The Jones group showing off the results of an excellent day of fishing with guide Kurt Ferse, including the largest Yellow Eye caught this season at just over 24lbs.

Though they were plentiful, big kings were harder to come by this season. Finally, in late July and early August we saw a push of trophy kings, with several in the fifties, and King of Year coming in on August 5th at 60.2 lbs

After a relatively late arrival, silver fishing turned on in the second week of July, and limits of silvers were had nearly every day through early August. By mid-August they had largely moved out of the area, but fortunately there were enough kings to chase around that everybody stayed busy.

King of Kings Derby Hostess Rachel Egger shows off the King of the year caught by Joseph Kinder on August 5th. It tipped the scales at an impressive 60.2lbs.

We were blessed with relatively light winds and stable weather systems throughout the season, which provided for some excellent opportunities for bottom fishing offshore for halibut, lingcod, and rockfish.

Anticipation and excitement is already building for the 2012 season as hopes that the big numbers of kings will continue, and the vast quantity of feeder kings will return bigger and stronger.

A nice hen caught on a beautiful morning at the Pineapple.

So if you missed out on this spectacular season, it’s time to start planning your trip for next year! Contact Waterfall Resort and make a request to fish with guide Kurt Ferse and you will get to fish with some of Fetha Styx finest rods in some of the most productive fishing grounds in Alaska.

Be sure to check back in this winter, as I will be posting the latest news from Southeast AK. Until later, tight lines to you all!

Kurt Ferse

Fishing went from amazing in early June to downright ridiculous coinciding with the season opener on June 10th at Waterfall Resort on Prince of Wales Island. Nearly every spot fished has been holding incredible numbers of Kings, with 30+ King days nearly standard across the fleet. Just when it looked like it was starting to slow down in early July, another massive wave of Kings has pushed through, with some quality 30- and 40-pounders coming in daily.

“This is the kind of King fishing you thought you would never see again, and may never will. At times it has even been difficult to get your halibut because the Kings have been so thick from top to bottom,” reports Kurt.

The average size has been impressive as well, at close to 20lbs. These are fat, healthy fish that have been making for a lot of sore arms. The trophy Kings, (50+ pounders) have yet to arrive; however, excitement is building around the speculation that waves of big Kings will be behind this latest push of feeders, which could make this season one for the ages.

Silver fishing has been slow to date, however giant schools have been massing offshore and should be moving in any day.

There are a few remaining openings for the season, so you can still get in on this once-in-a-lifetime kind of fishing! Contact Waterfall Resort and make a request to fish with veteran guide Kurt Ferse and you will get to fish with some of Fetha Styx finest rods in some of the most productive fishing grounds in Alaska.

Stay tuned, as more updates from the 2011 season will be arriving shortly. Until then, tight lines to you all!

Kurt Ferse
kurtferse@gmail.com
http://www.waterfallresort.com

Guests on boat #16, Daryn Otto and Clay Coffin show off a couple of nice 30+ pound Kings caught on June 24th.

Well, the last day of the trip was just Kim and I fishing with John, our host. We ended up fishing a short day from 6 a.m. to noon, but got two really nice king’s in the 20 lb. range. It was almost a blessing in disguise after we headed to the fish processing and collected the rest of our bounty before heading home. The total catch was a whopping 185.3 pounds, just in fillets for the flight back! WOW… was the expressions on all of our faces after loading up four 46-49 lb. boxes. We limited out our seven day licenses with a total of 12 kings for the two of use combined plus one 58 lb. Halibut, a 12 lb. sockeye and king salmon eggs for Todd Daniels (Tall Tail Guide Service) who was in dire need of fresh eggs for the Skykomish River and the killer steelhead fishing he has been experiencing.

The people of Wrangell made us feel like we were right at home. Leslie, the lady who owns the Grandview B & B, gave us the tour when we arrived and each day made breakfast at 5 a.m. We even got to try her famous 100-year-old sourdough pancake recipe that was passed down each generation. When I inquired about the details of these delicious flapjacks, “If I told ya I would have to kill ya,” was the response. All-in-all John Yeager — “Alaska Charters and Adventures” (www.wrangellalaskafishing.com) — was a total class act and is now a new fishing buddy. I look forward to next year in August when they get monster coho in the 15-20lb range that I can target on ultra-light steelhead rods. “Great rods for the greater good.”

Bill Boyce

The Outdoor Line goes on a Hawg Quest as Tobeck joins Glen Hall, Nick Kester of All Star Charters, and Grant Wooldridge of Wooldridge Boats on possession bar for some summertime kings.

Video originally from the Outdoor Line.

