at the
Highliner Lodge while gazing at the mountains...at Howard's
expense. Well, this time the "Boy Wonder" was wrong!
Just a few jigs into the last 15 minutes of the trip,
Howard set the hook on this magnificent fish! YAAHOOO PARTY
DOG... FISH ON!!
...30-40 minutes later, Bertha Butt took a look at the
Highliner and... headed all... the way... back down... to
the bottom! DAMN!
...20-30 minutes "MORE LATER", Big Bertha Butt evaded the
harpoon and... headed... all... the... way... back...
down... to the bottom! DOUBLE DAMN!
I know Jill can't stand the suspense (even though the fish
is cut into a hundred pieces and safely in a fish box now!)
so I will cut to the chase (wait this is the chase!) and
just say, another 20-30 minutes "MUCH MORE LATER!"...well,
the third time was the charm!
From all the reports, Howie didn't get any help with Mrs.
Big Bertha Butt, so considering, the considerable depth (I
will not divulge any trade secrets here) his forearms and
hand must have been a little tired!
Zach conceded defeat graciously.
When the Highliner pulled into it's stall, back in Pelican,
Zach once again bounded up the boat ramp with the news!...
My reply, "GET OUT OF TOWN! NOOOOO, NOT MORE HALIBUT!"
I ran down the ramp with Zach to see the behemoth for
myself. “YABBA-DABBA-DOOOOOOO!! A NEW HIGHLINER LODGE
RECORD!!"
I went up the dump hill road to fetch the forklift. This
was the only way we were going to lift and display a 375
pound halibut!
It took as long to finish the photo-shoot as it did to fight and land the halibut! 10 cameras, 100 photos, Howie and the fish, Zach, Howie and the fish, Jess with he fish, Jill with the fish, Zach and Howie and Bill and Pete with the fish, complete strangers and the fish, Vance-the-fuel-dock-guy with the fish (Vance contended that he weighed more than the fish...and no one argued with that)!
Epilog: Big Bertha Butt overshadowed the fact that, once again, the Highliner fishermen limited out on king salmon and halibut on the same day! One of the kings was over 30 pounds too! Everyday from June 6 through June 24th the Highliner, captained by the Boy Wonder Zach Hancock, has caught limits of both kings and halibut on the same day!
I don't know when, or if, the Highliner Lodge record for biggest halibut will be broken. I don't know how long the Highliner's incredible streak of king salmon and halibut limits will go on. I do know this: if you want to catch fish, you need to go to where the fish are at.
We are the Highliner Lodge. We are "Closest to the Fish!"
Will you join us?
Call now! (877)386-0397
KING SALMON CATCH RATE COMPARISON: JUNEAU AREA VS SITKA AREA
I called the Juneau Area Sport Fishing Hotline (this area includes all of Admiralty Island including Pybus Bay & Angoon, plus Hoonah and Gustavus... see green area on map) this past week and a recorded message informed me that the king salmon fishing had improved this season over last season...this year it only takes 45 rod hours to catch a king salmon (54 rod hours to catch a king last year)!
That doesn't mean that every lodge, or every town in the Juneau Area had such terrible king salmon fishing... it just means that some had more terrible, and others had less terrible, fishing in that area!
We are included in the Sitka Area statistics. The Sitka area has 7 times better fishing than the Juneau Area. That doesn't mean that every lodge, or every town, in that area had relatively good king salmon fishing... it just means that some had more good, and some had less good, but all had better king salmon fishing than any area far from the ocean!
Our king salmon catch rate at the Highliner Lodge has been better than one king salmon per rod hour for the past two weeks.
Did I say we are "Closest to the fish!"
Good fishing!
Steve Daniels
Highliner Lodge & Charters Inc.
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Jill & Steve Go Fishing!
Fishing Report
Quick Links
New Suzuki Marine Dealership & Repair in Pelican
Jill & I are proud to announce that we have opened a Suzuki Marine dealership and authorized repair shop. The new business entity will be called:
MAD MAX MOBILE MARINE MECHANICS and will be based on our 77' supply boat the MAX currently in the Pelican Harbor.
Captain Chris Oschek is doubles as charter boat captain and mechanical genius for MAD MAX and the Highlliner lodge fleet!
HIGHLINER NEWSLETTER
Closest to the Fish!
