Alaska 2015 - Day 29 - Homer

Day 29 – 6-9-15 Tuesday Well today was an eventful day in more ways than one. We went back to The Spit to check in for our fishing trip and get our Alaska one day fishing license. We got everything taken care of and walked down the dock to find our boat name Foxfire. On the way we walked into a tiny Cafe' named The Spit Sisters to try their Latte. It was better than the one we had yesterday but really pricey.

Homer Small Boat Harbor

Our Boat

Our Boat

View from the Firefox heading to fishing spot

There were 8 people on board plus the crew. We were glad it was a small group. The three crew members ( Captain Matt, Chris and Anna (very pretty girl)) introduced themselves, and explained the plan for the day and gave a short safety talk and we were off. We pulled out of the small boat harbor and glided pass a Holland America cruise ship that had just docked. We rode for about 45 minutes before stopping. The Captain had told us it would be a little choppy today and he probably would not go out as far as he normally did on calm days. Chris had already prepared the equipment and had the hooks baited when we stopped. It was lightly drizzling rain. We were in water 240 feet deep. The weight on the lines were 3 pound lead weights. They showed us how to handle the rod/reels and especially the weights. You don't cast the line – you just put your thumb on the line spool, let off the brake and let the line drop to the bottom. In a few minutes people were catching halibut. The second fish was caught by a lady (the only female other than Lena that was fishing). It the first fish she had ever caught. There is a limit of two halibut per day per person. One has to be under 29” long and the second one can be any size. The Captain asked her if she wanted to throw it back since it was under 29” since she would probably catch more. She said that was her first fish and she was keeping it. Each family or group that is together gets a different colored tag to put around the tail of the fish so you know which fish is yours. Just winding the line up from 240' with a three pound weight is tiring and with a large fish it is really tiring. My first fish was about 26”. My second one was almost 28” We had been fishing about an hour at that point. Chris took my camera and took my photo with my fish. As soon as I put the camera back in the passenger cabin I got sea sick. And it didn't get any better until we pulled anchor about 2 hours later. If you have been sea sick I don't need to explain – if you have not you don't want to know. I have been on 6 cruises, ridden boats since I was a teenager and have owned 4 boats and never even been the slightest bit nauseous on the water so I was surprised.

My second Halibut

I didn't fish anymore. Lena caught one that was 29”. Everyone caught fish, some threw back several before keeping their limit of two. On the way back to the dock Chris and Anna filleted all the fish and had them bagged up for us when we docked. The crew did a great job keeping everyone's hook baited and taking the fish off the line so we would not get all slimy. They appeared to really enjoy their job and was enjoying helping everyone have a good fishing trip.

Chris (he was born In Germany)

Lena - a happy fisherwomen with Chris behind holding rod

Two of our Halibut

A good day of fishing

Once we were underway back to the dock and the boat was not rocking like a babies cradle on steroids, I began to feel much better and was okay when we docked other than being a little weak feeling and having a very soar throat. I could hardly talk – I guess some would think that was a good thing.

We returned to the campground and Lena bagged and vacuumed sealed the 13 pounds of fillets. Even with me getting sick it was still a good experience that I had been looking forward to but I am so-o-o glad we didn't book a full day trip.

13 lbs of Halibut fillets

The two Bald Eagles are still flying back and forth in front of our motor home.