New Member

[cfjunior]

I don't know how to start this so I will just get to the highlights. I am currently deployed to Afghanistan, third time since 9/11. No big deal, some guys and girls have more than that, month wise, close to 36 though. Outside of deployments, I am currently stationed in Alaska, some of the best and worst fishing you can do. For the east coasters, unlimited bag limit for flounder. Yea, game on, its at the Spit in Homer.
Reading the reports from here, yes, no fishing here, though when I flew over some of these parts in '03, the lakes in the mountains were beautiful and if there weren't rounds being fired, I would like to go out and try and fish them, sometime way in the future. But for now, I am living my fishing through those of you out there having your fun. Currently I am a subscriber to a few online mags and then of course, Coastal Fisherman.
I just want to wish everyone safe waters, safe fishing, and of course, enjoy and have fun. Just remember catch or no catch, you are doing something I can only dream about right now.

Take Care,
Chuckie

[Sam]

[cfjunior]

Well Sam, mostly the only fishing I have done was off the shore line. In Anchorage there are a few spots that have large King Salmon runs, though last year and now apparently this year there are slow returns. Many of the rivers are doing emergency closings to try and save what kings do come in. Red or coho salmon always have a good run, especially combat fishing on the Kenai. My wife has had some luck while I was in Iraq, she went on a charter and pulled in a few silvers.
Surf fishing in Homer, AK so far has been the better of the fishing for me and my wife. We bothe enjoy flounder and halibut. The pictures on my post are those of the fishing in Homer. When the tide is lower on the pillars, you can catch some fairly large halibut off the shore. Not as big as the 100+ that they have been catching already this year. The bad thing are the limits due to commerical fishing which take away from everything that we enjoy about fishing and having a good time.
Well the best for me was actually late in the fishing season, at least in AK, it was the first two weekends in September. We ended up catching, two baby halibut from the surf, and about 65 flounder the first weekend, and 68 the second weekend. My wife is still perfecting her flounder skillets skills so when I get home from here we will be right back out there. Oh and I can honestly say, I caught about 100 starfish. Yes, if you look at the pictures closely, you will see little bluish/purple starfish. Those things were what wore me down. All the fish we caught on were on flounder stomach as bait. It worked very well and we were also able to catch some ling cod and irish lords. All great fun, but the starfish by far gave a stronger fight. I also caught a dungeoness crab caught up on some fishing line. All in all, Alaska fishing is what you make of it, it can be long boring days, yes some days offer large rewards.

[Steve]

Chuckie,
Thank you for your service, keep everyone safe over there.
Welcome to the board, you'll be reading about the Sharking
on the east coast within a week or two.

[Clearin' Waves]

Thank you for your service, and everyone over there. I have some very close friends serving over there right now. I hope for a safe return for all of you. You will be back fishing in no time.

[tomw00]

well since your not here maybe you want to hear some fish stories from hear i know i would.
went out saturday the 20th from oc md about 20 - 30 miles to the fingers and set up a drift with chum.
after about 2 hrs we saw our first fin come out of the water. It was a small blue shark cruising around a surface bait we had set out. We also noticed a 7 footer decided to come up to the boat and sniff our chum bucket.
i posted some pictures in the gallery you can check them out if you like.
we ended catching about 8 or 10 of them before we said enough is enough. Nothing but blue sharks that time we will try again in a couple weeks.
see ya.

[ffemtreed]

welcome to the site!

[Coop]

Welcome...and THANK YOU for serving this great country!!! and welcome to the site!!

[cfjunior]

Well I appreciate the feedback and support. Yes until I am in OC in September, I have to live the dream through reading everyone elses experience. I actually just downloaded the new Coastal Fisherman and I am hoping to find out what is hot and what is not. I do know that when I am at the beach, I am planning on a day in the bay fishing for flounder, so if I catch any, I will take a picture and give it away. I have no way of keeping it fresh. I also plan to do some surf fishing and either catch and release or giving it away. The only thing I hope for is a shark. I do appreciate Tom's feedback on his sharking. I do hope to have that opportunity either in OC or when I get back to Alaska. Them Salmon sharks can get pretty big as well. Plus I want a decent size halibut or a boat load of flounder from the rock shores there. Again, I wish everyone safe calm waters and the best of luck when wetting your hooks.

[Randy Stinchcomb]

Welcome Aboard Atlantic Anglers we Welcome your safe return to the States and Thank You and ALL the "Troops" protecting our Freedoms

[Carrie]

It sounds like there are a lot of awesome places to fish. Glad to have you on the site. Thank you for your sacrifices.

Side note: When you read the Coastal Fisherman, look for Sam's column, Past the Breakers.