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Halibut We Go Fishing? | July 2002 | ||
Gary Burk
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This summer my wife Cindy and I decided to take a cruise to Alaska and
then rent a car in Anchorage and see some of the area. We had a great
cruise up, saw the interesting ports and sights around the areas of
Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. We also cruised through Glacier Bay and
College Fjord areas.
While in Alaska we decided to try our luck at fishing. The hardest part
was deciding if we should fish for salmon or halibut. After some thought
and discussion we choose a halibut trip out of Seward. The day before,
we left Fairbanks and drove ten hours down to Seward arriving late that
night. The next morning we walked over to the dock and located our charter
boat. We met the captain and first mate along with three other people we
would be fishing with that day. Turns out one was retired C.I.A., which
made for interesting conversation on the 1½ hour trip to our fishing spot.
Upon arriving at one of the spots the captain felt had promise, we started
fishing. Halibut are bottom feeders and we were fishing on a shelf about
300 feet down. For bait we were using herring and pieces of cod. Not long
after we started I had a bite. I brought up a halibut that was approximately
50 pounds. It's like reeling in a chunk of concrete. As you are reeling
them in, they decide they are going back to the bottom, and they do, because
the drag is set light enough so they don't break your line. Then you start
all over again.
The captain usually shoots halibut when they are over 100 pounds. He does
this because they are very difficult to get into the boat and when they are
alive they can cause injury once on the deck. Our captain doesn't like to
shoot them anymore unless he has to. Last year he was in the process of
shooting a large halibut with a .22 derringer and the fish jerked at the
instant he pulled the trigger. He shot a nice hole through his hand and
almost lost a finger. He now prefers to use a baseball bat.
The hard part of the trip was bringing 100 pounds of fish fillets back on
the plane with us. We had to be very creative in our packing, due to excess
baggage, but we managed to accomplish the task.
All in all the seas were calm, the fishing was great and the company was
interesting. The reward was a freezer full of halibut and a very memorable
trip.
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