• RECIPES

  • Halibut
  • Salmon
  • Shrimp
  • Clams
  • Caribou, Bear & Moose

• ALAKSA HOW TO
  • Catch Shrimp
  • Smoke Salmon
  • Snagging Saltwater Salmon

• STREAMING VIDEO
  • Shanna's First Bear
  • Caribou Hunt Photos
  • Swanson River Float
  • Bear Hunt 2008

August 2005 - Fishing The Outer Gulf Coast Big Halibut in Port Chatham

August 15, 2005 - Day 3

Up a little latter this morning, still no bears. We ate breakfast tacos and headed out. The wind was blowing most of the night and the forecast was deteriorating. I headed for the an area called the “mountains”.  The mountains got their name because of a couple of peaks that rise to within 100' of the water surface in an area of 300' depths.  We approached the mountains in crappy seas that went to worse, because the mountains were creating lots of rips.  I did get a bait down and immediately hooked into a halibut. By the time I had him up, Shanna was getting concerned about the seas and as we scooped the bow into a wave, I agreed and off we went. I wasn’t sure where to fish, so we headed for a corner off Elizabeth Island. The prime place I thought we wanted to fish had a boat sitting on it anchored. We pulled up behind him, drifted back and anchored.  The tide was running full bore and we were dropping 4 lb leads to get to the bottom. The bite started off good for the 20 lbers. The fish were in a feeding frenzy, tearing the rubber tail off every lead head jig I dropped.  They shredded them.   I started giving up on big fish so we began keeping a few of the 20 lbers. My crew was complaining about the weight of the lead and wanted to wait to fish until after the tide slowed.  I steadily fished and finally my big break came when I pulled up a 58 lb halibut on a salmon head. Jeff was re-motivated so I offered him a fish head and  he accepted.  Soon he was hooked up with a fish that didn’t budge and was taking line. Jeff worked him up and when he came into view I couldn’t believe my eyes, BIG!  I harpooned the monster and she thrashed..  The kicker motor was knocked around against its stops and out of the water as the powerful fish beat it with its tail.   I decided not to shoot, instead I used my baseball bat and cut its gills for our safety.