Please note: I am currently editing this page... there may be more than the usual grammatical errors!
Our Halibut: 3 X larger than Sitka, Seward or Homer
Our King Salmon: Highest catch rate in the state?
The
Intelligent Fisherman
While some folks throw a dart on the chart to choose which
stock to invest in, others take a practical common sense
approach to choosing an investment. Likewise, choosing
where to fish can be approached in much the same way. I
have constructed a rational argument for the Highliner
Lodge as the premier sport fishing destination. No longer
should you rely on insider tips, or irrational exuberance,
when making this most important of life’s decisions.
HALIBUT
CATCH ANALYSIS
Area 3A
& 2C harvest estimates based on statewide harvest
survey.
Why
do we claim to be "Closest to the Fish!”?
Location, Location, Location!
This chart shows the steady migration of halibut and king
salmon from the west, to the east, and then south down
along the coastline to Southeast Alaska and British
Columbia... then to Washington... Oregon and finally
California. The second important thing to note is the 400
mile-long
UNFISHED AREA shown on
the chart in dark blue. This area is inaccessible to cruise
ships, roads, cities and therefore almost any fishing
effort. It is in effect an unofficial marine sanctuary.
King salmon and halibut aggregate here and then, eventually
continue their migration to Southeast Alaska where
we are first in line!
This chart also shows the two regulatory areas for
halibut.
In area 3A the daily bag limit is 2 halibut of any size,
across the line in area 2C the daily limit is one halibut
under 37” (subject
to change in 2012) Not only do we have the considerable
advantage of being first in line (we like to say “Closest
to the Fish!”) we have the ability to cross that line and
fish in area 3A where the daily bag limit is much more
generous!
The further down the line you are... the more disadvantaged
you become!
This chart depicts the fishing effort in Alaska and British
Columbia. The red dot that represents Pelican (where the
Highliner Lodge is located) is so small as to be virtually
invisible. The effort in Sitka, Homer or Seward dwarfs that
of Pelican. There is about 50 times more fishing effort in
those ports than in Pelican!
This Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G) chart
shows that all inside waters in and around Sitka have been
closed to guided sport fishing for the past 7 years! This
is because there is too many fisherman depleting the local
halibut resource.
“Tourism,
including a growing sport fishing charter industry, is
vital to the economy of Sitka and other communities. The
number of registered charter vessels based in Sitka nearly
doubled between 1991 and 1992, and, between 1992 and 1998,
doubled again to 240 vessels. In 1998, harvests by anglers
aboard charter vessels comprised 65%, 85% and 88% of all
king, coho, and halibut harvested in the Sitka marine sport
fishery. Between 1982 and 2001, the number of charter
fishing boats in southeast Alaska increased from 139 to
1,343! “ (ADF&G 2000)
Is there
really any wonder why this area has been restricted to a
bag limit of one halibut under 37” (23 pounds) per day? Or
why is the average halibut only 16 pounds (even before
there was this restriction)? This is why you cannot fish
for halibut in the calm inside waters of Sitka Sound? But
you can fish the calm inside waters for halibut at the
Highliner Lodge!
This chart depicts the average weight of landed halibut in
Alaska.
Note
that Yakutat and the "Glacier Bay" area (Glacier Bay
includes Pelican) have the largest average halibut weight
in all of Alaska, more than quadrupling Seward!
Data tables from: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/halibut/sport.htm
This chart shows the average amount of pounds of halibut
landed per angler, per day, in these Alaskan ports. This
takes into consideration that you could keep 2 halibut of
any size in area 3A and you could retain only one halibut
under 37” in area 2C in 2011 (2012 regulations may be
somewhat different).
KING
SALMON CATCH RATE COMPARISONS
The bigger the red dot the better the fishing!
Notice that Seward and Homer have such a terrible king
salmon catch rate that the red dot is nearly invisible
(like the red dot that represents the fishing effort in
Pelican is nearly invisible)!
