Prince William Sound Kayak Fishing

Whittier Water Taxi is now renting Wilderness Systems Pungo 140 fishing kayaks.  We have been testing a pair of these very stable kayaks since this spring and our customers who have rented these kayaks have given us very positive reviews. Not only are they very stable and track nicely, they have a roomy cockpit with very comfortable seats. The Pungo 140s are lighter than most kayaks and are easy to handle in and out of the water, making your kayaking adventure more enjoyable! The increased weight capacity, storage hatches for gear and increased tracking let you go the distance in the comfort of a sit-inside kayak. Many who own these kayaks have found out how versatile these boats are and have written very good reviews about them.  Fishing from a kayak can be very challenging with a standard single kayak - a nice sized silver salmon can roll you into the water or wrap your line around the rudder and deck rigging. Not so with these kayaks - they are designed to be stable enough to fight your catch and have no snags to break your line. Our Pungo 140s have two rod holders: one behind you for while you’re paddling to your destination and one on the front deck. (No fumbling with your fishing rod while trying to maneuver around!) Wilderness Systems also installed holders for your paddle while you’re fishing and there is a removable consol for your tackle with a beverage holder. These 14 foot kayaks can carry close to the same amount of gear as a typical 17 foot single. This is perfect for those who want to explore the more remote parts of Prince William Sound and catch dinner on the same trip! Many of the islands in Prince William Sound offer some of the best rockfish, salmon and halibut fishing as well as great remote camping.  Whittier Water Taxi caters to Alaskans and their families and guests as well as independent travelers. We provide water taxi services throughout western Prince William Sound from March through December. Check out our website www.whittierwatertaxi.com  for kayak rental, kayak transport, rates, locations and all services offered or give me a call on (907) 362 1291.

Captain Matt

2011 Spring Black Bear Season

Whittier Water Taxi would like to thank everyone that went out on a spring black bear hunt with us this year. We enjoyed seeing so many local Alaskans that have used our services over the years return for another season as well as our new found friends that we met at the sportsman shows! It was an honor to transport our members of the United States Army and Air Force, many of whom are deploying overseas or have recently returned. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing the stories from the soldiers and of how they dreamed of hunting in Alaska and now got the opportunity as a result of getting a duty station here. Over the years we have had several soldiers who have transferred out of Alaska and still fly back every season to go on their traditional hunt with us. Most hunters were successful and harvested the Alaskan black bear of their dreams this year.  All got the opportunity to enjoy the great beauty of the Alaska wilderness and honed their hunting skills. One hunting tradition that we have seen an increase in over the last few years is the father - son hunting trips. With many troops having to deploy to combat, fathers have taken their sons out to the wilderness for several days of bonding. Then there are those fathers that have brought their young sons on their first hunting trip, exposing them to one of the greatest American traditions. We were so busy this bear season that we didn’t get to harvest any bears of our own but it was very rewarding to be able to provide a service that fulfilled so many hunters’ dreams. For those who didn’t get a bear this spring like us, there is always a fall black bear hunt! We like to wait till the salmon are gone and the blueberries are falling off the bushes. Berry bear is my personal favorite and I’ve always believed: if it eats good, it’s good eating! Whittier now has a taxidermy shop located at the boat harbor. They not only process the hide but also handle the meat for you. Deer season starts August 1 and it’s never too soon to plan your next hunt. We have already had soldiers book trips for the coming deer season calling from Iraq and Afghanistan. We look forward to seeing all our friends who have chosen our services over the years as well as our new clients. See you soon!

