FEATURE REPORT

WON STAFF ON THE SPOT: Sitka’s silver salmon give up the goods for WON’s Charter to Kingfisher BY BRANDON HAYWARD/WON Staff Writer Published: Jul 28, 2010

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WON ON THE SPOT Long Range Feature Report SITKA, Alaska — There’s nothing quite like leaving California for a fishing trip that involves land, air and sea: driving to the airport, jumping on a plane and then hopping on a boat to fish the days to follow. Car rides are car rides when it comes to getting to the airport, but plane rides into fishing destinations always kick off a trip with style; this trip’s final descent towards the sea is as unique as they come. It’s one with snow covered peaks on either side as the Alaska Airlines flight heads towards a uniquely Alaska runway that juts out into the Sitka Sound. The WON readers on this flight from Seattle to Sitka have gone from Southern California to southeast Alaska in half a day. There’s just one more stop to make after a smooth landing: Sitka’s Kingfisher Charters and Lodge. NEW ARRIVALS It’s a quick turnaround from getting the bags to jumping in one of Kingfisher’s vans for the short ride to the lodge. This is when pleasantries are also exchanged with two WON readers who go on to be my roommates for my trip (and future fishing buddies back home). “Hi, I’m Brandon.” “What’s up, bro? I’m Paul.” “Hey, I’m Mike.” What follows are the usual questions: “Are you stoked?” “Have you been to Sitka before?” “Have you caught a 100-plus-pound halibut?” Yes, yes, no are the answers from all three of us. The three of us agree that it would be nice to get a big halibut, but either way we are going to make it a great trip. Mike DeSart and Paul Garcia are a couple of fishing buddies from Ventura who last fished out of Kingfisher two seasons ago with a group of eight buddies. This time around the other six initially signed up for this WON Charter to Kingfisher, only to bail when it came time to throw down deposits. So DeSart and Garcia are the only ones from the Ventura crew. But they welcome me in as an “honorary member.” It’s a quick stop at the liquor store to get liquid supplies — Kingfisher doesn’t have a liquor store, so the lodge has a very soft-on-the-wallet BYOB policy — and after a couple-minute drive we are checking into our room. The panorama view of the Sitka Sound from the living room/kitchen shows there’s barely a cloud in the sky to go with air that is in the 70s. We grab some beers and head towards the beach, where we meet some colorful locals who tell us about their lives that revolve (or revolved at one point) around commercial fishing out of Sitka; between beers they tell us how they are willing to forgive these three new arrivals for being sport fishermen. It’s still a little early for the short run streams around Sitka — like Granite Creek — to start holding pink salmon like they did the last time DeSart and Garcia were here in August. But at times the streams around the lodge offer a little bonus in the form of a little after dinner fishing when the salmon are running upriver to spawn later in the season. IT WAS A SALMON FEST on the first day of fishing for Ventura boys Mike DeSart and Paul Garcia. They had their limits on kings and had near-limits on the silvers to go with a couple pinks and a sockeye. It’s back at the Lodge for dinner, and between sipping Alaska Ambers, cracking crab legs and ladling up seafood bisque, word comes that some other new arrivals have come to Sitka. Coho salmon, which are more often called silvers, have started showing up en mass. All the anglers we talk to tell us how they had good days on the silvers. Today’s the day one group became the first of the year to score their six-fish limits on the silvers while fishing with Captain Earl Tuttle on the 25-foot Parker, Samantha. It looks like the timing couldn’t be better for getting hits on silvers, which offer up a nice bonus in that they have that generous-six-fish-per-person limit. SHOTS AT SILVERS All the talk and travel is about to turn into fishing time as Captain Paul Ipock gets the cut-plug herring ready for the first morning’s mooching from the Titan. There are quick cuts at 45-degree angles put on the herring and the baits go down into the 56-degree water on four mooching outfits connected to downrigger clips. It’s a style of fishing that DeSart and Garcia only get to do in those once-in-a-blue-moon seasons when they get king salmon back home from DeSart’s skiff in Ventura. Now they are about to catch more salmon in one day in Alaska than they have the last 10 years combined back home. The bites come fast and furious. First it’s 6- to 10-pound silvers jumping on the cut plug herring, but soon enough Garcia grabs a long mooching rod to find a salmon ready to go on a long run and jump around on the other end. “This is a king, bro. It’s a good one,” says Garcia from behind aviator glasses and a huge smile. The fish gets super