2013-12-27 Naha Trip

I had not been out since mid November and I was starting to experience boat trip withdrawal.  I really wanted to get one last trip in before the end of the year.  Besides, I have gone out at least once during every month of the year in 2013 and I really didn't want to skip December.

Since my last post I have added a couple of new tools to my weather watching arsenal.  One is a subscription to a website www.sailflow.com.  They have a couple of different service levels, and the one I got is $2.99 a month I think.  It is really a wind tracking service primarily intended for sailors.  But when the wind kicks up, so do the waves, so I find it a very useful tool.  They have a free iPad app as well, so that makes it easy to use.  I also found another marine weather app for the iPad called "WeatherMap+" that seems to be very helpful.  The app was about $10 but there is no ongoing service fee.

I had Thursday and Friday after Christmas off, so I used these tools to try to find the best time to go out and not get hammered too badly by the weather.  This time of year I don't hope or expect "good" weather, I just hope to get "not horrible" weather.

Even though the winds were not expected to be too bad over these two days, I certainly did not expect sunny and warm weather.  Heavy rain was in the forecast.

I was solo for this quick overnight trip.

I left the harbor about 7 AM on the Friday after Christmas.  It was still dark, so the nav lights were on and the radar was humming. 

I decided that since the photo ops were probably going to be slim on this trip (due to the marginal weather) that I would take this opportunity to show in a little more detail how I prepare, set and pull my shrimp pots.  This is primarily for my non-Alaskan friends and relatives, since some of them have inquired about this process.  Let me say up front that I certainly don't profess to be an expert at this.  I have only been shrimping for the last few years, while many around here have been doing it for decades.

Here is a shot of my 3 shrimp pots, which I carry with me all the time.  In this shot they are upside down, and the "tunnels" are not set up yet.  More about the tunnels later.  You can't see them in this shot but each pot has a section of webbing that has been cut and resewed with a special cotton thread that deteriorates in salt water.  That way if the pot is abandoned on the bottom the thread will rot and a section of the webbing will open so that any shrimp inside will be able to escape.

These 3 pots will be connected to the same ground line with strong metal clips.  They are spaced about 15' - 20' apart.  The ground line is 600' long, but I rarely fish them that deep.

In the above shot you can see the 3 orange bait canisters, some chopped frozen bait herring, and a bag of shrimp bait pellets.  These pellets are purchased in bulk and I assume are made from fish wastes.  (A member of my crew who will remain unnamed once fed them to our dogs, mistaking them for dog food.  They loved it, but the effects were immediate and "epic.")

I mix the herring with the pellets in the bait canisters.  The canisters have slots and openings in them so the scent can get out.

Here you can see the bait canister ready to be closed up.  I put the herring in first and then fill to the top with the pellets.  Others use different mixtures here, with some using all herring, or all bait pellets.  Some people slather the whole mess in fish oil.  It's all about the scent.

In this shot I tried to show the tunnels.  Focus on the small metal ring just off center to the right.  It is being held in place by the small black rubber bungee cords to pull it tight.  There are 3 tunnels, pulled into the center, which allow the shrimp to get in, but makes it very difficult for them to get out.

This shot shows the hanging bait.  I save a lot of the carcasses from salmon and halibut that are caught during the season to use for hanging bait.   

Here are my 3 pots stacked, ready to be dropped.  Obviously it is important to get them stacked in the right order, with the line laid out in such a way that it won't get tangled in itself, or in your feet or hands as it is being run out.  It's also very important not to let any part of the pots or the line get under the boat.  Getting a line fouled in the prop is very bad.

When I have a helper it is a lot easier.  Then I can just run slowly forward as he/she drops the pots over one by one and then plays the line out.  When I am alone I have to pay more attention to the wind and the natural drift of the boat, since I can't steer the boat and be on the back deck at the same time.

