catclaw Report post Posted July 31, 2009 I returned home last night from Alaska- I didn't get in until about 1:00 am. The logistics of the whole thing are somewhat daunting. Details to follow: Day 1 I drove to Phoenix and had my daughter meet us at the airport so she could drive my truck back to Prescott. We hopped on an Alaskan Air flight to Seattle. Check-in was a snap. Luckily, I checked my knives this time Arrived in Seattle where we met my Brother-in-law, Gerald and my nephew , Kaden (9). * We then got on the same flight to Ketchikan. The airport is on an island and the runway is carved out of a rock. There is one gate! We then had to take a Ferry across the channel to town- all of 400 yds. * We walked to our hotel. The brochure said it was right across the street from the ferry- it was, just not the airport ferry. We had to walk about a mile. The sun was out and the weather was anything but typical of Ketchikan. Once we checked in, we walked around and did some quick shopping. We then headed downtown to Annabel's for dinner. * DAY 2 We had all day Sunday as the ferry to Prince of Wales (POW) didn't leave until 3:30. We headed back downtown to show the boys Ketchikan. We stopped and watched float planes take off and land with the flight seeing groups. We watched bald eagles flying around like we have ravens here! Stopped in at Tongass trading to get some fishing knives and jerky. The stuff that is brought in is expensive! * They had a great supply of ammunition in stock! Much different story than home. They had most handgun calibers as well as rifle calibers such as 458 Winchester, 375 Ruger, 300 Wby and everything in between. * We went to the harbor and looked at the cruise ships and then to where Ketchikan creek runs into the harbor. The pink salmon "humpies" were jumping like crazy. They come out of the water and then land sideways with a splat! It is believed to have something to do with getting the eggs ready for the spawn. Kids were fishing off the bridge. I don't know what they were doing with the humpies but they aren't the best eating! Here is a view of the harbor with the bridge. My son Levi is taking it all in! * We finally got on the ferry to Hollis (POW) and watched a barge unload ocean containers. They had boats, trucks and motorhomes just piled on top! It was quite the sight. I have never seen bigger forklifts in my life- the tare weight on them was 80,000 #! * We left for Hollis. The ferry ride takes about 2 hours. It is a nice ride and we take it sometimes instead of the float planes. It's a long walk up the ramp to the docks but our ride was waiting for the 25 mile ride across the island * Just before we got to the lodge, this little guy walked across the road. We intended to turn in but the boys ran down to the dock and started fishing off it! They caught a half-dozen before bed time. There were some strange creatures hanging around as they throw the fish right off the dock after fileting them. * TO BE CONTINUED... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deserthntr Report post Posted July 31, 2009 whered you get the MTV shirt? all my friends are going there, but i am going to westwood Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted July 31, 2009 I went there and all my kids EXCEPT the one wearing the shirt went there! I guess he stole it from his brother! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
youngbuck Report post Posted July 31, 2009 Great Pics! Looks like you had a great time. I would love to do that one of these days. Sorry to hear about Mountain View though. I went to Red Mountain. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted July 31, 2009 Hahaha Red Mountain wasn't even built when I went to Mt. View so I went with a lot of guys from out there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScottAdams Report post Posted August 1, 2009 Love it Dennis!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bustedknuckleinc Report post Posted August 1, 2009 whered you get the MTV shirt? all my friends are going there, but i am going to westwood Bummer dude. TORO for life. Oh ya and its MVT but you wont learn that at westwood. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted August 1, 2009 As I was saying, Day 2 We headed out about 6 am to hit the salmon. We started in close as there was a bite only about 5 miles out from the lodge. We caught a dozen or so cohos and a bunch of humpies. It kills me to have to release all those humpies- they look just as good as the cohos (silvers) but are soft fleshed. My son caught the first keeper and it was off to the races. We had as many as 3 on at one time. The limit is 6 cohos per day. * The kids were having a ball. Kaden is only 9 and fought these suckers tooth and fin... * * We fished this spot for a couple of hours and then went off to more fertile waters. This time, a 45 minute run. We started mooching for Kings and immediately picked up a ling cod. There is a slot limit on lings- I think it is 30-35" and over 55". The first one was just outside the slot so back in he went. These ling cods are amazingly aggressive. They will bite the bait when their stomach is so full they can't swallow what they already have in their throat! I have had a big one chase a smaller one all the way to the surface. They have some amazing chompers and you want to keep your hands away. * more to come Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted August 1, 2009 Man that's awesome! Great time with the family for sure! