The Fishing

While fishing with Ripple Cove Charters we'll work with you to develop an itinerary to target the fish you're after. You'll have the opportunity to catch Giant Pacific Halibut, five species of salmon, huge lingcod, and other colorful rockfish.

Your fishing day will begin at 7 am and the boat will return back to the dock around 4 pm so that your fish can be cleaned and picked up for packing.

Check out these great archived stories by Outdoors Columnist Tom Tatum:

• "Salmon Fishing in the Pink"

• "A Halibut Honeymoon on the Icy Strait"

• "A Whale of a Tale"

Don't forget your camera! The scenery is beautiful and you can expect to see an abundance of wildlife including: humpback whales, orcas, sea otters, sea lions, seals, porpoise, and colorful seabirds including puffins.

Check out our You Tube video with some highlights of our 2010 season.

Check out some great sea and wildlife pictures of the area in our photo gallery.

Reeling in a 100 pounder...

Halibut

The Gustavus/ Glacier Bay area is the premier spot for halibut fishing in Alaska. (I know we might sound biased, so feel free to check out this report from Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)

Halibut fishing is done with medium to heavy gear; 50-80 pound rods and two speed reels filled with 65-80 pound Spiderwire Stealth line.

We use the right gear to make the battle a more comfortable experience.

While we always supply frozen bait (i.e., long-line herring), we'll take the time to jig for fresh bait when it is available. The use of fresh herring or pollock is always the more productive way to catch the fish of a lifetime.

We fish depths between 80 and 240 feet on anchor using our great tidal influence to carry the scent of the bait to the schools of halibut below waiting to bite your hook.

Another productive way to catch these monsters is to jig for them with medium heavy gear, 16 to 24 ounce jig heads with 11 inch grub tails.

This can be done on the drift as well as down the middle or behind the bait at anchor. Halibut fishing is great all season long in Gustavus. We see many over 100 pounds and a few over 300 pounds.

Check out lots more fishing pictures in our photo gallery!

King Salmon... the prized catch of Alaska!

Salmon

Salmon fishing in this beautiful area is usually done by trolling. This method is preferable to mooching due to the huge tides in the area. While all five species of salmon are present in our area, we primarily target king and silver salmon.

We troll king salmon along the beaches as shallow as 25 feet using plug cut or double hooked herring. At times, we'll use a flasher hoochie combination in the shallows, as this can be productive as well.

When trolling for the king salmon or silver salmon in deep water (80-120 feet for kings and 50-75 feet for silvers), we use the flasher hoochie combination as well as a number of lucky spoons and j-plugs.

Trolling at all depths is done with down riggers. Depending on conditions, we may also troll a couple of flat line surface lures behind the down rigger baits. We use light tackle for salmon to maximize your fishing experience.

We primarily target king salmon in May, June, and early July but small runs can come later in the season. Mid-July through early September we target silver salmon. Acrobatic silvers provide fantastic action with generous daily limits.

Check out lots more fishing pictures in our photo gallery!

Rockfish

Rockfish fishing is done offshore in depths from 80-275 feet of water. We have some of the best structure and fishing within 25 miles of the Gustavus dock.

Fishing for rockfish is done on the drift with medium-heavy gear using the same jigs we use for our halibut fishing. The areas we fish hold monster ling cod, yellow eye, tiger rock fish, quillback, dusky and many other species.

While jigging the huge pinnacles offshore for rockfish, you always have a chance to catch the monster halibut of your dreams.

Dungeness Crabbing

You can also test your luck at Dungeness crabbing...

When fishing an all-inclusive trip with Ripple Cove Charters you'll have the opportunity to bait and soak a crab trap.

We usually use leftover halibut or salmon carcasses for bait. We pull the gear after a couple of day's soak with the hydraulic wench we have onboard.

Check out lots more fishing pictures in our photo gallery!