Prince William Sound

[SteveinAK]

I know there's some Alaskans around here... Anybody have any experience in Prince William Sound? How calm is the Sound, and would I be safe in the Sound (with a favorable weather forcast) in my boat descibed below. A friend and I want to do some bear hunting along the coastline in the Sound, but my inshore experience in a Jon boat is nil. Thanks! -Steve

 

[rottenray6402]

Re: Prince William Sound

I used to have a slip in Whittier and venture out. Nice day no problem but if you go out overnight the weather can get ugly in a hurry! I had a 25ft cuddy that we only had to anchor over one time because it was to rough to come back. Watch the tides because they are huge and you can be in 15ft of water when you anchor at high tide then on the rocks if the tide goes out. Lots of bears down in Main Bay. Go out of Whittier down through Culross Passage. At the mouth of Culross hand a right and go down past the old Cannery. The shore on the North side has bears like crazy. If you catch a nice day after several bad ones they ccome down to the beach looking for dead fish and stuff. We've seen up to seven bears while glassing off shore. Good Luck!

 

[SteveinAK]

Re: Prince William Sound

Thanks! I will definately be watching the weather forecasts before I go out. I've heard folks go out on their PWC/Jetskis out there, so I figured we'd be ok. -Steve

 

[rottenray6402]

Re: Prince William Sound

What is really un-nerving is to be out there in a smaller boat and have a huge whale come up along side of you.Just talking about it makes me wish I were back there. If I remember right the ice doesn't go out of the bays until May.Good luck!

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: Prince William Sound

There's a lot of destinations and good places to anchor out of Valdez also. For a jon boat, you'd probably want to stay within the "narrows" or venture beyond only with a lot of caution, a good game plan and some planned bail out spots if the weather gets nasty. And it wouldn't have to get very nasty for an 18 fooot jon. You see a lot of river boats your size and smaller trolling for silvers in late August, jut out of the harbor a few miles, within the narrows - definitely doable with your boat. I troll every year with my river boat, although it's a little longer and has a closed bow. <br /><br />For overnights etc. you might find some things you can do, but I think you'd have to read up on the area, talk to some locals and then just be very cautious. The weather can turn within an hour or two into conditions unsuitable for an open jon boat (wouldn't take much). If you're a fisherman, silver fishing in August would be a good place to start.