Fairweather Adventures at Glacier Bay

Alan Langerak _{on Google}

Aug 15th, 2021

Excellent 3 days of sightseeing in Glacier Bay. Incredible hospitality from the entire team. Comfortable rooms and great breakfast at their B&B!

RSH Outdoors _{on Google}

Jul 11th, 2020

I have traveled to various parts of Alaska many times over many years but spending a week with Jim and Julene was a wonderful experience. I can recommend FAIRWEATHER ADVENTURES without reservation for anyone wanting to experience the beauty, majesty and exceptional fishing that Glacier Bay has to offer. This is a must do trip!

Paul Tiemann _{on Google}

Aug 12th, 2019

I think everyone who goes fishing with Jim Kearns wants to keep him a secret so they might have a chance of booking another trip in the future.
About fishing from Gustavus:
Imagine the town Mayberry from the Andy Griffith's show - cars rarely see each other on the few roads but when they do, they all wave. People leave cars unlocked, and at the dock some even leave keys on the dash in case their car needs to be moved. You can only get there by boat or plane so it's not really possible to steal a car.
Our neighbors went fishing with a different charter in Gustavus, 2017. Two years later, after a Disney cruise and a trip through Europe, their kids immediately replied "Alaska" when asked to name their best vacation ever. Now I understand why.
About fishing with Jim and Julene's Fairweather Adventures:
Jim is a concessionnaire for Glacier Bay National Park. That means he can take you fishing in the park itself, and you get to launch each morning from right inside the park at the the Bartlett Cove dock.
The water in the bay was so calm and glassy it felt like a dream. Our group didn't feel any need to take dramamine except for the 1 day we went out onto the open ocean to Hocktaheen cove. There, we made my favorite memory: In one hour we reeled in 8 jumping Pink and Sockeye salmon while three unhurried bears milled around the rocky beach, bald eagles flew overhead, and golden sunlight streamed down through partial cloud cover.
We saw so much wildlife it felt like we were in a national outdoor zoo. Out in the bay we saw brown and black bears, humpback whales, a pod of three orcas, sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, horned and tufted puffins, a marmot, bald eagles, peregrine falcons in their nest, and a huge variety of other birds. On the last day early in the morning we saw a big bull moose walking through "downtown" between the cafe and the Salmon River bridge.
They have two upstairs bedrooms, each with one queen and one twin bed and their own full bathrooms. Jim's older grandchildren visit during the summer to help out -- one usually comes along on the boat each day. They also help make the delightful breakfasts. We had sourdough waffles with a thick blueberry syrup one day, and grilled mini sandwiches with berry cream cheese filling on another -- I can't remember all of the food, but it was all excellent. My brother and I each gained 4 pounds that week.
When I booked the trip, I hadn't counted on getting to see a bunch of glaciers. It felt like we got 50% fishing and 50% sightseeing -- it really was something else to be the only boat up at McBride glacier, sipping hot chocolate and watching a few huge chunks of ice dramatically splash into the water.
On the last day we woke up very early in order to launch at 5:30am so we could make it all the way up to the Margerie and Johns Hopkins glaciers. The wind was blowing up into the bay as we returned in the afternoon, which made for the only day of rough bouncy boating, but we snuck into Blue Mouse Cove for an hour and waited it out.
In all, we reeled in 11 halibut (4 were too big to keep), 9 pink and sockeye salmon, lots of a fish they called blue eyed ladies, pacific cod, ling cod, flounder, a sculpin, and several species of rockfish. Jim made some Rockfish ceviche with lemon juice which was great. Most of the other fish we threw right back, but used small pacific cod belly as bait. We took about 100 pounds of frozen fish back in two boxes as checked luggage.
If you want to go:
Plan far in advance, like 1 year in advance. In February I called a list of charter operators in Gustavus but everyone was booked solid all summer. It was good fortune for me that Jim called back because a different group had to cancel and four days in July had opened up. They typically book your group of 4-5 people for a 5-day fishing trip where you fly in on a Sunday, then fish M-F and fly home on Saturday.