Last night I spoke with Phil Stevens, AKA Mystical Legends guide service, who has been fishing with Robbo this week. He reports fair to great king fishing. Some days start slow but limits are common. Yesterday they had a quadruple header on Chinook! The average size has been 20 pounds but bigger fish are showing up with a 31 landed this week and a larger one lost at the boat. Halibut fishing has been spectacular and lings are abundant. Coho are showing but not consistently.

The weather is looking good. It’s all systems go. Somehow I think this will be a classic.

Stam, make sure Hankster isn't wearing his 9ers hat! Yeah, sure you're taking one for the team . . . making your second trip to AK in a matter of weeks.

I hate you.

Can't make the preflight celebration but will join you all at the Hillside later. Last year's inflight clebration got a bit out of hand . . .

Don't forget your camera Dave.

I can't give a guy crap for wearing his dad's cap. I wish I still had one of my dad's.

Wear it proud !

I don't really take that many photos but you guys are killing me. Even after being up there once this year, I'd truly love to be going up there again for this event (or any other time).

Have a cold Rainier and warm crab for me on the docks of ManTown!

Looking forward to seeing some of the almost-live Facebook reports as well as the awesome follow up mega-post with stores, pictures, and movies!

PS. I strongly recommend to all parties going up to stay 24x7 UPWIND of Stam starting on Day 2. The guy *will* unleash a cloud of silent-butt-deadly CrabBeerFartGas that will literally make you gag. I think I'd rather get a blast of Whale Schmoke (TM) than having to endure the stink that Stam generates after about his 18th crab and beer.

PPS. Oh, and while it's OK to help collect, clean and gather up the crab, stay out of Stam's way once he's in "the crab zone" with his crab cooker up on ManTown. The man is on a serious mission once those cleaned crab halves reach his domain. I recommend just cracking open a cold beer and watching The Crab Cooking Master do his magic!

Luck bastages! I hate you all. Even more now.

can one of you dudes stuff me in your carry on? please?

have a safe trip guys, and most of all, have fun.... good luck...

Pretty sure Robbo is good on both crab and halibut bait.....



PS. Just be glad to know that instead of going on this trip, you spent all that money on Kitters.

In my case, it's money spent on my kids. I stare and glare at them with an Evil Eye every day now!

I think we should start a pool to buy RH a spot on this trip

Well now, I don't claim to be the greatest fisherman around or the greatest at much . . . But I can eat fresh warm Dungeness crab with the best of them Stam had better not get in my way. I will help catch, cook, and clean those tasty critters, and I will double damn sure get my share. Robbo - you better start setting pots now. You have seen me in action.

Last year John got a little careless when pulling crabs from the pot. He still has the scars. Scary to see a tough old Vietnam vet scream like a little girl but a big ole Dungeness hooked onto your pinky will do that.

put them in a bag, and submerge them in a salt(rock salt)/ice bath... they should be cold in 10 minutes...

Zero chance of chilled crab and butter is for wussies. Hot, fresh, cooked in bay water is all I need. IMHO most folks over cook their crab. I do 12 minutes at full boil - done but not overcooked.

BTW supposed to be 70 degrees there with zero chance of rain. Purty good crab eating weather.

i sometimes like a little mayo/lemon with my crab... not a ton, but a little...

Hank, dont forget the rock salt... like i said, about 10 minutes

WTF would you want to chill a nice warm crab???

I used to work at a fancy seafood restaurant. We got our dungie meat in one gallon tins, fresh. The top three inches was just big chunks of leg meat . The customers never saw a shred of that. Yeah, I can eat it cold, but warm shows off all its flavors better - Just my .02

You gonna spread some crab butter on the sour bread?

Looking forward to it Hankster.

Hank

12 guys one loaf ???

you guys gonna have any Oysters with the crab?