Quilici Story Continued..

Pelican is located on the northwest side of Chichagof Island, roughly about the same distance (90-100 miles) from either Sitka or Juneau. It can only be reached by boat or float plane. It's main year-round industry is a combination of sport and commercial fishing with a town motto of "Closest To The Fish." Our fishing party found Pelican to be unique in a number of different ways:

1. We were told that it has a permanent population of about 89 people.
2. It's main street is a wooden boardwalk that runs along the edge of the harbor, and all you'll see on the boardwalk is walkers, joggers, bicycles or ATV's. No cars!
3. It has a tiny U.S. Post Office, but it has no grocery store. So if you are planning to be there for any amount of time, remember to bring groceries with you.
4. At Pelican, plan to visit Rose's Bar and Grill, a truly memorable, one-of-a-kind, enjoyable location. Be sure to take your camera!

Chicobi Charters is owned and operated by Captain Terry Wirta, who is a lifetime resident of Pelican. Terry is the sport fishing captain on his comfortable boat "Destination" for charter fishing groups such as ours during the fishing season, and then during the off season, he works as a commercial Halibut fisherman. The "Destination" is 31 feet long, has a 330 HP Cummings diesel engine, comfortable cabin with table, bathroom and can fish four rods at one time. Terry is personable, friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, etc., all the things you want when on a charter sport fishing boat. He is an awesome "one of a kind."

Six of us fished with Terry late in June (My wife Elaine and I, plus our friends Barry and Susan Drury, Kirk Jensen and Denis Ryan, all from Canada).

The six of us flew in an "Alaska Seaplanes" floatplane from Juneau (a 45 minute flight) to Pelican, where we stayed in Terry's spacious and comfortable house. That house is on the edge of the harbor's water, just a short distance from anywhere you want to go in Pelican. The house has a large well stocked kitchen and dining area; cozy front room with sofa, easy chairs, TV set, etc.; and four comfortable bedrooms with great views of either the harbor or the boardwalk. And, as we also gleefully found out, there is a small liquor store directly across the boardwalk from the house.

The six of us had a "Ton of Fun" for three days of very successful fishing for Halibut, King Salmon, Silver Salmon, Ling Cod, Rockfish, etc. On all three days, we fished in the open ocean in front of a desolate island location know as Deer Harbor. The weather was fabulous on the first two days, with rain and wind on our last day. Each day, Terry filleted our catches and made the arrangements to process and freeze the fillets, fill fish boxes and then get our fish boxes back to Juneau, so we could all return home with lots of fish and fish stories. When we left Juneau, Elaine and I flew back to Carson City, Nevada with our share of the three-day catch: 163 pounds of frozen fillets of Halibut and Salmon. Once home, by a strange coincident, all of a sudden, we became highly popular with our neighbors, relatives and friends. Hmmm, I wonder why!

On the second day of fishing, Denis was reeling a small Halibut to the boat, when his line momentarily stopped and then became heavy as he continued to reel. When he finally got the Halibut to the boat, we saw, in amazement, that a large Ling Cod had attacked the Halibut and was attempting to eat it. Captain Terry kept the Ling Cod and released the Halibut unharmed. Wow!

As a bonus, in addition to three days of excellent fishing, scenery, weather and accommodations and companionship, we saw all kinds of wildlife including: Sitka Blacktail Deer, Grizzly Bear, Sea Otters, Sea Lions, Humpback Whales, Orca Whales, Bald Eagles, etc.

If you have a "Bucket List," be sure to include a trip Pelican, Alaska and salt water fishing with Terry Wirta on Chicobi Charters' "Destination." They will both be a once-in-a-lifetime, memorable experience.