Oh my aching… everything! Icy Strait Point, AK

Icy Strait Point, AK

On tap for today was halibut fishing with Captain Chris of Tok River Outfitters. Chris doesn’t advertise his fishing charters anymore and mainly just picks up when others are full. He mainly focuses on bear hunts and is already booked until 2014. Cabella’s actually buys hunts from him to sell for their clients which was an interesting tidbit. He was born in Ketchikan but has been living in Hoonah (Icy Strait Point) for many years. His wife also went out with us today and his boat was huge! It had a trawler chassis that had been retrofitted to have a full cabin / living quarters. Yesterday his party of four caught 35 fish so we were excited about our chances for today. On our way out to the spot we saw a humpback whale right near shore, and also right beside some kayakers! They got more than they were expecting out of their excursion today I bet!

 
For halibut fishing, we were in 350 feet waters, with a 20 ounce weight and cod as our bait. You drop your line all the way to the bottom and then ‘jig’ or bounce it off the bottom of the ocean floor to attract the halibut. My line was in first and before Larry got his in the water I had a bite and then by then time he was in and my first fish was up, he had a bite. He and I each had two before LJ even could get in the water! They were keeping a tally of how many fish we each caught and then if they were ‘keepers’ or ‘released’. We could each keep one if we wanted but we knew we only wanted probably 15 pounds of fish or so to ship back.

Now, I realize I do not have the strongest arms so please no judgments with this next bit of information. We were soon almost to ten apiece. Pulling up even a ten pound halibut from 350 feet down is not an easy task and by this point my arms were burning a bit (actually more than a bit). Then there was my stomach and ribs which I would alternate between to use as anchorage to hold the bottom of the rod. You reel as you put your rod towards the water then pull up. I took a few breaks to take photos and video of Larry and LJ and would leave my rod in the holder. Chris was so helpful that he would go ahead and send down my bait so before I could rest much, I mean take photos, I would have another bite. I became wise to his helpfulness though and found that I could stand on my side of the boat and just put the rod and bait into the water at the top, and ‘fish’. We were quickly past the 35 from the day before. LJ noticed my decrease in production and sort of asked but didn’t push on what I was doing. I couldn’t help it – it wouldn’t be long before my arms and ribs were going to rebel against me for this torture! Okay, that may be an exaggeration; it was tons of fun but definitely a workout!

Our final tally: 56 halibut in two hours and 45 minutes – with three bruised, battered and muscle weary fishermen. Larry won the day with 24, LJ with 19 and me with 13. Larry also had the largest at 45 inches / approximately 45 pounds. That was interesting because it actually required two shots in the head from a 22 to stun it enough to get it in the boat! We had kept one of LJ’s as well so we took photos on the way back to the dock. We came in and Chris fileted the fish right on board and we took it across the street from the harbor for processing and shipping. Between the two fish we had about 30 pounds of fish, thankfully we were able to donate 15 to the local senior center and then ship 15 back home. What a day!!!

We came back onboard and tonight we feasted at Chop’s, another specialty restaurant onboard that is a steakhouse. LJ, Claire and I had the filet and Larry the porterhouse. It was delicious and I felt like I earned every calorie tonight for sure!