sitka | Summer in Sitka

I now remember exactly why I decided to come back to Sitka this summer. This place is unbeatable. I am so fortunate to have this opportunity again. What we do along with the amazing scenery makes 90 hour weeks fun. Derek has had a rough few weeks between getting over sea sickness, and more recently salmon poisoning and infection putting him off the water for a few days. However, he is pushing through just fine and will turn out to be a great deckhand. The first month is always tough as there is a lot of pressure on you. There are so many situations that you are required to know exactly what to do and there is so much information to pick up on. We have been blessed with phenomenal weather and I have already seen the sun more this year than last. A group cancelled on my boat and my schedule opened up for 3 days. The last few days have been INCREDIBLE. Some of the best days of my life. They wouldn’t have been nearly as fun as they were if they weren’t spent with some of the greatest people. On Sunday I went fun fishing with a boat of Angling Unlimited crew members and we limited on kings and halibut on a beautiful day. The following day we decided to take a day hike up to the summit of Mt Edgecumbe. So we grabbed our bear protection (.460 mag and a 12 gauge), left the docks at 4:30 am and boated out to Kruzof island. From there we took a skiff to land on the volcanic black sandy beach and began our 14 mile hike up and down the dormant volcano. The view was amazing until we got into the clouds and crazy wind at the peak. It’s pretty awesome to now look at the 3,202 foot monument of Sitka and know that you have taken it on and climbed to the summit. Loving life up here

Sitka, Alaska sits in the Sitka sound which connects to the gulf of Alaska where we take our clients to fish. Geographically, Sitka is a temperate rainforest and consists of 3 islands, (Archipelago, Baranof, and Chicagoff) making up the largest square mileage of any other town in the US of A. Baranoff island is almost the size of Delaware and the one island alone is said to hold more brown and grizzly bears than all of the lower 48 states combined. The town sits in Southeast Alaska not too far South from the state capital, Juneau, and just west off of mainland British Columbia. There is a strong and very present Russian culture that has influenced the town to this day as Sitka was the capital of Russian America. During world war 2, Sitka was a strong point to hold and concrete bunkers, cranes and many other items left behind from the war remain on islands through the sound. Sitka’s number 1 commodity? You guessed it, fish. For a good reason! It remains to be number 1 catch rate for salt water King Salmon where the “catch rate” is defined as the length of time your line is in the water before you hook a fish. The town’s population is said to triple in the summer because of fishing. Sitka has the largest fleet of smallcraft fishing boats in the whole state. The town is built on fishing and that’s very apparent immediately upon arriving in the town. Apart from the phenomenal angling it provides, the little town has much, much more to offer. It was named #9 in the top 20 small towns to visit by Smithsonian. Beautiful Mt Edgecumbe (picture connected) is the only dormant volcano in all of southeast Alaska. Many hiking trails are located everywhere around the town providing breathtaking views and unmatched natural beauty of untouched forests and ancient trees that you couldn’t put your arms around if you joined hands with 10 people. Waterfalls fueled by consistent melt from snow-capped mountains flow all year round. Wildlife is seen everywhere you go. Bald eagles are so abundant that they become pests on the dock. Between the unmatched fishing, natural beauty, originality, and rich culture it is no wonder many people’s hearts remain in Sitka, Alaska, the “small drinking town with a fishing problem.” There is simply no comparable place in the world.