How i became a fishing charter captain inhomer,ak
Fishing in Alaska has been a dream of mine ever since I can remember. I grew up in Maine and learned my water activities (boating, swimming, fishing, etc.) on a small lake outside of Lincoln, ME. In Maine we call cabins “camps” and our family camp was the biggest contributing factor to the direction of my life and future career.
Eventually I was accepted to the University of Idaho where I focused my studies on Outdoor Recreation and Tourism. I had a good friend who spent his summers in Bristol Bay Alaska, commercial fishing sockeye salmon. He would return to school with remarkable and fantastic stories of his fishing adventures. I was fascinated with the heroic stories of braving the Alaskan weather, the determination of long work hours and the bountiful reward at the end of a tough season.
I made up my mind and after studying all of the “Deadliest Catch” episodes I was ready to go fishing! I retired my textbooks and bought a pair of Xtra Tuffs boots and Grundens bibs. My first experience fishing in Alaska was on a Long-Liner targeting pacific cod and pollock, headed to the Bering Sea from Seattle.
My initial season commercial fishing was an awakening experience. I thought that I had prepared enough for what was to come. The reality is there is no preparation for the men and women choose to become greenhorns without ocean experience. But, as with everyone who sticks with it, I grew accustomed to the life-style and made a little money in the process.
At this time I had also been working for a hunting outfit in Idaho during the fishing off-seasons. This was a period of time in between fishing and hunting season when I was visiting my family in Troy, Oregon. Troy is a town in Eastern Oregon with a population of about 40 people. The impressiveness of Troy is the Grande Ronde River whice runs though the single general-store town. If your an avid steelhead fisherman in the Northwest, you have probably heard of Troy.
One morning, while my brother and I were fishing on the river, we met a steelhead guide named Bob Murphy. During our conversation he mentioned he worked for a halibut-fishing charter company in Ninilchik, Alaska. He also mentioned the company was looking for a couple of deckhands for the upcoming season. A couple of weeks later Zac and I had our bags packed and we started our first, but not our last, road trip through Canada up to Alaska.
Charter fishing for halibut was a dream job. I met interesting people, my boss was extremely knowledgeable and instrumental and I got to teach people how to fish everyday! With his guidance it was at the end of my second summer when he offered me a job as a captain on one of his four boats.
I worked for this company for 10 years. I rose through the ranks to “senior captain” and took on the responsibilities of keeping the operation running smoothly, training new employees and, of coarse, showing customers a great day on the water. Realizing I had reached the furthest tier of success working for “the man”, I decided to buy a boat of my own and hunt down a 3A Charter Halibut Permit.
The time before my first season on my own was extremely daunting. Would I have enough money to stay in business? What if people didn’t book with me? Is my boat going to break down half way through the season? All questions in the realm of worry to all new business owners. Luckily my reputation on the water led me to hook up with a very prominent charter company in the area. I was offered their “overflow” and “sub-contract” customers. I will say, my first couple of seasons on my own was a success and I’m hopeful for the good fortune to continue!
I am now doing what I love to do, I can say that I’m good at what I do and taking people on their trip-of-a-lifetime is an extremely fulfilling and rewarding occupation.
If anybody has any questions about my journey or if you have a dream to be a fishing charter captain in Alaska yourself, please feel free to reach out! hgcfish@gmail.com
Cheers :)
