Icy Bay Lodge, AK trip in 2019

[kilsong]

I arrived at Anchorage, AK after long 7 hours flight from NJ.

We had dinner at famous Glacier Brewhouse. The place was packed though it is not cheap.

After dinner, we went to famous ice cream shop nearby. I couldn't believe long line waiting for ice cream in chilly weather a 10 pm.



We fly to Yakutat on Sunday morning to meet other anglers there.

 

[kilsong]

We arrived at Icy Bay Lodge.








Mel brought lots of drinks as usual.


nice pork prepared by Chef Rick.



glacier ice




Jigs from 5 oz to 12 oz.
We normally use 6 oz - 10 oz and the reason I brought 12 oz jigs are sometimes big halibut prefer bigger jigs.



I brought light rods. The heaviest rods are 7'3" Black Hole Charter Special MH rods.
- 6'8" Black Hole Charter Special Slow Pitch jigging rods
-7'3" Black Hole Charter Special MH rods
-6'6" Black Hole Slow Pitch jigging rods
-6'3" ultra light Black Hole Tai Special rod



It is calm and we are ready to go offshore.

 

[kilsong]

We had many big lingcod and yelloweye rockfish on jigs, but big halibut didn't show up for unknown reason.
Luckily I got 82 lb halibut with 5 oz Al Gag jig which is used for striper. I used 6'8" Black Hole Charter Special Slow Pitch jigging rod and IRT 600 DD reel.
Later I used the ultra light Black Hole Tai Special rod and IRT 500 DD reel for fun.











This big ling cod is probably 50 lb as the length is 49 3/4".




The Tai Special weighs only 3.8 oz and the blank weighs 1.4 oz. This rod is probably the lightest jigging rod.


It is calm today and we plan to go offshore again.

 

[kilsong]

This ling cod is probably about 50 lb. I think this is the biggest ling cod I got off Icy Bay Lodge. My personal best is 58 lb caught off Langara Island, BC years ago. We had three big ling cod close to 50 lb yesterday.

 

[kilsong]

This ling cod is probably about 50 lb. I think this is the biggest ling cod I got off Icy Bay Lodge. My personal best is 58 lb caught off Langara Island, BC years ago. We had three big ling cod close to 50 lb yesterday.

 

[kilsong]

Marshall had his personal best ling cod and he lost big halibut as the line was tangled with anchor line and I lost big halibut as the 40 lb line got broken. I got rid of old line and spooled with new 40 lb Jerry Brown Hollow line.
We tried hard to catch big halibut without success. On the way to the lodge, we stopped by a halibut nursery ground and I must caught about 15 halibut within one hour with Al Gag jig using ultra light Black Hole Tai Special rod and IRT 500 DD reel.
It was fun with light tackle.



Jumee broke her personal best ling cod again. it was 52" big ling cod which was released.









Marshall's personal best ling cod

 

[kilsong]

Wed is non halibut day. You can not target halibut on Wed. We did some sightseeing in the bay and put shrimp traps.
We fished black bass on jigs and we got limit ( 5 per person) within one hour. We tried to jig king salmon for the rest of the day without success.









You don't have to buy ice here.







very rare silvergray rockfish

 

[kilsong]

Thursday
We looked for halibut today. We fished close to the lodge.
The first spot produced 105 lb halibut by Mike using Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch jigging rod. Marshall lost big one again, but he got 94 lb halibut later using 6'8" Black Hole Charter Special Slow Pitch jigging rod.
Capt Mike moved the boat to the west in the afternoon and bites were on. We landed a few keeper king salmon on jigs too.
I don't know how many halibut I released there using ultra light Black Hole Tai Special rod and IRT 500 DD reel.
Everyone was happy.

Mike's 105 lb halibut



my king salmon which took halibut jig.




Marshall's 94 lb halibut


Fred's king salmon


Mike's king salmon



using ultra light Black Hole Tai Special/IRT 500 DD reel




majestic St Elias

 

[cany]

Amazing Kil looks like a great trip

 

[kilsong]

Friday
Today is the final day.
We opted to go offshore for big ling cod and possibly for big halibut.
We landed big ling cod and big yelloweye rockfish, but big halibut eluded us.
We went to halibut ground close to the lodge and had non-stop action of halibut in 10 lb - 40 lb range on small jigs with light tackle.
I used 4 oz diamond jig.
Everyone was happy.

 

[kilsong]

 

[kilsong]

 

[PropellerJohnII]

Wed is non halibut day. You can not target halibut on Wed. We did some sightseeing in the bay and put shrimp traps.
We fished black bass on jigs and we got limit ( 5 per person) within one hour. We tried to jig king salmon for the rest of the day without success.









You don't have to buy ice here.







very rare silvergray rockfish

Oh yeah

 

[WhatKnot]

You’re killing me with those Pics.