Southeast Alaska Black bear/ Fish Technical Advice

[mallardsx2]

So I booked through a small outfitter and we are going to be going up in spring (First week of may) 2018 for a Halibut/Black bear trip. (My wifes dream trip)

Can anyone give me any pointers?

I have read a lot about it but I would like more advice on navigating the tides etc etc.

This is basically a self guided hunt/fishing trip so any gear advanced gear advice/tactics advice would be greatly appreciated.

All of the fishing gear is provided and so is the boats.

And yes, I have good rain gear.I worked up there for a summer 10 years ago and it never stopped raining..lol

Gary

 

[Tim McCoy]

I'll stick to the boating aspect of things. Have VG life jackets, or good auto inflating ones you wear, like Mustangs. Then always wear them while in the boat. Make sure to get a tutorial on how to run the engine, and where the extra recoil rope is stored and how to use it. If batt dies or recoil rope breaks, it's a needed skill. Always leave with a full tank (s)...

Tides are very dependent on your location. They can be a minor issue or a killer. Some places they can be 20'+, others not so noticeable. Get and carry a tide book/app and rely on the outfitter for do's and don'ts. As an example, some places, SE back in among islands and braided channels, there can be very fast currents and whirlpools and rock spires that can end your day, those scare me more than simple tidal movement. Hopefully your boat has two motors or oars and/or a good anchor with lots of rope.

A motor quitting in a hi tidal flow area can become a rodeo real fast. If you have to anchor in current, what you do not want to do is throw the anchor in, have the boat spin, catch the motor prop/skeg on the anchor rope and go tight. Can sink a boat that way in under 10 seconds. So if in those conditions, make sure to get a primer on anchoring if not already experienced.

I'd offer a fairly specific location and maybe someone has navigated that area.

 

[boiler]

The whole tide thing is a pain! My buddy and I were bear hunting on Prince of Wales about 20 yrs ago and had no ocean navigation experience. Poured over tide charts constantly! Decided one evening to leave the skiff at the pier and let it beach itself when the tide went out because we wouldn't need it before the tide came back in. We were staying in a forest service cabin and I went out on the porch to take a leak after dark and shined my flashlight down to the pier, and saw an object standing about 14' straight up in the air! Needless to say, there was a boulder below the boat, and when the tide went out the boat teetered straight-up! Of course it was pouring rain (like every other minute of the three week trip) and we had one heck of a time getting that boat off that rock in the dark!

 

[mallardsx2]

Oh my. lol

I can definitely see that happening...

 

[pbarheart]

I will be waiting to hear how your trip turns out. I am looking at doing something very similar with my kids next spring. Good luck!

 

[Slugz]

Gary what's your plan for the Halibut? Tube jigs? Salmon belly?

 

[mallardsx2]

We are pretty excited. Got our airline tickets yesterday...ouch..

As for bait, I will either put a piece of salmon or Squid or Shrimp on the hook. Outfitter said salmon pieces worked best because they give off more of an odor.

FYI this is the place I am going.


https://www.greenrockslodge.com/

Rods and reels are supplied by the lodge. So is the bait.


If you are looking at getting Bear tags I will warn you that you must do this WELL in advance. I got under-subscribed tags and was able to Skate by with getting my tag a year before we are going. If you dont do that you must apply a couple years in advance. Its complicated... If anyone goes to this lodge I would be MORE THAN WILLING to share information about my findings as this isn't a trip i'm going to be doing again anytime soon.

I have never fished for Halibut but after talking to a guy who went up there he said that he out-fished the guys with spreader bars 8:1 using these. A guy that fished there HIGHLY recommended these rigs. He said you could catch rock fish and halibut and pretty much anything with them and it made it more enjoyable to fish because you were always catching something. He said drop it to the bottom and then just jig it up and down about 2 feet off the bottom. He said that the halibut bite is pretty light and you need to be off the bottom to feel them bite.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/B-SQUID-RIG/1756002.uts?slotId=2

Like I said. Its all new to me. So we are going to give it our best go!

If anyone has any more advice for me I would appreciate it.

I should mention that so far the Lodge owner Tim Harper has been VERY helpful over the phone in the entire process from the very beginning and that means a lot to me.

I will post up pictures when we get back.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

That is one heck of a deal. I look forward to your review of your tip. This is on my bucket list and that cost is pretty good.

 

[AKaviator]

One of our forum members...Fat Daddy, used that lodge, I believe, but he may not participate on this forum any longer. It would be nice if he had done a review.

The fun thing about halibut fishing, for me, is you never know what you may tangle with. You may be catching little 20 pounders all day and then have a 400+ grab it and be in for quite a ride! You just may catch a fish that's bigger than the bear you shoot!

Let us know how it goes.

 

[mallardsx2]

We just got back from our trip.

It has been brought to my attention by another member that most of my posts are negative. So, I will refrain from ranting about my 5 days of misfortune on the hunt but I will say that the ethics of other groups of hunters in camp was questionable at best and it was all I could do to keep my cool around the other "hunters" when I got back to the lodge.

We personally saw lots of bears (~15) but were not able to bring anything home with us. Had a couple of blown stalks with the bow. Had some close calls with the rifle as well. Could have tagged out in the first two days if we had strictly been rifle hunting for sure. So the opportunity was there.

The fishing stunk.
The crabbing was ok.
The shrimping was ok.
The weather was good.
The boats were good.
The food at the lodge was good.
The lodging was acceptable and what I anticipated.

I will leave it by saying that I learned a lot (Especially about people) and that I dont think I will ever do this style of hunt again through a lodge. Instead I would go to a forest service cabin on a completely DIY hunt to get away from the crowds (Even if that meant that I might see less bears). I like my privacy and I dont like competition. I never hunted in a DIY lodge setting like this before. Its not for me.

 

[Bonecollector]

Thanks for the review Mallardsx2. Sounds like some good, some bad, and some ugly. Thanks for your honesty. Too bad on not connecting on one of those bears! I hope the wife found some enjoyment as it was her "dream trip".

 

[ppine]

I worked around Boca de Quadra and Misty Fjords NM. We saw bears every day, especially near the salmon streams. It is unforgiving country. Steep and always wet. Finding bears is easy. Finding the fish is a little harder. I love Alaska but it is not for everyone.