Fishing in Alaska
Fishing in Alaska
by Mary Harter
Our trip left from Sitka, Alaska. Bert Stromquist picked us up at the airport and took us to his store, the Orion, to purchase our fishing licenses. We also shopped in the local grocery store and liquor store by his store for additional items we thought we might enjoy. Then we went to his 72’ yacht, the Outlier, which was docked in town. Clay, his son, has a 45’ sport fishing boat that we would be fishing from as he accompanies us on our trip. Clay’s boat has three 300 hp Yamaha engines. We met his wife, children, and in-laws, and then left port to go fishing.
We took our gear into the captain’s quarters where we had stayed during our last two trips and on our bed was a quilt I had made and donated to the Michigan Chapter of SCI for their fundraiser. I had no idea who has purchased it but Bert’s wife had seen it and liked it. It was made in the bear paw pattern with material with black bears on it. I was so pleased I almost cried. What an honor and appropriate since Bert also uses his yacht for hunting trips.
While fishing we caught ling cod, halibut, king salmon and our limit of rock fish. That night we anchored in St. John the Baptist Bay.
During our trip we caught king salmon which are also called chinooks and each person is allowed to keep one per year. We are also allowed only one ling cod per person per year. We were allowed 6 cohos or silver salmon per person per day. Sockeyes are the red salmon and we were allowed 6 per person per day. Chum or keta are another salmon that we were allowed 6 per person per day but we didn’t keep any. Pinks or humpies and another kind of salmon and we were allowed 6 per person per day. These are the type they can and we used a couple for bait.
The second day we caught an assortment of fish in very calm water and spent the night anchored in Kelp Bay. We were fishing in the inside passage.
The third day we caught our limit of black cod. These we fished with electric reels at a depth of up to 1700 to 1800 feet. We also caught several silvers, a ling cod, and a beautiful orange yellow eye that we can’t keep. We had seen humpback whales every day but on this day there were many that were bubbling for food and surfaced together three different times. How special to be able to see this action. This night was spent anchored in the Lord’s Pocket.
On day four, Todd caught a big octopus which we used for bait and Mark caught a huge ling cod. We also caught quill backs, chum, halibut, kings, silvers, and another yellow eye. We also saw a few orca whales, sea otter, and porpoises. This night was spent in Windham Bay with 300’ on the anchor.
On day five, we all traveled in the fishing boat out to set shrimp cages in our bay. Then we traveled about 1 ½ hours to Tracy Arm to see the glaciers. On the way we set crab cages baited with fish carcasses. It was just a gorgeous day and as we neared the glaciers and saw floating ice, it got colder. The first glacier was Sawyer and the second was South Sawyer. Clay reached out the door to the boat and grabbed a chunk of floating ice that we used for our drinks for two days. There were several other boats enjoying the glaciers but not many as this is a very remote area. Sawyer was not calving but South Sawyer had a piece fall off into the water while we were there. We had to be careful maneuvering around all of the ice floes.
On our way back to the yacht, we picked up the crab cages which had two crabs but both were female and had to be released. The shrimp cages were full with over 400 shrimp which Bert and I cleaned. Every night Bert, Clay, Ann, Mark, Todd and Tracy cleaned and froze the fish we had caught that day, usually while Don and I watched. We had shrimp for dinner that night.
On day six, we were out to fish for halibut but they have different rules on Fridays. You cannot keep a halibut unless it is over 36” but you have to pay $500, so, to make it worthwhile, Clay suggested we only keep a halibut over 50”. We caught and released about 8 fish ranging between 34” and 40”. That night we stayed in the bay of Baranoff Warm Springs. Todd, Tracy, Mark, and Clay went up to the warm springs. The DNR were at this location and came to talk to Bert, whom they knew. One of the officers had not been to this area before.
On day seven, we spent most of the day returning to Sitka. Todd and Tracy had a license plate from the Laingsburg American Legion to leave with many others at the local American Legion so Ann and Tracy went ashore to deliver it. We ate dinner at the Mangiare and spent the night on the yacht in the slip in the harbor and flew out the next day.
What a wonderful time and we have seven boxes of fish to enjoy with great memories at home. This was our third time fishing with Baranoff Expeditions and it will not be our last.