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.