Salmon: Hot & Hotter!

2005 Season in Review

This summer brought incredible salmon fishing to Outlook Lodge customers who experienced the best overall fishing season in over 20 years. It started with early king salmon fishing in May and June that led to a 92% success rate for our customers on a daily basis. Historically this fishery has been concentrated within ½ mile of the beach along the Anchor Point shoreline, targeting mostly early spawners headed for the rivers of Cook Inlet. This year I concentrated my fishing for early kings 1-2 ½ miles off the beach where 80% of the kings present are feeder kings, sexually immature salmon in the feeding phase of their life cycle. Although immature, the feeder kings present in our area at this time of year tend to average a few pounds larger than the spring spawners. Our fishing was much more consistent than the area close to shore would have been. The biggest feeder we landed topped 53lbs, the largest feeder king ever caught by an Outlook Lodge customer. The early July fishery for the large Kenai River bound kings was of shorter duration than 2004 but the success rate for kings up to 59 lbs. was phenomenal. On July 12^th in the middle of Cook Inlet, where we fish for halibut, we encountered the first silvers of the season. This was about 10 days early and by July 15^th limits of silvers became common for our customers. The hot silver fishing continued through the end of our season in late August. Some really large silvers were mixed in the catch including a 19 & 20 pounder. Many days saw multiple double and triple hook-ups. Having two-three leaping silvers racing around the boat at once makes for happy laughing and shouting customers and a happy guide as well. Another bonus during August in the middle Inlet was that there were a number of feeder kings showing up in the catch. This was a surprise as we rarely caught them there during that time before. On August 26^th an 8 foot salmon shark committed a “Jaws like attack” on a nice feeder king we were fighting. He left us with a 14 pound “stub” of a king but a lifetime memory of a once in a lifetime sight.

All summer long, in addition to the fabulous salmon fishing, limits of halibut were a daily occurrence completing the flatfish half of the successful Outlook Lodge Combo. The warmer than normal water temperatures of the last few years have contributed to excellent ocean survival rates for king and silver salmon in the Gulf of Alaska. Our overall salmon fishing has been tremendous the last 2 years, with 2005 being the best summer in many years on Cook Inlet. I heartily recommend that you join us during the 2006 season to experience the excitement of Cook In let combo fishing which is the best in the world.