Captain Matt Cline

Whittier Water Taxi
Quality not Quantity

Prince William Sound All Day Custom Glacier, Wildlife Viewing and Shrimping Tours

Are you planning your great Alaska vacation? The calls are coming in from all states at the moment! Many of our callers have been here before but now they’re bringing guests and they want to show them the real Alaska. Do you want to go to the wilder side of Alaska, off the beaten paths you went down when you first came to Alaska? Do you want to see what you don’t get to see on the common big boat tours? Now you can explore the wilderness of Prince William Sound with an all day custom marine tour that will be your most memorable Alaskan adventure. Whittier Water Taxi caters to small groups offering custom tours covering all of the South Western Prince William Sound. Whether you’re looking for glaciers, whales, historical sites, beach combing, shrimping, berry picking, birding or wildlife viewing, we can take you to the more remote locations where the wildlife is more abundant and beyond the areas utilized by the industrial tour companies. You will see a part of Prince William Sound that is usually only accessible to a handful of local Alaskans. Our boat, the Bayhawk, is custom built for exploring these waters, is heated and fully insulated for your comfort and has a large open front deck to view and photograph from. The Bayhawk is designed to ride smoothly and is able to land on shore, providing easy access with its custom bow gate. We are a small local Alaskan business and Captain Matt has been operating his own boats in Prince William Sound and the North Gulf Coast for over 25 years, with some years clocking over 1500 hours of time on the water in one season! The advantages of touring on a small boat are: It is more personal – the focus is on you and your guests. The smaller boat is less intrusive on the wildlife with less noise and environmental impact. The boat is on your schedule and you can choose where you want to go and what you want to see. We offer an all day tour where you decide how far and how long your tour is for $150 an hour for the whole boat – with up to 6 people. An 8 to 10 hour tour is the most common request. In this tour, there is enough time to explore the area from Whittier to the South West entrance of Prince William Sound. We will see glaciers with lots of ice and plenty of wildlife including a variety of birds. With our local knowledge of the area we can show you several bird rookeries as well as marine mammal haul outs and sea otter pupping areas. Humpbacked whales are often sighted several times during our all day tours. We may also see members of the several pods of orcas that visit Prince William Sound during the summer. If you don’t have enough time for an all day tour, we also offer a 3½ hour glacier viewing/shrimping tour. We depart from Whittier to visit the black-legged kittiwake rookery in Passage Canal and then cruise on to Blackstone Bay looking out for wildlife on the way. In Blackstone Bay we will visit the tide water glaciers: Blackstone and Beloit glaciers. There are several other hanging glaciers you will see flowing from the ice field which stop short of the ocean as well as some impressive waterfalls. On the mountain sides and along the salmon streams in the bay we often see black bears. After exploring Blackstone Bay we stop at one of our shrimping hot spots and pull up our shrimp pots and check out our catch. This tour is designed for those who don’t have the time do a full day tour, giving you a taste of what Prince William Sound has to offer. We are a small local Alaskan business and our tours and water taxi service schedules fill fast so it is best to reserve your tour well ahead to ensure you get the dates you want. Whittier Water Taxi operates from mid- March through mid-December and we transport mostly Alaskans and their guests as well as independent travelers. Our fall day tours offers bird migration viewing, humpback whales, Dall porpoise, sea otters, sea lions and harbor seals to name just some of the species. For information on all our services and Alaskan adventures check the Whittier Water Taxi web site at  www.whittierwatertaxi.com If you are looking for remote public use cabins in the Prince William Sound area try http://www.princewilliamsoundcabins.com/ Our Prince William Sound Cabins website makes it easy  to book with direct links to the cabin reservation pages for the Chugach National Forest Public Use Cabins and the Alaska State Park Cabins in Western Prince William Sound.

