Opening day a bust for king salmon but more coho salmon than Ive ever seen. LOTS of orca (killer) whales, too. Many cohos coming up with bite marks. Sara thought maybe it was some of the baby whales learning to feed. We only fished from 3:30 am to 10:30 am. Sara was not used to the rough seas and when she came out to feed the fish for the 3rd time, I said let’s call it a day. Winds are supposed to lay down tomorrow, and with so few kings here at Yakobi Island, I expect a lot of boats will move elsewhere tomorrow. I’m a “homesteader”, and tend to wait for the fish to come by rather than chase them, and with so many coho salmon here

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Ran to outer coast today with Sara. Biggest king salmon opening of the year begins tomorrow. Almost made a foolish mistake today. We came into the anchorage with our poles out, and passed the Santa Rosa, who was at anchor with their trolling poles out. It was a narrow gap between them and the rocks, but I thought we could make it. My poles actually went over his by just a few feet. Had we hit poles, it could have spelled disaster, as I would have made him miss the first opening if Id damaged his pole, and he would miss what is usually the largest king harvest day of the year – all on account of my mistake. It seems like you get a mulligan with these types of close calls, but not a second one, so Ive learned my lesson.

This is Saras first trip with me, and its been great already with her driving for awhile while I catch a nap, and a real dinner when we got the anchor down.

Weather forecast is for sloppy seas tomorrow, which will wear me out after fishing the calmer inside waters the past 2 months.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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I learned today what many old timers have told me – when you get a fish on, don’t always rush to get it off, as it may attract other fish to the gear. I was losing fish near the boat that would throw the hook because they were pulling so hard. So, I started leaving fish on awhile to let them tire out some before I pulled them in. This lead to multiple fish on the wires and more fish landed. I even had one at the surface and saw another one try to get the hook from its mouth. Another day of good catches.

I took a nap in the late afternoon and came out for the evening bite. Dozens and dozens of eagles were diving on the tons of herring feeding on the plankton blooming thick all around.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Clear and hot today. Caught 7 by 2 pm, and took a nap, then looked for a leak in the tranny. Back fishing at 5:30 pm or so. First pass down the drag I got a “clatter” – multiple fish on each of my 4 wires. Finished the evening with 15 more kings, with a few coho, pinks and a chum, too. Sealions are arking as I sit here at anchor and ready for bed.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Another trip turnaround doing a week’s worth of work in a day and a half. Sold our catch at the dock to Juneau customers, hauled the rest of our fish to our fish processor to ship orders out of town, call customers who had fished shipped to see that they recieved it in good shape and are happy with it, respond to numerous email inquiries, send some website updates to my webmaster (we’re now Kosher!), talk over plans to with my processor to service a large coho salmon client in Juneau, ship orders of canned salmon to our natural food store outlets, send billings for last week’s shipments, fill out a fish ticket for last week’s catch, check in with our poor bookkeeper, buy groceries, change the engine oil, get more ice, and leave town again. All in less than 2 days. Sure happy to have my wife back home helping.

Still losing a little tranny oil, but luckily my mechanic walked by. He gave me advice on what to check, and I loaded him down with a fresh king salmon for home. His son is working in his shop now, after 4 years in the Navy. He told us about his son working down in the bilges of aircraft carriers with bilge up to their waists. Nastiness…

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Almost 80 degrees today. Sunny, with a southerly swell. Fishing in front of Angoon, which has transformed from a commercial fishing town to a sport charter town, with some of the best fishing anywhere right in front of town. After catching a few last night here, I tried again today, and the fishing was good enough to keep me here – everywhere else where I know to fish has been poor, and I usually only find new areas when all the ones I know are a bust. Sent word through a friendin Angoon to call my wife to let her know all is well, as I’ve been out of cell range for several days.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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