Berkley Alaska Grand Slam Tournament
Arrive May 12, fish May 13, 14, 15, depart May 16, 2007
Thousands of dollars in prizes will be awarded - no entry fee!

Kingfisher Charters is pleased to announce the 7th Annual Berkley Alaska Grand Slam Tournament at Kingfisher Lodge in Sitka, Alaska. Join host Ronnie Kovach, of Fishing Expeditions Television, for 3 days of fishing for giant halibut, trophy king salmon, and voracious lingcod and rockfish.

Your 3 day / 4 night Alaska fishing charter package is $1795, and includes:

Fully guided Alaska fishing charterfor 3 days (10 hours per day with a max of 4 per boat)
4 nights lodging at the first class Kingfisher Lodge
All meals, snacks, and soft drinks
Fish cleaning, vacuum packing, freezing, and boxing of your catch
Fishing license and King Salmon stamp
All fishing gear, bait, tackle, rain gear
Airport transfers and transportation in Sitka

For more information on the Berkley Alaska Grand Slam Tournament, and for reservations, please contact Kingfisher Charters at (800) 727-6136.

Prices are based on double occupancy. A $500 per person deposit is required to confirm reservations. This deposit is refundable until 120 days prior to scheduled trip, after which it will be refunded only if we are able to re-book the space. Alaska Airlines flies directly into Sitka. Call (800) 426-0333 for flight information.

Re-cap of 2006 BERKLEY ALASKA
GRAND SLAM TOURNAMENT

BERKLEY ALASKA GRAND SLAM TOURNAMENT

By Steve Carson

May 2006

Anglers hammer big fish in Berkley " Alaska Grand Slam Tournament"

Mid-May saw the 6th annual Berkley Alaska Grand Slam Tournament take place at host location Kingfisher Lodge in Sitka . Outstanding catches of king salmon, giant Pacific halibut, monster lingcod and tasty rockfish were on tap for virtually every angler who ventured out for the three-day contest.

Competitors were awarded one point per pound for their largest individual daily catch of each species, and received a bonus of 50 points for scoring a "Grand Slam" of all four species in a single day.

The Master of Ceremonies was celebrity angler Ronnie Kovach, who brought along award-winning videographer Danny Jackson to film the event for Kovach's TV show on Fox Sports West. This writer served as Tournament Director.

Impressive catches

Individual catches were impressive, with Halibut Division winner Michael Smith of Santa Cruz nailing the largest halibut at a massive 196 pounds. "We had soaked the baits only 15 minutes when the big one hit", related Smith. "I knew it was big, because I had caught a 97-pounder the day before. It fought for 40 minutes, and ran all the way back to the bottom three times."

Smith backed that up with 97 and 64-pounders. Second-place winner in both the Halibut and Overall Divisions was Terry Lakely of Santa Cruz , who tallied barndoors weighing 97, 155 and 103 pounds on the three successive tournament days.

Perhaps even more amazing was the gigantic 76-pound lingcod hooked by Lingcod Division winner Jim Ledgerwood of Chico . The huge ling may have equaled the current listed IGFA world record for the species, but had to be released due to this part of Alaska 's "slot limit" that allows retention of lingcod only between 30 and 40 inches long.

"The big ling gave a great fight", reported Ledgerwood. "It looked like a prehistoric sea monster breaking the surface."

Ledgerwood added: "This was my fourth or fifth time up to Kingfisher Lodge; they always have outstanding fishing and service. To top it off, I brought back more than 100 pounds of prime salmon and halibut fillets."

Overall winner Eric Dunnick of San Diego was the model of consistency, by scoring a "Grand Slam" all three days, and topping his catches with 141-pound halibut, 45-pound lingcod and 20-pound king salmon. "You can't beat fishing like that!" quipped Dunnick.

Productive techniques

Lingcod were best in 140 to 180 feet of water at Sitka Point, with by far the top producer being a 7-ounce blue/chrome Deep Stinger jig tipped with a glow-color 6-inch Berkley Power Grub. Getting jigs down quickly on 50-pound test Spiderwire Stealth superbraid line allowed the lings to be fished on relatively light baitcasting tackle.

