Alaska Kingfisher

Craig Alaska sportfishing report for Kingfisher Lodge, August 15th, 2018.

The Steve Hall-John Thompson group with a great catch for the day!

Having a good time after fishing.

Craig Alaska sportfishing report for Kingfisher Lodge for the dates of August 9th thru the 15th. Coho fishing has picked up with fish showing up in multiple areas with good numbers allowing boats to limit in fairly short time frames compared to earlier in the season where it was difficult to even get limits. Coho’s are much larger than many years although not in as large of numbers those returning are probably in the

The Hall-Thompson group with an outstanding catch of GAF halibut!

8 pound plus average., everyone comments on the size of the fish. Weather was not bad but ocean conditions were very rough limiting boats to the inside waters. Yesterday the boats stuck their noses out off the cape for halibut and experienced 10 to 12 foot seas making it difficult to fish although the wind wasn’t too bad. Today after getting most of their Coho limits the boats went after their 4 GAF halibut they needed to tag out on those pre-purchased fish which the photo shows they did quite well and in a short time period. Over the years we have learned where and how to target big halibut although it isn’t always a guarantee that you will get them. We always hope that the IPHC and NMFS has their management program correct in the harvest of these large trophy halibut which are purchased or leased from the commercial halibut permit holders thus taking it out of the commercial sector and putting it in the hands of the sport fisherman to harvest. It seems to be something our guests like to do and opens opportunity to harvest more than the one small halibut. Thanks for reading the report.

Craig Alaska fishing report for July 15th thru the 17th, 2018

Great times with a great family.

Craig Alaska sportfishing report for the 15th thru the 17th of July at Kingfisher Lodge. The past three days were fair enough for Coho or Silvers considering the dismal reports up and down the coast especially in Sitka. the past 3 days our 18 anglers landed 130 Coho out of the 320 they could catch in 3 days so not great but not terrible either, as I said considering what is going on up and down the coast. Each day that passes we are expecting more fish to move in and wouldn’t be out of reason to have limits showing up any day now so we are keeping our fingers crossed and saying our prayers this happens. Bottom fishing was good for the past groups and the Blackmond group landed 2 GAF halibut to add to their catch. King salmon fishing is very slow and for that reason most boats are focused on Coho. (I will post more pictures but my phone went dead so I am waiting to receive pictures from guests)

Craig Alaska fishing report for July 7th thru the 13th, 2018

Dowdle group with a GAF day fishing!

Craig Alaska sportfishing report for Kingfisher Lodge for the week of July 7th thru the 13th. I missed the first group report and now combining the two groups reports for the above dates. King salmon fishing remained slow but we were able to limit on the one King salmon per guest last two groups. By the second group arriving on the 10th we had one slower day and finished strong landing all King salmon limits and the best two days were 15 Coho and 13 Coho for one boat. Each day is a new day and one day we will see limits of Coho or Silver salmon. Some of the commercial trollers are landing up to 100 per day off shore so they are on their way. Bottom fishing remains strong and good halibut fishing depending on water conditions and where we are as far as getting to the halibut spots. The boats are out today so will give a report in 3 days coming. The top picture is the Steve Delamore group with a great catch of fish. Thanks for reading my reports.

The Wes Goldstein goup with a great catch of fish!

Wiper/Dahlgren group with a nice catch!

The Jerry Karlin “Cornhusker” group with a great catch!

Fishing report for June 1 thru June 16th 2018

Joel landing Barbs 73″ GAF fish.