Spring Black Bear Drop Offs

It’s spring and by now you can see the bottom of the freezer – there are just a few packets of last years fish left! Soon spring black bear season will be starting and that means fresh meat for the freezer. That’s right - black bear are good eating and spring is a choice time to harvest them. The best cuts are the rump roasts, back straps, tenderloins and ribs. Don’t waste a single scrap - many hunters I transport rave about the bear bratwursts, Italian bear sausages and breakfast bear sausages made by their local butcher shops. I have personally tried the bratwursts and summer sausages made by Pioneer Meats in the Mat-Su Valley and they are excellent. My next bear will be going to them – I can’t wait to try the breakfast sausages! Every year many hunters ask for recommendations on where to hunt in Prince William Sound. First, I must point out I’m a licensed game transporter so I can not guide you, but I can say the most successful hunters I transport are those that camp. That’s right: they camp! No cabins, no lodges, just tents – that’s the trick. Hunters who stay in cabins and lodges tend to spend too much time hanging out at the lodge or cabin. Lodges and cabins are fixed locations that the game in the area key into and avoid. If you have a bear that hangs around a cabin or lodge, more than likely it’s an immature bear trying to scavenge food from the occupants. It’s not very good sportsmanship to shoot a begging bear. In addition to this, they tend to be small and not as healthy as those that fend for themselves. Camping places you in the territory of the game. You will both hear more and see more wildlife. Often game will check out something new in their territory such as a camp. Hunters who camp not only get more game but they fork out less money. Hunters that stay in lodges are spending more than double that of hunters that camp. Let’s face it if you are spending more than $200 per person a day to hunt from a lodge maybe you should check into the price of a full beef freezer package from Mr. Prime Beef in Anchorage! Camping not only gives you the advantage of being in the territory of the game it also gives you the opportunity to distance yourself from other hunters. In a lodge you have to share the area with other lodge guests. The next most important tip I have is: Do your homework: Many hunters I transport check the forums for hunters who write about their hunts. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game has tons of info on their web site and you can call up the biologist who studies the area you are looking to hunt in. Google Earth maps will give you an idea of what the terrain is like. Also, take the right gear: if you didn’t use it the last four times out hunting, more than likely you won’t need it (unless it is safety/emergency gear). Bringing the same duplicated gear as your hunting partner is a waste of space – be sure to check each others gear and if you both have the same items, pick the better of the two and leave the extras at home. Having too much gear will bog you down loading, unloading and lugging to and from your campsite. How long should you hunt: this is very important and too often we have hunters that plan too short of a hunt. You will need a day to set up and a day to pack up and you should plan for at least 2 days of solid hunting and that’s at a minimum. Bad weather also needs to be factored in. Personally I plan for at least 5 days, which gives me three full days of hunting. Whittier Water Taxi caters to Alaskans: we provide a wide range of transportation services through out Prince William Sound. Our rates are the lowest and our service is the most reliable. We operate from mid March through mid-December. Whittier Water Taxi is a licensed big game transporter #928. We are also a licensed transporter for the Alaska State Parks. Plan your Alaskan adventure now checkout out web site www.whittierwatertaxi.com or give me a call Captain Matt 1-907-362-1291.

Whittier Water Taxi - Licensed Game Transporter #928

Hunters beware of unlicensed game transporters. There are over a dozen unlicensed game transporters in the Prince William Sound area. Many advertise that they operate out of the Whittier and Seward Boat Harbors. These illegal, under the table operators are making it easy for poachers to get transported around Prince William Sound without being documented. As all of the hunters that have been transported by Whittier Water Taxi, also known as Aquetec LLC, know, a licensed transporter is required to fill out a State of Alaska game transport form before leaving the dock and before returning from the field. This form records all the hunters’ licenses, destination, the type of game hunted and how many were harvested. In addition to this form, the transporter is required to have a written contract with each hunter. This protects the hunter from hidden charges and clarifies the drop off and pick up times. The contract also records the method of communication while in the field and emergency contact details that the transporter should call if your pick up is delayed by weather. Many find it annoying to fill out all the paper work but it’s very important - poachers prefer to take the under the table operator. That way they can come and go without notice. When I see an unlicensed transporter, I think poacher supporter. The State of Alaska hunting regulations are often changed because of poaching and undocumented take of game. This hurts all the ethical hunters in Alaska. If you go to the Great Alaskan Sportsman Show this year you can easily spot the illegal unlicensed game transporters. If you have a transporter license, you are required to display your license. Licensed game transporters are listed on the State of Alaska commercial license web site. Save and protect your right to hunt by reporting unlicensed transporters. Let’s make it tough on poachers and poacher supporters otherwise they will ruin it for the rest of us.

