|
|
We were anchored just off Column Point, fishing for halibut, when the radio crackled with a message for our skipper, Kevin Young. It was Roger Paddock, captain of the High Roller, another Tanaku Lodge boat, and his message was brief: "Better get over here, Kevin."
Even though we were having a pretty good morning of halibut fishing, we alldashed for our rods and began reeling in as fast as we could. We knew that Roger had experienced fantastic fishing for both chinook and coho the previous afternoon, and it sounded as though they had found the fish again.
As we approached the High Roller, we saw that three of the four anglers aboard were hooked up. The deckhand was netting a salmon, while Roger was busy sorting through a deck of flopping coho.
|
|
In record time we tied on jigs and tossed them overboard. As I watched my jig flutter through the clear water, a coho darted out of the depths and grabbed it. We had been fishing less than 15 seconds and I was already hooked up! Within moments, anglers on both sides of me were fighting fish of their own. Coho were tail-walking all around the boat. Lines were crossed, tangled and occasionally broken, but we didn't care. This was a fisherman's dream. This was why we had come to Alaska.
Incredible Scenery
Our trip had begun five days earlier, when ten eager fishermen had piled into a floatplane near the Juneau airport. The 30-minute flight to the lodge was worth the trip all by itself. Everywhere we looked were majestic mountain ranges, glaciers the size of cities and white surf crashing against spectacular headlands. Upon arriving at Tanaku Lodge, which sits at the edge of Elfin Cove on Chichagof Island, we were given a tour of the grounds and fed a hearty lunch. Then we had the afternoon to explore and prepare for five full days of fishing.
After dinner we were assigned to our boats and asked to complete a form indicating what species of fish we wanted to catch - salmon, halibut, rockfish or lingcod. I figured the fishing must be pretty reliable if the guests can choose their fish as if ordering from a menu.
I decided to kick things off with halibut. The next morning found us anchored on a prime halibut spot, where we landed several "chickens" in the 20- to 40-pound class, three keepers in the 50- to 70-pound class, and two "shooters" - halibut weighing more than 70 pounds. (For safety's sake, all halibut weighing more than 70 pounds are dispatched with a 410 shotgun.)
The Tanaku skippers often anchor near structure such as small humps, gravel flats or other terrain favored by halibut. When the current runs too hard to keep baits on the bottom, the skippers power-drift with the engines in reverse, constantly backing into the current. The method is effective, but often results in a soaking for those in the cockpit.
|
|
In the afternoon we searched for chinook salmon. The group before ours had limited out easily on chinook weighing from 20 to 30 pounds, so our hopes were high. The Tanaku skippers usually troll two lines off downriggers and two off the transom rigged with four- to six-ounce banana sinkers. Two of the lines are rigged with cut-plug herring and two with thin-bladed spoons.
In spite of a serious search, we couldn't locate the chinook, but still managed to return with a fine load of halibut and several coho in the ten- to 12-pound range.
River Run
That night, lodge owners Dennis Meier and Jim Benton told us that a local river was producing great catches of pink salmon and the occasional chum, and they passed around a sign-up sheet for those who wanted to try fishing in the river. I was all over it, as I love casting flies to salmon in tidewater.
Getting there was an adventure in itself. The first stage involved a 75-minute cruise on one of the lodge's larger boats, then we hopped in a skiff for the run across a shallow flat to the river entrance. After that it was "shank's mare" through mud and bear grass for the last mile.
|
|
The reward was well worth the trek. At the first deep pool above the mouth we found hundreds of pink salmon finning in the clear water. Soon everyone was hooked up. Even novice anglers who had never used a spinning rod were battling the small but scrappy pinks.
We caught and released fish until there was no point in catching any more. Then, after a delicious shore lunch of barbecued salmon, we hiked back to the skiff. The only disappointment to our near-perfect day was that we didn't see any of the bears that are so common along Alaska rivers during the salmon runs, although we saw plenty of evidence of their presence in the form of half-eaten salmon and huge tracks in the sand.
Great Bottom Fishing
The next three days were much the same as the first. We usually anchored in the morning on one of the hundreds of known halibut hot spots in the area, while our afternoons were spent trolling for chinook or coho. The halibut fishing remained consistently spectacular, with at least one 100-plus-pound fish taken almost every day. The incidental catch of huge yelloweye rockfish and gargantuan lingcod was also impressive. One angler took a 28-pound yelloweye, while another released a lingcod in the 50-pound class. Until recently, the IGFA all-tackle yelloweye record stood at 26 pounds. In 2003, Tanaku guests landed 15 yelloweye that large, and one 31-pounder. And while 50-plus-pound lingcod are not record-setters, they are far larger than those taken off most other west coast ports.
|
|
Unfortunately, the salmon fishing was fair at best. Each day, at least one boat in the fleet would hit a school of coho and land ten to 20 fish before they moved on. However, most managed only a handful of coho and smattering of pinks per day.
Lots to Do
It should be noted that fishing isn't the only thing to do at Tanaku. There are plenty of interesting land-based diversions to keep visitors busy. For example, an extensive network of boardwalks at the lodge leads through a verdant rainforest to the top of a nearby ridge, where virgin muskeg stretches to the edge of a bluff with spectacular views of Mount Fairweather and the Brady Glacier. Some guests opted to take a guided trip in a skiff to look for brown bears foraging on the shoreline. Another favorite activity was visiting the tiny and picturesque village of Elfin Cove, where a community boardwalk takes visitors on a half-mile ramble along the serpentine shore.
Even though the salmon fishing wasn't spectacular on my trip to Tanaku, we did experience flurries of fast action, and everyone went home with full fishboxes. In addition, we could always count on halibut, rockfish and lingcod to pick up the slack. That's certainly one of the great things about fishing here - you're bound to find something that's willing to bite.
|