Fishing report for June 1 thru June 16th 2018. I am finally getting around to doing my fishing blog or report so will just give an overall for the past few weeks. We started full time as of June 3rd with most of the first two weeks chilly and windy for the most part. King salmon fishing has been spotty doing well some days and less well others. I believe each group up was able to get their King salmon limits or 3 for the season. This past week we have seen warmer weather and less wind and no rain and sometimes limiting in an hour or so. The largest King has been about 25 pounds with an average about 17 pounds. We have been doing a mix of trolling and mooching depending on weather, the group and how scattered the King salmon are. Most all the lodges are in full swing now and I believe most are getting limits but lots of boats competing for the fish.
Halibut fishing has been a challenge getting limit size halibut (38 inches) but getting halibut has been ok so far. Joel had 3 GAF fish this past group and got his fish without any problem the largest landed by Barb McIntyre at 73 inches. Ling cod and Yellow eye are prolific in the Craig area despite the Fish and Game closing Yellow eye on August 1st. We caught a 48″ Ling cod that had just eaten a shark and the tail was sticking out of his mouth with the rest of it down its throat! We had to let it go since not only did we have our limit but it was oversized as the keepers are from 30 to 45″ in southern S.E.

The McVeigh’s with a couple nice GAF fish.

The Matesi family with a nice catch.

Alaska.

Today our boats landed limits of kings early and are now out bottom fishing. Thanks for reading my report and will try to keep up to date from here on out.

Alaska sportfishing report for Kingfisher Lodge August 16th thru the 18th.

David Gutridge group with a great display of fish!

Alaska sport fishing report for the Craig area on Prince of Wales Island for the above dates. My report for our Alaska fishing lodge for the 3rd week of August is a positive fishing report. Last three days fishing has been as good as can be expected with limits of big Coho and great bottom fishing. We didn’t fish for King salmon but focused on our Coho’s which some made the 15 pound size with more of a 10 pound average.

Bruce Berry group with another great catch!

Getting off shore Coho many of those fish are destined for Canadian rivers and so their large size is reflected by the size of the river they are bound for, but also many are from the Klawock river hatchery POWHA (now under SSRAA). Commercial boats are now seeing more big Coho showing up, but most commercial trollers are focused on King salmon as their quota is still being filled and Kings are bringing $100 each so they are trying to get their share of the valuable fish, the Coho being worth between $10.00 and $20.00 each.
We are optimistic to finish with a strong sport fishing season!

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Fishing report for July 10th thru the 12th.

Sandor Hites family with a nice catch of fish!

Fishing report for July 10th thru the 12th for the Alaska fishing lodge Kingfisher in Craig Alaska. The past three days we had three separate groups in. All three days each group landed limits of kings except one boat was minus one King salmon for the 3 days fishing so King salmon are obviously still in good numbers. Coho was slow the 1st 2 days but picked up considerably up and down the outer coast of the Craig area with most charter boats doing very well if not limiting on the silvers. Our best day was 27 Coho for 6 anglers on my boat but we also ran out of bait as we were assaulted by large schools of pink salmon having six at a time on of the pesky fish.

Wiper and Dahlgren family with another great catch!

Halibut have also moved in in certain areas in good numbers and have had to release many over 43 inches. The Fish and Game reported they had some issues with some oversize halibut that were retained by some charter vessels, so if your guide releases one that looks really good just remember he is doing his job and obeying the law that is in place.

Nothing exciting to add only looking good and this summer is looking like the fish numbers are consistently strong and building…..so we knock on wood and hope it continues throughout the summer. Check out the Facebook page clicking on the upper right hand Facebook emblem. Thanks for reading my report!

Wilson family with a great catch of fish and a nice 43 inch halibut confirmed by a fish and Game official!

Fishing report for July 1st thru July 4th, 2015.

Seth Michener group with a great catch of fish!

Wilson group with a great catch for the day!

S.E. Alaska Fishing report for Kingfisher Lodge in Craig Alaska, July 1st thru July 4th, 2015. This past 3 days we had 15 anglers fishing in 3 boats two of ours and one with Catch a King charters was hired for the group of 4 from San Diego California. King salmon fishing was pretty good if the boats focused on catching them, Joel’s boat out fished us all three days as Joel made the right moves each day and although he had a almost totally green or inexperience crew who had never fished the limited on Kings almost every day landing 16 or 17 Kings in 3 days for 6 anglers, my boat landing 11 Kings for 5 anglers and Blake’s boat landing 5 Kings for 4 anglers. Silver salmon fishing was average as the silvers are a bit spotty as the runs build in strength. Check out our Facebook page for more pictures of this groups fish, thanks for reading the blog or my fishing report!