Our
king salmon catch rate is 5 to 50 times greater
on the
outer coast than on the inner coast of SE Alaska. A very
large portion of the king salmon caught in SE Alaska were
destined to spawn in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon
& California. Most of the Alaska king salmon are caught
in the ocean and not near the hatcheries or streams where
they would have spawned. The closer to the ocean that you
are... the more king salmon you will catch! Ketchikan,
Juneau and Petersburg have terrible king salmon fishing
compared to Sitka, Craig or Pelican. They are over 100
miles from the ocean. The king salmon fishing has never
been, and will never be, even close to as good as near the
ocean.
Halibut
and salmon are replenished from the ocean, but not at a
rate high enough to make up for the fish taken out of local
waters where there is very heavy fishing effort, as in
Sitka.
This leads to "local depletion"
The two
tables below show the actual king salmon catch based on
logbook data from south-east and south-central
Alaska.
Don't
be distracted by the sheer volume of salmon caught in a
particular port. It is NOT the overall catch that is
critical; it is what YOU will catch.
The catch per unit of effort (per angler day or per rod
hour) is the only thing matters.
See the spreadsheet below. I built this spreadsheet
based on the above data for the whole season.
The
catch rate is computed by dividing the total number of king
salmon caught by the total number of angler days: for
example, there were 367 king salmon landed in Pelican...
divide that by 569 angler days and that equals .63 king
salmon.
In other words, in Pelican, the average king salmon
catch per angler, per day, was .64 king salmon.
This works out to be a fish every 6 hours, everyday, all
season long. In contrast, it would take, on average, over
26 days to catch a single king salmon near
Seward!
Sitka's
Catch Rate: 7889 king salmon / 44,194 angler days = .64. In
other words, just slightly less than Pelican. The
chart at the top of this page depicting Sitka's harvest
rates in "hours per fish" bear this
out.
I built this argument for a prospective quest who had gone
to Larsen Bay (Kodiak) and was disappointed because
although he caught some halibut... he did not catch any
salmon. In Larsen Bay, the average catch per
angler, per day, was .05. This means that Larsen
Bay averaged one king salmon for every 20 DAYS of effort.
Again, the data in the spreadsheet represents the whole
season. If you choose more optimal dates with us, your
actual rate can improve markedly.
Please
note the charts represent how long, on average, it takes to
catch a king salmon, not how many king salmon were
caught. Notice the window of opportunity to catch
kings is nearly 4 months long! Now look
at the Juneau chart below.
Please let me know if you'd like any further information. I
have charts for most areas of Alaska.
The best
you can hope for is a king salmon every 2 or 3 days around
Juneau. Around Sitka it is every 4-5 HOURS! Juneau's window
of opportunity (?!) is only about 3 weeks (6/8-6/26),
Sitka's window is nearly 4 MONTHS
(5/4-8/31)!
The
distance between Sitka and Juneau is about 150 miles.
Sitka's catch rate far exceeds Juneau's because Sitka is
located very near the ocean; and Sitka is north of all of
the other fishing areas (other than Pelican/Elfin Cove) in
Southeast Alaska. I can present charts from every
other area of SE Alaska and make the same point. The catch
rate in the Sitka area exceeds all other areas by 2 to 15
times!
Our catch rate is equal to, or better than, Sitka’s,
because of our location and lack of competition.
Why can’t I show you a harvest rate table for Pelican?
Because the fishing effort is so small that we are
virtually invisible to the Alaska Department of Fish and
Game and they don’t bother to compile a table for our
area.
Compare us objectively to any other destination and you
will find we are indeed “Closest to the Fish!”, for either
king salmon or halibut; and most importantly, there is no
better place to fish for BOTH! See below:
After
perusing this information and studying our charts, I hope
it is clear that fish are not evenly distributed in the
ocean. One needs to break away from the crowd, and go to
where the fish are, and almost as important, get away from
overwhelming competition.
Aside from the objective arguments, there are subjective
attributes that don't fit into spread sheets, that can't be
fact checked, and tend to look like hyperbole...until you
experience it (Please see our other webpages and consult
our former guests).
Please consider the Highliner Lodge for your next Alaska
fishing adventure!
We
are undeniably... “Closest to the Fish!”
Fact:
There are less than a dozen boats registered to charter
fish in Pelican, but only 3-4 boats actually go out each
day. By comparison Sitka has 285 registered charter
boats!
Other
Charts
Yakobi Island
Cross Sound to Icy
Strait