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted August 1, 2009 DAY 2 continued We finished up at the King hole with no kings and a few more cohos that we had to release as we were alreadyhad our limits. We went out to some deeper water to find some halibut. We rigged up three big rods, two with bait and one with a jig. After about 30 minutes, my son hooked into something good. We pulled the other two rods up so he could fight it without worrying about a fouled line. When we decided it was a large halibut, I climbed on top of the boat to take some photos. * The fish reached the surface I switched to video at this point as Bobby had to beat the fish to death before he brought it in the boat. I don't know how to put a video up or I would. Bobby and I dragged it into the boat and the tied the tail to the head with a shark hook. We later slid it under the fish box with a little portion of the tail sticking out. The fish weighed 147# or so. We finished up with a few more fish and called it a day. We headed in for the docks and I can't remember being so tired. I guess it was a combination of jet lag, late sunsets and never taking a break all day. I slept from 8 pm to 5 am without stirring that night. Here is the wheelbarrow load of salmon. The day's catch all displayed on the bragging board. Bear hunting opened today- gotta go, finish this when I get back Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Traveler Report post Posted August 2, 2009 Very nice- I look forward to the Halibut BBQ so I can hear all about it! Tell your son congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted August 4, 2009 Back from bear hunting- saw LOTS of elk and deer and a kitty- no bruins. FISHING... We went out again the next morning to fill the boat with silvers. The bite was decent but not as good as we had hoped. We caught a few here and there and tried a few different waters. Levi then hooks a King! * They fight a little different than the smaller fish and everyone else pulled in their lines until the king was landed or lost! Getting some advice on how NOT to lose it! * Finally in the boat * Levi's first King Salmon! * We picked up some more ling cod and made another good day of it. I wasn't so tired this day- I guess I finally got caught up on sleep the night before. Here are the best fish of the day. One more day to go... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elkaholic Report post Posted August 4, 2009 hello - thanks for sharing these awesume memories - family trips are the best !- gary Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Archer Report post Posted August 5, 2009 Wow. Awesome pics great job. Looks like you guys had a good time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted August 6, 2009 We fished a third day and the coho bite was awesome. It seemed as if a new wave of fish had moved in as there were much better fighters than the previous fish, stripping line, dancing on top of the water and making it twice the fun it was the day before. We were soon loaded on cohos and trying to fish for Kings wasn't happening too well as the cohos were taking all our bait and we just had to let them go. We decided to go catch some black bass. After the coho bite, the fish box looked like this! The bass are a hoot. I don't know if they are really bass or not but that is what everyone calls them. When you can find a spot that has them and a bite is on, they will practically jump in the boat and surrender! When we found them hiding, I quickly tied on a jig and went to hauling them in. They don't need bait as they will hit a bare hook sometimes. I caught one on a bare mooching rig when I was trying to pull it in before we were over our limit. We had the boat full in nothing flat! Here is a bass- With limits of silvers and bass we went to the bottom. Here is a yellow eye we caught- these are probably the best eating of all the salt water fish I have ever had. We caught a pretty nice ling cod but it was outside the slot so we pitched it back in. It coughed up a salmon when it hit the deck! This was the biggest ling that we caught this trip- 46" long and pretty hefty. I have caught them up to 50# before but not this year. They have to be over 55" to keep or in the 30-35" slot. We headed back in and called it a day. Next morning we drove into Craig and hopped in a float plane that took us back to Ketchikan. The float plane was a Cessna 208 with floats and wheels. It landed in the harbor and then once in Ketchikan, landed on the main runway- sweet airplane! When We got to Seattle it was over 100 degrees- I guess the hot weather just followed us. It was a great time and I got some great fish. I had king salmon for dinner last night- oh my, it's pretty hard to beat that! Until next time... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