Dave Guthridge group with an outstanding catch of fish, good job guys!

May 31 thru June 3rd fishing report

Feld group with a great catch of fish!

May 31 thru June 3rd fishing report for Kingfisher Lodge on Prince of Wales island Craig Alaska. We had a total of 16 guests for our lodge this week which is a bunch for us but fishing and weather was cooperative with us as our folks came from all over the US. The 4 days of fishing with the liberal King salmon limits for the non resident in 2015 of 6 per season ( up from the normal 3) left us with 96 kings to catch in 4 days so as it turned out we landed 95 King salmon in the 4 days which was really an outstanding trip for us all and weather was fantastic as well.

Alaska King salmon catching at its best!

Alaska sport fishing report for Kingfisher Lodge August 20th- August 22nd, 2014

The Deghetaldi family with a great variety of fish!

Neil and his 20 lb. Yellow eye.

Alaska sport fishing report for Kingfisher Lodge in Craig Alaska where catching fish is our business. The past three days was consistant with the earlier trips this month as the Coho continue to move through. We had 14 anglers here at our lodge running 3 boats, all of the boats landed their salmon each day by around 9 am and then were off looking for respectable halibut and bottom fish. Our last day fishing we landed 4 tagged Coho’s and will be sending in the heads for identification of what river system they are from. The previous 2 days landing over 160 Cohowith no tagged fish so we were happy to have these 4 on the last day of their trip. We have 9 more days of fishing at the lodge and are optimistic that the fish will continue to move through making  good trips for the last two groups of the year. For more pictures click on the Facebook emblem to the right. I posted a video of a breaching Humback calf so check it out, it came pretty close to the boat but I missed the best breach when I turned off the camera thinking the show was over.

Steve, Margie, Delorna and John with a great catch of fish!

Craig, Ron, Bruce, Greg, Rich, and Al with a great catch of fish!

Alaska sport fishing report for Kingfisher Lodge August 11th- August 14th, 2014

Mark, Carl, Jerry, Steve, Tim, Rocky, Dave, Bob, Clem, Greg, Bill, Kirk, John, and Clint with a great catch of fish.

The Alaska sportfishing report for Kingfisher Lodge, Craig Alaska for the above 4 days was great weather and fishing. As our last groups were leaving after weathering 3 days of wind and rain the new group of 15 arrived with the skies clearing, wind subsiding and as they flew in early in the moring we headed out for a half day of fishing. The guys were wound up like 9 day clocks ready to catch fish. We headed in for some inside spots and immediately started landing Coho’s and in 3 hours or so landed most if not all our limits of Coho for the day and headed back to the lodge. The next 3 days fishing was much the same as the guys were always on the dock by 4:45 am ready to go catch fish with the youngest in his 20’s and the oldest in the mid 80’s we had a great spread of age groups all just as ready to land fish. The group had money on the biggest Ling cod and biggest Halibut each day so we landed many nice fish with the largest Halibut at 71″ by Bob Kokalas and the largest Ling cod by Steve Hall at the limit of 45″, although there were many 100 plus halibut caught on the trip by many of the guys. Silver salmon fishing was very good every day and limits were had by most boats in the Craig area as the fish seem to be moving in and out in steady numbers. Check out the Facebook page link to the right for more pictures.

Steve Hall with his 45″ 50lb??? Ling cod!

Mongo, Steve, Tim, John, Clem, Bob, Dave, Dave Jr., Rocky, and Jerry with a great half day fishing!

John Thompson with his 45″ Ling cod!