Limits for silvers and pinks are still at six per day, but may be increased if the returns are as strong as expected. Anyway you look at it it’s going to be a fun and bountiful summer season for anglers in Alaska!

Fetha Styx and Kurt Ferse are teaming up again this season at the legendary Waterfall Resort. Guests aboard boat #16 will get to fish with some of Fetha Styx finest salmon and bottom rods in one of the richest fishing grounds in the world.

Bookings are strong but there are a few remaining spots available during some prime dates of the season. Folks interested (and if you are reading this, that’s you!) should check out the operation at Waterfall Resort and contact Kurt Ferse to make a guide request.

kurtferse@gmail.com
http://www.waterfallresort.com

Even though mother nature may not realize it, the calendar does say May and for me, May is when it really gets fun living here in the NW. Gone are the dark and rainy days of winter spent out on the water in less than desirable conditions. May, for me, represents Spring time, long days, and opportunity on the water. Some of the best tasting critters in the water can be harvested in May and I make plans to take full advantage of it every year. Shrimp, lingcod, and halibut are on every saltwater fisherman’s menu this month. For the freshwater guys, trout, bass, walleye, and flyfishing opportunities heat up.

Around the Tobeck house, May marks the time when we can walk outside the house and target bass in shallow water. Unfortunately, this year the weather has been less than stellar and the water hasn’t quite warmed enough on the south end of Lake Wa. for the bass to move up shallow in any numbers. It took me until last night (12th) to catch the first bass of the year from shore. My neighbors must think I am crazy after I let out a yell over that one-pounder, but around our house that first bass of the year really means something — bragging rights until next year.

Madden with a Lake Washington smallie caught from the beach.

Another opportunity that I never miss is the shrimp opener in Puget Sound. I have had years where the boys had baseball games and I had to drop pots, drive to Puyallup for the game and get back just in time to pull my pots before time was up. It was work, but it was fun work and the rewards for all that work are in my opinion the tastiest morsels God put in the ocean. This year took some planning as well. Nelly and I had talked about hitting the opener together but wanted to have our pots in the water soaking while we were still on the air. Problem was, who does Nelly trust to run his boat without him on it? The answer was Ray Gombiski. He and his wife Kelly dropped the pots off Camano and met us back at the dock after the show. We quickly hurried out and starting working our pots. The shrimp were some of the biggest I had seen come out of Puget Sound and we limited the boat by one that afternoon.

A limit in one pull is cause for celebration.

Bottomfishing is something that I guess was bred into me. Growing up, my dad always loved to bottomfish and when we went fishing, that’s what we did. Here in the NW, there is no better time to bottomfish than right now. With limited halibut opportunity to start with, you have to get out while the getting is good and the getting is good right now. From close to home spots such as Mutiny Bay or the banks off Port Townsend, all the way out to the coast, halibut are being caught and the last few years have been really productive for halibut anglers in all marine areas. I like to spend my time halibut fishing on the coast. The richness of life off the coast of WA always amazes me. Not only are the halibut plentiful, but the opportunities to catch lincod, rockfish, and other bottomfish are there as well and really make the trip out to the coast pay off.

Ryan Dent with his first halibut out of Westport.

After flying 40 miles out in the ocean, this bird decided to hitch a ride home.

We took all day to land our halibut but the lings came in a flurry.

If you’re looking for opportunities to get out and enjoy the outdoors, there is no better time than from right now on through September. Don’t let this summer pass you by, get out and enjoy it, cold, windy, and rainy winter will be here before you know it.

Original article here.
More on Rob Tobeck here.

For the past few years, every time I’ve traveled back to Florida to see the family and do a little fishing, I’ve been met with windy weather.

So far, 2011 is shaping up to be pretty darn good as my Florida Keys trip in January was perhaps some of the best mixed bag fishing I have ever seen and this past trip with the kids for spring break proved to be productive as well with limits of grouper and battles with mystery fish.

Our trips to Florida to see the family for spring break are always very busy as we never get a full week but just a matter of days.

By the time you see family, spend some time at the beach, and take a day with the girls at one of Florida’s amusement parks, this time it was Universal for the new Harry Potter exhibit, it usually leaves only a day to go fishing. With grouper season just opening up April 1st and some colder water hanging around keeping the majority of kingfish further south it was a no brainer, we were going after some tasty grouper.

Mason with Uncle Jon

Our favorite grouper target, gag grouper, were still closed in federal waters but my brother Jonathan knew of a few spots for some nice red grouper. We launched the boat in Clearwater and went about 30 miles out on 2ft seas arriving at our waypoint full of anticipation. Jonathan readied the anchor, as I maneuvered the boat into position, my dad and Mason both readied their rods as it’s always a race to land the first fish. Once we got anchored up it didn’t take more than just a few minutes and it was fish on.

