Commercial Salmon Trolling Forum

First off, let me introduce myself and say sorry for the long read!

My name is Eric, and I'm a 36 year old father of 3 living in Kentucky. The kids are about grown, so it's almost time for me to start living my life long dream along with my wonderful wife. We have always talked about buying a boat in S.E. Alaska as a live aboard trolling/crabbing venture. I'm an outdoor freak, hunting, fishing, and growing most of what we eat here.. (and yes, I understand that Alaska is WAY different than here).. I can work on about anything from lawn mowers to track loaders.. gas and diesel engines, 2 stroke or 4 stroke.. I have a good understanding of hydraulics and electrical systems.

We have already been looking for real estate in the Petersburg area just in case we can't pull off living on the boat through the summers. At the moment, we plan on returning to the lower 48 in the winter months until we have a chance to build a cabin and sell our property here. We are currently planning a month long trip to the Petersburg area in June, 2015 but could be sooner if we need to look at property or a boat. I would also like to tag along on a troller some while I'm visiting.

What we have been looking at has been 35-45 foot, diesel trollers. Most are wood, and some need minor interior work which is fine by me as I can do the work myself. This would also allow us to personalize the boat for our living needs if it works out that we can live aboard the boat.

We are planning on buying or leasing a power troll permit, dungy 75 pot permit, and hire an experienced deck hand/part time skipper to show us the ropes I hope...

My first question is.. am I crazy?? lol

also any input, advice, or constructive criticism is welcome about my plans, area, or choice of boat.. along with any other information you feel is related..

Thank you for your time,
Eric

Eric I just sent you a PM

Eric,
It is hard to be effectve at two fisheries that overlap like dungy and trolling. Good luck, SE Alaska still is a wonderful place and our salmon runs are being sustained at record high levels.
Sea Otters are munching their way through our dungy stocks though.

Salty, Thanks for the info! I had some interesting reads about the Sea Otter problem! That is the reason many dungy and dive permits are up for sale!

I'd recommend working as a deckhand for a season before buying a boat. You will be a lot more successful when you run your own boat. Trolling isn't all that complicated, but it'd be tough to figure out all on your own. I wouldn't count on a deckhand to teach you. Experienced troll deckhands are a bit of a rareity, good deckhands move on to deckhand in more lucrative fisheries or become captains themselves. The other advantages of working as a deckhand is that you will get a better sense of what features you want for the boat you buy and you will make friends with people who might code with you and give you tips during your first season. There's also the fact that you might discover that you hate commercial fishing and SE Alaska.

Oh and you won't find very many trollers in Petersburg during the summer. If you want to see trollers you should head to Sitka.

Another big +1 on being a crewman.

Thanks for the input guys! As stated in my first post, I want to tag along on some trollers when I visit. I'm not sure I could commit on a deckhand position as I will be taking care of some other business while I'm there also.

I've had a few offers to tag along this summer, but not sure my plans will work out for me to get up there until 2015 for a visit! I'm trying, but only time will tell.