This shot shows my primary navigational unit.  It has many screens, but this one is the GPS (Global Positioning System) map.  You can see Waypoint #52, which is where I intended to drop the pots.  Below that you can see the black triangle, which is the boat, and the red line, which is my track.  Just FYI,  SOG is speed over ground (in knots), COG is course over ground (compass course), DPT is depth in feet, and POSN is position in latitude and longitude.

And of course you have to have some way to find the pots when you return, so there is a large buoy on the surface.  The buoy must have your name, address, phone number, and boat name (I think).  I attach a smaller buoy (the blue one in this photo) for two reasons.  It makes it easier to snag the line with the boat hook when you retrieve the pots.  But more importantly for me, it shows which way the drift is running.  As I noted before, I don't want the line underneath the boat, so it is important to know which way the boat will drift while I am pulling the pots.  This is particularly important when I am pulling them by myself, which is usually the case.  I can't pull the pots and maneuver the boat at the same time, so the boat has to drift away from the line so it doesn't go under the boat.

At this point I left the pots and headed to the Naha.  But in order to continue on this track I'll finish up the pot pulling for the sake of momentum.

These 2 shots show my pot puller as it is deployed and as it is stored.  As pot pullers go this one is pretty wimpy, but it serves my needs very well.  It is electric (12 VDC) and is mounted on a downrigger base.  I like it because it is easy to set up and easy to stow away when I don't need it.  But, the trade off is that it is limited in its power.  I tried to add a 4th pot to my string, but it seemed to tax the puller a bit too much so I took it off.

The line is threaded around the large wheel in such a way that it pulls the line up.  With 600' of line out it is very difficult to pull it up by hand.

Unfortunately this time I did not get a very good haul.  I think my record is about 180 shrimp, but only got about 30 this time.  The above shot shows the pots stacked on deck after pulling them, and the few shrimp inside can be seen.  The bait is just thrown away, unless the plan is to reset them right away.

Once in awhile we get creatures other than shrimp in the pots.  This time I got a big star fish, but sometimes we will get an octopus.  The octopus chows down on the shrimp while he is in there and we find empty shrimp carcasses.

A meager haul for all the work that was involved.  We "pop" the heads off and save just the tails.  At least that's how I do it.  I offered some shrimp to some fellow boaters one time and they were disappointed to find the heads had been removed.  Apparently they like to steam them whole.

We usually boil them (easy and fast) or butterfly them and deep fry them in tempura mix (difficult, messy, and time consuming, but Oh so delicious!)  If you want some recipes for preparing shrimp I suggest 3 alternatives:

• Buy a recipe book
• Google it
• Watch the movie "Forrest Gump"

So that's it for the shrimping lesson.  Remember that I am no expert, as can be seen from the meager haul this time.  But we certainly enjoy it and when I go on these short one night over night trips it works out well to set them on the way out and pull them on the way back.

Now, on to the rest of the trip at the Naha.

Here's the Silver King Fishing Lodge, which is a going concern over the summer season, but not so much this time of year.

And of course here is the obligatory shot of Faraway at her second home at the Naha dock.  Can you believe it?  No one else was here when I arrived about noon.

I had a quick lunch and then got my gear together for a hike up the trail.  Even though the Winter Solstice has passed and the daylight hours are supposed to be increasing, it is still winter and I estimated that it would be full dark in the woods by around 3:30 PM.

The tide was at about half stage heading towards a low tide, so the water from the lagoon was surging out as it headed towards salt water.

Anyone who has taken wildlife photos knows, we never know how close we will be allowed to approach, and we never know how long the subject will stick around.  In this case this squirrel was very accommodating.  He didn't seem to mind my presence and in fact seemed curious about the flash.

Here are a few scenic shots of the reflections in the lagoon.  It was a dead calm day up there and the surface of the lagoon was like a mirror.  I know I have taken many similar shots before, but I just could not pass these up.  The photos don't do the experience justice.  Being alone up on that trail in late December and being able to take these photos was very special for me.

