Kodiak Island Halibut Techniques

Halibut fishing around Kodiak Island is as diverse as anywhere along the Pacific Coast. At Kodiak Island Resort in Larsen Bay, Alaska we try to mix up the techniques and methods we use to catch halibut. Our primary motivation is we are always trying to find the magic potion that never fails to catch fish. Unfortunately we have yet to perfect those techniques to the point of being infallible but we are getting close.

Our most successful halibut fishing trips begin by obtaining several dozen fresh herring. This is done by locating schools of herring and dropping down gold hook rigs to catch them. After our bait is obtained we move out into Shelikof Straits and drop our anchor in about 150 feet of water, near a drop-off to 600 feet.

After getting our boat into position we cut up some of the herring and send them down near the bottom in a chum bag. After getting the chum out we bait most of our guests rods with a whole herring on a traditional halibut rig with a 5/0 Newell Reel and 80-pound line. We also rig a couple of our guests with lighter rods and 30 pound line to help get the bite started. More often than not the light line will attract the first bites. Now this accomplishes two objectives; 1. It causes a fish to become active and 2. if the fish actually gets hooked, the commotion created by the hooked fish often excites others in the area.

If the light line trick fails to produce we switch over to three-ounce jigs and have them bang the bottom regularly. This banging sound will often draw the curious halibut in as well. If the first two methods have failed we still have the chum bag working for us and we keep the bag moving in the water to release the scent and almost always sooner or later the halibut will follow the scent trail up tide to our waiting baits.

We have numerous other methods we employ at Kodiak island Resort but the most important rule is to never get married to just one technique because they all work, some better than others on given days.

Try our style of fishing or better yet come to Kodiak Island resort and let us show you why we believe Kodiak offers the best halibut fishing anywhere.

Don't forget to think of Kodiak Island when your adventure spirit begins to wander. Kodiak is the premier location for wilderness adventures.

Allen Walburn has been a U.S. Coast Guard licensed master of power vessels up to 100 tons for 30 years. He has operated A&B Charters http://www.aandbcharters.com from the Naples City Dock since 1977. Recently he has become managing partner for Alaska's Kodiak Island resort =>http://www.kodiakresort.com