Home Forums Fishing Saltwater SE Alaska ....continued...

My last thread click here led to one of my life's favorite adventures and now I'm compelled to plan a return trip.....not this year as I've chartered a houseboat on Lac Suel in Ontario this year, but the following year.

Barb and I love the SE Alaska adventures and still have the raingear (LOL).....we're after Kings, Halibut, Yelloweye and coho and a camera full of memories.

Depending on the situation, we can ferry our own boat and truck to places such as Petersburg, Wrangall, etc......or merely fly into Ketchikan and ferry from there and become dependent on the vehicles of others.

We went to Kake last time.....it was a ball and we loved it but would like to see other places in SE Alaska.

While cost is always a factor.....it's not the critical determinate.....we are looking for recommendations of places to go

vapo,

What kind of boat do you have? Two places worth fishing on POW. Craig and Coffman Cove. All connected by pavement from the ferry terminal in Hollis. It might be cheaper to fly up and fish out of Gooch's place though. Coffman Cove Adventures. I think he posts on here. He'll rent you a nice 20' Hewescraft and point you in the right direction.

Craig is really good fishing, but it can kick up out of Craig. The SE winds can jack things up. With your wants/desires, I'd look at mid July too. Cohos are around, and a few kings too. Talk to Gooch and see how the king fishing is. If you have the time, come up for a few weeks in July and fish out of both coffman and craig.

Calvin,
Where are you based.....and BTW my boat is a 16' deep V hull with a 60 Merc.

Where we fished last year out of Kake the water conditions were fit for a canoe every day we were there.....my boat was most certainly worthy of the conditions we faced.....but the area is protected by mountains all sides.....something one needs to be aware of....Craig might be less than hospitable at times as you suggested

I live in Craig. A 16' V hull with a 60 will get it done on most days out of Craig. You just won't want to go far, but the fishing can be pretty dang good within a 10 mile run of the dock. And if it kicks up, take the 1.5 hour tow up to Coffman and fish up there. They are a bit more protected. But, I've got some good trolling spots for kings in some very protected waters right in front of Craig.

Like I said, come mid July. Stay a few weeks to offset any weather that might roll though. Lodging will cost you around $100 a night I bet. Keep your boat in a slip and have the time of your life. Buy a few crab pots too and put them down.

This is what you'll need:

2 downriggers w/ 10# ball.
Assortment of flashers/hoochies. Some herring heads.
Halibut rods
Anchor set up to anchor in at least 250ft of water.
Some jigs.. a few kodiak customs
GPS/Chartplotter with chip for area.


I'll mark up a chart for you. I bet you'll get some nice kings too. Anchoring right in front of town for halibut will pay off for you if you have patience. You should be able to get a few over 100# in mid July just a few miles from the harbor. I'll break your legs if you give up any of the spots I'll show you though...(grin)

thanks for the reply Calvin....I'm researching the Thorne Bay, Coffman Cove, Hollis, Craig area and finding it quite entertaining.

Some folks have also recommended an outfit out of Point Baker and I'll be going to shows to see as many of these folks as I can.

SE Alaska has to be among the finest places to spend a couple weeks on this planet....what an adventure!!!!!

I'd be looking forward to spending a couple days on your boat as well.

Some of my clients used to fish at that self guided operation out at Point Baker. They loved it. They did it for years and years. Now they are older and want someone to wrestle big halibut for them. I forgot about that place. I'll ammend my list and say Coffman, Craig, and Pt Baker for POW. Craig will be king for kings though.

I just watched a TV program about all the sasquatch sightings on POW island.....do I need a special camera to take such photos?.....LOL....maybe a BS camera?....LOL

I'll second using Gooch's boats and staying at his place. He's a stand up dude and takes care of his gear and customers.

Thanks guys.....I just sent Gooch an email.....I couldn't find him on the fire!

He might go under Mike Warner or something like that. I saw him posting not that long ago.

I found him.....goochwarner....

From the checking around I've done so far.....this seems to be a sincere recommendation....,Coffman cove adventures just might be "the place to go" in SE Alasska.

Maybe someone can get the sun to come out a bit more often?....

Craig area is a superb option.....love it

How's the fishing on Klawock Lake.....I assume one can put a boat into the lake.....

You should come later in the summer and bring some fresh Nebraska sweet corn.

If they did they could trade for about anything! Esp. on Kodiak fresh sweet corn up here is hard to get!

If sweetcorn is available locally in July, I'll bring some!