Halibut Fishing!

[Rafter H BBQ]

Hey all, when I was around 19 in the late 90’s my Dad (Mike) took me to Alaska King Salmon fishing.

A memory I will never forget! What a blast… I do have a pic of my first King at 26 lbs.

My Dad is my Hero… He worked his ass off… literally! He farmed and run cattle since he was 5 years old.

When we flew out of Alaska… he looked at me and said… “That was a fun time Pete… “Pete” a nickname from my Grandpa on my Dads side. And my son’s name in honor of that. My Grandpa had passed a few years before our trip!

Anyway, just wondering if any of you have a connection to a Halibut fishing trip?!

I am going to be 50 in July and my Dad is 76… we are both doing good…

But he has always wanted to go back to Alaska and Halibut fish… I’d love to do that for him!

Thanks for any help!

 

[SmokinEdge]

That’s a great story Justin. My only connection to halibut fishing in Alaska is just dreaming. I hope you and your pop get to go again. I’d sure love to some day but getting older every year and busy.

 

[JLinza]

That's awesome, no connection on my end. But I hope you guys get to go and have a blast

 

[mneeley490]

I always wanted to do that with my dad, but never did. Back in the 70's & 80's they would run ads for trips in the local newspapers, the Seattle Times & PI. Those Alaska trips seemed somewhat affordable back then. They look like they're a pretty penny now.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Nice Justin ( Pete ) very nice story and memory.
Very cool of you to try and set up a great trip with Dad.
I remember mine with my Dad every spring run of the Brook trout in New Brunswick.
It was a full fun day of fishing and telling lies, lol.

Miss those trips.

I always liked watching the Halibut fishing done in the waters off of BC, on the Pacific side of the country. Too far and costly from this end.

We can catch them here . but few and far between. Someday I will hook one . Halibut is my #2 fish to eat behind swordfish.

I should pick up some Halibut soon as they are fresh off trucks right now for $9.99 pound.

Hope you get to do this with your day Justin.

David

 

[civilsmoker]

It’s been a while, but we went with Homer Halibut Hunters, they do tractor launches off the beach and have nice set ups. They process all the fish after as well.

It is a nice day on the water. We chartered the whole boat with 2 other couples that we knew. We ended up catching 12 halibut and averaged about 150 lbs per couple…..

A bad weather day can affect if you go out though, it is AK after all and it’s on the open ocean…..we went out far enough to only see sea!

 

[Fueling Around]

Great memory.
No fishing stories with my father. He didn't get in to fishing until after I flew the nest.
Hunting was a big thing with him and we had many adventures.

I always wanted to do that with my dad, but never did. Back in the 70's & 80's they would run ads for trips in the local newspapers, the Seattle Times & PI. They seemed somewhat affordable back then. They look like they're a pretty penny now.

I remember those ads Mike.
I also worked with and knew people that had connections and they invited me to make a trip, but never could get one scheduled.
I miss the days of crabbing in Puget Sound.

 

[ajbert]

The closest connection is the US Navy, though that was back in the the late 80's I believe. We fished off the back of the boat...err...the stern. Anchored out in Prince William Sound during the clean up after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. We caught a few halibut and cohos but a lot of cod. Would love to go back some day to do more fishing up there.

 

[forktender]

The problem with the Homer fleet is unless you book a big fish trip, most of the fleet will take you on a chicken trip. Chicken is what they call the small Halibut= 8 to 12 pounders.

They don't launch off the beach in Homer, Ninilchik is where the beach launch is Deep Creek out of Ninilchik is where you want to launch from if you are searching for bigger fish 25lbs to 200lbs to 300lbers. Ninilchik is north of Homer and south of Soldotna.

This is Homer Harbor.

This is Ninilchik, AKA Deep Creek.



The guy's I used to fish with are either retired or dead.

If I was going up I'd book with Capt Steve's fishing lodge.
The Smith family are Local Bay Area fishing God's, they have commercial fished Halibut and King Salmon for many yrs. I have several friends that have fished with them up in AK and swear by them., and these aren't you average fly-by-night fishermen, these guys are hardcore 100 plus days a yr salt water fishermen.
Worth checking out, in my opinion, Steve Smith, caters to all experience levels, from diehard fishermen to total noobs. I believe he is still launching out of Ninilchik, AKA Deep Creek State park off the beach.

If I remember correctly, you'll want to be there in May or June for the best Butt fishing.

Good luck.
Dan.

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[Chris_in_SoCal]

That would be a great trip.

I spent time with my dad hunting boar and quail with in the past in a similar timeline.

Great times to stay in my memory.