The 2008 season was like no other at Talon Lodge. The fishing was good, the Chefs were fabulous and the Winemakers, and their wines, were Extraordinary!

Kirk and Sarah Venge enjoy fishing with Talon Lodge guests.

The season started off with Kirk Venge of Venge Vineyards.  Kirk and his wife Sarah spent the days fishing and the evenings hosting the Winemaker events with Kirk's finest wines. 

Chef Sam Choy with fresh King Salmon Sashimi     

May also brought back Chef Sam Choy of Hawaii.  This was Chef Choy's third visit to Talon and it's always a treat to have Hawaii's favorite chef cooking special meals for our guests.  It's also a treat to have Hawaiian music in the background to assist with the natural beauty of our setting.

We kicked off July with Chef Pascal Vignau which was his second trip to Talon.  Chef Vignau brought an international flair to the kitchen through his experience with Four Seasons Resorts. 

Chef Vignau with his King Salmon and one of his Alaska Surf and Turf Meals

The partners from B-Cellars, Duffy Keys and Jim Borsack, joined us in Mid-July to share their blended wines with our guests.  With 91+ point ratings on their wines, the pairing were wonderful.

In August, a Napa legend entertained our guests.  Nils Venge, North America's first 100-point winemaker, shared his passion and humor with our guests.  Joining Nils was David Cofran, another distinguished wine maker from Napa.  Featured during this event was Saddleback Vineyards and Highlands Vineyards.

Nils Venge shares wine with Gwen Younger and Talon Lodge guest Drake Duane

August also brought another legendary name to Talon.  Rob Mondavi joined us and presented some of the new wines that he and his father, Michael, are producing as well as some of the Folio Wine Partners wines they are representing.

Rob also had the opportunity to enjoy some fly fishing via a float plane.  One of the trips allowed him a special treat of fishing right next to an Alaska Brown Bear.  He'll talk about this trip for the rest of his life.

Winemaker Rob Mondavi fly fishing for Silver Salmon

All of this, in just three months.  And to think, the season isn't over yet!  We still have Chef Salvidor Prado from the Hyatt Gainey Resort in Scottsdale and Luke Russ from Bacio Divino Wines.

This is what makes Talon Lodge different!

Washington, D.C. - June 20, 2008 - Judge Rosemary Collyer granted a preliminary injunction here today on a lawsuit eleven charter halibut fishermen filed June 2 against Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez. The preliminary injunction will remain until Judge Collyer rules on the merits of the case, most likely after the end of the summer fishing season. The judge's ruling means that recreational anglers fishing from charter boats in Southeast Alaska will now be able to fish under last year's bag limits, which permitted one halibut of any size and one halibut 32 inches or less per day.
 
"We are thrilled with the judge's decision," said Scott Van Valin, owner of El Capitan Lodge who is a co-founder of the Charter Halibut Task Force and lead plaintiff in the case.  "An independent judge has recognized the considerable harm this one fish rule would have imposed on charter operators and the economy of Southeast Alaska and agrees that the Secretary may not have followed the rules.  We look forward to a favorable ruling on the merits of the case as well."

This lawsuit is part of an ongoing allocation battle between the commercial fishing industry and charter operators over how much fish charter anglers will be allowed to catch.  If guided recreational anglers are limited to one halibut a day rather than the historical two-halibut limit, the second fish would be allocated to the commercial halibut fishermen to catch.  In contrast, a two-fish limit for charter anglers in Southeast Alaska would mean no change in the 6.21 million pound commercial quota for 2008 and would result in a reduction in the commercial quota in Area 2C for 2009 of approximately 250,000 pounds less than what the commercial fleet would be allocated under a one fish for charters scenario.

Charter fishing accounted for only 6.2 percent of the total halibut caught off the coast of Alaska over the last 10 years. By comparison, that is over 12 times less than the 75.8 percent that the commercial halibut fleet harvests, and less than half the 14.6 percent allocated for bycatch (halibut caught incidentally by commercial fisheries targeting other species of fish).  

