Whalers' Cove Lodge is located on Killisnoo Island just minutes from the Village of Angoon on the western side of Admiralty Island.

  The history of our lodge site has always been noted for exceptional fishing. Our fishing grounds were originally discovered by the Tlingit Indians when they traveled from Canada to what is now called Southeast Alaska and constructed their first village only minutes from our lodge. Once they had time to venture through the region, they discovered and built another village site where our lodge is currently located. The Tlingits chose Killisnoo Island due to the exceptional weather, calm waters of Chatham Strait and the superb fishing on the saltwater as well as the freshwater.

  In 1886, Alaska Northwest Trading Company was built within the Tlingit Village on Killisnoo Island. The site again was chosen due to the prosperous fishery and the calm inside passage of Chatham Strait. The Trading Company, which was later renamed Alaska Fish Oil and Guano, was a trading stop for the whaling fleet that operated in the Bering Sea. Alaska Fish Oil and Guano began rendering oil from herring (our bait fish) and salmon which were locally caught and used in foods, medicine and for lubricants. The Guano, which was ground herring, was sold as fertilizer and was mainly used in Hawaii for their pineapple and sugar cane crops.

  The owner of Whalers' Cove Lodge had received a vessel's log book from the late 1800's which states that the crew of this schooner fished in the exact spot for halibut as we do today. It also mentions about the wealth of herring found around the area which still holds true today and supports our immense resource of all five Pacific Northwest Salmon (King, Coho, Sockeye, Chum and Pink), Halibut and over twenty species of Rockfish including Ling Cod and Red Snappers.