My own astounding lingcod experience occurred when a monstrous lingcod attacked a hooked 15-pound yelloweye rockfish right at the boat. The toothy critter chomped down hard on the hapless rockfish, then blew air and water noisily out of its' gills while going into a death spin, just like the big Nile crocodiles on the Discovery Channel.

While this was happening, Captain Paul Ipock of the boat Titan bravely took the opportunity to "noodle" [grab bare-handed] the lingcod right onto the boat! Ipock showed off the surprised 60-plus pounder for a few photos before releasing it back to the depths.

The halibut were hanging out at the 280 to 480-foot level off Cape Edgecumb . Most were caught on large salmon-head baits, but some were also fooled by 8-inch Berkley Power Grubs on a 12-ounce leadhead. Almost all halibut fishing was done with 80-pound test Big Game Braid on two-speed reels for the flatties, mindful of the fact that numerous 300-pounders are caught here each season.

Most of the 15 to 25-pound king salmon were caught via downrigger-trolled hoochies trailing behind a chrome Abe-N-Al flasher. Some salmon were also taken on plug-cut herring and fishing green/chrome 4-ounce Deep Stinger jigs "doink" style. Hottest area for salmon was at 110 to 130-feet near Vitzcarrie Rocks.

Conservation minded

In the lingcod category, the 30 to 40-inch "slot" means that all lingcod under approximately 11 pounds and over 25 pounds must be released. Lingcod do not have a swim bladder, and with gentle handling can easily be released successfully.

The state of Alaska has created "length-weight tables" which give the average weight of lingcod and Pacific halibut. For all lingcod and halibut caught during the tournament, the official weigh slip indicated the length of the fish only. The angler was then credited the weight shown on the tables for that size fish.

Anglers were not required to release their big halibut, but it is generally acknowledged that the best food quality is derived from halibut under 75 pounds [sometimes referred to as 'chicken halibut' in Alaska ]. Tournament anglers had the option of releasing their largest [and highest scoring] fish, and could still keep a two-fish daily limit of average-size halibut for transportation back to the lower 48.

Historically, a high percentage of oversize halibut have been released by tournament competitors, including a 349-pounder in 2001.

Home base

As always, the staff at Kingfisher Lodge performed flawlessly. Affable owner Seth Bone, along with lodge manager David Russell and fleet manager Robert Suarez kept things running smoothly. The food, accommodations and the Kingfisher Charters fleet of expert skippers were nothing less than 5-star. All the fish were beautifully filleted, flash frozen and packed in insulated boxes for transport home.

Veteran angler Tim Medina of Santa Cruz [4th place Overall] summed it up with: "The whole experience was more than I expected. The techniques are similar to what we use at home, and jigging for lingcod is the bomb. The lodge and food are 5-Star. All my expectations were satisfied."

Sponsors included Berkley , Fenwick, Abu-Garcia, Albackore, Stren, Costa Del Mar, Magellan, Luhr Jensen, Owner Hooks, Flambeau and Kingfisher Lodge. Top finisher Dunnick won a return trip to Kingfisher Lodge, while the other winners won great prizes like Fenwick rods, Abu-Garcia reels, Berkley , Spiderwire and Stren line, Magellan GPS units, Costa Del Mar sunglasses and Albackore tackle backpacks.

Big numbers

Tournament statistics included 78 "Grand Slams", with 8 anglers managing to achieve that goal all three days. Some 44 halibut over 75 pounds were landed, including 16 over 100 pounds. A total of 28 lingcod over 40 pounds were hooked, including 9 over 50 pounds. The largest halibut went 196 pounds, the largest lingcod 76 pounds and the heaviest king salmon was 25 pounds. For more information on the 2007 Alaska Grand Slams, contact Kingfisher Lodge at 800-727-6136.

HALIBUT DIVISION:

1.Michael Smith- 357 points
2. Terry Lakely- 355

SALMON DIVISION:

1. John Melton- 60 points
2. Fred Ragland- 59

LINGCOD DIVISION:

1. Jim Ledgerwood- 118 points
2. Joe DeLaTorre- 109

ROCKFISH DIVISION:

1. Tim Medina- 30 points [by tiebreaker]
2. Eric Dunnick- 30 [by tiebreaker]

2005 Tournament winner Zach Branch from
Monrovia, CA with his 376 pound halibut. 

Final Standings