FishUSA.com Fishing Tackle

Author Topic: Prince William Sound Alaska  (Read 3148 times)

Barleydog

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 300
  • Wishin' I was a fishin'
Prince William Sound Alaska
« on: Aug 20, 2004, 05:31 PM »
Well I just returned from a weekend fishing the sound.  It's probably one of the most beautiful places in the world to fish...  You can fish your brains out, but ya gotta stop and look around every minute or so.   Our home port is in Valdez, which is considered the "little Switzerland" of the US.  Glaciers, abundant wildlife, craggy mountains, and big tasty fish keep us going back at least twice a year. 
We originally were targeting the awesome silver salmon (aka coho), which grow up to 20+ lbs., but the commercial fishery had their opener while we were there, which slowed the numbers of fish to a trickle. :( :'(  Soooo as any good fisherfolks would do, we decided to target rockfish and halibut.  I had to take some pictures for my buddies here at MFF.  Below are just a few examples of the oddities from the depths.  That's really the greatest thing about fishing in saltwater, you have no clue whats tuggin' on the other end of your line! ;D


The "Crippled Herring" getting ready for the first day of fishing.  Looks kinda small amongst the monster commercial fishing rigs eh?

My partner Jimmer said "there sure are a lot of boats off the reef" well the Jimmer needs new glasses cause those boats were iceburgs calved off Columbia glacier!  Thank the good lord Jimmer wasn't the driver...

Commercial fishermen like this guy were all over the sound putting the "clamps" on our salmon fishing >:(  Wish the state would let them fish every 5 days instead of every other day.

The native village of Tititlic

One of our fishin' holes at the foot of the falls

One of the local fishermen!  Little blurred

Irish lord :o  Holy Wa! these little heathens love to hit anything

Only a mother could love this one!

A sabber-toothed flounder!  Yeah, it's a flounder with big teeth!  AKA arrowtooth flounder

No clue what this guy was thinking!  The jigs bigger than him

Copper quillback rockfish  MMMMMM good eats!

A real rarity in the sound.  Vermilion rockfish are one of the prettiest in the world

The young Brian hooks a nice halibut and I attempt the harpoon job on him.

The harpoon flies! and hits it's mark.  The angry butt heads for the bottom but only meets resistants from the boat.  Gotta harpoon these guys, because it's not fun putting an angry 80 lb. fish in the boat!

Gaffed and "calmed" he's ready for the cooler

The happy fishermen with his biggest fish.  A real beauty at 80 lbs.

Nice silver

and another

and yet another salmon, but this is a "humpy" aka pink salmon

4 person limit of rockfish.  The large orange fish are yelloweyed rockfish and the others are quillbacks and black rockfish.

The highway road crew on the voyage home...

grumpymoe

  • Guest
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #1 on: Aug 20, 2004, 05:46 PM »
barleydog....truly spectacular shots of heaven...going to try again later...about the last 10 or so didn't come through....the first one minus the boats, reminds me alot of west vancouver where i lived for a number of years....those deep water bucket mouths sure are fun aren't they....well....send one to GeRm in ontario...i bet he would give it a good kiss....thanks for sharing those shots with everyone...catch you later with kitty pics....grump...UPDATE...just as i posted this..saw the other pics coming up...looks like everything is ok 8) 8)

Scott

  • Administrator
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 721
  • Jig Jig for a big pig
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #2 on: Aug 20, 2004, 06:22 PM »
Holy wha! Now thats a fishing trip! Those are awesome pictures Barleydog.  8) Sure got some strange looking critters in the water up there.


-Scott

bussman

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Jr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 256
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #3 on: Aug 20, 2004, 06:47 PM »
Great pics! I miss fishing the ocean. Maybe I should make some time for a road trip!

George

trapperdirk

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 649
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #4 on: Aug 20, 2004, 07:59 PM »
Dang Barleydog . Awesome catch  but  I see your horse there was untethered for the ride home . Or do you ride bareback and without reins ?. LOL ;D
The bush is not a passion , it's in my soul.

TD

Hookset

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 628
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #5 on: Aug 23, 2004, 10:22 AM »
Tasty trip, I have fond memories of the Kenai Peninsula 2002.  Great photos.  IS that a big ugly squid by the filleting table?
We don't own the Earth, the Earth owns us.
US ARMY Veteran: A Battery 6/32 FA, MLRS

Skiff

  • Retired MFF Mod
  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 419
  • Just relaxin' on the Red
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #6 on: Aug 23, 2004, 03:54 PM »
Thanks for the photos!  I was drooling with envy, not having dipped a line in salt water for 5 years.  The fishing here is great, but your pictures make me want to head for the west coast real quick!

Barleydog

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 300
  • Wishin' I was a fishin'
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #7 on: Aug 23, 2004, 06:01 PM »
Thanks folks!
Trapper,  A couple drunk GI's in Anchorage tried to "bareback" a cow moose couple years back, (with a little persuasion from their favorite beverage of choice.)  The one feller ended up at the clinic with "trample sprains" on his back.  A few Alaskan Amber Ales and I may plant one on her lips eh! :-*

Hookset,  Yeah, that ball of goo at the foot of the cleaning table is a 5 1/2 ft. octopus I caught while halibut fishing.  Not much of a fight, Inked on the boat a little, but good for a laugh or three when he grabbed hold of everything in the boat including my partner leg when he crept out of the cooler.  ;D   Tastes like chicken too! 8)

Slipbob,  Those humpies get huge humps, this one wasn't quite developed yet, made for a good pic!


Jigwiggler

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 606
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #8 on: Aug 24, 2004, 05:40 PM »
Great pics, scenery and quality fish BD!!!  Beautiful place you've got there!
May your doorknobs smell of fish!!

vancouvercanuck

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 539
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #9 on: Aug 25, 2004, 10:42 AM »
Thanks for sharing your trip. Truly some great fishing that way. Puts our Pike and Walleye fishing to shame.
"Surveys show that minesweaping draws the most diligent and precise individuals of any profession with employees averaging only one mistake per career." - Author Unknown

seaweed01

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 289
Re: Prince William Sound Alaska
« Reply #10 on: Aug 25, 2004, 06:41 PM »
Fantastic pictures !!!  Reminds me of some of my trips off the Atlantic coast
to the Gulf Stream - you never know what is going to be on the end of your line.

 



Iceshanty | MyFishFinder | MyHuntingForum
Contact | Disclaimer | Sponsor
© 2004- MyFishFinder.com
All Rights Reserved.