Fishing in Southeastern Alaska

Gustavus is a small place (by any standards) and served as our home base.  It is a short flight from Juneau and only accessible via water or air transportation. No banks, no shopping. No need for a rental car, just hip boots, deck boots, fishing rods, and rain gear.

 The Annie May Lodge was fun - great food, wonderful people, beautiful scenery along a tidal river. No phones, no TV, and spotty satellite Internet access. The staff and other guests helped us celebrate Eric's birthday at dinner one night! We really enjoyed it.

Everyday we got up early, ate a hardy breakfast, were delivered to the dock (with lunch for a small army) and spent about 10 hours on the boat. Back to a dry room, hot shower, and gourmet dinner. Conversations about the day's events with other guests were always interesting.

Most people choose to see coastal Alaska from large cruise ships which make it easy to combine sight seeing, luxury accommodations, good food, and socialization all in one easy package. We chose to seriously fish and only sight see from the deck of a smaller vessel. It was really special to have the boat all to ourselves. Captain "Bud" Rosenbruch really was "our new best friend" (thank you Stan for the recommendation!). It rained everyday - cloudy and cold - often foggy. So glad I packed my long underwear - wore it all week.

 None of us will ever forget fishing in the fog while listening to Humpback whales talk to each other and loudly blow jets of water like geysers, as we hauled in halibut and salmon. We caught so many fish that we were exhausted by the end of day.

Sleeping on board the AK Hunter next to a glacier, listening to ice falling all night, was really unique. The boys slept on deck in sleeping bags, waking to find us floating in a field of ice with eagles and other birds sitting on the larger pieces riding them in and out the fog.

Fishing Slide Show
Fishing for us will never be the same. Future trips will be compared to this experience. We all caught amazing fish, in the most beautiful pristine wilderness areas, and spent wonderful time together as a family. As a bonus, Captain Bud's young sons joined us for two days. Thanks for sharing - fishing is so much more fun with children! For our fishing videos, go to channel shoffmann54 at youtube.com.

 This was Dad's trip. He helped me plan it. He wanted us to experience the fishing and scenic beauty of his early life. We are forever blessed! Thanks, Dad.