Alaska Kayak Fishing

[MattRabasco]

Here is a report from Alaska! We just got back from a 5 week trip up to our cabin in Talkeetna. Talkeetna is north of Anchorage about 100 miles. Did some lake and stream fishing up there, nothing major- just trout. We were able to take 2 separate trips down to Seward and Resurrection Bay. Resurrection Bay is a 15 mile inlet that opens to the Gulf of Alaska. The first trip was at a forrest service cabin in Thumb Cove with my wife and daughter. Thumb Cove is about 8 miles out of Seward. You take a water taxi and can stay in one of two cabins for 60 a night. Great fishing there. Thumb Cove is about a mile long and has 3 glaciers at its head. The fishing at the mouth was great for Rockfish, P Cod, and Salmon. No halibut for me but I did manage 3 silver salmon and an assortment of nice rockfish. Great spot! The next trip was back down to Seward about 3 weeks later. My friend and I went for 3 days to the mouth of Resurrection Bay and Camped at Sunny Cove on Fox Island. This place was really cool. The fishing was excellent. My goal was a halibut and I caught a few on the first night we were there - not huge - about 6-8 lbrs. Caught a real ugly looking fish - arrowtooth flounder - not good to eat. The next morning I paddled out of the cove with the halibut mission in mind but got derailed by some silly silver salmon fishing. Wide open was the theme for about 3 hours. Every cast you had a fish. Lost a bunch boat side. Need a net next time - hard to gaff these fish. Lots of boats out there - it was saturday and apparently we were in the prime salmon fishing spot in the bay. Often you could see the salmon below you hitting your hoochie! Super cool - Salmon in the saltwater are aggressive and not shy to hit your bait. My buddy slept in that morning and missed the bite - but we went back out in the afternoon and caught a few more - Biggest was about 12-13lbs I think with about an 8 lb average. We got hammered that night by gale force winds and dumping rains. We spent the night holding down our tarp and eating salmon sashimi and taking shots of Jim Beam. Fun but wild night. The gale ended after about 2 am and woke to calmer seas. Went back out to the salmon factory and nailed another 4 and lost countless - silver salmon are experts at throwing the hook. We were able to take our limits back - 6 each. The halibut fishing potential here is endless. Super quick paddle to get into the good spots. Just need some more time to figure it out. Next year! My buddy rented a kayak from Chris Mautino at Liquid Adventures in Seward - check him out if you go and need a yak - super good guy. Hope you enjoy the pics!