I would back the trip up to the following week if possible. I did a lot of research and that first week in May you are really rolling the dice.
I will be on Kupreanof (DL030 Black bear tag) the second week in May.
I have NOT done this hunt before. But I have done a LOT of research and I worked in Petersburg for a couple months.
It rains pretty much every day.
Get familiar with tide and nautical charts.
Have your hunting locations and fishing locations picked out prior to arrival. It all looks the same from a boat.
Get you a copy of this:
www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/fishing/PDFs/sport/.../southeast/southeast_fishing_atlas.pdf
Rubber sheet it on google earth and make some place-marks of good halibut fishing grounds.
The tide RIPS up there. Its Big and it is Powerfull.
- Hunt the low tides
- Fish the high tides
-TAKE GOOD GPS
-TAKE AERIAL MAPS
-TAKE BACKUP GPS
-TAKE SPARE BATTERIES FOR BOTH
2 Biggest pieces of advice I can give you is:
-Dont do anything stupid (Help isnt around the corner).
-Know how to operate a boat safely. If you arnt good with boats LEARN BEFORE you go up there.
Your trip will be dependent on Knowing/Reading the tides and handling the boat. Everything else is just fishing and hunting and I presume you have that nailed down.
Enjoy the trip!
Some good reading showing what to do if the snowpack is bad in Early May:
https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/spring-black-bear-hunting-part-1-preparation/
