Halibut Fishing

Yesterday a very nice friend with a very nice boat took us halibut fishing.  We met on the dock at 6:30, and already dozens of boats, big and small, were putt-putting slowly out onto the bay. It was a spectacular day on the water.  Nelson had been out many times, but I had only been out once before and got sea sick; so I was sucking down Bonine.

We went all over the  part of Cook Inlet near the mouth of the Katchemak Bay and saw scores of otters sunbathing and playing, and of course the ever-present murres, gulls, and puffins.  It was really halibut that we wanted to see, however.  They were very elusive.  We would drop our lines with a nice big hunk of tasty herring skewered to the hook and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Nothing.  Then we would pull up our lines and motor to another spot in the Inlet to do the same thing with the same results. 

We repeated this scenario about 1/2 dozen times, allowing us to tour much of that part of the Inlet.  Then the boat's captain, Aaron, said that now we were going to take a "boat ride"!  So off we went, heading south.  The water was getting choppier since we were in the more open part of the Cook Inlet now. We bounced our way south for over an hour.  The scenery was incredible.

Finally, we stopped and dropped our lines once more.   For quite a while there was narry a nibble.  Then suddenly, Nels got a small halibut and within minutes, Aaron got a bite.  His rod dipped waaayy down.  He struggled to reel up and we at last saw a huge halibut fighting furiously at the end of his line.  This was a big one.  Aaron and Nels struggled for 20 minutes to bring it in the boat.  A fish this size needed to be killed before it was brought into the boat, otherwise it might injure someone.  When they got it into the boat it measured out to 55 inches long which weighs in at 82 lbs!  It was no where near the biggest but a lot bigger than any of us had had experience with before.  Very exciting! Aaron fileted it right then and there. Then it was time to head home.  It was late afternoon.  The tide was going out so we would have a long ride back to the dock.

And what a ride!  Aaron was thrilled with his catch and feeling euphoric; so we flew.  It was a cowboy ride for sure.  We sailed over those waves like a flat stone skipped by a well-skilled twelve year old.  The bay had white caps by this time and lots of boats were returning to dock so there was a lot of wake with the waves.  We seemed to hit them all!  The boat would slap and dip over and over.  Who needs Hershey Park?  This was better than any amusement ride and certainly longer!

What did I get?   Sick!  It happened again on our way to the last spot we tried.  I was laid low for a couple hours but was good enough to enjoy the wild ride home.  Will I go again?  Probably.  Loved that ride home!  Yipee-ky-yi-yo!!