Ninilchik Charters — Local services in Alaska

I paid for a Full day halibut fishing trip in homer going out with Ninilchik Charters.

Current Alaska halibut daily limit is at two fish so on an average fishing day if you could not reach your limit within the first thirty minutes upon the fishing ground, you should consider other hobby.

So why did I pay a hefty cost for Full day fishing trip instead of the much cheaper Half day fishing trip which also get one limited out easily?

Because I was hoping that they would take us to better location so maybe we could get the chance to catch some “turkeys”.

A bit halibut fishing Terminology: “Chickens” refers to halibut under 25 pounds and “turkeys” refers to halibut between 30~80 pounds.

These two different size groups Rarely mix so if you find the “chickens” it means it is Very Unlikely you will get “turkeys”.

Much to my surprise, that day the captain took us straight to a small sized halibut school ground where apparently most half day and ¾ day fish boat congregate and never left that small area for the whole day.

We ended up catching small halibut at 10~12 pound range again and again which we have to release due to two fish per day limit.

The tactic of the mate is that they will try to push you keep the first two fish you reel up because once you limited out, they do not have to take care of you any more.

They actually repeatedly asked if I want to keep certain fish even after I have clearly stated that I want it to be released.

Let’s say there are 6 to 8 group of people on board, if they successfully convinced 70% to 80% of the passengers to reach their limit very early with SMALL fish which is also very easy, then the rest of us who wants a slightly larger fish are under pressure to finish up so we do not keep the rest of the boat waiting.

So to sum my experience up, captain of their charter boat Sundy’s plan for our trip was to make sure everyone limited out with SMALL “chickens” in the shortest amount of time so he could get back to the harbor and call it a day.

What a disappointment, this is No better than half day fishing trip with is much cheaper.

BTW, I have seen catches of “Turkey” sized halibut from charter boats returning to Homer and Seward that week and there are quite a few of them so I know these “Turkeys” are around. It's just that the boat of Ninilchik Charters that we took has No intention to try I guess in order to to save time and fuel...

Went on a Multi-Species trip on June 27 with Captain Jon. Boat was full (6) and we left on time.

A few notes about the boat. The cabin is small and pretty crowded with 6 on board and the toilet is a small marine flush type in the very front behind a privacy curtain. There is limited storage for your carry-on items but was enough for the 6 of us with no issues. You need to bring your lunch and water or other drinks because none are provided. You also should bring rain gear (top as a minimum) and consider Frogg Toggs or similar waterproof coverings for your lower half.

The Multi-species trip targets Halibut, Rock Fish and King Salmon (trolling). You could also catch Cod or Ling Cod (if in season).

The weather and tides didn’t cooperate for us to get to the first area Jon wanted to hit for Halibut so he went to another spot. Two of us hit limit (2) and others caught some Cod or Halibut. The weather improved so we went further out for Rock Fish and everybody got some and most hit limit or close to it. Knowing that not everyone had hit Halibut limit, Jon asked if we would like to stay out longer for more Halibut and we agreed. Eventually 4 of us got to Halibut limit and others got one, I believe. It was pretty late by now and Jon offered to take a 45 minute detour to troll for Kings on the way back, but we decided to head directly to the pier.

Captain Jon did a great job for us throughout the charter, setting up rods and assisting those that needed it. He went the extra mile to get as many fish on board as possible. Highly recommend...

The Sundy took my friends and I out, along with 13 other people for an 8 hour halibut trip. When we got to the fishing spot and started catching Halibut, the deck hand started keeping our fish without telling us. One person from our group caught their limit in 15 minutes and was no longer allowed to fish. Then, when I told the deck hands I wanted to keep fishing and not keep small fish, they told us it was about to storm although there were no storms in the forecast and we needed to hurry. So, our group of 17 people caught their "limits" in 3 hours. The best part is when we got back to the dock (at 1pm instead of 4:30pm). The coast guard and federal agents were waiting for us and searched the boat. When the authorities entered the boat the whole attitudes changed of the boat crew. When the Police measured the fish carcasses, checked log books, and licenses, they were not happy! We should have had 17 fish over 28 inches and 17 under 28 inches. We only had 5 fish over 28 inches when we should have had 17! So, the charter lied to us about our fish size and were keeping way too many undersized fish! We got jipped. We paid $400/person and got small fish and a half-day excursion. This charter will take you to a "Chicken Yard" to where you limit out fast. If you're looking for "Barn Doors", this is NOT the charter for you, if they're still in business after the Coast Guard and Federal Police got done with them. They will also tell you to NOT leave a bad review, but this place...