Halibut can be found throughout southeast Alaska and the Alaskan Inland Passage, and Craig Alaska Halibut Fishing is some of the best you till find. Halibut are drawn to these waters because of the amount of food available and they are protected from strong currents of the Pacific Ocean.

The town of Craig is a port town located on the southwest side of Prince of Wales island. Prince of Wales is crowned the 7th largest island in the US and Craig is its largest town on the island with a population of over 1200 people.

Although Craig is on the Pacic Ocean side of the island there are many protected waters to fish for halibut in and around Craig. This gives the halibut fisherman an option of either fishing the open ocean with the weather and conditions are calm or the protected areas and estuaries when conditions are not as favorable.

The advantage of fishing the open ocean for Halibut is that Prince of Wales is located parallel to a major migratory path for fish moving up and down the coast line from Alaska to California. It gives us a chance to fish for halibut and salmon that are passing by the island on their way to their feeding and spawning grounds.

The Pacific Halibut caught in Craig are typically bigger than Halibut caught in the lower 48 or even other parts of Alaska. Our fish very in size from 20 pounds to 400+ pounds with the average being in the 40-60 pound range. Halibut from 20-30 pounds are referred to as Chickens and halibut over 100 pounds are called Barn Doors. Thousands of Barn Doors are taken from the Prince of Wales surrounding waters each year.

You can catch Halibut within minutes of the port of Craig but most fishing charter boats will motor out about 15-60 minutes from Craig before starting to fish. This is a relatively short run compared to other areas to fish in SE Alaska. Water depths vary from 60’ to 200+ feet and most of the fishing for halibut is done in 100+ feet of water.

Bait and Halibut jigs are the typical gear used in fishing for Halibut and in many cases the fisherman will put a piece of bait on the hook of their jig to get the fish really excited. Herring and Salmon are the bait that is used the most.

Craig has its own airport that is typically serviced by local flights coming from Ketchikan. Most visitors to the area will fly into Ketchikan on a commercial flight then hire one of the local airlines to get them to Craig. Both wheeled and float planes come into Craig. The flight from Ketchikan is very scenic over some of the most remote areas on the island.

Most fisherman want to take home some halibut fillets when coming to Craig. Make sure that you bring a cooler big enough to bring back at least 100 pounds of fish. If you are fishing with a local lodge they will typically provide you with an insulated 50 pound fish box that will keep your fish frozen for your flight back home.

If your looking to fish for big Alaskan Halibut then Craig should be one of your top considerations. It is easy to get too, there are a lot of amenities, the fishing grounds are close and the Halibut are big!