Northwest Fishing Magazine July 2025 Volume 4 Issue 10 - Flipbook - Page 32
accomplished, Corey called
out, “Bring 'em up, we’re
moving to a spot that we
have had good luck on
for bigger fish!” Our final
location had us fishing in
480 feet of water, offshore
of a group of islands that
I swore were right out of
the casting department
for Jurassic Park. Sheer
rocky cliffs with crashing
waves along the shoreline
under 27”, and one fish of
and wooded peaks and
any size. In a twist of irony,
valleys made it hard to pay
Captain Corey told us it was attention to our rods. Soon
actually easier to get the
enough, cries of “Fish on!”
over-sized halibut than the
rang out, as did the gaff.
under-sized ones. He turned These halibut were indeed
out to be right, as we took
bigger, too big to net. At
the next hour to grind
around 30-50 pounds, they
out the small fish. Mission
were the perfect eating size.
Those 100-pound halibut
are amazing to see, but as
they get past 70 pounds,
many are older females
that have tougher meat,
and, more importantly,
produce thousands of
eggs with each spawning,
making them essential for
maintaining the fishery.
The hold steadily filled up
with halibut, and before we
knew it was time to head
back to the harbor. But
not before one last stop…
Our final adventure on this
“Experiencing Alaska” trip
was low-tide clam-digging.
What is unique about this
experience is that you get
on the boat while it’s on a