I first walked this trail in July of 1978.  My older daughter Jennifer was barely 6 months old and my younger daughter Karen was not yet born.  Each time I walk the trail now I am painfully aware that the day will come when I can no longer take this hike.  The boardwalks are treacherously slippery, and there are blow downs that need to be skirted.  Everything is just harder when you get old.  But, that day has not come yet, and so I continue to enjoy taking this hike and seeing what there is to see.

Above are a couple of shots of "Bear Bread" that I saw along the trail.  This is a type of fungus that grows on trees in this area.  I like the second one the best.  Looks like a big frog eating a snail.

That was it for the hike, as it was getting dark.

I went back to the boat for "cabin time."  I bring plenty of diversions on winter trips like this because I know I'll be stuck inside for many hours before the next daylight.

I spent a quiet, but rainy, night on board.

On Saturday morning I was up well before daylight, and was surprised to see another boat coming in at about 7:30 AM, while it was still dark.  It was a 24' runabout with 2 men and a young girl on board.  They were decked out with fishing garb and gear and said they were headed up for a day of fishing on the river..  Just like me they wanted "one last trip" before the end of the year.

I pulled out about 8 AM while it was still trying to get light, and saw two more small boats coming in carrying canoes, so I presume they were also heading up river to fish.

On the way home I stopped to pull the shrimp pots, previously described.

The winds were higher than expected on the way home.  I guess they didn't read the predictions.

Every landing into the stall is different, no matter how many times I do it.  Winds, tide, crew, other boats, etc. all play a part in getting the boat into the stall.  When I am alone of course it is a much greater challenge.  When I have young agile crew men on board I just have to get close to the finger float and they leap off and haul me in.  When I'm by myself it is a much different story.

I always back into my stall so that my bow faces the southeast.  That's where most of our really bad weather comes from, especially in the winter.  I have twin engines and a bow thruster, so the boat is very maneuverable, but still conditions always make it a challenge.

You can guess by now that I had problems getting into the stall on this landing.  The winds were not especially strong, certainly not the strongest I have encountered while landing.  But they were blowing away from the finger float, which presents a problem.

When I backed into the stall and jumped out on the finger float with the lines in my hand the wind caught the boat and pulled it away from me.  I was struggling to hold it, and I was losing.  The boat weighs over 21000 lbs and that big flybridge is like a sail in the wind.  Just as I managed to get the line wrapped around the cleat, the boat swiveled and the swim step jumped up on the finger float and hit another big cleat, causing a big bite to be taken out of the swim step.  Ouch!

Coincidentally the last time I had the boat out on blocks for spring maintenance I had a very similar ding in the swim step repaired..  Price tag for that was about $500 if I recall.

In any case, at least there were no injuries and no damage to any other boats in the area.

Last trip of the year - 41.7 nm.

2013-11-09 Marguerite Bay Trip

Veteran's Day is a bank holiday and so I had been thinking about where I would go for the long weekend if the weather was decent enough to travel safely.  I had been seriously considering a foray South into Carroll Inlet, but when I mentioned to one of my friends and colleagues at the bank that I was headed out for the weekend he mentioned that he and a couple of other bank guys were headed to Marguerite Bay in Traitors Cove for the long weekend.  In fact, they were making an even longer weekend of it by leaving on Friday.

That sealed it for me, and I decided to link up with them and crash their party.  They were deer hunting and had 4 wheelers and a motorcycle.  I don't hunt anymore (except to hunt for a good place to fish) but I enjoy hanging out with them when they are hunting.

I headed out from town just before 7 AM on Saturday morning, just as it was getting light.  I won't include a map segment here, but if you want to see one you can go back to one of my previous trips, as I've gone to Marguerite Bay several times this year.  I was solo for this trip.

The weather was cool, calm, and overcast.

I had an unexpected visit by some porpoises right near the entrance to Clover Pass.  I say unexpected because I've passed this was probably hundreds of times over the past 35+ years of boating and I don't recall ever seeing porpoises right here before.  It was a small group, perhaps 6 or 7 at most.  You can't really count them because they are in constant motion.  They criss-cross in front of the boat and I've been told they like to feel the surge of the bow wave.  They joined me for perhaps 10 minutes.  Since I was alone it was impossible to get photos.

