‘CUSTOM’ HALIBU JIGGING TIPS TACKLE MAKER, CHARTER SKIPPER TALK FISHING FOR FLATTIES WITH YAKUTAT-BASED WRITER BY RANDALL BONNER
T
ony “Famous” Davis came to Yakutat to fish his jigs in one of Alaska’s premier halibut fisheries. While Dutch Harbor takes the cake for the biggest averages, Yakutat Bay is a close second. And although there are few things that fish better than bait, between Tony’s confidence in his own creations and Capt. Ty Wyatt’s experience as a local charter skipper, I felt assured that we would be loading the boat with plenty of fish. As we exited the harbor, the overcast weather, mild swells and lack of wind were adding up to generate "comfortable" fishing conditions, but didn’t necessarily create the best environment for catching fish. That involves an alignment of tides, currents and wind to create an equation that develops a drift and covers water, rather than just dropping straight down and trying to jig vertically.
ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY in mid-May, we were fishing in roughly 250 feet of water. Our 14-ounce jigs were efficient at reaching bottom quickly, but Tony’s 5- and 10-ounce jigs would have done just as well. Minimal movement factoring into the drift can be challenging for a charter captain. “For an ideal drift, wind, tide and current all move one direction,” says Wyatt. “Opposing elements in that equation can sometimes cause problems, but an opposing tide and current can offset and cancel each other out.” Wyatt also prefers to fish as shallow as
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ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL
AUGUST 2021 | aksportingjournal.com
