Finally – Catching!

Well, the week was productive at last!  We are still in the hatchery openings prior to the big July king opener, so we are assigned areas we can fish for just a couple of days a week.  We can’t go roaming all over, but I went out in what is called the “Western Channel” which was open Monday and Tuesday of this week.  I had heard rumors of fish moving in from the open ocean along the far side of the Sound, and wanted to try the area.  It’s about 2 hours across in my boat, so I was out at 4am and fished my way over, following the boundary line as we all seem to do.  That took about three and a half hours, just putt-putting along with not a single nibble in the moderate swell that rolled in from the outside waters.   I finally passed Vitskari Rocks, one of the boundary points for the area, and followed the undersea terrain to the north, trying to entice some fresh sea-run king to take my bait.  The wind began to stack the swell into a bit of a chop, typical for the Sound, but nothing to be concerned over.  As the 7 other boats in the area plodded along on similar quests in a similar pattern, the time seemed to stretch boringly into eternity.  I looked at the tide table, and saw that the tide had just gone slack and was starting to come back in.  Suddenly, my port heavy line gave some big tugs, a sure sign that something had just grabbed a hook.

I went out to the pit, leaving the boat on autopilot, and transferred control to the rear console.  I have an autopilot control, a depth sounder, and a flat screen for seeing the GPS/Nobeltec chart plotter program while working in the pit, as well as a handheld VHF in case I get in trouble back there.   There is a throttle and hand steering wheel also, so I can do everything except put the boat in forward or reverse from the pit.  There is a good deal of time spent in the rear while checking gear, so you have to be able to do everything from there while fishing alone.

Sure enough, up came a bright, beautiful 15 pounder up to be conked in the head, gaffed, and heaved aboard.  We conk them on the head before gaffing and heaving them aboard so that they don’t flop all about, bruising the meat and knocking their scales off, as well as slinging blood all over the place and getting tangled in all the lures and fishing lines in the work area.  I made the mistake of not whacking one I was afraid was too loosely hooked, and boy did he make a mess!

I put the gear back in, and went back to the pilot house.  I had barely sat down when wham!  Lines jangling away again, and another fish on!  I excitedly crawled back in the pit, and began pulling the line in.  A very nice fish, probably 20 pounds, was vigorously fighting on the line.  I tentatively pulled him hand over hand toward the boat, and got him in place for whacking.  He kept twisting away at the last minute, so I took my time.  Finally, he was positioned right, and I whacked.  It was a glancing blow, just enough to excite him, and he took off again.  I worked him back in place, and decided to whack again to tame him down.  Whack! The line broke right at the hook, and he swam away.  I was depressed, to say the least! 

Dejected, I put the gear back out, and went inside mumbling to myself – ok, maybe it was out loud, I have been alone for a long time! Ninety dollars worth of fish, gone.  Depression faded in a flash as the lines began to go wild again!  This time, it was an even larger fish, 26 pounds(after being cleaned), and I was able to cleanly conk and gaff after about a 10 minute fight.  Blues begone!

The same thing continued until I had 4 nice fish on ice, and then I looked around.  The weather was just getting yucky, the kind that just makes you tired from the continuous banging around, and no other boats were in sight.  I pointed myself back across the Sound, and 2 hours later was finally back in port.  

A very similar pattern on Tuesday, with 5 fish landed, none lost.  I caught all of them in about a 30 minute period, so I was busy cleaning for a while.  I just had the boat on autopilot, pointed north to keep me in the most agreeable position to work in, and kept my lines in the water.  When completed, I noticed my port stabilizer was riding really close to the boat.  I realized I had come across one of the scourges of the sea, the dreaded kelp monster!  There is a great deal of kelp growing in the bays and inlets of the area, and they float hither and yon as the tides move.  Generally one tries to maneuver around them, as they can be a real pain, but there is almost always some that gets wrapped around the gear during the course of a day.  If you get a really big one, it can seriously impair your ability to change directions or retrieve your gear.  Today, I had one!

I pulled the rest of the gear in to simplify the situation, and began trying to get rid of the kelp.  I was able to pull the wad up close to the boat, and began to slash.  After a long, sweaty battle, the stabilizer was freed.  Then, the work began to free the one remaining stainless trolling line.  The hydraulics were only able to get it near, but not  enough to pull it thru.  A few dicey minutes of feathering the hydraulics, putting on the brake, leaning as far as I could, cutting , breaking a knife,  finding another, and so on, I finally was free!  I pulled it all in, and headed for home. 

After unloading at the fish buyers, I finally cooked my supper in harbor at 11pm and went to bed, exhausted.  Lots of hours for 8 fish!  Prices have dropped, also, pending the summer opener.  Glad I didn’t have too many illusions about getting rich the easy way, or even getting rich!  If I could just make enough to pay the bills, that would be nice!  I’m beginning to wonder…. gotta give it the best effort that I have in me this year, and see where we wind up.  If you start to see a DONATE button on this site, you’ll get the idea of how things are!  Still not ready to trade it for my office job yet…

Fish on.