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ADVENTURE SPORTS OUTDOORS “The Voice of the American Sportsman”
THOSE FASCINATING FISH OF ALASKA By ‘Bobber’ Anne
Startled by the heavy ‘whooshing’ of water behind us, Dan Gapen, Sr. and I turned just in time to see a huge fish tail slip below the surface. It occurred a mere 30 feet away. The Humpback whale, one of several in a pod, had snuck up on us; now they surrounded our boat underwater as they passed by. Moments after their passage Dan’s rod tip arched heavily toward water surface. Something big and heavy had taken his oneounce Ugly Bug Jig®. “Dan, that’s no Rockfish,” commented Dan our guide from Pybus Point Lodge on Admiralty Island, Alaska. “It’s probably a Halibut--they often take
smaller jigs my guests use when fishing for Rockfish and Lingcod.” The heavy pressure continued on my partner’s rod as line peeled off his reel. With reel drag set at 30 pounds with 40-pound Kevlar line, line still went out! Finally, it slowed to a stop. It must have reached bottom. Our guide now moved the boat directly over the stubborn fish. Electronics showed a depth of 120 feet. Dan’s fish had been hooked on the edge of a hump that rested 50 feet below surface. The hump’s top was a flat plateau holding dozens of Rockfish and Lingcod. Dan’s presentation must have slipped off the flat and down the slope where it had come in contact with a big predator
January 2018
Pybus Point Resort and it’s beautiful surroundings probably heading up to feed on the cod or Rockfish. When directly over the heavy adversary, Dan employed an odd trick sometimes used to move a huge stubborn Lake Trout off bottom. He lifted the rod into a deep arch, the beat repeatedly on the rod’s butt. That did it! Below, the big fish sped off sideways, then upward. After that it was just give, and take---the fish ran, he reeled in what he could. Again, he beat on the rod butt which made everything The 2 Dan’s, myself with a couple of little guys repeat itself. After a while
The Ol’ Man Dan with his 26-pound Yelloweye Rockfish