About 10:30 AM I entered Traitors Cove and took some time to bait and prep my 3 shrimp pots.  I had retained some salmon heads from the Silver harvest this season and so I had some good hanging bait.  I dropped the pots in about 450' of water out in front of Marguerite Bay where I have done well in the past.

Then I went in and tied up to the USFS dock.

There were four boats there.  Two of them were metal boats that belong to my colleagues from the bank, and the other two were commercial fishing boats.  No one was around when I tied up.

In the summer we can't tie up to that outside slip where I tied.  They bring float planes in full of tourists, starting about mid July.  There is a bear and fish viewing platform, sort of a Poor Man's Anan Creek, about a mile up the road.  They have vans to transport the people up there.  But in the winter it is fair game for tie up there, as far as I know.

I had an early lunch, and got my gear together for a hike up the logging road.  This time of year the daylight hours are very short.  I estimated that it would be full dark by about 4:15 PM, so I didn't have much time.

I know that I have posted many pictures of Margaret Lake in previous postings, but it was so beautiful up there that I cannot resist posting a couple more.  For me they are all unique because they are at different times of the year, and the lighting is always different.  When reviewing these photos after the trip I regretted not using my polarizing filter.  My friend Len says they "put the blue back in the sky."

The USFS must have been looking for new projects because since the last time I was here they have placed name signs on many (all?) of the lakes and creeks in this area.  Just in case there was any doubt about exactly where I was on this trip, here is the answer:

I worked my way along the side of the lake and tried some fishing with light trout gear.  I was very surprised to almost immediately hook into an old spawned out Silver salmon.  I was surprised that he was even still in there at this time of year, and even more surprised that he actually hit my spoon.  I did not get a picture, but he was about 12 lbs, and starting to decompose, as they do after they hit fresh water.

A few minutes after that I got a cutthroat trout about 15".  Should've gotten a picture but did not.

It's hard to take a picture of a fish and keep it alive to release it when you are by yourself.  You lay the fish on the bank and it rolls in pine needles and dirt while you are getting the camera ready.  So you clean it off, which gets your hands slimey so now you have to clean your hands before you can handle the camera again.  By the time you do that the fish has rolled in pine needles and dirt again.  You see the pattern here I'm sure.

As I was walking back towards the boat I saw a couple of my buddies also returning.  Their mode of transportation was considerably more stylish than mine, as this next photo shows.

They offered me a ride back to the boat but one of my primary goals on these trips is to get some exercise, so I declined.  Besides, it was stunningly beautiful weather for a mid November day and I wanted to enjoy the hike for as long as possible.

Here is a picture of what I generally use for transportation on my trips:

I just hung out on the boats and visited with the guys as we waited for dark.  Butch prepared dinner this evening, corned beef and cabbage.  I don't even recall the last time I had corned beef.  It was very good.

Here's a picture of the bay as the sun set:

The other guys were pretty tired from a long day of hunting I guess because they all started sacking out about 8 PM.  I had inherited one of the guys to sleep over on my boat since they were a bit crowded on the one boat and I had lots of room.  I really didn't want to go to sleep at 8 PM but my main cabin had been turned into a bedroom, so I just took my iPad to my bunk up front, closed the door, plugged in the headphones, and watched a movie for awhile before going to sleep.

It was a quiet night, and I was up about 6:30 AM on Sunday.  My buddy John who had slept on board volunteered to go out with me to pull and reset the shrimp pots.  So about 8 AM we pulled out and did that.

We only got about 40 shrimp in the pots, which is a lot less than I usually get in this location.  There were a lot of "Crimps" in the pots.  Not sure that is the right word for these little critters.  I'll bet I had over 100 of them in there on this pull.  We just toss them back in the water.  Here is a picture of a rather large one.

When we got back to the dock John and all the other guys went up the road on their respective vehicles hunting.  I just hung out on the boat and tried to stay busy.

