Lingcod, of course, are a more sedentary species, although their young travel far in larval form. For this reason, one of the best reefs off Sitka has been voluntarily placed off limits by the sportfishing fleet. But the reef we're on is still a good one. Secrest is the first to hook up, but the fish unbuttons after some mean, Spectra-striping runs. Bobby Loomis seems to finds every lure-eating hole in the bottom. I find the willing maw of a 48-pound lincod with a face only a mother could love. Talk about prehistoric. On the way home, the Sitka Sound is alive with humpback whales. It's as if the blowholes of the literally hundreds of the huge marine mammals signal an impending eruption of Mount Edgecombe, which looms in the background. Kings and silver fill the final day, but an engine problem makes it impossible to hit the halibut spot Kain save for the finale. That evening we take the entire crew of the lodge out to dinner in downtown Sitka and the next morning I'm on a plane home. Unfortunately, I don't have to pinch myself to know I'm not in Alaska.