2010 Alaska Charter Season, The Little Things 3

With two more groups and a little over one more week of fishing for us here in Craig, Alaska I've got a few minutes to reflect on some of the little things that have made our season here a successful one. Much like Nelly's astounding king salmon success in the Puget Sound recently, it's the attention to detail that puts fish in the boat when things get a little squirrely.

Electronics 

I've written about this before and here it is again folks. Anyone that's fished with me here in Alaska knows that I'm glued to the Lowrance broadband sonar like a little kid watching Sponge Bob Square Pants. The broadband paints a clear picture of what's happening under the boat and you can bet I'm constantly telling my customers what depth to place their baits as fish pass by. 

Three days ago was a prime example of how well this works. I made two passes thru the prime part of one of our local king salmon haunts and outside of an occasional tumbleweed the screen was blankola. Then it happened…"School of kings at fifteen feet guys!" Using line counter reels Chris, Jerry, and Milo quickly adjusted their cut plug herring to fifteen feet and it was on like Donkey Kong!

All three rods lit up instantly and we had king salmon running everywhere. One popped off fairly quickly and the other two, 26 and 39 pounders, streaked off around the bay smoking 25 pound mainline off the reels. As those fish tore it up I quickly rebaited the third rod three times and Chris got bit every time he dropped, missing three more bites until we finally had to spin the boat and move off the fish to avoid losing one of the chromers in the kelp.

Some days it happens like this and on other days my guests might hear me say "There's a king at 70 feet", or "Marked some fish on the bottom guys." Carpet-bomb four baits into the depth the fish are holding at and a hookup will often occur. Pay attention to the small details, namely the sonar in this case, and what could have been a marginal day is suddenly a successful one.

Structure Scan 

I added the Structure Scan to my Lowrance HDS this summer and it's saved my bacon on more than one occasion. Most of the salmon areas we fish here in Southeast Alaska have a main drag, the area where fish are most likely to be holding. The broadband sonar gives a stupid-clear picture of what's under the boat, but if the bait and fish aren't on Main Street, which as we all know is sometimes the case, you can dial in the fish-holding hot zone in a snap with the Structure Scan. This puppy looks up to 200 feet on both sides of the boat.

One day this summer will be burned into my mental hard drive forever. We had scratched around all morning for one 26 pound king salmon and two coho's and at 11:00 a.m. I decided to pick up and run twelve miles to an area that had produced some great silver action several days before. The area had been dry since then, however, and I knew it was a bit of a gamble.

We pulled into the gut of the run and the broadband sonar screen was full of…tumbleweeds! Nada, zilch, zippo!

On the Structure Scan, however, was a much different picture. A hundred feet inside of where we were drifting, alongside the kelp in 45 feet of water, was a mass of baitfish that couldn't be missed on the Lowrance unit. We slid over into the shallow water where the bait was tucked up along the kelp and schwacked on salmon and halibut for a little over two hours. Details, details!

Hooks and Line

I made the switch to using Mustad hooks exclusively this year and I'm very happy with them. The Ultra Point octopus hooks are ultra sticky-sharp right out of the package, which is a requirement on the salmon mooching grounds. It's important that the hook "sticks" the fish on the first "chomp, chomp" and the 2X strong hooks are strong enough to land just about anything that comes their way. We've landed halibut up to 120 pounds this summer on these hooks!

I've been super happy with Stren "Hi Impact" line the last two years, using it almost exclusively on all of our mooching reels. I say "almost" because we've been trying out Berkley's new Transoptic Line on a few of our reels this summer and it's also performing very well. Transoptic is high-visibility above the surface and disappears once it goes under water and it's got the same toughness-factor as the Hi Impact. Both are very good products!

Staying Comfortable

Take a look around both the charter the commercial fishing fleets here in Craig and you'll see a common sight, Grundens! We all wear Grunden's gear because it's designed to keep you working in any weather Mother Nature can dish out. I wear a Windjammer hooded fleece jacket on rainy, drizzly days and when the going get's tough I jump into a 2X tall Griggs jacket that's both tough and comfortable. The Grunden's Griggs bibs…I wear them every day. 

Another one of their products that I've worn every single day this summer are Goat's Feet. A contractor friend, Jim "Bucket" Heins from Jennings & Heins General Contractors in Poulsbo, Washington was wearing them a couple years ago when he fished with me and I figured if a big, tough guy like him is wearing fleece socks they must be alright.

What are Goats Feet? They are extra-tall fleece socks that fold over the top of Extra Tuff's or other workin' mans boots so they don't fall down during a day of hard work. Trust me on this one…they are Uber-comfy! 

Sunglasses 

Polarized sunglasses are an important fishing tool that is often overlooked by fisherman. Here in Alaska, where it can be rainy and damp much of the time, I wear Costa "Brine" model sunglasses with copper 580 glass lenses. They are vented on the sides to reduce fogging and the copper lenses are just the right tint to see clearly on both rainy or sunny days on the ocean. They also work great on the river for salmon, steelhead, and trout fishing. 

In addition to the Brine's I also have a pair of Costa Tripletail 580's in blue mirror that I wear when I'm fishing the bluewater. The blue mirror is the ultimate lens for cutting glare on bright and sunny days close to the Equator or anywhere on the ocean for that matter. 

These are just a few of the things that make my job a lot easier here in Alaska. I'll be immersed in our fishery here for one more week and then…well, I'll be thinking about fishing in Washington again. I can't help it!