King Salmon fishing has been excellent out of Old Harbor early this summer. Lots of King Salmon of all sizes have been hooked, released, lost, and harvested. The trend of the fish biting mostly artificials continues with the big guys still preferring large herring. Naturally, the Kings have been lingering around the various baitfish species and never seem to stray too far from it. Most of the landed fish have been in shallow water with a few sizeable Kings harvested from the deep.
Halibut appear to be more plentiful than in past years with most of the keepers being caught around 150 feet. Pacific Gray Cod are big and the rockfish are as fun to catch as ever. Numerous Lingcod have been spotted and we will begin retaining them after the July 1 opener.
Only a few whales have been seen and they’ve been close to shore–probably hunting the herring as King Salmon do. Kodiak Brown Bears are spotted almost every day, from both the lodge and the boat, and they seem to be getting bigger and sleeping later in the day.
The remote beauty and uniqueness of Kodiak Island and Old Harbor is something to behold. I go out almost every single day and every single day when I return, I consider myself to be the luckiest man alive. Well, almost every single day.
