Been very busy with allday groups and there are many to come. The Chong's fished for 2 days and went home with 119 pounds of filets and the Woodward's left today after 3 days of fishing with I think around 350 pounds of filets. Those numbers should show how the fishing has improved big time in the last 1 week or so. The phytoplankton bloom destroyed fishing close to town. Ketchikan charter boats should be catching 36 pink salmon and going home early on cruise ship trips and some good fisherman were getting 0 fish on 4 hour charter. I fished close to town yesterday for about 5 hours and ended up with 18 pink salmon. The Woodward's trip was an amazing trip first day we ran 35 miles out ended up with 16 coho 11 pink 4 halibut 6 snapper 6 rockfish. Second day was about 20 miles out 31 pink 16 coho 6 halibut, and due to horrible weather yesterday only 18 pink salmon. The busy season for me starts now, probably wont have much of a daily page for a little while, too busy fishing. Here are a few good fishing pictures of killing Ketchikan Alaska fish. Paris Knuteson has been on a strict training program this summer also.
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A good bottomfishing trip! Typically no halibut in the box would be a bad thing. However 18 bottomfish in the box and releasing a nice 80 pound halibut with good weather and good crew was a lot of fun! Ran to Dall head for some good bottomfishing was a great idea given the fact that salmon fishing is horrible right now. In my 35 years in Ketchikan Alaska I have never seen phytoplankton bloom and turn the water a very light silty green color. The salmon I have caught have been kind of a pale color, it is weird. I heard they are like that due to lack of oxygen, I don't know. All fisherman on salmon trips are struggling. I have caught a few every trip but we should be catching lots. I have mentioned my pink salmon record of 36 pinks 42 minutes many times, and those times are normally mid July. Scratching for 5 or 6 fish is not normal. I hope my all day groups that are starting to arrive do well like years past, don't want this to be the record worst year. Here are couple pics of the Minnesota crew. Halibut pic doesn't do justice as we were trying to be easy and release her fast. We let a lot of dinners swim away because of halibut regulations.
I am very sorry! I haven't had time to play on the computer. Summertime is in full swing and Ketchikan is hopping. Finally launched the Never Enough after 4 years. The boat cruises at 20 knots and even though it isn't quite finished we are catching fish and having fun. The weather has been absolutely amazing. I cannot remember a summer that compares to the amount of sun Ketchikan has experienced lately. Did a couple charters out of my little boat prior to launching Never Enough. Largest King Salmon for me this year was 38 pounds, way to go Chad. I know I am forgetting a lot, here are a few pictures to show how awesome it has been. Feels like winter time in the Florida Keys.
Yesterday I did some bartering and trading, the Alaska way. Since I sold my commercial Dungeness crab permit, I no longer had a use for the commercial crab pots I had. When I sold the pots to another fisherman he started eyeing all my good junk at my boat yard. Didn't take long for him to realize he wanted a nice Canadian built anchor winch I had. He mentioned all the good junk he had and soon this deep drop hydraulic reel was mine. I have been wanting one of these for quite awhile, but never wanted to pay for one. Those days of subsistence halibut and yelloweye fishing is going to be lots of fun. I will not be coming home nearly as tired as I used to after a day of fishing. Better go buy that commercial rockfish permit now. Maybe Ketchikan locals who don't fish, but love red snapper, will be able to buy them off the dock now that Captain Tony will be catching lots.
Been working on Ketchikan Charter boat "Valhalla" the last few days. Since the days are getting longer here in Ketchikan I am itching to catch a Halibut, King Salmon, Crab or something. Have a group of guys that are in Ketchikan, working at the Vigor shipyard. Told them it wasn't the right time of year for a charter but that we could get some crab and try hard for a King Salmon. You can always catch a couple rockfish, and crab without too much trouble so that is my plan. The boat has to be ready though, so that meant tackling a couple projects that I have been putting off. Replacing raw water pump and some engine room cleaning, was definitely in order. Also reinstalling my downrigger's for King Salmon trolling needs to be done. Stripped all fishing gear off the boat so we could do our Sea Cucumber season, and haven't done much to the one boat in the water since. Soon I will have some pictures of actual fishing to post on my daily page. Keep in mind winter time in Ketchikan Alaska means fixing boats and hibernating time.
The Aurora Sportfishing plane is getting work done. The wings are on their way to the paint booth. While hot water pressure washing, I was talking with a friend about my fly out Halibut fishing idea. He told me about another friend who flies out to his halibut hole often, catches one nice halibut in about 10 minutes and flies home. Cannot wait for those days to come. I don't think Alaska Department of Fish & Game has rules against it. Fly out Halibut fishing charters might be drawing that fine line. This is when the lumber rack on my pickup comes in handy. Ordered the new reduction gear for the Never Enough today. You can see it in all its glory in the background of the wing picture.
Here are a couple favorite fishing pictures of Paris Aurora Knuteson. I was thinking about her all day while finishing the green house build. I started building a greenhouse for her last spring then summer got in the way. As many of you know Paris is our main deckhand through the summer months. She is Captain Tony's 11 year old daughter. There were many fishing trips where she was just laying in the bunk watching tv or playing with toys. However the last couple years she has actually helped some. She has made sandwiches, baited hooks, cleaned like a mad woman etc. Whether catching ling cod or wining about how hard that halibut is to reel up, Captain Tony was there turning her into a fishing girl. Someday Ketchikan Alaska tourist will be fishing with Captain Paris Knuteson. Oh will she have a story to tell.
That is my cessa 172 stripped down and getting ready for paint. Many smaller pieces have been painted already and we are moving forward on this project. Anyone who has fished with Captain Tony at Aurora Sportfishing has heard me talk about everyone of those planes that fly overhead. Meanwhile we are trying to convince a king salmon that our bait is the best bait. Or I hooked you up with one of my friends who is a pilot so you can check out the misty fjords. Well 2015 this little bird will fly. Fly-out halibut fishing will be the new thing!
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CAPT TONY
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December 2016
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