frisky next to the boat, doing everything possible to stay out of the net. But eventually it gets within range and Ipock scoops up 25 pounds of bright, ocean-run king salmon. It goes on to be not only the biggest king of the trip for the Ventura boys, but also a white king: a king salmon that has white meat and a higher oil content. The bites keep coming all morning, until DeSart gets a king of his own and we all get shots that also include pink and sockeye salmon. Four species of salmon totaling 13 fish make for a great way to start the trip. • A DAY ON THE TITAN gave up some quality halibut for Paul Garcia, left, and Bryan Barrick. They were fishing with Captain Paul Ipock. • LINGCOD BIGGER THAN ANY ever caught back home were going back over the side due to the season being closed during the visit. • THE KING OF THE ROCKFISH is the yellow eye. Here’s a good one caught by Paul Garcia while fishing for halibut. HALIBUT, IN PURSUIT OF… That next morning on the five-minute van ride to the harbor some anglers are talking about the salmon fishing, while others are talking about 50- to 70-pound halibut from the day before. Halibut are on the day’s agenda, says today’s captain, Earl Tuttle on the Samantha. He’s the captain that had the first limits of silvers the day of our arrival when he put 4 anglers on 24 silvers. He’s also had the hot hand on the halibut out in the deep water to the south of Sitka Sound. Today it’s Southern California’s Greg Thorpe and Roger Taylor that I’ll be fishing with. Despite the great salmon fishing, Earl says we are going to target halibut. Halibut fishing in Alaska bears no resemblance to fishing the California models back home. In Alaska it is big circle hooks — like the 20/0 Lazer Sharp circle hooks that were given to the WON Charter anglers — with salmon heads, salmon guts, salmon steaks, octopus tentacles and anything big and stinky, that get the bites. The hooks are rigged on heavy parachute chord and one- and two-pound sinkers fished on rods with XH at the end of the blank number. Mono need not apply on the big two-speeds. It’s the type of sit-and-wait fishing where you don’t know if your next bite is going to be a throw-back 10 pounder, or a 100 pounder, or all-hell-breaks-loose 200 or 300 pounder. In between waiting for bites, Earl shows us his barn door scrapbook that is filled with fish from 180 to over 300 pounds. “Pictures don’t even make it in any more unless they are of fish over 200 pounds,” Earl says. It looks like it will have to wait until next time to have a shot at getting our mugs in the book. Hours go by and there are some nice goldeneye coming up on the 20/0 hooks, but no halibut biters, save for a little chicken for Greg. It’s high noon by now, and Earl decides to save the day by running in to fish salmon. Instead of cut-plug herring he drops back flashers and hoochies on the downriggers. The first pass gives up 9 silver and a beautiful king for Greg. We do not get our big halibut, but others do. The Ventura boys get limits of halibut to 70 pounds while fishing on the Titan on day two with Bryan Barrick. The other members of Greg and Rodger’s group — Bob Eicher, Ken Ball, Charles Bostrom, Jim Minto — get shots at halibut to 80 pounds while fishing on the Makai with Captain Simon Jacobi. The group dovetails the halibut score with limits of kings and silvers to go with some pinks and a sockeye the next day. They are no doubt the highliners of the 40 plus anglers eating prime rib at that night’s dinner. SITKA, EXPERIENCED I’m back on the Titan with DeSart and Garcia for the third and final day of fishing, but the weather is up to end the WON Charter. There’s wind and swell out on the Cape where the good salmon action was the two days prior, so Ipock decides to take us to the north, where the protected waters of the inner passage make for a calm ride filled with sighting on deer, bears, sea otters and bald eagles. The fishing for the day on the salmon and halibut is tough in the snotty weather. The wildlife viewing is great, however, and the trip back gives up the highlight of the Kingfisher experience in the non-fishing department: a 400-pound brown bear that is crossing the passage and has no choice but to let us get so close that we can smell his breath and interpret his grunting, as if he’s saying, “Get the hell out of my way! Split. Go home.” That next morning we are headed home, back to Southern California where snow and salmon and bears are about as likely as not hitting traffic on the ride home from the airport at 5 p.m. There are fishing trips, and there are fishing experiences. Kingfisher Lodge is all about doing everything they can to make the most of the experience for their guests. Sorry in advance 100-plus-pound halibut and Mr. Brown Bear — we’ll be back…. CAPTAIN SIMON JACOBI put his anglers on the Makai — Bob Eicher, Ken Ball, Charles Bostrom, Jim Minto — on some great days filled with quality halibut and limits on the salmon.