Hoonah – Crabs and Halibut

We left Glacier Bay in the fog this morning to make the 30 mile crossing of Icy Strait to Hoonah. It was a glassy calm morning and along the way we saw a bunch of fishing boats anchored in the Strait, presumably fishing for Halibut.

We arrived in the Harbor, which is amazingly well protected with huge rock breakwaters all around, and got moorage at the transient dock – no power, no potable water (but cheap). I heard there was good crabbing in Hoonah, so I asked the Harbor master about it. He said right around behind the breakwater in 20(!) feet of water. So I went over and dropped a pot – there were plenty of others in the area so I assumed it was pretty good.

I decided to check the pot after dinner, since my limit is three per day. Here is what I saw when I pulled it up after a three hour soak.

I didn’t count carefully, but I think there were 8-10 males in there and probably half of keeper size (6.5″). I took the three biggest, released the rest and re-baited the pot. Hoping for more of the same tomorrow!

We also saw some local fishermen come in with a huge haul of Halibut, probably 8-10 of various sizes. The largest must have been 5 ft long and weighed who knows how much… must have been 100+ lbs. Here is a photo of the two big ones. Too bad there is nothing to give a sense of scale.

Barn door Halibut.

Update:

Gwen bought a Fishing License and we pulled up six more (the limit for two licenses) this morning.

We love Hoonah! And not just for the crabbing… the local restaurant, the Fisherman’s Daughter, is outstanding!