I had volunteered to contribute spaghetti and sauce for the evening meal, if they needed it, so I went ahead and browned the ground beef so that would be ready.  I also went ahead and set up my propane cooker on the dock and cooked the shrimp.

The two commercial boats pulled out.  They were also hunting and had decided to move north up Behm Canal to the next bay up, Neets Bay.

The guys returned about 2:15 PM with no deer.  Guess I'm a jinx.
I did get a ride in the Polaris RAZR, which was a lot of fun.
I had not been very far up into the hills on this logging road system because I am always on foot and can only travel so far.

 

It was almost dark when I shot this picture from far up on the hillside across from the dock during my ride on the RAZR.  I did not know where we'd be going and unfortunately I did not have my zoom lens with me.

Dinner this evening was a deer roast, mashed potatoes, and salad.  Butch did the cooking and we all sat out on the dock and ate.  One of the guys had brought a big metal fire pit, so we could have a fire right there on the wooden dock.  The stars were out, the moon was out, and it was a beautiful, but cold, November evening.

The next morning I was up at about 6:30 AM and pulled out at 7 AM.  The weather forecast called for 30 knots in the afternoon and I had at least 3 hours of running time ahead of me.  And I had to pull my shrimp pots again.  The pots this time were better and I got about 100 nice shrimp, with many extra larges in there.  A pretty good haul for just 3 pots.  It takes some time to "process" the shrimp, and stack and stow the shrimp pots, so it was just after 8 AM when I finally headed towards home.

The only item of note on the ride home was that I quickly noticed that both the radar and the sonar (depth finder) on my primary Garmin unit were out.  I have a smaller backup unit for GPS and sonar, but only have the one radar unit.  I had some concern because as I approached town I saw a large fog bank ahead of me, but it blew off before I got there.  This is definitely something that needs to be fixed as soon as possible.  It's always something on a boat.

I got into the stall about 11:15 AM, before the winds picked up.

Total trip mileage was 58.5 nm.

A successful mid November trip for Faraway.

2013-10-19 Naha Trip

Well it's been over a month since I've been able to get out on the boat.

The weather has been bad, as it usually is this time of year, and I've had some work responsibilities that kept me in port.

The trip this weekend almost didn't happen as well.  I had been watching the weather forecasts all week and they were looking pretty good.  Right up until Friday evening when the forecast for Saturday bumped from 20 knots to 30 knots.  In the winter my rule of thumb is 20 knots I will go, 25 knots I will take good look and possibly go, but 30 knots, I don't go.

Saturday morning when I got up it was calm, even though the forecast still said "increasing to 30 knots" in the morning.  I made the snap decision to go, and I think I got my gear and food together in record time.

In the above photo you can see the trolling poles of a small troller that sank at its moorings in the harbor.  I read about it in the paper a few days ago.  They put a boom of absorbent material around it to try to corral any fuel or oil that may escape.  I don't recall if the article said why it sank, or why the owner had not had it raised or at least moved by now.

 

This is the "fast ferry" Fairweather sitting at the Alaska Marine Highway System dock near my harbor.  The idea behind the "fast ferries" was to provide a way for people to be able to get themselves and their vehicles from Juneau to Ketchikan, or vice versa, on the same calendar day.  They had two of these fast ferries, and one would run between Juneau and Petersburg while the other would run between Petersburg and Ketchikan.  I haven't heard much about them recently but when they first started up they had tons of problems with the vessels.  They have huge jet drives which were always sucking up logs and other debris.  And they had trouble with the engines, generators, etc.

This is the "Arctic Prowler," a 136' commercial fishing vessel built completely right here in our shipyard.  They had quite a ceremony about it a week or so ago, complete with tours.  I wish I could have gone on the tour, but I had other commitments.  She was commissioned by a Petersburg based fishing company that has other "Prowler"  vessels.  She is a pretty impressive vessel to be sure.

