Halibut Charter Recommendations

[windburn]

Finally planning a bucket list trip to Alaska and am looking for reputable halibut charter recommendations. My wife/fishing partner is in full agreement on this trip and will be by my side. Seems Alaska catch limits on halibut are slot limited. Thinking maybe a 1 week cruise culminating in a few days fishing. I'm open to any advice, thoughts and experiences.   

[Missdemeanor]

Capt Moe Neal at whalers cove lodge. Great guy and he used to be an Oswego Capt back in the day.... http://www.whalerscovelodge.com/

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[Missdemeanor]

Blue eye has some experience out of Ketchikan

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[MooseKnuckle VI]

I fished with visitation charters on my honeymoon. awesome guy. I dont have his contact though. I heard the best halibut fishing is out of homer. I fished out of seward before we did our cruise. best place in the world!!!

[Hookedup]

If you get to Homer go with Bob's Trophy Charters. They have two six pack boats and a head boat. The two six pack boats are both metal boats they are new, large and fast. One is a catamaran with huge fly bridge that will easily do 40+. I've been with these guys a few times and boxed out every time. We always go after July 1st that's when ling cod and rock fish open up. Do the killer combo ling cod, rock fish, and halibut. We ran out like 80 miles and caught rock fish that jumped out of the water to eat a lure, ling cod that were over four ft long, and halibut up to 170 pounds.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Hookedup

[windburn]

Thanks to all for the advice. Looks like I have some homework to do.

[MooseKnuckle VI]

I found the info of the guy I fished with, his name was DJ. Post pics when you return! You're going to love it up there.

 

Address: PO Box 3085, Seward, AK 99664
Tel: 1 907 362 3810

 

FWIW, we did the cruise from Seward to Vancouver. It was OK, but I got a little bored spending so much time on the boat. We saw a lot of really cool scenery and the little towns you stop in were fun. We stopped in Icy Straight point, Ketchikan, Juneau and a few other places. I'm not in a hurry to do a cruise again. The BEST way to see Alaska is to fly up to Anchorage and rent a motorhome. That'd be the cats ass. There were tons of campers parked in little campsites all up and down the road on the way in to Seward. Seward had a parking lot with hook-ups right on the water in town. With the RV, you could literally do whatever you want whenever you want. 

 

Alot of people we spoke to on the cruise did the train ride for a week, then got on the cruise ship. That sounded like fun too. That way you can see Mt McKinley, and all the other stuff inland but the inner passage was gorgeous. Unlike anything else you'd ever see. I'm not saying the cruise wasn't fun, just wasn't my thing really. 

Edited April 21, 2015 by MooseKnuckle VI

[DJ 17]

Seward and Ninilchick are both very good places to check out.  Seward has more other stuff going on but they are both good fishing areas. Seeing a 42 ft tide is pretty incredible!  They launched our boat with a log skidder since there are no docks where we went out of in Ninilchick.

[Fly n Fish]

http://www.silverfoxcharters.com/

 

Request Captain Chad, stayed at there lodge and fished with silverfox for 3 days and Chad was the best limited out on some 60-80lb's and lost a monster. 

[windburn]

Thanks for the replies. Still doing our homework and most certainly will check out all referrals. As always, looking for the most bang for the buck.

[hawkeye625]

I'd stay away from the party boats simply because they combine all fish towards the total limit for the boat.  The one we took had 20 people on board, we limited out in less than an hour, but a few guys never caught a fish.  We split the meat equally, but I felt bad for the guys the didn't catch any.  Our captain also targeted numbers, not quality fish.  We saw a 300lb fish hanging back at the docks, biggest on our boat was just over 30lbs.

 

Be sure to ask questions before booking and make sure you get what you want out of the trip. 

 

You'll love Alaska, take plenty of film/flashcards/batteries for your camera!

[windburn]

Keep the advice coming men. I'm gettin smarter all the time. Mama was checking flights to Anchorage today. Talked to one of my buddies that was up 10 years ago and he raved about not only catching halibut but the eating and size of the fillets.

[hawkeye625]

You might need passports for the cruise.  Ours went from Vancouver to Seward.  Not sure what your plans are but you might want to check into that as well.  Passports take around a month to get. 

 

The best money I spent out there was on a float trip for rainbows on the upper Kenai.  Simply unbelievable scenery and fishing.  Believe we used troutfitters out of coopers landing.  All catch and release, but it was awesome.

 

I'd also recommend a whale watching trip if you're there at the right time of year.  Chances are you will see them off the cruise ship, but you get close and personal with them on a jet boat.

 

Enjoy and remember to post pics when you get home.