Alaska halibut and king salmon

[JohnCranston]

I know that a few of ya'll have done this trip and was trying to squeze out some info. I think that Andre and his kids went a few years ago...We were thinking about June 2013 and fishing out of Sitka...I think Kingfisher charters is as far as we went so far..don't really know about prefered moon phases or best tides. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again.
John.

[jrhaszard]

We have a friend named Ace in Talkeetna who takes care of our jalopies and brings them to Elmendorf,Merrill and ANC Int and drops them off.When we all gather up,we go to Wally World to get tackle,licenses and grub.Then we convoy to Nanilchik to launch from the beach for two days of halibut fishing.We tip the crew and save a ton of money by having the fish cleaned and cut up at Soldotna vs Nanilchik.They vacuum pack and flash freeze it in small bags.Then we drop it off in Anchorage at a cold storage house and proceed to Talkeetna.From there we get on a jetboat to Clear creek.We camp out for a week and catch Kings.we put it in double zip lock bags and hold it down in the water so the pressure helps expell the air from the bag.Each guy has a different color yarn for his bags for later identification.Then we put the bags in net type laundry bags and rock it down in the stream to keep the bears away.Each day the jetboat returns and picks up the fish and takes it back to the freezer.You must return the carcass to the river.Eagles swoop down and pick up some of the carcasses.The heart of a King Salmon will beat for a long time after it is removed from the body.Amazing.
Each guy will have a cooler of Halibut and one of king to carry home.We tape the seam of the cooler and the fish is still rock hard twenty four hours later when we get home.Sixty pounds per cooler.I give away most of the Halibut and smoke the salmon all at once.I tell my buddies I didn't catch any salmon this trip.You don't really need to pay a for charter but it would make the first trip easier.
The halibut bite on half a red salmon while bouncing an eight pound lead ball off the bottom.It is akin to retrieving a truck tire.They shoot it in the head with a .410 shotgun before boarding it.Get ready for fish in excess of one,two or even three hundred pounds.The kings aren't really feeding but they will strike at these spin type beaded baits anyway.I don't know why.

[JohnCranston]

JR,
Thanks for the info. We're going to skip the camping this time around and stay at a lodge...maybe camp the next time around.
Thanks again.
John.