While 25% of commercial fishermen in Southeast Alaska have quota shares allowing them to fish in other parts of Alaska, the charter industry is tied to fishing along the coast of Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, because those areas have the infrastructure such as hotels, airports, restaurants necessary to support tourism and charter fishing.

"We're not asking for more fish to be harvested beyond what is healthy for the resource. But if Alaska wants to maintain the current tourism dollars that come from charter fishing, it requires allocating enough halibut harvest to allow anglers to try for two fish a day," said Ken Dole, co-founder of the Charter Halibut Task Force and managing partner of Waterfall Resort.  "You aren't going to get the same number of anglers coming to Southeast Alaska when they could fish for two fish in Southcentral Alaska or Canada for the same price." 

Charter fishermen along the coast of Southeast Alaska filed a lawsuit June 2 against Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez over a rule that changed the daily bag limit for anglers fishing from charter boats in Southeast Alaska from two halibut per day to one halibut per day. The suit alleges that the Secretary failed to comply with the fair and equitable allocation requirements of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act and also violated the Administrative Procedures Act.  Court documents can be reviewed at http://www.charterhalibut.org/id6.html.

Secretary Gutierrez's support for the one halibut daily limit in Southeast Alaska goes against his ruling only a year ago. In June 2007, the Secretary vetoed a proposed one fish rule for Southeast Alaska because "a reduced bag limit would impose a considerable economic burden on the charter sector that could be mitigated by maintaining the traditional two-fish bag limit," according to 72 Fed. Reg. 30721 (2007), and that was only for six weeks of the season.

For the second year in a row, Hall of Fame NFL Football Legend, Larry Csonka, hosted a corporate group of NAPA at Talon Lodge.

As a sponsor of the NAPA’s North to Alaska outdoor show, which is hosted by Larry Csonka and Audrey Bradshaw, NAPA used the opportunity to honor some of their store owners and also some of their key customers with this special Alaska fishing event.

It’s not every day that you find yourself on a private island with one of the greatest football players to play the game, and the guests at this event enjoyed every moment.  They were treated to great stories, great food and great service.  They were also treated to great fishing.  Kings, Lings, Yellow Eye Snapper and Halibut filled the boats each of their three days.

They never learn...

When you tell a guest that the water is between 43 degrees and 48 degrees, sometimes they need to find it our for themselves.

At least 10-times a year, we have guests that decide to take a dip off of our dock.  the water looks very inviting and calm on a sunny day and beckons our guests right off of the dock.  Once they are in the water, they have never swam so fast!  It takes only seconds to reach our private beach and grab the towel.

I guess that this will be an event that we will enjoy each and every year.

When the first King Salmon is 40 lbs and the first Halibut is +50 lbs, then I would have to say... "This is a great way to start the 2008 season!"

Each year, a group of friends join us for a couple days of lodge preparation (work) and a couple of days of fishing prior to our first guests arriving on May 15. It's a great way to move into the season, test our menu's, refine our service and prepare our excellent staff for the season ahead.

For the past four years, our fishing adventure has yielded some great fishing and for the past three years, the first King Salmon brought on-board has been in the 40 lb range. Much to our delight, It happened again!

As we start our 5th year of operation, we are again amazed on the impact Talon Lodge has on our guests and the absolute fun and enjoyment that everyone has during their stay. The laughter on the dock, while holding the catch of the day is priceless! The look on a guest's face when they come up to dinner after a massage on the water front is wonderful! The sounds of pure pleasure when our guests are savoring their gourmet meal is what we live for.

This is a great job!

Photos - Duffy Keys, of B-Cellars with Gwen Younger during the bottling of their new vintage.
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On our annual pilgrimage to Sitka each spring, we had the opportunity to spend a few days in California’s Napa Valley and visit with the winemakers who are attending our First Winemaker Series this summer.

The great thing about visiting a winemaker, outside of enjoying their stories and experiencing their passion for their craft, is sampling the fruits of their labor - WOW! The wines that our visiting winemakers will be bringing to Talon, this summer, are some of the finest wines I have had the opportunity to sample. Added to the experience was the joy of watching the winemakers sample their own wines and explaining, with a smile of satisfaction, what they were trying to accomplish with each vintage. What a treat to share a great wine with the actual maker.

