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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       


Halibut11


Area 3A & 2C harvest estimates based on statewide harvest survey.

Gulf of AK Fish Migrating

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!



Gulf-of-Alaska-Map-Angler-Effort
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!



Sitka Halibut No-Fish Zone2

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!




 with Halibut Average Size
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



Gulf of Alaska Map Halibut Catch Rate copy
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



Gulf of Alaska Map King Salmon Catch Rate
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.

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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!
                       
            

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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.

           Sitka King Salmon Catch per Week


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.
             

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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