Best port to fish for Halibut

[RubyLee]

My family and I have booked a cruise on the Mercury for June 24, 2005 for my DH's Birthday. His one wish is to go fishing for Halibut. I've seen a few threads about Salmon fishing but none for the Big Flat Fish. Any recomendations would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[mbisson]

I'm certainly not an expert in this, but for Halibut, I think that Juneau will be you best chance. I know there have been a lot of barn doors caught in that area, including Icy Strait.

 

-Monte

[Budget Queen]

Seward, Homer are the top spots. It requires good distances to get to the areas. Be sure to inquire of any vender you book what their catch stats are?

[ElaineB2]

We are just back from the Infinity and used Hi-Time Charters out of Juneau (Capt. Toni Wisner). We each caught several halibut, however, there is a 2 person limit. The largest that was caught, was caught by me and was 45 lbs. Not the barndoor we had hoped for, but have you ever tried to pull a 45 lb. halibut up from 350 feet deep? Definitely not an easy task. We were quite pleased with Hi-Time and would use them again.

[cruise pup]

When I did whale watching in Juneau (Auke Bay) there were fishermen on the wharf displaying their catch. It looked terrific.

[two cruisers 723]

ElaineB2, I too caught a 45 lb. Halibut. It was in Icy Straight on a private charter through http://www.g-wind.com It was the biggest fish I'd ever caught and the biggest one caught between the 4 of us that were fishing that day. My arm was sore for two days after pulling that baby in. On our ship, Vision of the Seas, they only offered Salmon fishing. We got to do both. And we all four caught both. My husband caught a 20 lb. King Salmon. It was awesome. Not to mention the humpback whales that put on a 20 minute show not far from our fishing boat breaching out of the water over and over again. It was two successful tours for the price of one. Our Halibut and Salmon should be delivered to us tomorrow. Can't wait to start eating it.

[alaskamt]

Homer, Seward, Anchor Point, Deep Creek. All on the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage. If you can manage to make it to any of those locations, fishing should be great. And the drive to/from Anchorage is spectacular. You would need to add a couple of days to your trip. But well worth it.

[RubyLee]

This sounds great, DH is looking forward to the fishing.

I have a few more questions:

Our cruise on the Mercury will be in Juneau from 12pm-11pm, does Hi-Time Charters do 1/2 day trips?

Approximatly how much do they charge for processing your fish?

[pat54]

Halibut fishing is not fun, it is work. Save yourself the effort, buy some Halibut at a market and send it home. By the way most of the trophy Halibut fishing is north on the Kenai Peninsula, and the Mercury does not go there. Salmon fishing is fun, and plentiful in most Southeast AK ports.

[mbisson]

Work? Yes, but I still have a lot of fun doing it.

-Monte

 

Halibut fishing is not fun, it is work. .

[RubyLee]

We salmon fish on a friends boat out out of Santa Cruz, CA and often catch 20lb salmon at aprox 60-150 ft., reeling them in without a quick disconnect for the downrigger can be alot of work as well, but oh the payoff :D

[ElaineB2]

Yes, halibut fishing is hard work - but for me it was the challenge that made it fun. Did I have to come home from Alaska with halibut to eat? No. Did I want to fish for halibut because I can't fish for halibut in North Carolina? Absolutely. I was sore the day after like "two cruisers 723" said - my arms ached, my whole body ached - but it was the pain of victory!!!!

 

Two cruisers 723 - DH did salmon fishing in Ketchikan and caught a 25 lber. He said it was work bringing him in. I didn't care to go salmon fishing - I did that in Canada some years ago - for me it was halibut or bust! I know what you mean about being sore - DH and I and the couple we traveled with both joked the next day about how sore we were - but it was SO fun!!!

 

Ruby Lee - I'm not sure if Toni (Hi-Time) does 1/2 day charters - I'd bet she probably does. As far as processing the halibut, I'm not sure exactly what the charge was because we paid $192 and I'm not sure how many lbs. that was for - we divided it up amongst the members of our group. I will find out though.