WG 5/10-5/14

I decided to head down to whiskey Gulch and spend a few days figuring out the fishery. It was a mixture of perfect conditions to absolutely snotty conditions. My fishing success ranged from getting absolutely skunked to catching my personal best on multiple levels. I spent the first day trolling for Kings for five hours with no luck. I was trolling a Coho killer with the flasher and a 10 ounce banana wait. Lots of boat out trolling. The second day I went for butts.I fished with dude man dude and his wife. We fished bait nearshore for a bit then I went out deeper and caught two halibut, one 15 or so the other smaller which I released. Then I hooked into a nice octopus which turned into a shit storm. I netted it and it clung to the bottom of my boat after inking me multiple time. I paddled in about 1.5 miles with it stuck through the net and on the bottom of my boat. 30 lbs on the Octo.
Wednesday I woke up and went out and fish the morning slack and it quickly got snotty out I lost one Butt next to the boat. I was driving home and got about 20 miles away when I decided to turn back around and go fishing again. This turned out to be a wise decision. I fished the evening slack and after 30 minutes hooked into a nice halibut. It ripped and roared up and down , finally next to the boat again and I attempted to net it. Wouldn't fit in the net but the net got caught up in the hook and I began fighting the halibut hooked to the net. I ended up grabbing it by the gills and pulling it aboard. It thrashed and I dispatched it with a now destroyed metal water canteen. My rod also snapped when it was on board( it was a beater).42 lbs and personal best. Woke up Thursday to rain and snotty conditions. Fished the morning slack before the spray and cold north wind drove me out, no luck . Also caught some big Irish lords, a kelp greenling, and cod. Pictures to come.

Here's a couple trip pics. Good luck to the guys fishing this weekend. I'd like to go but I'm going broke here.

Pics are my halibut ,Brandon holding the Octo. He was as excited, if not more than I, the Octo halibut harvest, and beach driving near anchor point..... Yes I will be eating the octopus, not using it for bait.

Wow, looks like an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing. What did you use to catch the halibut?

Way to stick with it.  Great report.

Wow, sounds like epic battles with both the octopus and the big halibut!  I wish you had posted videos, but your descriptions are almost as good.

Sweet halibut. Jealous! Keep it up.

Octopus at WG...how exciting! I got to put that on my list of things to catch.  Nicely done and I'm glad you drove around to go fishing again. I know I've done that couple of times. Perseverance and patience really do pay off.

Yah baby!!!!!! Great report. I've been trying for octopi. Glad to hear they are in the area. Hmmmm. 

Thanks for the report!  Great job!!!!!!

Just a few more after thoughts. I beleive I di have another Octo on my line the previous day based on the feeling of the one I landed. I'll be I interested to see if anyone grabs one this weekend. That was a whole lotta work to land it and process it but it tastes great.

This was my first outing at wg so I tried a ton of different tactics for halibut. Staying in one place , moving around, fishing herring, salmon, hooligan, jigging, trolling an old beat up metal jig is how I got the big guy. I learned a great deal while putting in a lot of fishing hours... Still much to learn but didn't find any consistency with any of those tactics. I'd like to try trolling bait next time to see how it works on the butts.

I was so excited about fishing I couldn't sleep when i was down there and it really made me haggard. I think I'll drug myself next time lol. Can't wait to go back!

What a great trip thanks for sharing

Man that's just Rawsome? I hope to live to tell a story like that one day. Thanks for sharing.

Awesome report! Glad u were able get the personal best Hali after turning around and coming back. The octopus was really cool to see thanks for posting the pic. Sorry wasn't able to get one with u in it. Did u catch anything on the hooligan? How far out were u when u got the big hali?

lol.  Yah this addiction is no better than crack for nerves.  Its hard to be consistent right now.  The numbers typically just aren't there.  But every day it will build through August.  But the kings are easy if you can get your bait in front of them right now. 

Weather looks good, heading down tomorrow to attend the auction for the Anchor Point Derby!

Wow - loving the Octo !   Excellent, happy for you and glad to see ongoing good reports.... my turn! 

If I get an octopus someone is going to have to tell me how to clean and prep it though.  Never kept one, but have eaten and loved it!

Hitting the highway this morning after delays yesterday, possible afternoon slack action before going to the Anchor for reg. and boat auction tonight.

Yup. Good chance it'll get pushed back to Sunday. I'm leaving LOS Anchorage around noon I hope.