Whittier Water Taxi, game transporter #928. For more info on hunter drop off check out http://www.whittierwatertaxi.com/ or http://www.princewilliamsoundhunting.com/. Whittier Water Taxi is the only water taxi out of Whittier that posts our rates on our web site. All rates are quoted round trip, per person, no hidden fees or taxes and we operate from mid March through December. We are year round local Alaskans that enjoy harvesting game for the table.

Captain Matt Cline

Whittier Water Taxi at the Mat-Su Outdoorsman Show

Whittier Water Taxi spent another great weekend at the Mat-Su Outdoorsman Show in Wasilla, Alaska, networking with other businesses, both in Whittier and elsewhere in South Central Alaska, in addition to sharing memories with some of our awesome past customers and helping future customers plan their Prince William Sound adventures. This first outdoor show of the season is always a lot of fun as people are so excited about getting out on the water and enjoying another Alaskan summer, whether it’s taking the family to a rental cabin, kayaking with friends in the endless waterways of Prince William Sound, watching glaciers calve, fighting a feisty silver salmon on the end of their fishing line, waiting with anticipation to see the shrimp pots rise to the water’s surface or strategizing a hunt for black bear or Sitka black-tailed deer. With the arrival of the Sportsman Shows in Alaska, spring is finally here and Matt and Heidi Cline with Whittier Water Taxi are looking forward to helping make your 2011 wilderness adventure dreams come true. We are already open for business and have been taking numerous groups of Alaskans out for cabin rental, camping, skiing and research support. Remember, public use cabins need to be reserved 6 months ahead of time! Book early for your trip as some of the days are already full and we don’t want you to be disappointed!

http://www.whittierwatertaxi.com/

Capt. Matt  

Whittier Water Taxi - Often copied, never duplicated

You know you are the best when others try to copy you! Just in the last year, we’ve seen other water taxis that operate out of Whittier change their web sites and add our business name: Whittier Water Taxi, to the text on their web sites in an attempt to ride on our coat tails. I have to laugh when I see all the feeble attempts made to attract customers away from Whittier Water Taxi. None of these copy cats try to improve their services; they are just trying to fill seats on their boats any way possible, without working for it. At Whittier Water Taxi, also known as Aquetec LLC, we have built our company by providing an affordable and reliable service. Good customer service is hard to find - just ask any of our Whittier Water Taxi customers - they will tell you we offer the best service. I hear all the horror stories: ‘they didn’t pick us up’ or ‘they added hidden charges’. My favorite is: ‘they wouldn’t drop us off where we wanted to go!’ The sad stories never end; just when you think you’ve heard them all, a new customer tells you a new one that tops them all! Many customers tell me they’ve called other water taxis and no one answered; they leave a message and hear nothing back. I find that quite rude. If we can’t answer the phone we always return the messages or emails as soon as we can. Many times I’m out of cell phone range but if customers leave a message, I always call them back, even when on vacation! I know how important it is for you to plan your trip ahead a time. It’s the extra effort we take to make the customer’s trip work out as well as being reliable that has made Whittier Water Taxi the most preferred water taxi by Alaskans. We cater to Alaskans, their guests and independent travelers. When looking to book a water taxi to Prince William Sound, check out if water taxi is the company’s main business or do they have several other side businesses, with water taxi just as a side show? How long do they operate? Are they only operating during tourist season? We operate from mid March to mid December – WE’RE NOT HERE JUST FOR THE TOURISTS. How much boating experience do they have? Many wannabe water taxi Captains (yachters) exaggerate their sea time but in reality they’d be lucky to break 100 hours a year at the most on the water (as most people know, a lot of yachts spend most of their time tied to a dock). Whittier Water Taxi operates at least 1200 to 1500 hours a season on Alaska’s waters. We not only get far more experience with sea conditions in Prince William Sound, we also transport to the more remote and lesser know locations in Prince William Sound that only a few local Alaskans know of. Don’t let a copy cat ruin your trip into the Alaskan wilderness - check out the real Whittier Water Taxi at www.whittierwatertaxi.com  or email me on ak_explorer@hotmail.com

Captain Matt