The deepest you've sport fished and what you caught

[Brian M]

Making sure to avoid halibut (yes they do roam down in 2-250fa's now and then) and anything like the other Red Rockfish mentioned that can be found down deep.

We can't retain any of those but the Thornyheads so, I work to keep it clean.
So maybe that has something to do with it. I'd say the largest I've seen is a 10 lber now and then, the avg being .75 lbs for the season

Do you guys in the Sound run into the other Reds, Shortraker, Rougheye's?
When I fished more up on the Albatross bank south of Kodiak those were much more common, but not much out west.

We do get into the other rockfish, but not much when targeting sablefish. We primarily fish sablefish from 280-320 fathoms, and in those areas we tend to get into more thornyheads than the others. When targeting a mix of halibut and sablefish we might get as shallow as 200-250 fathoms, and there we get far more shortrakers and some rougheye. And yep, the halibut do range deep. We still pull in decent numbers of halibut under 300 fathoms or deeper. Since my brother, father, and mother are all IFQ holders, though, we can retain them.

As for numbers, we'll only get 5-10 thornyheads per 3 mile set, so though our size appears to be larger, your numbers are significantly higher.

 

[kodiakrain]

Not to turn this into a Commercial Fishing thread but, it's interesting, the value of those little tiny Reds

I make sets that are Four Tubs of gear long (125 fathoms), mostly to play the Killer Whale game,
(pull it, before than they can come a runnin') but also for precise placement of the gear for best Sablefish numbers, approx a bit less than a half mile long total, but then I also make several sets a day,

Fishing Solo, so baiting is the defining factor on gear run, but I turn a lot of sets and every time I am in town delivering,
I find it amazing that those Thornyheads, as tiny as they are, and all the work to head and gut them,
turns out to pay for fuel, and maybe even bait as well

Anyway, I'll let the sportfishers talk, would love to see someone posting of handlining with Rod and Reel down to reach Blackcod depths
What a cool idea

I'll give the tip again to those around Kodiak, the 100 fathom Trench leading out of Ouzinkie Narrows and stretching to the east,
south of Monk's Lagoon, good place for Eel, and some Sablefish

Out West, I do regularly find nice ones, avg. 5 lb. size, in as shallow as 170 fa (or 1020 feet) definitely worth targeting (I've heard they can be found in 100fa also... so Reel Away Guys)
They're mighty tasty, especially in the smoker if you haven't tried that guys, Try Hard for those Blackcod

 

[Homertime]

That big Raker came from the Sound. Hate to target them though.....I am sure that one is 100 years old......

Man, that's awesome. How big is that?

 

[AKCAPT]

30, 35 pounds......popped up like a buoy ball, four pounds of lead and all.

 

[FishGod]

Yeah, that shortraker is at least 100 yrs old. I sampled one, (removed the otolith) back in 2000 out of Whittier that was about that size, maybe a tad bigger. That shortraker was born in 1884! The cheek meat was great!

 

[AKBoater]

Oddly enough there are places that blackcod can be found in much shallower water. I don't know what brings them there, but when I was tendering one summer the cove we anchored in was only 60 ft. deep and we would regularly jig 5-10 lb blackcod up. I've heard similar stories from folks in the Sitka area.

 

[tlingitwarrior]

Deepest king was 330', deepest silver was around 240-250', deepest halibut was around 500'.
Once came over a pinnacle that came upto 620' from over well over 1500', went back to it and dropped 3 jigs and tripled up on yelloweye, none of which were very big. Won't do that again. 1 of my favorite halibut spots is 420', don't take many of my clients there but the few I do are usually rewarded nicely, might be a home-packing spot if regs don't change, not many 37"> fish there.

I've fished Roller bay on WF boats. I recall catching silvers at 220 feet. Drop to the bottom, instant bite then real like crazy to about 80 feet or so and fight the fish. Good times, but then again all my times at WF have been good times. Back again in late June.

 

[Luke]

Sablefish 101

Sablefish 101

Hi Kodiakrain,

Can you give us some tips on how to fish for sable fish. What kind of bottom (Hard, soft or muddy), flat ground or areas with structures. Like to get some information’s on how to find them.
I have fished down to about 2200’ out of PWS with electric reel and I have been successful few times around 1000’ to 1500’ on catching sable fish, but out of about ten tries I was only successful 3 times.

Thanks

Luke

Not to turn this into a Commercial Fishing thread but, it's interesting, the value of those little tiny Reds

I make sets that are Four Tubs of gear long (125 fathoms), mostly to play the Killer Whale game,
(pull it, before than they can come a runnin') but also for precise placement of the gear for best Sablefish numbers, approx a bit less than a half mile long total, but then I also make several sets a day,

Fishing Solo, so baiting is the defining factor on gear run, but I turn a lot of sets and every time I am in town delivering,
I find it amazing that those Thornyheads, as tiny as they are, and all the work to head and gut them,
turns out to pay for fuel, and maybe even bait as well

Anyway, I'll let the sportfishers talk, would love to see someone posting of handlining with Rod and Reel down to reach Blackcod depths
What a cool idea

I'll give the tip again to those around Kodiak, the 100 fathom Trench leading out of Ouzinkie Narrows and stretching to the east,
south of Monk's Lagoon, good place for Eel, and some Sablefish

Out West, I do regularly find nice ones, avg. 5 lb. size, in as shallow as 170 fa (or 1020 feet) definitely worth targeting (I've heard they can be found in 100fa also... so Reel Away Guys)
They're mighty tasty, especially in the smoker if you haven't tried that guys, Try Hard for those Blackcod

 

[AkKings]

I've fished Roller bay on WF boats. I recall catching silvers at 220 feet. Drop to the bottom, instant bite then real like crazy to about 80 feet or so and fight the fish. Good times, but then again all my times at WF have been good times. Back again in late June.

