Last season, at the end of May, I had the opportunity to fish the Sitka Sound area of southeast Alaska with guide Greg Kain. Many anglers, including Gary Loomis and Dan Ross, told me that for king salmon trolling, Sitka was the place to be. For example, last year Greg got four anglers into well over 120 Chinook in three days. Fishing isn't always that good, but it is consistent. If you enjoy trolling/mooching for salmon, Sitka Sound and nearby areas are hard to beat.
Usually the largest salmon of the year are caught during the early season. The Sitka salmon derby held each year at the end of May is usually won by a 50 -, 60-, or 70-pound fish. Anglers don't even consider weighing-in fish under 35 pounds. Many are believed to be Skeena stock, known for their large size.
Greg exclusively mooches and jig fishes for Chinook. Anglers hold their rod at all times, which increases the excitement. Imagine having a 20- to 50-pound-plus ocean salmon grab your bait and run - hang on! On my trip this happened repeatedly. During one bite we even had a quadruple hookup!

Greg also drift-mooches on non-windy days. At times you can put your kicker motor in reverse to slow the boat down and kept it straight. Chinook can be located throughout the water column. The key is to watch the scope for salmon and bait. If nothing is showing, fish the bottom.
Halibut are found on sand or coral flats. Lingcod are found on pinnacles. For example, if the depth went from 300 feet to 200 feet back to 300 feet, salmon and lingcod would be found feeding alongside the ledge, and halibut near the bottom of the pinnacle.
Huge schools of Chinook are continuously migrating through the Sitka area. That is the reason Sitka is such a great destination. Every day of the season salmon and halibut are being caught, unlike many other areas where run timing is critical. You have the option of fishing inside waters and outside waters on calm days. There are always fish to be found somewhere.
Greg and other good captains go where the fish are. If the fish are an hour away, that's how long you must travel. It is not uncommon to catch limits of both halibut and Chinook during the same day.
I spent the week fishing with Greg's high-school buddies Lincoln Mettler, Dave Christy, Steve Brennan, and Jeff Breland. These guys were a blast to fish with. Following is the story of our trip as seen from the eyes of Jeff.

At work I had been bragging that my remarkable fishing skills were going to help me land a record fish on my upcoming trip to Sitka, Alaska. I told everyone two or three times each about how successful l I was going to be. Not only was I going to catch more fish than my fishing partners had ever caught, the fish would be bigger too! Needless to say, the pressure was on.
I left Seattle at the end of May and arrived in Sitka with great expectations. Sitka is the number one-rated sport-fishing area in southeast Alaska, especially known for its abundance of king salmon. Many people don't realize how plentiful salmon are during the early season. An added bonus was that the weather was beautiful - sunglasses and sunscreen were a necessity.
Not only was I going to fish in Sitka, I was going with expert Captain Greg Kain, owner of Kain's Fishing Adventures. Greg is a very knowledgeable captain who provides excellent gear and services. He loves fishing so much, he goes on his days off. Could you imagine having a job you would do on your days off? When he is not guiding in Sitka, Greg guides in Washington State for steelhead. I knew Greg would assure me great fishing and the people on my trip were guaranteed great company. They consisted mostly of longtime friends who were equally as cocky about their fishing abilities - I knew I was in for a good time. We were all very vocal and competitive.
During May you primarily target king salmon, halibut , and lingcod. Silver salmon come in midsummer. Greg knows where the hot fishing areas are and, as expected, was able to hook us up with fish the entire trip. The second day of the trip was the most exciting day of fishing I have ever experienced. The weather was perfect, company entertaining, and fish just kept coming.

FISH of A Lifetime by Jeff Breland...68 1/2 pound near record lingcod!

