Welcome To Homer Halibut Hunters

Homer Halibut Hunters is Homer, Alaska’s premier sport fishing halibut charter company offering a wide variety of fishing excursions in The Halibut Capital Of The WorldWith years of experience on Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, The Gulf Of Alaska and the waters surrounding Homer, Alaska, we probably have a trip just perfect for your needs. Our Homer halibut charters offer fast, comfortable, all aluminum boats, top of the line equipment, and most importantly, professional, dedicated, experienced staff focused on your safety and the best experience possible. All of our boats have powerful twin engines for comfort, speed, and safety, heated cabins, and onboard restrooms. A Homer halibut charter is a must for anyone visiting Homer, Alaska and Kachemak bay. 

Homer Alaska Fishing Charters - Our Trips

6 Great Charter Trips For You To Choose From

3/4-Day Halibut

$275 May & September
$325 June, July, August

  • Meet 7:30 AM For 8:00 AM Departure
  • 5 – 7 Hours Duration
  • 45 – 70 minutes to fishing grounds
Drifters lodge staff show off their limits of halibut caught aboard Orion with Captain Jimmy Counts of Homer Halibut Hunters

Full-Day Halibut

$350 May & September
$400 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 8 – 9 Hours Duration
  • 1 – 1.5 hours to fishing grounds
Homer Halibut Hunter customers show off a massive haul of barn-door halibut,

Trophy Halibut & Rockfish

$400 May & September
$450 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 8 – 9 Hours Duration
  • 1.5 – 2 hours to fishing grounds
6 massive halibut are hanging with anglers smiling behind them

Halibut & Salmon

$400 May & September
$450 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 6 – 8 Hours Duration
  • 1 – 1.5 hours to fishing grounds
Two anglers hold up three yelloweye rockfish caught in Kachemak Bay, Homer Alaska

Triple Threat: Halibut,
Rockfish & Salmon

$450 May & September
$500 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 9 – 10 Hours Duration
  • 2 – 2.5 hours to fishing grounds
Homer Halibut Hunters customer holds a huge Kachemak Bay King Salmon

Salmon & Rockfish
(Wednesday Only)

$400 May & September
$450 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 8 – 9 Hours Duration
  • 1.5 – 2 hours to fishing grounds

Our Fishing Grounds

Not surprisingly, knowing where to fish is where it all begins when fishing for halibut. We are so fortunate to have such a massive and fertile fishing area at nearly 4,000 square miles. The fishing grounds begin almost as soon as we leave the Homer harbor extending as far north as Ninilchik and as far south as the Barren Islands.

Alaska halibut fishing limits are set by the international pacific halibut commission (IPHC) annually. Homer, Alaska is found in region 3A which harvests significantly more pacific halibut each year than any other region in the world.

These waters are home to millions of halibut, rockfish, lingcod, shark, Octopus, Skates, and more. One of the most fun things about fishing on a Homer, Alaska Fishing Charter is you know never what you’re going to pull up when the rod starts to bend over. Often it’s a halibut but catching giant Alaska Skates, octopus, and various rockfish is common.

Where we fish depends on the type of trip we’re taking that day, previous days fishing quality, and of course, we always keep a mindful eye on the weather. But, the entirety of the area in red are areas we might fish on your trip.


2022 IPHC Halibut Landings By Region

Halibut Catch Per IPHC Management Area

Did you know that the IPHC management area 3A, surrounding Homer, Alaska and The Kenai Peninsula, catches almost 3X more halibut than any other area? And if you take into account the two neighboring management areas, The Gulf Of Alaska accounts for 66% of all the pacific halibut taken by the United States and Canada.

IPHC management area 3A is home to some of the largest fishing ports found in Alaska. This is certainly due to the abundance of fish found in the Gulf of Alaska and its surrounding waters but also due to the ease of access provided by the road system connecting these cities to Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. Management area 3A includes the cities of Homer, Whittier, Seward, Ninilchik, as well as the Kodiak archipelago accessible only by road, and the once thriving port of Seldovia. Kodiak and Seldovia are accessible only via plane or boat. 

Before 1964, Seldovia was one of the largest ports in the region with nearly 2,000 residents but today has only 300 year round residents. The devastating Good Friday earthquake of 1964 and the development of the road system from Anchorage through the Kenai Peninsula slowly led to Seldovia’s contraction. It is the biggest earthquake recorded in North America, and the second largest in the world, at 9.2 on the Richtor Scale and lasted nearly 5 minutes.