I dropped my shrimp pots in Clover Pass at a spot where I have always done well in the past, particularly in the fall and winter when there aren't many other boats out. 

I also dropped my "personal use halibut skate."  The ADF&G (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) allows someone with a sport fishing license to drop a 2 hook halibut skate.  That is a long line with a small anchor at the bottom, and two baited halibut hooks, and of course a float at the top.  I have set this many times but have yet to catch a halibut.  But it is easy to set and easy to pull, and it can be fishing while I am hiking.

I got to the Naha dock at about 12:30 PM.  There were 2 small runabout type boats tied up but they were on the inside of the float so I could tie up in my preferred spot.

I had a quick lunch and then geared up for a hike up the trail.  I had originally hoped to hike all the way up to Orton Ranch, but due to my later than expected start this morning I just did not have enough daylight for that.  I judged that it would be dark in the woods at about 5 PM, so I just hiked until about 3:15 PM and then turned back.  It gets dark in the woods a little earlier than on the water.

This is the picnic shelter that we visit frequently with the grand kids.  The USFS maintains it and I see that since I was here last they replaced the roof with new cedar shingles.  Looks nice.  I have toyed with the thought of bringing an air mattress and a sleeping bag and spending the night under this shelter, but then I think about the absolutely wonderful bunk on the boat with the memory foam on top of the mattress, the flannel sheets and the goose down quilt, and that settles the matter.  I'm not 17 anymore.

The above 2 pictures probably only have meaning for those that have been to the Naha, but I cannot resist including them.  The Naha River does not technically start right there at salt water near the dock.  The salt water enters Roosevelt Lagoon first, which is a mixture of fresh and salt water, depending on the stage of the tide.  There is a "rapids" or "raceway" where the water runs into, and out of, the lagoon and into the ocean.  This day when I came by the incoming tide (salt water) was apparently battling with the outgoing fresh water, creating quite a rough area.  To put these pictures into perspective one has to realize that this spot is almost always as placid as a mill pond, so these waves were truly impressive to me.

I apologize if the above photo is too nasty for some, but I include it to make a point.  This time of year the only Pink salmon left are usually in this condition.  They don't smell too good either, putting off an ammonia like stench.

But my point is, as contradictory as it may seem, this is the goal of all self respecting Pink salmon.  They are hatched and born in the river and head out to the open sea for 2 years.  While they are out there they must avoid all natural predators such as seals, sea lions, Killer whales, etc. as well as all human predators, such as commercial fishing boats (trawlers, seiners, gill netters, trollers).  They must also avoid sports fishermen.  And when they return to the rivers of their origin after 2 years, they spawn and contribute to the continuation of the species.  So, this poor guy succeeded, and was not eaten by a bear or an eagle or even a sea gull at the end.  Way to go guy!

Unfortunately some people have dogs that instinctively must roll in dead salmon.  Makes for an aromatic night's sleep or boat ride home.  When I used to bring my dogs here in the early fall I would bring dog shampoo as well.

Here is Faraway at her second home at the Naha dock.  One of the small boats had left by the time I got back from my hike.  I apologize for the lack of photos from the hike, but it was pouring down rain most of the time and therefore difficult to shoot pictures.

I spent a quiet night aboard.  I played some guitar and then later watched a movie on my iPad.

I love to lay in that wonderful bunk and listen to the rain hitting the foredeck when I go to sleep.

In the morning I just had a quick breakfast and pulled out almost right away.

I only got 1 picture on the way back.  I came across a small group of sea lions and one of them must have recognized my boat since I come this way so often.  He waved to me, so of course I waved back.

My shrimp pots were empty, but I could tell that someone else had pulled them.  I have a certain specific way of rigging them and I can tell when someone else pulls them.  That's a problem here sometimes.  Oh well, maybe next time.

My personal use halibut skate was devoid of halibut as well, yielding only 1 starfish.

I made my way back to town arriving in the stall just about 12:30 PM, in time for lunch,

Total trip mileage was 42 nm (nautical miles).

