Homer Day 2 – The Fishing Trip
Woke up at 5 am feeling pretty good, which pleased me
because when I was trying to do my blog last night before I went to sleep I
suddenly felt really tired and had a bit of an upset tummy, so I wondered if I
was coming down with something. But all
seems good this morning. So I got myself
breakfasted and ready to meet the other guys before 6 am so we could drive up
to the jetty in their motorhome and be down on the boat Irish Mist before 6.30
am. I have never been on a fishing
charter before, but the crew of John and Chuck were great – Chuck is actually
John’s grandfather, so that is lovely. It
was raining and very grey as we set of from Homer harbour (past fishing ship
“Time Bandit” from “The World’s Deadliest Catch” TV show) and we were expecting
a wet day. We set off to go about 2 hours west from Homer Spit, so quite a long
way into the Cook Strait, and near the
4000 ft active Augustine Volcano, which is an island in itself.
By the time John had steered us to our fishing spot that was
one of their favourites for Halibut (which we were after, since Homer is the
home of halibut fishing !), the seas had calmed considerably, and the rain had
stpped anf there was even a little patch of blue sky. On the way out we had
seen sea otters lying around in groups, and also lots of groups of murres and
gulls doing their thing. Chuck set up all the rods, and baited all the hooks
(with a rubber band included to keep the bait on the hook longer), and I
watched carefully expecting to be doing it from now on. Chuck gave us
instructions of how to do everything, and told us if we dropped a rod
overboard, they were very expensive and we would have to pay for them ! And then we started.
I am not kidding – as the bait hit bottom some 200 feet
below, the fish nibbled and then bit It
was literally as quick as that !! And
when the first fish came up (not sure who – maybe Wilma ?) it was a beautifull
halibut about 3 feet long, and about 15-20 lbs – And to my amazement John
unhooked it and put it back in the water !!!!!
Far too small, he said !! Soon we
were all hauling them up almost continuously !
Let me say how unexpectedly civilised (to a non fisherman
like me !) fishing charters can be – when my fish surfaced, John or Chuck were
there to help me bring it aboard, and usually put it straight back in the sea
! Then they rebaited my hook, and I just
lowered it back into the water !! How
good is that ! All the yucky bits (ie
putting bait on, and taking fish off) done for you – You just hook ‘em and reel
‘em in !!! No wonder people enjoy it !
Anyway, we all gradually caught ones large enough to warrant
keeping – these were about 3-4 ft long, and about 30 pounds, we were told. Big halibut can be 100 and even 200 lb, but these are apparently
getting pretty rare nowadays. Such a
funny looking fish, a bit like a flounder, and they start off looking like a
normal fish and then the one eye moves around to be on the same side as the
other eye, and they lie on the bottom. After about an hour, the water was flat
calm, the sun was out, and we were starting to take off some of our layers of
clothing – It was warm, and we were working hard !! Now I know why Popeye had such huge forearms
– Your left arm gets sore from pulling on the rod, while your right arm gets
sore from winding the fish in – Soon we were begging the fish not to bite too
quickly so we could have a rest for a minute !
When the fish come up, for those being released Chuck and John have a
system where they use the ships railing to get the hook out of the fish's mouth
quickly and cleanly, and then the fish just drops straight back into the sea
while they rebait your hook. So released
fish soon became know as “railings”, and it became a great competition to see who
could catch a “non-railing” fish !!
After a brief break for lunch (a delicious sandwich of
smoked deer caught by Ray), it was back to work catching fish, as the weather
just got better and …..better. We were almost down to T shirts by the time we
were all starting to feel pretty sore by about 2 o’clock – After some 5 hours
of continuous catching and reeling them in. I think it was about 2.30 when we
realised that with fingers and arms cramping up, it was time to call it a day –
And it was great (and appropriate) that the last 3 who all pulled their lines
in all had fish on the end !
So once Chuck and John had cleaned up all the fishing lines,
Chuck headed the boat for home while John got ready to go to work filleting the
fish right then and there, so that by the time we got back to the Homer Marina,
all the flllets were in boxes (4 fillets per fish, 2 fish allowed each, so 40
fillets of halibut all together), and when we arrived at the dock, they had
already radioed ahead and a guy from the packing and freezing place was
dockside to take your fish away and snap freeze it, ready for you to either
take on the plane with you, or they will ship it anywhere in the USA. The
others were taking theirs with them, while I elected to have mine shipped to my
sister in Anacortes – She had told me she wanted some salmon, but we are a bit
early for salmon, so she gets halibut !!
And in my opinion, halibut is a much nicer eating fish – I am stunned by
how good it is.
After we had got back to the camp site and had a shower, I
ran up to the shop to buy some sweet potato and coleslaw to have with the fish
for supper, and some apple pie and ice cream for desert, meanwhile Wilma was
cooking the fish in their RV, and I have to say it was SUPERB. I think it was
just cooked in a little butter and onion, wrapped in tn foil and put in the
oven, and it was SO good. We had just
one fillet between 5 of us, and we all had seconds, I think, and there was
still another serving left over ! And
that was just one of 4 fillets from each fish !!
Just before supper we spotted an eagle sitting down on the
beach, so took a few photos (of course), and then had supper. By the time we finished, I was absolutely
exhausted (as was everyone else) and I went back to my tent and I think by 8.30
or 9 pm I was sound asleep after a great day.
Many thanks to Woody and Wendy and Ray and Wilma for including me – I
had such fun and it was great spending time with you all. Have a safe journey home to Pennsylvania.
Am planning on having a lazy day in camp tomorrow, doing my
blog (I am now 3 days behind !) and my laundry, before I leave here in Tuesday
and start heading slowly back south. All
of Alaska is great, but I think the Kenai is the jewel in the crown – I just love
all these little places here. I can see
why everyone comes here and it is getting so crowded !! I really cannot recommend this place highly
enough if you are adventurous spirits -
It is just so different from anywhere else.
Pics of the day here : https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/064HomerDay2?authkey=Gv1sRgCOaKt7mJ5fCfhAE#