So it’s not surprising that the halibut capital of the world will be found in one of these management areas and most likely be found in management area 3A.

 

Halibut Landings By Port

Pacific halibut are closely monitored by fishing location, fishing vessel, and port of unloading – which is usually the closest major port to where the vessel was fishing.

This chart shows the number of pounds of halibut that has been unloaded at each port from 2015 to 2022 in millions of pounds by IFQ (commercial fisherman). The top 6 ports for halibut fishing are Homer, Kodiak, Seward, Petersburg, Sitka and Juneau.

You can see from the chart that Homer and Kodiak are often in quite a strong battle for the top top spot each year. In fact, Homer has beat out Kodiak in 4 of the last 8 years, and Kodiak has out fished Homer in 4 of the last 8 years. In 2018, Seward took the top spot (barely) but 2nd place went to Homer beating out Kodiak. 

2015 - 2022 Historical Commercial Halibut Fishing By Port

Homer Alaska Fishing Charters Trips

Homer Halibut Hunters offer a wide range of Homer halibut charters out of beautiful Kachemak Bay in Homer, Alaska. We offer 3/4 day, full-day, and multi-species adventures. In all total we offer 6 different types of trips to suit just about any angler, group, or family:

We begin our fishing season in May and continue until the end of September. Halibut fishing limits are two halibut per person per day and there is no annual limit. One fish can be of any size, and the other fish must be smaller than 28 inches or approximately 10 lbs.

Rockfish have separate limits. You are allowed 5 rockfish in total but only 1 can be a nonpelagic rockfish, such as the highly prized Yelloweye Rockfish.

You will need to purchase a fishing license for all of our excursions and if you are booking one of our trips that includes salmon you will also need the king salmon stamp. Fishing licenses are most easily purchased at Alaska Department of Fish and Game online store.

With Homer Halibut Hunters you’ll find comfortable world-class vessels, top of the line equipment and knowledgeable staff. You’ll find our captains and deckhands to bring an unequaled level of patience, professionalism, and sportsmanship on every outing.

Homer Alaska Fishing Charters Limits & Regulations

Halibut, Rockfish,Salmon & Lingcod Fishing Charter, Limits & Regs

Homer, Alaska may be the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World” but we catch a lot more than just halibut. Regulations can change slightly from year to year and we get final regulations from NOAA around late February and early March regarding size limits so check back in then for 2023 updates.

Halibut Fishing Regulations for Area 3A:

  • Each angler is allowed a daily bag limit of 2 halibut: one Halibut can be any size and one Halibut must be 28 inches or less, which is approximately a 10 lb fish. 
  • There is no annual limit on Halibut
  • No charter “halibut” fishing allowed on Wednesdays. However, we still do salmon & rockfish charters on Wednesday, we simply cannot retain any halibut we may catch.
  • We are available for Salmon and Rockfish charters on Wednesdays

Rockfish Limits:

  • 5 per person per day maximum
  • Only 1 may be nonpelagic (yelloweye, tiger, copper, quillback, silvergray, china)

Our full-day Homer halibut charters are the best opportunity for you to catch good sized halibut. These trips are because they don’t require a 2+ hour ride out giving us more time for fishing! We still catch very good sized fish on these trips anywhere between 20 and 80 lbs and it maximizes the amount of time we have available for fishing for halibut.

Make sure to check out our Release A Monster program as well as our participation in Every Halibut Counts

Captain Creig Garret holds a halibut estimated at 110 lbs

Homer Alaska Fishing Charters - Our Boats

Every boat in the Homer Halibut Hunters fleet is complete with the latest electronics, navigation, and safety equipment. In addition, all of our boats are equipped with heaters, comfortable cabins, restrooms, and top of the line fishing gear. Our captains are all experienced and operating under license from the US Coast Guard. With our fully insured comfortable and fast boats, experienced captains and crew, and the latest electronics and safety equipment, you are sure to have a safe enjoyable day on the water.

Starting in mid-May and continuing until Oct, we fish nearly every single day in the waters of Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, and the areas near the Gulf Of Alaska. With our boats making daily excursions all summer long, our crews know where to find fish. The main things you need to bring are warm comfortable clothes, rain gear, any food and snacks you may want, and your fishing licenses. Check out our How We Halibut Fish and our What To Bring pages for more detailed information.

