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In 2010 Lee came with his wife Donna for her birthday. All she wanted was a big fish for her birthday. She did catch a big 60lb halibut that day. That year Lee did catch fish, but nothing “big”. This year they came back, but it was going to be Lee’s turn. He wanted to be the one to land a big fish. He spent lots of time waiting with a rod in his hand. Missing a few good bites though out the trip and being patient, Lee was finally rewarded for his patients. After waiting 4 days and catching salmon and a few small halibut Lee hooked what he thought was a “nice” halibut. Well he got plenty of fight out of this one. After several rounds of up and down we finally got a look at his catch. One good jab with a harpoon and it was his. The scale showed it was bigger then we originally thought. A hefty 140 lbs. We turned loose bigger fish earlier in the year but this would be the biggest we kept for the year. Even though it was again Donna’s birthday during the week. Her present was a smile on Lee’s face. She did get to keep a 65 lb halibut, beating the last birthday fish by 5 lbs. Birthday wishes can come...
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We have kicked off the 2015 season with bear hunters taking 3 for 3 . Finishing the season early so we decided to wet some line and “continue hunting ” for kings. Did not take long !!!! First day, first hour, first spot !!! Kevin pumps up a 28lb white king. 2 more hours of trolling was great but nothing more landed in the cooler. 3 strikes and 2 hooked and lost fish for Bruce. (shook the hooks.) He kept saying “Its not my fault ,Its not my fault !!!!” Hard to watch a grown man whimper. I did not to give him a hard time !!! His hunting partner, Kevin did that for me Day 2 : It was going to be different I told myself. Bruce needed a fish in the cooler. I changed to a different style hook. The results were accomplished and in the fish box. 2 Bright chrome kings, no lost fish. 30 lb and 33 lb (big one a white meat again) . Only 3 hours and we decided to go in for lunch. What a great way to start the 2015 season. We look forward to the upcoming fishing season and all the great return clients and many new ones as well. See you all soon !!!!...
Learn MorePaul comes from a small town in Ohio. Not much happens there and if it does everyone knows it. This is middle America and a great place to be from. Paul loves to fish and tell stories. Both of these make him a fun person to be with. When he came to Kodiak Adventures Lodge it was his first trip to Alaska and we are always honored that people come here for their first trip. It gives us a chance to show someone what it means to be a true Alaskan. Paul fished for several days and caught some nice fish. But was still looking for that big one. John and Jerry were also trying to hook something impressive. Many times they all had a big one on the hook for a few moments and then gone. Paul had just pulled in a little halibut and needed one more for his limit. He felt a couple of tugs and then started to reel. He said it felt a little bigger but not too big. A few moments later it started to peel off line and run with it. It was at that time I figured we better get a fighting belt on him. Good thing as over 30 minutes later we finally got a look at it. It was huge. Coming straight up now I quickly harpooned it (Paul was running out of strength and his back was feeling it). Taking the harpoon ball down for quite a while is always a thrill to see. When we got it in the boat, Paul finally realized how big it really was. It was longer then him !!!! He came here and said he did not care if he caught a big one and would be happy for John or Jerry if they did. Karma struck and as fate would have it he was the one landing the huge Halibut. We are now the ones that are happy for him. The only thing better then coming here for the first time is coming back again. They are already talking and planning a return trip in 2017 with the grandsons also....
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Some groups come and can not seem to unwind from their daily life. Others seem to slide right into the vacation mode very easily. A family from Switzerland did just that. They were a lot of fun and very relaxed. Which always makes our jobs easy and not seem like work which suits us just fine. It always sets the tone for the lodge. Appreciation for the beauty that Kodiak Island has to offer should be high on the list. This is one of the things that sets Kodiak apart from other destinations in Alaska. We like to think we have a little piece of heaven here. They came with all of the right stuff. Very little English was spoken but fishing and having fun translates into any language. Seeing Humpback whales and Bald Eagles while catching King Salmon and Coho is something people think is just in brochures. The first day by 10:30 am everyone had caught a Salmon while trolling. We even missed a few as several of them were new to salmon fishing and it took a little bit of coaching and some hand signals to get all of them up to speed. They all caught on very quickly. I have traveled to Switzerland many times and the first thing you notice is all the people. Then you look past all of that and start to see the beauty of the country. That is why I kept going back. Here in Kiliuda Bay you do not have to look past anything to see the beauty!!! It stares you right in the face every day. You can not ignore it. It is why we love being here. Sharing it with others is easy. Fishing can be up or down any place you go. Any given day or week can be “off the bite” That is just part of fishing. But with this kind of scenery and wildlife added to the fishing, it makes Kodiak Island stand out from all the other places one can go fish. But today the “bite ” was on for everyone!!!!!...
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Once in a while we have a client that stands out from the rest. Jed came from Montana with friends who had been our clients 3 years ago. He had never been on a plane of any kind. Rare for sure these days when air travel is so common for many. Also he had never been to Alaska or fishing in the ocean. After fishing for 2 days with us and catching some nice fish I was secretly wishing for him to catch something truly impressive on his first trip to Alaska. I had given him a lure that works very well but it was just not doing it for him up until now. On their 3rd and final day I gave him a pep talk on our way out to fish about halibut and hanging in there, as I really believed in him and the lure he had been using. Most people want to change lures a lot and even though I give my advice they want something else as it is not working. It is not always the lure but how you work it with halibut. I was taught this by “Peter” a truly remarkable client who had fish every country in the world and even Antarctica . He was very humble and never talked down to people who did not “do it his way” . He fished with us and reaffirmed to me you can catch Halibut on jigs even without bait. Still one of the few that had it figured out. Most people “need” bait. Arriving in the spot of the morning, I again went over all of the pointers he would need to catch the big one. In less then 1/2 hour he did set the hook on the big one.!!!! After over an hour battle , several runs back to the bottom and sweating profusely he brought it to the surface from 140 ft deep. He said he had never caught anything bigger then 10lb and certainly had never sweated while reeling in a fish in 55 deg. weather. We like to see all our clients get big fish but Jed worked hard for 3 days and deserved a big fish and we hope to see him again someday in Alaska....
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Summer is here and with all the nice sunny weather the big halibut have move into shallow water. Al caught this 87lb beauty in 50 ft while jigging. We had just moved to a new spot and to his luck he had only been on the bottom for a minute or two when the big one took off. There is a difference between deep water and shallow water is when you hook one. In deep water it can be more like lifting a car engine off the bottom. But when you hook one in shallow water they make these long horizontal runs , much like a salmon only bigger !!!! The fish is more lively when it comes to the top also and can make multiple runs. If you have never fished Halibut in shallow water it will be a whole new experience....
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