Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska The Struggle is Real

One more day.

What kind of Capt.Quint's hodge podge is that?

It’s when a shark and a halibut get wrapped up. The halibut was freaking out. There was actually 4 rods involved in that.

Goat rope!

This is why jag shoots sharks.

Braid is the nastiest stuff when it rat nests.

I had one today that I'm still scratching my head about. Got a tip wrap with Power Pro main, a trolling flasher (Abe & Al #2) with a mono hootchy leader. Had a closed mono loop attached to the flasher. The closed loop mono leader did a Houdini and was closed onto the tip guide. WTF? How does that happen. Cut the crap off so we could keep fishin'

You figure it was a salmon shark or six gill?

I’d throw the circle hook away and keep everything else.

I have a love/hate relationship with those damn things. I love how well they hold when a fish is hooked but I HATE it when I can’t stop myself from setting the hook and I yank it out of their mouth. 😂😂

Braid is great stuff and I use it for all my saltwater fishing including the down-riggers. I like the simplicity of not needing thimbles and crimps and I don’t miss all the cuts and stabbings I got from frayed cable. I run 60# braid on my downrigger reels and I like the fact that it doesn’t stretch. When the line snaps from the rigger the hook is set.

Did you get the halibut and the shark?….what type of shark?

95% of our sharks are blue.

One of the other rods had a Hali on. So cut and splice. We did ok. Biggest was 190#. 24 slab cohos. They are big right now. Rather impressive.

Halibut fishing starts and stops with 16/0 circle hooks. J’s tear them up, smaller octopus hooks kill them as they swallow them. Jigs are brutal. Sk jigs with assist hooks are ok.

Interesting! I deal with them down south but I didn’t realize they ranged that far north. I’m like a kid back in school learning what I can from the guys that know. 👍🏼

I’m a bit slow on the uptake so initially circle hooks and I didn’t get along well but I think time and old age has helped….now I can wait until they’re hooked properly. 95% of my halibut leaders are rigged with 16/0 circle hooks



That makes sense and it’s good to know, thanks. I’ve got a bunch of big SK jigs with the assist but I’m always using the “standard” big grubs or twin tail scampi and I don’t recall those jigs tearing up the fish or getting swallowed…my sample size is a fraction of yours though.

There sure are a bunch of sharks around this year.

Nice work, Calvin!

Nice! Thanks for sharing!

Beats what I did yesterday,
I’d rather be fishing.
Warmer in Craig than here this morning.

All done now. My last group got to clean up my remaining GAF halibut. Normal limit is 40” and under but we can keep the big ones through the GAF program. The coho are just impressive right now. The river is going to be downright slamming in a week or so.

We sent two of our seasonals over there to help them with their raceway harvest.

The neighbor kids have been lined up side by each,putting a hurting on them in my front yard. There's a little girl who I'd guess to be 7,that is the ring leader and her heart is in it. Funny schit! She's catching more Coho than The Team Cabelas Tourists. Hint.(grin)

Pretty good turn out at The 'Horn's neighborhood too,even a boat(12' Lund) anchored in front of those kids. Had to be someone's Grandma and Grandpa. Hint.

Wasn't it pretty lumpy the day of the tangle? I was getting fuel before day break and there were (4) guys doing same with a 20' Duckworth rag top and they were extolling seasick woes to the cashier and it was pushing Gale in my driveway. I wonder if they tried it?!? Hint.

Funny to see kids pedaling bikes with Coho laced onto handle bars and rifles slung over shoulders. Getting to be THAT time of year. Hint...................(grin)

Been pretty cool seeing kids be kids. They think this might be the biggest return ever. I do think people understand the volume of coho that’s going to go up that river once we finally get some good rain.

Weather hasn’t been good but it really hasn’t slowed us down much. Gonna go to Edna Bay today then yank boats for a spell. Still need hal and shrimp for the freezer though.

As you said,I think it's going to be EPIC. After a couple good rains,the creeks will purge and it will be 100% Coho,ripe for the conking. You'll be able to catch Halibut from the dock and Shrimp are never far away. Hint.(grin)..................