On that day, we decided to fish for kings first. These are some of the funnest fish to catch. Here they average between 25 and 30 pounds, but it's not unusual to see fish caught in excess of 50 pounds. With the lightweight tackle (G. Loomis SAR1265C salmon rods, 25-pound-test Izor line and 3/0- to 4/0 Gamakatsu hooks), you can really feel these fish fight; they are amazingly strong. I hooked a nice 34-pound king in a pristine, narrow passage called Hayward Pass which was about 60 yards wide. The water was calm and crystal clear. You could see the sun reflect off the fish as it zipped back and forth behind the boat at an amazing speed. This fish was ornery. It would come up to the boat, shake, and then turn and run again with seemingly little effort. After about 20 intense minutes we finally brought it into the net.
After we had caught our limit of kings we decided to try halibut fishing. We started in about 200 feet of water and soon had successfully landed halibut ranging from 86 to 97 pounds. My bragging rights were dramatically enhanced because my halibut was the largest. These fish were amazing. If you haven't halibut-fished before, consider bringing up a fish that needs to be gaffed with a hook and rope, and then shot with a .357 Magnum before you can bring it into the boat. They are all muscle.
Our arms were getting tired from all the action when Dave Christy dropped his line in the water and hooked into a leviathan halibut. Like the others, this fish took off and we could see line spin off the reel. Everyone got really excited when the G. Loomis halibut rod bent like we have never seen before. This fish had to be huge. Dave got tired after about 15 minutes and then handed the rod over to me. We called him a "wimp", among other things, but then quickly understood why he'd passed the rod. The fish was incredible. Everyone in the boat had an opportunity to fight it six or seven times. Even Lincoln Settler, who can bench press 400 pounds, was getting exhausted. After about two of the most exciting hours of fishing we had ever experienced, I was getting very nervous.

The rod was in my hands again and every foot of line we had gained, I lost. The fish had unlimited power and I was tired. I was also afraid of breaking the line! Knowing the consequences I would endure, I quickly gave the rod to Nick Amato. He started to gain back some of the line that I had lost by really putting the screws to the fish. He was pumping the rod and reeling as fast as he could when with a giant clank, the 80-pound test line broke about 30 feet from the surface. Much to our disappointment we didn't get to see this fish. We could only guess at its size. Captain Greg told us three other clients had brought up a 315-pound halibut the previous season in 45 minutes with a lot less effort. For the rest of the trip any mistake made was called an "Amato."

We were all devastated by the lost fish, but decided to go back over the same halibut hole and am I glad we did. I dropped my line down as fast as I could and immediately felt a tug. I thought I had hooked into another monster-sized halibut. This fish started to spool my reel and then stopped and shook from left to right very rapidly, unlike the halibut. This action immediately re-energized us and we all quickly forgot about "the one that got away." This fish was strong and fought hard, but I did not give up my rod. I was going to fight this one myself; and fight it I did. We couldn't figure out what I had hooked until about 40 minutes later when you could finally see it come up from the bottom. It was the biggest lingcod anyone had ever seen. It was so big I could put my shoe in its mouth without it touching either side. I don't know how my hook managed to grab hold in that huge mouth. Despite its incredible ugliness, we all took pictures for proof of its gigantic size.

I wondered if Steven King would like to see a picture as inspiration for his next book. Looking at this fish made what's left of my hair stand on end. On the handheld scale in the boat the fish weighed 69 pounds. I could hardly wait to get this fish on an official scale.

When we got back to the docks my fish drew immediate attention. Normally the tone on the docks is very competitive between fishing services and it was fun to see the reaction of other fishing crews when they saw my fish. After making sure it was dead, some even asked if they could get their picture taken with it. You don't see fish like this very often! We took the lingcod to town to find a certified scale. After being out of water five hours (and with an empty stomach) it officially weighed in at 68 pounds, 8-ounces. We quickly discovered that to be considered a State of Alaska Trophy Fish it only had to be 45 pounds. We have since found out the IGFA world record is 69 pounds. I missed it by only 1/2 a pound. Too bad my fish hadn't used that huge mouth to eat something before I caught it! This had been an incredible day.

When I got home, I immediately took my film to a one-hour photo developing place so I would have pictures to show at work the next day to back-up my unbelievable story. I didn't have to eat my words, and the pictures were my proof. Word-of-mouth spread quickly, and soon I wasn't able to get any work done because so many people were stopping in to see the pictures and hear my story. I was in fishermen's heaven.

Now that I'm back in the city, I can't stop thinking about my great adventure. The humback whales, pristine mountain range, and 14 bald eagles I counted at one time. This trip was so incredible I wanted to write about it. If you don't believe me, just take a look at my face in the photos. A smile like that can not be faked.
I have had an incredible experience up there two years in a row and plan on doing it again next year. If you have ever thought about saltwater fishing in Alaska I recommend you do it in Sitka.

Sitka Sound, located between Baranof and Kruzof islands in southeast Alaska, is the number one producer of Chinook salmon in this region. Angling is best between mid-May and mid-August, and silver salmon angling can be incredible from late July through September. World-class Halibut and lingcod are available throughout the season.

You can contact us via e-mail email@kainsfishingadventures.com or call us toll free at: 1-800-926-7932