Quillback

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Nice ones, those keeper sized spots are fun to catch.

I'm wondering how far and how fast water temps will drop. I would think that a fast, sharp drop would not be good in the short term.

Dang, foiled again!

Here's some links for some BC info, if you are interested: Barkley Sound - http://www.salmonuniversity.com/vis_barkley_sound.html Rivers inlet - Some big kings return here, some of the lodges have boats that their guests can use instead of hiring a guide. They'll tell you how and where to fish and set you up. http://www.salmonuniversity.com/vin_rivers_inlet.html

Having done a lot of salt water trolling for kings, it's all timing, you want to talk to the outfitters/guides and get their recommendations on the best times. It's always a bit of a gamble, like fishing always can be. You'll also find that the best places to fish and the best guides get booked at least a year in advance at the peak times. Kings are the glamour fish, everyone wants to get on them at the best times. If you're strictly after kings, don't forget British Columbia either, all the kings that are bound for Washington state and the BC rivers from Alaska, swim down the BC coast on their way to the spawning rivers. I don't know how the king fishing has fared in BC lately, I don't follow it anymore, but they had a strong run of Columbia river fish this year, so next year may be good if the runs remain strong.

Yes thanks for the heads up. I just hope I can get a couple before Champ scoops them all up.

Yikes!

I was hoping to read that you had found a bunch of birds in KS. I've heard the habitat is much better, but the bird numbers are not. I hate skunks...

Several years ago I read an article about the AGFC sampling in the Beaver tail water. They shocked up a 25# brown, said they had seen it before in their sampling, it was always in the same hole. I wonder if it is still there, or maybe It succumbed to the elements. Doesn't sound like you saw it when you were with them.

Kings are brutes, even if it's a river that has a run that averages "only" 20 lbs., you'll have a blast catching some hard fighting fish.

Welcome!

Now you're talking! Be sure and post pics once you get them back.

I made a couple of trips up to Sitka when I lived in Seattle. Fished with Denny Cook, it's been since the mid-90's that I went, so I don't know if Denny is still in business, but do a search on Denny Cook Sitka for contact info. He and his wife had a B&B and Denny ran his boat out of Sitka harbor. From what I remember, the best King fishing was in June before the commercial season started, we always went in August - not many kings at that time, though I remember catching a couple - coho were running at that time, one day we got into a massive school of them and caught out limits of 6 per person as quick as we could drop the line under the boat - fish were all 10-12 lb, nice size for coho. We also did some halibut fishing out of Sitka, it takes an hour or two to get out to the halibut grounds, it can be rough, so if you are prone to sea sickness, keep that in mind. Average halibut were in the 15-30 lb range and at that time it was a dalily limit of 2 per person. One of the guys with us caught one that went 135 lbs. Halibut fishing is a chore, fishing 300 feet deep with heavy weight, and if you get a good one it's a long, hard slog to get it to the boat. It's good to bring some halibut home, but if I was to do it again, I'd probably just stick to salmon. Sitka is very scenic, good chances you'll see some whales.

That is a nice brown, congrats!

Yeah forecast is looking cold for an extended period. Water temp was 62-63 yesterday, we might be looking at mid-50's or maybe colder in another week.

Just read some reports and it looks like I did about average compared to everyone else here. 8 bass total, one that was just shy of 3 lbs. and a couple of spots around the keeper mark. Best bait for me was the 1/2 oz War Eagle jig, a couple on a whacky Senko around docks and one on a tube. No bites for me on the moving baits. No shallow fish, fish were for the most part in the 10-20 foot range. Had to work for them, sure could not find that "hot" bite.

Thanks for the report, lots of good info there!

Peanut butter and honey butter sandwiches.

Good to have you back! I've tried a little Ned rig fishing the last couple of weeks, caught some small 10" bass but haven't had any success getting larger fish. Maybe I'm giving up on it too quickly.

That's one spot I will keep to myself.

Not to be argumentative - but I know a gravel point that is a great early morning bass spot in the first part of summer, there's also some gar swimming around it, but they don't seem to bother the bass.

Cool, glad to hear you found some.

Good luck, looking forward to seeing some pics.

Yes, very nice!