Happiness Comes on Fetha Styx

We have more photo submissions from pleased Fetha Styx customers putting their rods to the test. This latest batch comes from Alaska. Enjoy! Read more »

Fetha Styx Employee Kim Fishing Alaska

Here’s a brief fishing report and photos from Kim‘s trip to Alaska. She says the 934 downrigger from our CCA Series has been awesome up there! Read more »

Hawg Quest catching HUGE salmon in Kodiak Island, Alaska

After traveling to the far reaches of salmon travel in Kodiak Island, Alaska to the famed Keani river — we were filming for an upcoming episode of Hawg Quest trying to catch that elusive 100lb king salmon — we realized that the best fishing is really right here on the Snohomish river system. As hard as that is to believe, we struggled to get fish in some of the the best salmon waters in the world.  All the while Bonner is sending me pix of steelhead and king limits almost everyday right here in Washington. We will be right here on the Snohomish system for the next month or so with the fishing only going to get better and better. If you want to go after some truly special fishing, give me a call and don’t miss out.

Tall Tails Guide Service

60-pound King Salmon Caught in Kodiak, Alaska

Glenn Hall caught this 60lb king salmon a week ago in Kodiak, AK on Fetha Styx new downrigger rod, the FS-DRP 934-2 which is 9ft 3in and rated 8-18lbs. Read more »

Fetha Styx and Kurt Ferse Back in Southeast Alaska for 2010!

Fetha Styx and Kurt Ferse are teaming up again for the summer season in Southeast AK. After a seemingly endless winter of tying leaders and staring at charts, I will soon be back on boat #16 with Waterfall Resort, fishing off the coast of Prince of Whales Island. Guests will get to fish some of Fetha Styx finest saltwater rods this summer for both salmon and bottom fish.

Salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska means mooching. There is simply no more efficient or exciting way to fish in these often shallow waters. Multiple species can be targeted simultaneously and if a school of salmon swims through, be prepared for some seriously chaotic and fun action with numerous fish jumping on at all depths and fisherman doing the dance around the boat. One of the thrills of being a guide in Alaska is choreographing guests around the boat as uncooperative fish head in all directions. Fetha Styx has really perfected the rod for this fishery. The Pro Series have the perfect balance of sensitivity and power. The only negative I have encountered is that it has made the rest of my rods obsolete! And of course it can handle anything that decides to bite. Part of the thrill of fishing in SE Alaska is the very serious possibility that your next bite is going to be a monster. You can read some of the exciting tales from 2009, including landing a 267 lb. halibut on a Fetha Styx Alaska Pro Series rod in the archived blogs to see what I am getting at.

Excitement for the summer season has been building since the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the 2010 abundance index for Kings is a big improvement over past seasons. With the addition of the now mature Kings introduced from the Klawock hatchery, this summer is shaping up to be an epic season. (Check out this King from last summer! -Ed.)

The halibut fishing has really been hot the last couple of summers as the big guys have moved in chasing the extraordinary number of silvers that returned to the waters off Prince of Whales Island. 2009 saw an incredible resurgence in big halibut (100+ lb). Four of these monsters past the 250 lb mark on the scales last summer! Big smiles and sore backs abounded.

Contact me at kurtferse@gmail.com if you would like to get more information on fishing with me at Waterfall Resort. I can’t wait to get a hold of a few monsters on the new Fetha Styx!

King Salmon with Kurt Ferse in Southeast Alaska

This hog king salmon was caught at the world famous Pineapple Rock off the coast of Southeast Alaska while fishing with Waterfall Resort. We had just landed a nice silver and re-baited the line for another drop. Aaron started his drop only to watch it stop just ten feet down! The rod tip bounced subtly with the classic take of a big king, then doubled over, and we knew it was on.

An awesome twenty-five minute battle ensued, but the king was no match for the Fetha Styx Alaska Pro Series 864. It was Aaron’s third king of the day and by far the largest at 46 lbs! Who says big kings are always down deep?

Come fish with me at Waterfall Resort off the coast of Prince of Whales Island in Southeast Alaska and catch your own Fetha Styx hog! I now have an all Fetha Styx quiver to offer guests on my boat for both salmon and bottom fish and everyone has been loving them!

Kurt Ferse, Captain and Guide
Boat #16, Waterfall Resort
Ferse21@hotmail.com

HUGE Halibut with Kurt Ferse

I have been guiding in Alaska for eight years now and this gigantic halibut landed last August provided me with one of the best fish stories of my career.  On the last morning of our trip, we headed to Jackson Island to try and mooch up a few more silvers to finish off what had already been an epic trip.  I baited up one rod and Carson sent it down for the first drop of the morning.  We had spent the previous day pulling on the hard gear looking for a big halibut, but couldn’t find anything over about thirty pounds.  As I began to bait up another rod, Carson’s rod bent in half in slow motion.  Bottom, great.  Then the bottom took off out to sea with no hint of stopping! 

I had never tested the salmon rods with something this big and I wasn’t sure we would be able to land the monster.  Carson, who had just returned from his second tour in Iraq, was ready for the challenge.  Carson was armed with a Fetha Styx Alaska Pro Series 865.  It was an hour before we even got a look at this monster and another thirty-five minuets before it was in the boat, stretching nearly seven feet across the deck!  At the dock this baby tipped the scales at just over 266 pounds!  One of the largest halibut ever landed on a salmon rod in Waterfall’s extensive history.  Come fish with me at Waterfall Resort off the coast of Prince of Whales Island in Southeast Alaska and make your own Fetha Styx fish story!  I now have an all-Fetha Styx quiver to offer guests on my boat for both salmon and bottom fish.  Guests have been loving the rods and I can’t wait to try out some of the new 2010 models!

Kurt Ferse, Captain and Guide
Boat #16, Waterfall Resort
Ferse21@hotmail.com
 

Pictures from Bill’s Recent Trip to Alaska

Enjoy the gallery that Bill, Fetha Styx owner, brought back from Alaska with him (click image to make large):

Alaska Fishing Report with Todd Daniels

Well, after a good trip up to the famed Kenai River, I’m back in town with more sockeye in my freezer than I have room for. We averaged over 100 hookups a day (my arms are sore), only keeping a three-fish limit of course. They just grow them bigger up there, as you can see from the pictures. A LOT of sockeye get up over 12 pounds. Good eats!!!! The boat will be back in the water this week chasing kings out in the salt. Then it’s time for Lake Sammamish kings, as well as Snohomish pink salmon, to open up. We will be chasing both on the same day; it will be a blast–two completely different styles of fishing in one day!

By Todd Daniels

Tall Tails Guide Service

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