Northwest Wild Country Radio Station

GUSTAVUS, Alaska - Salmon are beginning to show up in greater numbers in the Glacier Bay area as charter operators begin their 2010 seasons out of Gustavus, Elfin Cove and Pelian. Halibut also have migrated into Icy Strait, and more are expected during the upcoming big tides.

Andy Martin Wild Blog mug We've been seeing decent numbers of halibut, although it should get a lot better. The grade of fish has been great. Lots of fish in the 50- to 70-pound range. The mouth of Glacier Bay is known for producing some of the biggest halibut in Alaska, with dozens of fish over 300 pounds caught each summer, and a handful of 400-plus pounders. Several fish close to 450 pounds have been caught an released in the past 10 years.

The bait hasn't shown up yet, so we're using pink salmon and pollock from last year. I've been soaking the salmon in Pautzke Halibut and Rockfish Nectar and injecting the pollock with Nectar and seeing a real difference. That will be the key until we start catching fresh bait.

Ling cod fishing is picking up out of Gustavus Salmon are staging in Deer Harbor, and action has picked up considerably in the past week. We're seeing around a king per angler right now and that should increase considerably in early June.

Deer Harbor, located in the Gulf of Alaska near the entrance to Cross Sound, is a favorite of charters operating out of Gustavus, Elfin Cove and Pelican, and even private boaters from Juneau. Feeder kings stack up there throughout the summer.

Trolling flashers and hoochies 90 to 125 feet down as worked best the past week.

Lingcod fishing also has been good, with lots of slot limit fish, and plenty of fish over 35 inches.

Andy Martin is an Oregon and Alaska fishing guide. This summer he's running a charter out of Gustavus. His Web site is www.wildriversfishing.com