This is what our guests at Talon Lodge will experience this summer when we launch our Visiting Winemaker Series. Two wonderful nights of great food and perfectly paired wines, with the winemaker sharing the joy on how each wine was made and the care that goes into each vintage.

I, like most, enjoy a great glass of wine before, during and after dinner. There is just something about completing a meal with a glass of wine that is paired perfectly with the meal. The Talon Lodge Visiting Winemaker Series, combined with great Alaska Fishing, is the perfect pairing to a perfect adventure

Each year the ADF&G uses the preseason king salmon abundance index to finalize the sport fishing restrictions for king salmon.

On April 9, 2008, the emergency order was released and has presented some new regulations on the King Salmon fishing for all of Southeast Alaska. On the good side, sport fishermen will still be allowed to catch 1-king salmon per day from May 1 through June 30, with an annual limit of 3 kings. From July 1-15, anglers will be allowed to catch 1-king salmon per day, yet only retain a total annual harvest of 2 king salmon. From July 16 through December 31, the annual harvest level will be 1 king salmon, with a minimum size limit of 48", per non-resident angler.

The size limit for king salmon from August 1 to Sept 30 is 48 inches or greater. The exception to this size limit will be August 15-25 when the size limit goes back down to 28 inches or greater – don’t ask me why?

This is a total surprise to almost every sport fishing angler, lodge owner and charter fishing operator. By all indications, the number of fish coming through Southeast Alaska will be greater in 2008 than in the previous two years.

The Halibut regulations have not been announced as of yet. There is a debate going on that would limit the daily catch limit to 1 halibut per person, vs. the 2 per person that is currently on the regulation manual. We will not know what these limits are until two or three weeks from now. It is anticipated that any Halibut reduction will not take effect until sometime in June, 2008

The good news is that they have held the King Salmon limits the same in May and June and that Silvers are expected to come in with healthy numbers in July, August and Sept. It should still be a great fishing year in Alaska!

What if you booked your Alaska fishing trip for 2009 only to find out that you will not be able to fish for Halibut...

We are happy to report that this will not happen at Talon Lodge.

By all indications, the Halibut Fishing Moratorium will go into effect in 2009. What this means is that a number of Alaska Fishing Lodges and Charter Operators, who are allowed to host clients for an Alaska Halibut Fishing Adventure, will be limited and reduced to companies that were in business in 2004 and 2005; and owned their own fleet!

Talon Lodge started its operation in 2004 and we were fortunate to have a fleet of three boats fishing for Alaska Halibut in 2004 and 2005. The benefit to Talon Lodge, if the moratorium is passed, is that Talon Lodge will receive a permit for each of our boats and we will be able to fish for Halibut on ALL of our boats.

This will not be the case for a lot of lodges, guides and operators in Alaska. The Moratorium is designed to limit the number of Halibut fishing charters and reduce the total number of Halibut caught by sport fishermen in Alaska. There are a lot of Lodges in Alaska that contract out their fishing fleet, which means that the lodge will not own the permit. Fortunately, Talon Lodge owns its fleet and our captains are employees of Talon.

As this important piece of legislation moves through Washington DC, we will keep you posted.

Talon Lodge has just launched its new web site.  The goal of the site is to provide a more photo-centric view of what Talon Lodge has to offer and the big difference between Talon Lodge and other lodges and fish camps in Alaska.

To view our photo gallery, click this link http://www.talonlodge.com/gallery/

The new site will also include a store where we will be selling Talon Lodge merchandise along with cook books from our Visiting Chefs and links to wines from our Visiting Winemakers.

Our new BLOG will be fully functional within 30-days.  Our goal here is to provide a flow of communication regarding the passion of Alaska fishing.  We will be updating our BLOG to provide fishing reports and information on features and offers provided by Talon Lodge.Our goal is to provide our guests and visitors with a true view of what Talon Lodge has to offer and provide a site that allows our visitors to engage with Alaska – now!

Enjoy