Welcome back to another Ketchikan Fishing Minute. This week, some friends from down south visited me in Ketchikan for the Fourth of July holiday, and we hit the water with Captain Shane Klinger from the dock at The Cedars Lodge on Friday Morning.
The weather was somewhat blustery, as it can be the first week of July. Temperatures were in the mid 50’s, and the wind and rain picked up as the day progressed. We had a bumpy ride as we made our way out to the Cape. We started out looking for kings, and were promptly rewarded as the first strike came about five minutes after we set our line. Because my friends were not residents of Alaska, they were only allowed to keep one king per person, while I was allowed to keep two chinook as an Alaskan resident. We trolled the area for just over an hour, and everyone aboard brought one in, while i got my limit of two – including a nice 23 pounder.
After we hauled in our king limit, it was time to look for some halibut. The motion of the ocean was taking its toll on a couple of our guests, so we didn’t spend a lot of time waiting on fish of any size. We set up on a spot, got our bait down, and each pulled in one halibut – the limit for residents and non-residents when fishing on a charter vessel. Each fish was well under the 42 inch maximum length. If we had been fishing on our own, without the aid of a skipper, regulations would have allowed us to keep two halibut of any length.
There have been a lot of reports of silvers being caught in the Clover Pass area, as well as a few pinks. I will hit the water again over the next few days and give you an update next week on another Ketchikan Fishing Minute.