We let the 12 ounce chrome jigs down and immediately hooked into the largest lingcod I have ever seen. My rod doubled over and I knew I was into the fish that I had come to Alaska to catch.  

Within a few minutes the giant lingcod was beside the boat. Steve lifted it on board, removed the hook and we quickly took some pictures, since we knew that it was way over the 36 inch slot limit and had to go back.

For the next hour and half, we caught lingcod up to 40 lbs. and beautiful golden eye rockfish up to 15 lbs. We each finally had one keeper lingcod (30" to 36") and one goldeneye in the box.

The skipper then headed to a different spot to spend the rest of the day in pursuit of halibut. All four of us caught halibut with my fishing partner, Dennis, catching the biggest one at 78 pounds.

Now I know that most people go to Alaska for the fabulous salmon fishing, but Dennis Kilkenny and I had decided the year before to go on a trip specifically to target giant lingcod. I yearned to catch and release a 50 lb. ling.  

Our trip to Sea Otter Sound Lodge started earlier in the week when Dennis and I met the other 14 guests (one group!) who were on their way to the lodge. It turned out that the group was also from Northern California and some of them had been coming to the lodge for 18 years. We were there at the end of the season, the last week in August, a great time for silver salmon, halibut and ling cod.

The lodge is owned and operated by Tim and Murtie Comer. We met them at the ISE Show in Sacramento last January and were impressed by the great-looking lodge, beautiful sheltered waters to fish in Sea Otter Sound, and the friendly, warm personalities of our hosts.

Five float planes flew the group and all our luggage from Ketichan into the floating lodge on Sunday morning. We were quickly settled into our rooms and within the hour we were heading out to fish. The lodge provided all the gear we needed including excellent rain gear (We needed it - Yes - it rains a lot in Alaska).

The fleet of 18 foot, heavy duty Jet Craft Blue Water boats were each powered by 60 HP Mercury 4 stroke outboards. Since Dennis and I were new to the lodge, the guide (Captain Steve) went out with us on the first day.

The clouds cleared off and we spent a great afternoon while Steve showed us the different areas and techniques to use. We first trolled hochies and flashers for salmon and quickly got into fish.  

The first few were smaller pink salmon (great halibut bait) and finally Dennis had on our first silver salmon. There is nothing like the acrobatic fight a silver gives you. He finally brought the 8 lb. fish to the net and put the it in the box.

After we had caught several other silvers, Steve said we needed to try some other spots. He brought us over a rocky ledge close to shore, a secret rock cod spot. We jigged River2Sea 4 ½ oz. knife jigs on light weight outfits we had brought along.

We were quickly into one fish after another, including black rockfish up to 5 lbs that put up a great fight. I caught a nice 5 lb goldeneye right before Dennis hooked into a 36" lingcod.

I then lost another keeper ling at the boat. After an hour we had at least 5 species of rockfish up to 20 lbs. Steve suggested we go back to trolling for a while and then check out some of the halibut holes we would fish during our 5 days at the lodge.

Our first dinner was just a sample of the incredible meals prepared by Murtie and her crew that we would enjoy all week. Murtie will even give you some of her amazing fish recipes if you ask.

Some weather moved in for the next several days, which kept us focused on the silver salmon inside the Sound. We limited out, 6 fish each, on one day and caught near-limits on the other two.

Our decision to come to Sea Otter Sound Lodge for the sheltered water it offers really paid off. You can hit wet and windy weather anytime of the year in Alaska that can keep you off of the open ocean. In spite of the weather we incurred, we enjoyed 10 hours a day of steady fishing inside the sound.

Some of the guests put in their time targeting halibut and were rewarded with fish up to 115 lbs. The biggest one was caught a short 15 minute boat ride from the lodge.

I didn't get the 50 lb. lingcod I set out to catch, but the 40 lb. lings were close! I guess that means that I will have to schedule another trip to Sea Otter Sound Lodge in the near future.