Sitka 09: Chinook return to Southeast AK in force! 3

Our first year fishing Sitka was 1993. In the seventeen years of this annual adventure for my group of friends, expectations vary year to year. However, after the brutal 2008 Southeast Alaska chinook season we didn’t know what to think about Sitka salmon fishing in 2009.

   Sure, we saw the oceanic productivity indications, the cooling “positive phase” of northern coastal waters and the all important CAI or “Chinook Abundance Index”. Alaska Department of Fish and Game issues the CAI every spring and it amounts to a single-digit forecast of sorts or more correctly, an index of “relative abundance” by which commercial harvest (80% of harvest) and sports fishing (20% of harvest) is managed. In the very tough 2008 the CAI was 1.07 and in 2009 the number is 1.33.

  So, approaching this fishery let’s just say we were “cautiously optimistic”.

   We arrived in town to reports of solid but not hot chinook fishing and after getting the boat in the water we were greeted by abundant baitfish, working birds and jumping salmon… Always a good sign…
   From our first day in town to the last, chinook fishing was indeed solid to smokin’…depending on you point of view.

Phil Michelsen and Jack Reyes with a pair of chrome Sitka slabs.

Sitka's signature landmark makes a stunning backdrop…when it's not socked in by the clouds!!! The weather in Sitka was SPECTACULAR during this trip!

Robbie Tobeck joined us for a day and posted a 2-1 win-loss record including his career largest king of 35 pounds.

Good friends (left to right) Larry Stauffer, Clay Griffith and Dave Heiser having a ball with a triple on chinook!

Larry Stauffer and I with our career largest Sitka halibut of 128 pounds!

  All in all it was ten wonderful days of  trolling, mooching, jigging and anchor fishing that had one very significant, lingering effect: Raising your fishing “I.Q.” By this I mean “Instinct Quotient”. When you spend ten consecutive days on the water, the benefits to you as a fisherman outweigh all other considerations.

  The “edge” of a fishing guide or charter skipper is experience, knowledge and confidence. When you can consistently put all three of these mental components into your fishing you are well on your way to becoming an effective angler. Consistently effective angling will result in more fish landed in your boat which will lead to more experience and yes,…you’ve got it: It’s the salmon snowball effect!

   The 2009 salmon season looks bright and if our Sitka experience is any indication… You’ll be seeing your own “salmon snowball effect” very soon!