Yeah, alot of deep water silvers off big Roller. Get alot of them off the north end of St. Joe's as well as out at Forrester Island. Last summer the 50 fathom curve off Noyes held alot of silvers that seemed to be mid-water or deeper.

 

[270ti]

That trench on the W side of St Joe's can sure hold some deepwater kings too. Now that I'm thinking about it, we've caught some kings when our reels were just about out of line.

 

[kodiakrain]

Hi Kodiakrain,

Can you give us some tips on how to fish for sable fish. What kind of bottom (Hard, soft or muddy), flat ground or areas with structures. Like to get some information’s on how to find them.
I have fished down to about 2200’ out of PWS with electric reel and I have been successful few times around 1000’ to 1500’ on catching sable fish, but out of about ten tries I was only successful 3 times.

Thanks

Luke

Ok, I gotta reply to this with a few ideas. I was hoping to run by the boat and take a pic off the plotter of a really good area, meaning the structure that I make use of, with the bathymetric lines clearly showing. but alas, didn't get around to it, now traveling for a few weeks, so maybe later.

A few tips on Sablefish:
My anchors, from the end of the longline set, usually come up with a gray sticky kind of mud on them. Sometimes Black Pea Gravel can be mixed in. for what that's worth, I don't target REAL HARD bottom for Blackcod, as I would for Halibut.
Also, hardly ever set on anything flat (there are always exceptions, One of my best lunker spots is a small plateau, surrounded by steep drop off on all sides, but usually they are on the steep edges, or just beneath a steep drop off. (at the juncture where it flattens out)

My MAIN technique for finding Sablefish is to view the structure, (more so than the bottom composition), using charts (real good ones either paper or Computer Software, Nobeltec is my current version) that show the Bathymetric Topography as well as possible.
This is a big deal to me, most regular NOAA charts aren't showing nearly enough of what is down there
but the software charts, if you use the Bathy's option are a huge asset
.
Then look for a reason that the current flow, is interrupted somehow, similar to eddy's in stream flow for a river guy I imagine.
So, for example, if you have a steep edge (Usually, best for Blackcod) that is running straight and smooth for a while, then rounds a point, or has a small bowl that causes the current sweeping down it, to Eddy around that obstruction. THERE will be Blackcod and fish of all types,
(this may be why there is mud there also, not well washed rock or gravel.)

I envision there being a bunch of little feed fish of all kinds hanging in those eddy's, then when tides change, or currents slack off some, they switch back to the other lee side of the obstruction, and the bigger fish are Preying like Crazy there.

The main structure I would look for is a Point or "Underwater Peninsula" if that makes sense. Then get your gear right on the edge of that point, or if you can discern what the tidal current is doing, work from the high current side around to the lee current side.

I'm REAL big on tide changes as most of you guys probably are also, but down deep, the currents don't switch back and forth nearly as much as up shallow, so look for those areas that area a continual eddy of varying strength, fish those hard.

Also out west I work an area that is very rugged, meaning Super Steep Canyons running out into the deep. I try to get my gear to run down the lee current side of the canyon, and MAKE SURE and get the second anchor of the set to land just down where the canyon bottoms out. That's where the Soakers will be hanging.

Ok, to avoid getting too longwinded, I'll stop there,
and try to get you guys a pic of a plotter screen describing better the ideas

 

[joefish00000]

my deepest 20lb mahi mahi at 1500 feet.(on the surface)

 

[akriverrat]

Searchin for info on sablefish and figured id better share. Nice size yelloweye, 500 fow.

 

[pacific23]

900' Tanner Cortez banks off of SoCal , 8lbs of weight, pulling up 5 Cow Cod at a time , hand cranked. That was late 80's.

 

[vermilion]

the 2 big blackcod came from 2500' and the other picture was anywhere from 1400'-2000'

 

[JR2]

Would anyone share exactly what kind of reel they are using to fish this deep? Would not mind giving this a try once in a while.

 

[Rob B]

I just bought an electric Daiwa 750 Megatwin. I'm planning on giving it a try out of Whittier this summer. I believe it will hold enough line if i spool it with 50 or 60 lb braid.

 

[JR2]

I just bought an electric Daiwa 750 Megatwin. I'm planning on giving it a try out of Whittier this summer. I believe it will hold enough line if i spool it with 50 or 60 lb braid.

Yikes, that was not cheap... I am thinking maybe an old Pen 4/0 and my extra Dewalt 18v drill might get married up to make me a poor boy electric reel... I know my wife would laugh at me until I pulled up a black cod, then I would be a genius.

 

[AK2AZ]

Yikes, that was not cheap... I am thinking maybe an old Pen 4/0 and my extra Dewalt 18v drill might get married up to make me a poor boy electric reel... I know my wife would laugh at me until I pulled up a black cod, then I would be a genius.

Here you go for when you feel the urge...
http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-outdoor-photos/411607-cheap-drill-conversion-shimano.html

 

[pikeslayer01]

The deepest I've fished in Kachemak Bay was maybe 400 ft. Heck of a long reel, and all we got were some giant, wormy cod. So if you're fishing deep, prepare for a lot of cod.