June 30th - Last day of the derby

Today was our first combination trip of the 2011 season,.  Our first target species was halibut, so we travelled out to Montague Island to see if we could get the derby winner to bite.  It was a slow sit for the first

2 hours, but we were able to catch a handful of giant Ling Cod.  After the tide switched and the outgoing current started picking up, the Halibut finally started biting.   A jig on the bow hooked up with an 80 pounder and started screamed line to the bottom repeatedly for 15 minutes.  Shortly after, 6 more fish over 50lbs were landed on jigs and plug cut herring.  The Halibut bite was short and sweet, so we switched over to Salmon gear and caught about 7 Silver Salmon on the Halibut grounds.  We were half way fishing with a limit of Halibut so we travelled to the flats.  Within twenty-five minutes we completed our limit of halibut so we focused on salmon. It was late in the day at this point and we didn't have much time to prospect for Salmon.  We baited hooks and within 10 minutes we had already landed 7 Salmon.  By 6:30pm we had boated thirty-five Silver Salmon.  Not too bad for the first combination charter of the year!  Overall, we had a great day and our group was a blast to fish with.  Looking forward to tomorrow's trip with the Elmendorf Exclusive as well as the long awaited opportunity to keep the Ling Cod we have been throwing back all season.  FISH ON!!!