We were fishing an area of cheesy limestone bottom, using a chum block to get a slick going. Threadfin, mackerel, squid and live pinfish that the boys had been catching off the dock were our baits. In the gulf, red grouper have to be at least 20 inches for rec anglers to keep. (Only 16, I believe, for commercials, go figure.) We waded through grouper after grouper with one after another being 18 or 19 inches. Finally, my brother Jonathan hooked up with a keeper size grouper and then it was just a matter of time before we had six keepers on the boat.

One of the things that I always do when I am bottom fishing in the gulf is set up a live bait on top with a bait runner and hope that something big and hungry swims by. As we were trying to catch two more reds to finish out our limit, the bait runner went off but by the time I could get to it the fish was gone. I reeled in to check my bait and saw only half of a big pinfish. We figured it had to be a toothy kingfish so I re-baited and tossed back out. A few minutes later, another zing and this time I lost the entire set-up as the fish severed the fluorocarbon leader with its razor teeth. Determined, I re-baited and tossed the big pinfish behind the boat avoiding the hungry bird that kept trying to get an easy meal.

After some time went by my dad caught a nice keeper sized gag grouper that we had to release but other than that the bite really slowed down. Just as we were talking about pulling anchor and trolling our way back in, the top rod went off again. This time the fish stayed buttoned as I set the hook and handed off the rod to Mason. I stopped passing the rod off to my son a few years back because he does a great job at catching more than his share of fish and his rubbing it in to the old man was more than I could handle. This time however, I figured that he was the only one on the boat that hadn’t caught a kingfish and I wanted him to have the experience.

It hurt my dad to throw this one back.

It turns out that what I thought was going to be a nice little first king mackerel for my son turned out to be an hour and forty minute test of will between Mason and whatever we has on the end of the line. It was forty-five minutes into the fight when we first saw color. We couldn’t tell what we had however; we just knew that it was big. Could it be a big king? Tuna? How about amberjack? After some debate and looking at the way it was fighting we decided that it had to be a big AJ. All fish in the jack family are known for their hard fighting abilities and Mason would attest, this fish wouldn’t budge.

Mason continued to battle as time went on, I lit a cigar and cracked a beer, I could tell we weren’t going anywhere soon. The fish stayed a comfortable distance from the boat and teased us with a flash of color before it made another run, tearing line off the reel just as fast as it did on its initial run. My brother Jon and I debated whether or not we should drop the anchor but I ruled it out as I thought it was just going to be a short while and Mason would have this fish bested. Turns out I made the wrong call.

After 100 minutes of Mason and this fish going toe to fin, the fish had finally had enough of play time.

Mason yelled for us to drop the anchor as the fish made one last blistering run. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done fast enough. Mason kept saying we were wrapped up in the anchor rope but Jon and I just couldn’t accept it. We cut the rope and left the anchor sit just hoping the rope would fall through but it didn’t, and eventually SNAP! It was over!

Mason was exhausted in the Florida heat, my dad, brother, and I all sat silently as we contemplated what might have been. Even though we had a great day of fishing, we couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Oh well, we had a great story and I’m sure we’ll have years of talking about the fish that got away.

Rob Tobeck
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Great video from the BBC about tuna fishing in the South Pacific. Enjoy!

From the BBC:

Episode 6 Fragile Paradise: The South Pacific is still relatively healthy and teeming with fish, but it is a fragile paradise. International fishing fleets are taking a serious toll on the sharks, albatross and tuna, and there are other insidious threats to these bountiful seas. This episode looks at what is being done to preserve the ocean and its wildlife.

Kurt shows off the first 50+ pound king caught at Waterfall Resort during the 2010 season, weighing in at 51.3lb.

For catching the largest Chinook of June, Victor won a $500 gift certificate to Cabelas and a free trip back to Waterfall Resort in 2011 as part of the King of Kings $100,000 Tournament.

Victor Dubois' king.

Needless to say the new Fetha Styx rod has been tested and deemed ready for production by Kurt Ferse and a number of his happy clients! Look for it online and in stores this spring under the Homewater Salmon series as the 905-2C, 9ft 10-30lbs. 1-6oz., mod-fast, heavy.

Come fish with Kurt Ferse and Fetha Styx at Waterfall Resort in 2011 and catch your own monster king! Bookings are strong but there are a few remaining spots available during some prime dates of the season. Folks interested (and if you are reading this, that’s you!) should check out the operation at Waterfall Resort and contact Kurt Ferse to make a guide request. Check back this winter to see more updates on the 2010 season and get some exclusive looks at the upcoming summer season. Until later, tight lines to you all!

kurtferse@gmail.com
http://www.waterfallresort.com