Prince William Sound Silvers

[WestCentralFisher]

Planning to head up to Alaska in early August for the first time. Needless to say, we are very excited! The bulk of the fishing we plan to do is small water and very much DIY. One of the family members going with us spent much of his life in that area and knows a bunch of good spots for grayling along the Denali Highway. Given I've never caught one, and it's a real bucket list deal for me, this is exciting enough to want to go by itself. And other than the surroundings, it seems like the type of fishing I understand well enough.

That said, we're also going to be spending 5 days right on Prince William Sound. It seems like we're too early to hit the silvers from shore (there may be opportunities for other salmon species, though), but we do have a little extra saved back and are considering hiring a charter boat to go out trolling for silvers.

This sort of fishing is really almost completely foreign to me as a lifelong small river/creek/pond fisherman, so, at the risk of asking a dumb question, is this sort of fishing...fun? Compared to the total amount we're shelling out, the cost is not prohibitive, and the outfit we're considering comes highly recommended by people our family knows personally, but I only want to spend the money if it will meaningfully add to the experience. 

[Ham]

I think they are an absolute blast to catch trolling. Silver Salmon caught out in the ocean are a beast. I have caught them multiple times on 10 ft mooching rods with a 1:1 mooching reel. Their power is hard to imagine until you’ve hooked one. Basically unstoppable on the first run. You have to let them run. Something is going to break if you absolutely lock. It down. The hook, the rod, the reel, the 20 lb mono one of those items is going to fail when a 15 lb Silver takes off IF you refuse to give ground. 
 

[WestCentralFisher]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

I think they are an absolute blast to catch trolling. Silver Salmon caught out in the ocean are a beast. I have caught them multiple times on 10 ft mooching rods with a 1:1 mooching reel. Their power is hard to imagine until you’ve hooked one. Basically unstoppable on the first run. You have to let them run. Something is going to break if you absolutely lock. It down. The hook, the rod, the reel, the 20 lb mono one of those items is going to fail when a 15 lb Silver takes off IF you refuse to give ground. 
 

Ok, that sounds pretty awesome 

[Quillback]

As Ham stated, silvers are a blast.  The charters I have fished on for silvers all fished cut-plug herring with an ounce or two of weight.  Vertical presentation, keep the bait moving, and usually silvers are in schools so when you get into them you'll catch them as soon as your bait gets down to where they are at.  

Being out on the ocean is pretty cool in and of itself.  Scenic, and you might see some whales along with other sea life.  

[kjackson]

Hmmmmm.  I envy you this trip; every fisherman should make at least one Alaska trip.  The DIY approach is something I've not done, so I can't really respond to that. Been up there six or seven times and have a charter-boat view of the fishing.  But the guys are right, silvers are a blast.  They're tough and I think better eating than kings.  In my experience, fishing from a charter can be boring, though.  Sure, you get to catch fish-- a lot of fish, and chances are some of them can be pretty strange.  But the charters I've been out on have a mindset that they are out there to fill the box with salmon (or halibut or lingcod or whatever) and keep every body happy.  

On my first Alaska trip, I brought a fly rod, thinking I could spend the day catching silvers from the bow of the boat.  And I did that.  Cast, retrieve, hook the silver, fight it, net it and go back out to do it again.  With a two or three silver limit, I was finished in 10 minutes or so.  The skipper wouldn't let me catch and release.  You caught your limit, and you were done so that others on the boat could catch their limits.  When everyone was limited, we headed out to chase halibut for the rest of the day.

Don't get me wrong-- a trip on a charter is likely to be an adventure, and I wouldn't miss it.