By Carlos Gaudier- Team No Bananas

Friday August 12th finally arrived and Team No Bananas was eagerly awaiting our flight to Alaska to join Pete Gray, Harold Davis and Rock cod Team No Bananas Beary good timesRick Maxa for the 5th Annual Let’s Talk Hook/Davis Boats Whaler’s Cove Lodge Alaskan Adventure.  As we were walking to our gate, my brother Manny spotted the coolest looking Alaskan Airline’s plane.  This plane was beautifully painted as a salmon >}}}:o)>!  I guess it was a sign of good things to come.

Our bunch has been going up to Whaler’s Cove for the past 4 years now and this was definitely one of our better trips.  We each brought home 120 pounds of great quality fish.  My doctor told me that I needed increase Omega-3’s in my diet and so this trip was just what the doctor ordered.  We had limits of halibut each day, 1 per person per day.  There is also a slot limit for the guided boats and so we could not take any halibut measuring over 43 inches up to 80 inches.  Most of ours ranged from 38 to 42.  There were no barn doors brought up during our stay, but there were some decent ones caught and released.  Judy released a nice 47 incher and Diane from San Diego caught and released the biggest halibut for our group at 51.5 inches which won her a 2 for 1 deal for a future trip back to Whaler’s Cove.  We came at the right time for the salmon as the big Coho, aka Silver Salmon, started to come in.  We boated 13, 21, and then 24 salmon for our three daysquality and quantity day 3 haul of fishing.  The Coho limit is 6 per person per day and we had 4 fishing on our boat.  Although we only limited on salmon on our last day, the size and quality of the Coho was really good.  They were definitely on the plump side weighing in between 8-15.5 pounds.  My brother Manny caught one of the biggest on our trip at 15.5 lbs.  We really had fun with the salmon fishing, especially when the action heated up with the double hook ups.  Normally our Captain Kevin would net the fish as they got close to the boat, but we all got into the action as well.  We dubbed it NetanYahoo fishing, not to be mistaken for the Israeli prime minister.  As we netted our catch we would yell out Yahoo!  We also brought in a few rockfish and pacific cod.  Not bad for only 3 days on the water.

Every time we go to Whaler’s cove something cool and unique always seems to happen.  This year proved to be no different.  Wmannys big cohohile in the cod grounds Rick was using a flat fall jig and caught a nice Coho on the descent.  While we were using sabiki rigs to catch herring, I hooked up on something big.  As I carefully reeled it in I noticed it was another good sized Coho which ended up wrapping itself around most of the hooks of the sabiki rig.  I lassoed the darn fish.  While we were trolling for salmon, Drew hooked up on something big as well.  It definitely fought harder than a Coho and he eventually landed a legal sized halibut, approx. 38 inches.   Another gentleman told us at dinner that he caught a 30 inch King Salmon on a sabiki rig as well.  With the wide variety of species up there you just don’t know what you may catch at any time.  It’s no fluke that Whaler’s Cove has a phenomenal fishery.

This year there was a 3, 4,or 7 day trip which gave our groups several options.  I believe this will be the same for next year.  Team No Bananas has already made our reservations for next year and the spots are filling up fast.  Alaska is a definite bucket list destination and Whaler’s Cove is definitely a great place to visit in order to cross it off your list.  Thanks to Pete, Rick and Harold for sponsoring this wonderful adventure.  Thanks as well to the Powers family and their wonderful staff for their gracious hospitality.  Cheers to fun times, good fishing and great friends!