All bait, gear, tackle is provided on your trip as well as filleting of all your fish. We can accommodate groups of up to 12 people in size.

Homer Alaska Fishing Charters - How We Fish

An example of a circle hook and herring used for halibut fishing

Homer Alaska Fishing Charters

Halibut are extremely good hunters and hunt by using their keen sense of smell. By using good quality bait such as herring, salmon, and a chum bag we can draw these bottom dwelling hunters right to our waiting hooks.

We use the anchor as much as we can when we’re halibut fishing. This allows su to get our chum bag on the bottom and draw them to our bait. We use circle hooks, baits, jigs, and chum bags. The tides in Cook Inlet are enormous and usually we are not able to use the anchor for the entire fishing trip. So part of the time we’ll use the anchor and other times we’ll drift with the current using baited jigs.

Travel time to halibut fishing grounds out of Homer harbor varies from 1-3 hours, and is dependent on weather conditions, where the fish have been biting, and what type of trip you’ve booked. We are generally always in sight of land but can travel as much as 150 miles in a single day on our long range trips.

We actually have an entire page dedicated to explaining how we fish for halibut, Rockfish, salmon, and lingcod. Please check it out!

About Homer Halibut Hunters In Homer, Alaska

Our Goal - The Best Experience Possible

We don’t like to make promises on catching limits, however, on a Homer halibut charter with Homer Halibut Hunters, chances are, you’ll probably catch your limits of halibut. And, there’s a pretty good chance this will be one of the biggest fish you’ve ever caught, especially if this is your first trip to Alaska. Even the small ones are big up here. But mostly importantly, we want you to simply have the best fishing experience we can possibly give you. To that end, we’ve made big investments in boats, equipment and knowledgable, professional crew.

Based in Homer, Alaska the magnificent backdrop is one seriously incredible way to start your day of fishing with us. Snow capped mountains surround us from the moment we leave the harbor. Whales, otters, seals, puffins and marine life of all sorts may join us along the way.

We love our long range trophy trips but we’re just as happy with the same big smiles we get taking out first timers on a shorter trips and seeing the joy on their faces as the first halibut start bending rods. Adding beautiful rockfish and chrome bright salmon to the trip is equally rewarding. We love every single day we get to spend on these waters.

 
The Homer Spit as viewed from the air facing north towards anchorage at sunset

Ready To Book?

Choose Your Fishing Adventure!​

3/4-Day Halibut

$275 May & September
$325 June, July, August

  • Meet 7:30 AM For 8:00 AM Departure
  • 5 – 7 Hours Duration
  • 45 – 70 minutes to fishing grounds
Drifters lodge staff show off their limits of halibut caught aboard Orion with Captain Jimmy Counts of Homer Halibut Hunters

Full-Day Halibut

$350 May & September
$400 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 8 – 9 Hours Duration
  • 1 – 1.5 hours to fishing grounds
Homer Halibut Hunter customers show off a massive haul of barn-door halibut,

Trophy Halibut & Rockfish

$400 May & September
$450 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 8 – 9 Hours Duration
  • 1.5 – 2 hours to fishing grounds
6 massive halibut are hanging with anglers smiling behind them

Halibut & Salmon

$400 May & September
$450 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 6 – 8 Hours Duration
  • 1 – 1.5 hours to fishing grounds
Two anglers hold up three yelloweye rockfish caught in Kachemak Bay, Homer Alaska

Triple Threat: Halibut,
Rockfish & Salmon

$450 May & September
$500 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 9 – 10 Hours Duration
  • 2 – 2.5 hours to fishing grounds
Homer Halibut Hunters customer holds a huge Kachemak Bay King Salmon

Salmon & Rockfish
(Wednesday Only)

$400 May & September
$450 June, July, August

  • Meet 6:30 AM For 7:00 AM Departure
  • 8 – 9 Hours Duration
  • 1.5 – 2 hours to fishing grounds

Our Meeting Location

All of our trips depart from the Homer Harbor Marina.

Our boats pickup at Ramp #6 and Float EE on the east side of the Marina. As you are coming down the spit turn left on Freight Dock Road just as you see the Homer Marina. After passing the boat ramp turn right and park near the bathrooms.  Please collect your belongings for the day and make your way down Ramp #6 and Float EE. A downloadable map showing parking, ramp #6 and float EE can be downloaded here: