Alaska Fishing

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Here is a really big king salmon as I brought it to the net. This is a big deep sea dip net to give you an idea how big this fish is. My son got the picture as I was landing it. The other picture is a 207 pound Halibut also from this year. A big halibut will just wear your arms down trying to haul him up. My son and I love to fish also.





By the way, I am 6' 3" and 225 pounds to give you a size comparison with that Halibut.

 

[comfisherman]

Gotta love big fish, those big halibut have a way of getting your blood pumping when they come up. Is that seward or whittier, thats a pile of sail boat masts in the background. Alaska fishing will really ruin a body, makes it hard to fish anywhere else.

When my brother and I were little kids our first year on deck we pulled up near 350lbs of halibut in about 45 minutes hand jigging. Drove my grandfather nuts because we had to keep wakeing him up to gaff them because we were to small. We were using hanging twine hand over hand, it always felt like snagging a log or kelp the big ones put up so little fight until that nose clears the water. I hope we figure a way to reign in the whale predation, honestly I think its a bigger problem than the sport vs. commercial debate. Seems like there are some nice fish still out there but the numbers are really down, its either sub 32's or big ones.

Congrats on some nice fish.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I agree the predation problem is bigger and I do not agree with the way they are handling this sport vs. commercial debate. They have made it where it looks to be lose-lose instead of win-win. I believe there is a solution but it is being handled and approached the wrong way from the beginning. If you noticed all the numbers started dropping when all the push went to protecting this and that predator years ago.

The problem humans can not understand is that the preservationists can not have it the way it was before we were here in large numbers. An ecosystem produces so much biomass for consumption by predators which includes us. The question is do we want to feed predators or humans. Down here now we have a tremendous wolf problem from introduced wolves that are protected and killed out elk herds down to nothing. Now all that food many of us here in the west depended on in cow elk tags is not available. That is a significant strain on many here. And this was brought on them by people who do not live here and may or may not visit. They have no idea the way of life here. Just want to enforce there ill will and uneducated opinions on others.

Please don't get me started. People who live it and work it like you see it first hand. It can not be seen from afar or only from a government office.

 

[comfisherman]

Yeah I agree whole Heartily, I do believe there needs to be some form of limitation to unbridled sport fishing in the areas with a big population. But they are going about it all wrong. The predator issue is one that needs to be seriously addressed. Im in my mid 20's and have been fishing since 12, and there has been a massive increase in predators in my short tenure. When I was first out west halibut fishing there were a couple places you couldn't fish on the pacific side without massive whale interaction. Now its on both sides of the peninsula and working its way up peninsula.

The real buggers are the sea lions, I don't know who dreamed up the benchmark numbers that the feds want, but I cannot imagine how we would feed them all. There wouldn't be a salmon, cod or pollock west of Kodiak. Its funny when I bump in to someone who is a rabid greenie who gets all wound when the find out what I do. Honestly I fish for a living and hunt for sport and have no spare time between the two. If the fish don't come back, and the caribou dissapear I'm out a job and my only hobby, I'd say that makes me a conservationist if there ever was one.