# Alaskan SpineFest......



## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

Haven't had much luck putting salmon in my freezer this summer&#8230;.well, haven't really tried to much&#8230;&#8230;so I figured a half day trip to Seward would net me some silvers (coho). Hooked up with 3 guys visiting from Texas&#8230;.Jimmy, Jimmy and Justin&#8230;yep&#8230;.the 3 "J"s. Turns out they are fishing and hunting guides down in the Texas Republic. Usually this time of year in Seward there are silvers showing up all over the boat harbor but nothing this year. Upon grilling young captain Trent he informed me the city of Seward hadn't been stocking Ressurection Bay for the last 5 years. For the last few decades Seward has yearly stocked millions of coho smolts in the boat harbor to provide a big put and take fishery&#8230;..there are no natural spawning runs nearby so the salmon just return to the boat harbor where they are caught or simply croak and become seal chow. This stocking has provided thousands of salmon for catching but not so this year, so we were forced to seek "feeder" silvers near the mouth of the bay. Feeders are younger salmon at sea&#8230;.well feeding, of course. They won't spawn for another 1 or 2, consequently they are smaller fish.

Anyway to make a short story longer, as I am want to do, we headed out looking for the elusive "feeder" silvers. Our technique of the day was mooching&#8230;.no not, smooching you hormonal perverts. It was a tough day fishing and we only managed to boat 9 silvers for our morning fish&#8230;.I landed only 1 and lost 3 others&#8230;.just call me Farmer John with the hands of stone.

Our fishing area was close to one of the many glaciers around Seward:










My good for nothing wrist was giving me fits (hey, I had to have some sort of excuse as I was outfished by the Jimmies&#8230;..) all day. Right before we headed in I managed to come up with 3 rockfish in a row. It was a new species for me (number 199 on my lifetime species list):










This turns out to be a quillback rockfish, Sebastes maliger, and had I known the back spines have a toxin in them I would not have handled it so cavalierly. Look at them nasty dorsal spines:










It was just after noon so we motored in and filleted the morning catch&#8230;.a nice pic of the Seward boat harbor and the always present cruise boats&#8230;..I believe this one was the Princess Norovirus or something pukey like that (yes&#8230;I know my humor is somewhat lacking&#8230;.I do have a good day job, fortunately):










After a repast of cheese and beefstack&#8230;&#8230;yummy&#8230;..I stopped by Quartz Creek on the way home to fish for a few hours. Tried a different stretch then I normally fish and was rewarded with about 10 or 11 trout over the next 3 plus hours. One of the first was this gorgeous rainbow I actually spotted in the water from the red stripe down his side&#8230;.first drift by him with the bead and he slurped it:



















The rest of the fish caught were all dollies, many were looking rather sporty in their fall spawning colors.










This was one of the last for the day&#8230;..great color:










From there the 2 hour drive home was no fun as I was dog tired from not getting any sleep the night before, at all. But managed to survive with a real sore wrist and two achy, decrepit shoulders&#8230;..and a big smile on my face.

Brian


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Nice job Doc. Congrats on the rockfish..

The best king crab and oysters I've ever eaten was right there in Seward. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Beautiful area too.


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## deadicated1 (Mar 17, 2008)

great report doc!! 199 species???!! thats awesome! man i love those wild rainbows


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Those rockfish are handsome critters...do they have any taste to them?

Nice reports....I sure enjoy 'em! :O||:


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

.45.....rockfish are fantastic eating. There are pretty strict limits on them for that reason and also because they grow slowly. Depending on the type of rockfish they can live anywhere from 30 to over 100 years old.


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

So was that Rockfish older than you? Anyways you make me want to hit AK everytime I see you posted a trip report. Not as funny this time but a great report nonetheless. Loved the pic of the mountain. Makes the climber in me long for AK as well. Didn't ya say you had wrist problems? Well I think we all know why.....you catch fish too much!

Do you live in AK or something?


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## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

I actually think that is a copper rockfish. quillbacks spines are even taller and they are a little less red. but ya, all of them have venom and it will make your hands sore for days if you get a good poke.


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

I was just looking over a bunch of pictures and I believe you are right that it is a copper rockfish not a quillback. Thanks for the correction....

Brian


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## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

Sure thing, I keep a list of species too. I am only in the high 50's though. I worked at a lodge in SE alaska, caught pretty much every type of rockfish there are.


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

Have caught lots of Alaskan fish but not that many rockies....your help was greatly appreciated.....initially I was stuck between the quillback and the copper. I guess, besides the spines, the copper is identified by the lateral line being yellow for the back 2/3 of the body length to the tail....which this fish clearly has. So that still leaves me the quillback to add to the list. Torowy....you might find this amusing but the captain on the charter I was with thought it was a dusky rockfish....not even in the ballpark.

Thanks again....Brian


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## scott_rn (Sep 11, 2007)

Good lookin' fish there Brian, but what happened to its head?

I was supposed to head to whittier in the morning, but I'm working all night. Maybe wednesday if I can talk my wife into ocean fishing instead of the fair :roll: 

Maybe I'll see you on the kenai in the next couple weeks. I gotta get in on the big rainbow action at some point.


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## scott_rn (Sep 11, 2007)

Tye dye twins, rock climbing in Alaska ain't that great. Mountaineering and ice climbing are, but rock climbing in Utah is way better.


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

scott....drop me an email at home....got a spot open on a drift boat this Friday for upper Kenai....already paid for

[email protected]


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