Fishing

After two sunny calm days the weather was turning on us.  It was a bit overcast and drizzly while we got our tour of the rental boat and it stayed that way most of the day.  Due to the moderate winds we stayed in the Cove and the water was nice and calm.  Every time we ventured out as we were trolling we ended up turning around after fighting the waves.  We didn’t light into the kings like we did on the first day.  We did set some crab pots out that would be a future days bonus.  Other than that it was trolling the cove with nary a fish in sight.  We did manage a couple of rock fish and that was our Monday.

Tuesday the storm was upon us.  We had planned for a couple of days of exploring the island and fishing the streams.  30 – 40 knot winds easily convinced us the next two days were it.  Not too far from Coffman is a stream that runs out of Luck Lake all the way to the salt named Eagle Creek and that is where we started our day.   (more…)

After a quick breakfast we were off to the salt for our first day of fishing.  The rest of the days we were on our own but for the first day out Frank showed us the ropes.  May is early for prime time fishing, most of the other folks visiting were hunting bear, but there was rumor that there were a few kings in the Cove.  We started out trolling and it wasn’t long before the first takedown.  By the time I had the rod out of the holder is was definitely Fish On! and that thing was peeling line.  After a bit of a fight and some nice runs we chased it down with the boat in reverse, and the first fish of the trip was in the well.  In a few minutes we’re set up and trolling again and within a few more minutes we have two more quick kings to the boat.  We needed one more for a limit but the bite seemed to turn off with the tide change so it was off to Tide Island to look for halibut.  It’s about a 45 minute cruise north past some spectacular scenery, islands, snow-covered mountains and blue water in every direction.

Jigging for halibut in 150 feet of water is an arm workout for sure.   (more…)

It takes a while to get from Bend, Oregon to Coffman Cove Alaska.  There’s a drive, a flight (2 actually), a ferry ride, a cab ride, a ferry ride, and another drive.

Upon arrival at Ketchikan you sure don’t feel like you’ve gotten away from it all.  There are huge cruise ships docked so their customers can dump some money into the company stores and bring home their unique piece of Alaska.   (more…)