Saltwater Species

Alaska’s state fish, the king salmon is the largest but least abundant of the salmon species found in local waters. Also known as the Chinook, a native name, this beast weighs in at an average twenty to forty pounds and measures between three and four feet long, they are especially known for their power and endurance. Trolling with rigged herring is the favored method of angling in salt water, while certain conditions will lead us to pull out all crazy kinds of tackle setups with spoons and flashers. In areas of thick schools of fish, we will often convert from trolling to mooching and drop our bait down into the middle of the underwater chaos. The most productive King fishing occurs in the first half of our season.

The northeast shores of Prince of Wales Island boast healthy populations of silver salmon or coho. These acrobatic fighters provide intense action all summer long. While silvers are known primarily as late summer and fall runners, the early run that terminates in our bay provides access to these fish from virtually the first day of the season. Our coho average eight to fifteen pounds. We fish silvers in the salt water primarily by trolling or mooching (drifting) with herring or with flies or lures along shore. You’ll often find our boats at the Triplets, located a few miles off the south entrance to Whale Passage, where a rise in the sea bed of over 500 feet concentrates massive bait balls, nutrients and fish. In addition, the many shorelines, passes and open water of the north end of Clarence Straights and the northwest side of the Island rarely fail to produce.

While more often targeted with the fly rod, we hook up with pink (humpy) and sockeye (red) salmon often among the silvers and kings, as they are prolific and predictable in the saltwater of Southeast Alaska. The sockeye are regarded for their fighting skill and taste as though they are the most difficult of salmon to catch. The pink salmon, while the smaller of those two related species, puts up a lot of fight and makes for delectable fried salmon bites. Chum salmon, or dogs, are the most widely distributed of all the Pacific salmon and their numbers have increased dramatically in recent years due to aggressive expansion of hatchery fish being raised and released in our local waters. Most chum salmon populations do not travel far upstream to spawn and feed. While at sea, they feed on Planktonic and other marine invertebrates as well as small fish. Chum salmon flesh is lighter in color and oil content than other species of salmon, but its firmness and flavor, if caught fresh, make chum salmon a pleasant substitution for other species. We target fresh chum in the migration highways of the Inside Passage using small hook terminal tackle.

Halibut are by far the most popular sport-bottom fish inhabiting our waters. Adults can weigh over three hundred pounds, and live for over fifty years. Our halibut grounds are some of Alaska’s best . A morning of halibut fishing regularly delivers average catches of fifteen to fifty pounds, but catches of 150 pounds are not infrequent. Most of our halibut is normally caught on or near the ocean floor. We find the best success drifting or anchoring with bait bouncing off the seabed anywhere from one hundred to three hundred feet deep. Halibut are available throughout the season with a peak during July and August.

Members from the rockfish family are abundant just about everywhere we fish. Both open water (pelagic) and bottom dwellers (non-pelagic) find their way to our fish holes. The misnamed pelagic black sea bass congregate in large schools throughout the water column, above or around rocky shelves or pinnacles. This slow growing fish is abundant, though vulnerable, in our local waters and makes excellent table fare. The non-pelagic yelloweye snapper is the largest, most colorful and longest lived rockfish that you will encounter while sport fishing in Alaska. We sometimes catch yelloweye while fishing for halibut and lingcod, though we seldom target them due to their vulnerability. Most are ten to fifteen pounds and are excellent eating, though they do not store well for extended periods.

We also encounter an exotic range of prehistoric rockfish such as the quill back, the china-, tiger- and copper rockfish, and the wolf cod. Some have venomous spines and fin pokes may cause pain or infections, though they are not particularly toxic. Rockfish caught in deeper waters sustain life threatening injuries due to the inflation of their swim bladders as they ascend. The Lodge at Whale Pass supports a well-managed approach to releasing and harvesting these species that can live to be over fifty years old. One bottom dweller, the sablefish or black cod, spends its early years in shallower waters before retiring to the non-pelagic lifestyle. These buttery flavored fish can provide a lot of action while waiting on a halibut tide. Lingcod belong to a family of fish unique to the North Pacific Coast. Contrary to their name, they are not true cods, but are spiny-finned greenlings. While found in depths up to one thousand feet, lingcod more typically inhabit near-shore rocky reefs from thirty to three hundred feet. Lingcod are voracious predators and can grow to weigh over eighty pounds and measure sixty inches in length. For the avid sport angler, Lingcod are extremely aggressive and provide an excellent fight. Once landed, they provide a tasty meal, though they are highly susceptible to overfishing. The Lodge at Whale Pass guides can help you catch a lingcod while promoting the sustainability of the fishery.
Notes on initial design studies