2013-09-15 Even More Silver Fishing

Lisa and I still needed just a few more fish to reach what we feel we need for the winter.
Last year we had a place in Klawock can the large majority of our fish and we are hoping to be able to do that again this year. 

It was just Lisa and the puppy Bambina ('Bina) and myself onboard today.

We headed for our usual trolling grounds North of town and got our lines in the water.

The weather was foggy and cool to start and I was wearing a sweatshirt on deck.  An hour later I was down to a T-shirt as the fog had cleared and the sun had come through.

We ended up trolling only about 3 hours and boated 5 nice fat Silvers, and called it good at that.  No Pinks landed, but we did end up with a few shaker Kings which of course we pitched back.

We stopped at the fuel dock on the way back in and fueled up.  These short little salmon fishing trips don't burn much fuel but eventually you have to pay the piper.

This may be the end of salt water fishing for us this year. We'll see how the weather holds up for the rest of the month.  I traditionally take my salt water fishing gear off the boat around the end of September. The weather starts deteriorating, the fish disappear, and the daylight hours take a dive, so it's time to shift gears.

2013-09-08 More Silver Fishing

Today I took out Ryan's relatives who were in town for about a week.
Let's see if I can get their names and relationships right.

     Hal - Grandfather
     Don - Uncle
     Terry - Uncle

We started trolling in my usual spot just North of town in sunny and calm conditions.
We had left my raft at the stall so we had more room to work the fish from the swim step.
That also allows us to run a third line from the middle rod holder if we want, which we really can't do if the raft is there.

This time of year the hope is that the fishing will be so hot that you couldn't keep a third line in the water if you wanted to.

Ryan and his family were a great crew, working the gear all day.  All I had to do was steer.

After a pretty good haul of Silvers, (and a few Pinks which we pitched), we stopped out by Guard Island and anchored for some bottom fishing.  I couldn't believe it when Don hooked a small halibut within less than a minute of dropping down.  I told him I've spent hours trying to get a halibut so that was definitely not fair.  Unfortunately that was the only halibut we got.  The sharks and the turbot we in abundant supply though.

We came in with a mediocre haul, not as much as I had hoped for.

2013-09-02 Silver fishing

This post will be short and sweet as well.

Labor Day weekend is traditionally a time when we try to get out away from town for a few days, but this year I had to work Saturday and Sunday.  Fortunately we wrapped up our work Sunday afternoon so I was able to get out for some salmon fishing on Monday.

The crew for this trip consisted of wife Lisa, and the two grandsons Tyler (9) and Bryan (7).  And Cristina's boyfriend Ryan.  Today was Tyler's 9th birthday!

And we also had our puppy Bambina ('Bina) on board today as well.

We had one goal for the day and that was to get as many Silvers in the boat as possible.  It's that time of year when we try to fill our freezer with salmon to last over the long winter.

We did not go far from town, and just trolled two lines from the downriggers.  Ryan rigged all the gear and worked the downriggers all day long and did a good job at it.  When a fish hit we would all scramble with different people taking turns on the rod or on the net.  We did lose a few but for the most part got all of them in that hit.  We also got a few shakers (under sized Kings) which of course we shake off.

We didn't do as well as I did on the previous salmon fishing outing, but came home with a respectable catch.

Bryan (left) Tyler (right)

Gee, I wonder who we could get to clean all these fish!

This catch got us a lot closer to our goal, but we still need some more.  Typically I try to fish right up to the end of September, and then I take the salt water gear off the boat for the season.  So we have a couple of weekends left to get a few more fish.

2013-08-16 Fishing with Dennis

This will be a short one, with just a few few pictures, but it was still a very memorable trip.

In my job as IS Manager for First Bank I deal with many vendors, one of which is Open Solutions, based in Glastonbury Connecticut.  Our Account Manager from Open Solutions is Dennis Madson.  He is based in Utah but travels frequently since he covers many banks on the west coast.  Dennis is also an avid fisherman.  On this trip I learned that he is also a true died in the wool hard-core fisherman.

