Homer, Alaska-May 23, 2011-
We booked a fishing trip and had a fabulous time. Wellll most of it!!! We gathered our stuff this morning and now off to get our fishing license. An out of state cost $145.00 annually and my three day cost $35.00. I’m not sure deep sea fishing is for me, but I want to try it. If and when you salmon fish, you have to have an annual sticker or purchase a daily sticker. I know the daily ones are $10.00. Of course it’s more money, what were you thinking. Today we’re fishing for Halibut. I forgot how it feels with a hat, gloves, heavy coat and rain pants on. But it’s cold and wet, so be it. We will have our safety meeting and off we go. One of the things he mentioned is:
If anyone falls overboard the water temperature is 40 degrees. Don’t jump in to save your partner or friend, let the Captain or deck hand get them out. It’s harder to save two people. If you feel like you’re going to get sick, don’t use the head, stick your head over the railing. Golly gee, this is going to be a blast. Here we go the water isn’t too rough yet in the Bay. I saw a sea lion just rolling and diving into the water having a great time. It will take us about an hour and a half to get there. It’s getting pretty choppy out now and the water is coming over the top of the boat. We went sideways and it knocked us out of our seats. We are all ok. I’m concerned about David’s back, but he reassured me that he was ok. This should really be fun!!!!! We met the other people on the boat; some are from Texas, others from Missouri. Their homes and family were not affected by the Tornado that hit there. We are slowing up, but the boat it pitching from one side to the other. Oh my gosh, how do you stay standing, holding a fishing pole, and not falling over. The anchor is down and our poles are baited. Ugh- I’m not feeling so well. The boat is rocking back and forth and up and down and you can hardly stand up. We had another safety meeting to explain how to catch a Halibut, how to use the fishing pole, and yell, “I’ve got color” when you have a fish at the top of the water but don’t take it out of the water, they will. If you lose your bait, Yell “Bait”. Holy smokes, I hope I remember all of that. I’ll probably yell, FISH! Here we go, pole is over the edge of the boat, I released the line, oh no, I forgot to keep my thumb on the line while it drops 120 feet. Ok, it didn’t bunch up. I got one, only to lose it because I didn’t keep the line tight. David and Jerry each have one. Dang it!!! I’m putting my pole down for a bit. I’m really feeling sea sick, Captain Ken came over and told me to look at the Horizon and Mountains. Of course, I was watching the sea gulls while I fishing and they were bobbing up and down in the water. That was not a good idea. OK after watching the Mountains and Horizon for half an hour, I feel better. I now have pole, bait and ready to go. Other people are picking and choosing what fish to keep. I’ve yet to get one to the top to yell, “Color.” Dang it, I can’t seem to pull the fish all the way to the top. Cranking that fish line 120 feet with a 20 pound fish on it, is tough. Yeah, Reva has one she can tag. We both agreed that this is tough. I will look at halibut in the store differently now. David helped me out by tagging my fish he helped me catch. We each get two Halibut to take back and we now have our limit. Jerry and Reva have their limit along with everyone else. We are heading back to Port. What a fabulous experience. They filet your fish on the way back and put it in separate containers. Now we have to decide what to do with 25 pounds of Halibut. They are going to vacuum pack it and flash freeze it. We are picking ours up in the morning and Jerry and Reva are shipping theirs home. David kept a couple of filets and we’re having them tonight. There is nothing like fresh fish from sea. Yummy /Marilyn
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