Dear Steve,
We hope you enjoy our fishing reports! I will try to keep you posted every week, or so. I will try to represent our fishing accurately too. I will let you know when the fishing isn't so good as well as when it is HOT. I hope you keep us on your email list and pass the report on to your friends too.
Steve
Highliner Owners Jill & Steve actually fish for Fun!
Jill & I have fished together three times this past week and have caught our limit of kings, halibut and yellow-eye in an average of 3 hours each day. We released several halibut and a couple of king salmon each day as well! So the fishing has been extraordinary!
Jill's
catch of the day: I think she should have iced it down
better, looks like rigor mortis has set in!
Fishing Report
This group of wrestlers from Oregon thought that Captain Zach was ok for a basketball player!
Yesterday was the 15th day in a row that all of our fishermen have limited out on king salmon and halibut on the same day! Those choosing to fish in Area 3A have limited out on king salmon AND TWO HALIBUT OF ANY SIZE every day!
Willie O'Brien caught a monster 185 pounder after a 45 minute fight and set a 2011 record for the lodge!
The weather has been very calm and we have had almost no rain in two weeks. (I hope this report doesn't jinx us!)
Jill & I hope to see you at the Highliner Lodge soon!
Book early and book often!
Good fishing!
Steve Daniels
Highliner Lodge & Charters Inc.
Save 20%
Last minute discounts: If you've asked for a "last minute discount" or "sportsman show special" you know how stubborn I can be! We don't inflate our prices so we can give you the illusion of a "discount" when we agree to give you a lower price later. However, there are times when we have an empty room and a spot for another angler on one of our boats. If you are able to travel with short notice and you can fit into our schedule, we MAY be able to offer you a discount.
Offer Expires: When I get tired of someone trying to get a great trip on the cheap!
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In This Issue
Highliner Newsletter
Don't expect the ordinary
Dear Steve,
We have just acquired a 3A Halibut Charter Permit. This allows us to cross the line into the regulatory area just north of us, to catch up to 2 halibut of ANY size, per fisherman, per day. As you know, this year we are required to release any halibut over 37" in area 2C and are limited to 1 halibut per day.
This is good news. It gives us a lot more flexibility in choosing how we structure your fishing experience at the Highliner Lodge. This does not guarantee that we will catch 2 halibut a day per fishermen, or that we will catch a monster halibut, but it does give us an opportunity to try!
There are some "catches" to this development. Area 3A is more exposed to the weather than 2C. It requires a an extra hour of travel time to get there, and once we catch a halibut in 3A we cannot fish for halibut in 2C. So in some ways we will be limited by weather and regulations.
Acquiring this 3A Charter Halibut Permit gives us a great advantage over almost all halibut fishing lodges in Alaska for two reasons. One: we are close enough to the border between the two regulatory areas that we can fish both (2C & 3A) unlike Sitka, Yakutat, Seward, Petersburg, Homer etc. Two: We have the largest average halibut in the state; we average about 45 pounds...Sitka, Homer & Seward average about 15 pounds!
Book early and book often at the Highliner Lodge!
Good fishing!
Steve
Still can't keep these guys... maybe some day we will get a slot limit?
Please feel free to post photos or comment on our Facebook page (it's still new and kind of lonely, it's in need of some friends and some likes!)
Sincerely,
Steve Daniels
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February 18, 2011
We had a great season!
We usually catch both salmon and halibut on the same day. 2 halibut, 10 cohos, 1 king & some rockfish for Judy & Jerry. They were new to the lodge this year and just flew out today after a four day trip. They have re-booked for 2011 and are bringing another couple! The day before we had four halibut for four fishermen: 2 @ 185lbs and 2 @ ~ 60lbs!
halibut & salmon yin yang
This is the third time we have seen a brown bear in the water...so close you could put the salmon net over its head!
Roy & Timmy’s 270 pounder a new lodge record!
Still getting big kings.
I have never seen a larger Yelloweye than the one in Armand's arms.
We watched this sow hand off a salmon to one of her cubs...who ran it up into the woods..then came back and fell asleep while waiting for the next fish to swim up stream...sometimes, we have times where we have to be patient to catch a fish too.
Bubble feeding humpbacks show off while we are trolling for salmon!
We are up over 100% this season (up 22% last season) and next year's booking have grown more than that! So if you have a particular time that you need to make the trip...don't wait too long.
Steve Daniels
Highliner Lodge & Charters Inc.
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