Fishing
There is no better place to fish for both King Salmon and Big Halibut!
Here at Apex Lodge, Halibut and Salmon are our bread and butter. And we are very fortunate be located in an area that not only has incredible fishing for both, but has the regulatory areas to be able to take full advantage of our great fishing.
Halibut
Being very close to the 3A and 2C Halibut regulatory boundary. We have the permits and are able to fish both areas. Depending on the weather and closures one or the other might have of course.
In 3A, you are able to take halibut of any size. But there are certain days of the week that 3A is closed to Halibut fishing. This includes areas like Seward, Homer, Yakutat, and most of Kodiak.
2C on the other hand has strict size regulations placed on halibut you can retain with us. Previous years being under 38 or over 80 inches. But there are never any closures on Halibut fishing. In addition, we take part in the GAF program that allows you to purchase a tag to take a halibut of any size if pull up a trophy size fish.
King and Coho Salmon
Being located on the outer coast, most of the King salmon you catch are not going to rivers or streams that are located nearby. But the outer coast of Yakobi Island is a major stopping point for them to feed on their migration south. This means that we can effectively target King Salmon throughout the season, not just a small window of time. Their size averages about the same size throughout the season.
In recent years, there have also been complete closures for King Salmon fishing on the inside waters. Places like Juneau or Ketchikan in particular. But with our location on the outer coast, we are usually not part of those shutdowns.
Cohos usually start coming in thick in July, sometimes mid-June, and will stay through the season. Limits have been historically 6 per person. Come August, they really start getting big!
Processing
After you land your catch, we take great care and pride in how we handle it throughout the process to be sure you bring home the highest possible quality of fish.
Halibut, after landing, are immediately bled and placed into a large flushing hold located in the boat.
With Salmon and Black Cod, they are first bled and placed into a live well. From there, they are then gutted, pressure bled, and put into a salt water ice slurry.
After reaching the dock, and pictures are taken, all the fish are filleted at our cutting station located right there. Everything besides salmon are skinned as well, then bagged, placed on ice and brought up to our processing center at the lodge.
There it is cleaned, without water, portioned into 3/4- 1 1/4 lb pieces. Placed into high quality, 5mm, high Mylar content vacuum seal bags which don't get brittle at low temperatures. Then put onto racks to be flash frozen.
The next day, your fish is then taken and placed into a wax lined box with an insulated liner, banded and is then ready for you to take home!
In addition, every piece of fish has a label placed on it to identify what it is.