Dennis had his wife Dori and 12 year old son Taylor with him for this fishing trip.

Before we left Bar Harbor we unloaded the raft, in order to make the swim step available for playing and landing all the fish we intended to catch.

We pulled out about 7:30 AM on Friday in overcast, but calm conditions, with occasional rain.

I will not provide a lot of detail on the fish caught but suffice it to say that we started trolling (2 lines only) at about 8:30 AM, and quit trolling at about 2 PM.  In that time we landed 17 Silvers and 1 Pink.  We also caught and pitched back numerous undersized Kings.  We also lost several fish, most likely Silvers, due to their aerobatics. 

I won't specify our exact location, but it was pretty close to town.

About 4 PM we anchored on what I used to think was a good halibut hole out in front of Naha Bay.  We bottom fished 2 lines only for about 90 minutes in absolutely ideal conditions, but nary a hit.

As we sat there not catching halibut we noticed a rainbow back towards the shoreline. 

This picture shows what the conditions were like in Behm Canal at this time.  Absolutely beautiful.

About 5:30 PM we pulled anchor and headed in to the Naha.  We had a lot of fish to deal with.

Here is Dennis and his wife and son at the Naha dock with the day's catch.  If you notice the count is slightly off it is because I filleted one on board in order to get the belly strips to use for halibut bait.

We had a very pleasant evening and night at the Naha dock.  I was surprised to see no one else there on a good weather Friday in mid August.  Taylor was catching small fish from the dock with amazing regularity.  These were mostly small rock fish or Irish Lords, but he also brought up one small shark.  Way to go Taylor!

On Saturday morning we had a good breakfast of pancakes and fruit, and then walked "The Loop."
Weather was a little breezy with persistent rain.

We pulled away from the Naha dock at about 9:30 AM.

By 11 AM we were trolling in the Clover Pass area.  The weather was rainy and breezy.  Most of the other boats were clustered just inside Survey Point, and it was a little rolly-polly there due to the winds.

Unfortunately Dennis's wife Dori is prone to sea sickness and so I was trying to stay inside the point and away from the swells.

We hit a few good fish in here but then hit a dry patch with no fish for awhile.  Dennis suggested that we needed to go back out where we caught all the fish on Friday.  I noted that that area was considerably more exposed to the weather and that might just be a marriage buster.  But he said "Dori is a trooper, she won't mind."

So outside we went...

I have to say that this is where I learned how truly "Hard-Core" Dennis is.  Conditions here were horrible and if it had been anyone else I would have just called it a trip and headed to town.  But he wanted to keep fishing, and fish we did. 

Dori could not help with the gear or the landing of the fish because she was "busy."

I could not help because there was no way that I could leave the helm even for a minute in these conditions.

But amazingly Dennis and Taylor hauled in 3 more nice big fat Silvers in those awful conditions.  I was up on the flybridge and could not really see them, but I kept expecting to hear a Man Overboard at any moment as they danced on the swim step while netting their fish.  But they didn't go overboard and managed to get a few more nice fish in the boat to boot.

About 4 PM we pulled the gear and headed in.

As we approached the harbor Dennis and Dori helped get the boat ready.  Weather conditions were horrendous.  Torrential rain, poor visibility, high winds and even higher gusts.  Backing the boat into the stall was going to be a challenge this day.

Dennis and Dori had the port side lines and Taylor stood by with the boat hook ready to fend us off my neighbor boat on the starboard side if needed.

Faraway has twin engines, with very sensitive single lever electronic controls, and a bow thruster.  She is very easy to control - under normal conditions.  I bit my lip, took a deep breath, and in we went.

From the flybridge helm I can't see the back deck so I told Dennis to give me a yell when he and Dori were on the finger float with the lines.  When he yelled "We've got you Mike" I breathed a sigh of relief and we were in.  I could never have gotten her in the stall without their help.

We logged 65 nm on this trip, and came in with a real respectable load of fish.

Another successful adventure aboard Faraway.