We spent this weekend enjoying the fish and enjoying the beach. It started Friday night with me making halibut wraps for Saturday's lunch and sticking a rack of ribs into the crockpot for dinner. We didn't want to have to come back in early just because we were hungry, so that seemed like the most logical answer. Well, it proved to be right because within minutes of putting our first hook in the water, we caught our first Coho. From that moment on we were in constant catching mode. It didn't end until we ran out of bait and leaders. We had a fish on at pretty much all times. We ran into a school of Pinks, which are not good for much of anything except maybe to smoke so we would let the kids bring those in and then we would release them. Pinks don't fight at all and are real easy to reel in - just perfect for little arms. They (the kids) had so much fun reeling them in - normally we are catching a fish to keep so we don't usually risk letting them bring them in, so this was a fun treat for them. I took a whole lot of pictures so enjoy the slide show!
nelly was sitting on the back of the boat, holding her rod and waiting for a fish to strike.....
and then one struck! I checked and could tell it was a pink, so I told her it was hers and to bring it in. then I went about my own fishing. we didn't slow down - just kept trolling. I even got a small coho on my line that I brought in and released and then rebaited mine. nelly did a great job reeling, but halfway through she was telling us that her arms were getting tired. we just kept encouraging her and telling her that the end result was worth the pain. I offered to take over a couple times, but she was determined and wouldn't accept. after "fighting" it for awhile she excitedly anounced that it was at the boat. so we went to get it, knowing that we were probably going to release it since it was only a pink. well, much to our surprise, she had brought in a good sized coho! it had been fighting her the whole time and she just kept going! troy grabbed the camera and was able to get a picture of her reeling it in - at this point we still thought it was a pink so you can see that we are still in forward motion, which only makes it harder......
she was SOOO proud of herself and didn't stop talking about it all day!!She even wanted to tell the people in any boat we would pass!!.....
andrew and I were enjoying the view and the sunshine.....
it was a great day of fishing. we were able to add a few more fillets to our freezer!! we could have had more, but we lost quite a few because cohos are great at getting loose - they jump and twist after you catch them which usually knocks the hooks out. but we thoroughly enjoyed the show as they jumped and twisted behind our boat and at times would almost land INSIDE the boat. we also ran out of bait and leaders due to the many pinks that we hooked into. once you run out of those important tools, you have no choice but to stop!
on sunday after church we once again headed out, this time to try for some halibut and to play on the beach. the skies were overcast with the possibility of clearing up, and the temperature was a muggy 70*. so we set out and dropped our halibut subsistance line and then headed for a cozy sandy beach. this beach had plenty of firewood so we had a great fire going. our friends were just leaving as we arrived so we took over their fire and anchorage.....
someone had been there before us and put up a little shelter so the kids moved in.....
we even saw three mountain goats!....
the girls enjoying thier hamburgers....
megan was running along the water's edge when she tripped and fell in. she ended up covered in sand and very wet, much to her annoyance. thankfully, it was so warm out!....
the view from the beach....
after playing at the beach for a few hours, we packed up and headed over to our halibut line. here andrew helps his dad bait the hooks (done before the beach).....
as soon as troy started pulling it in, he could feel tugging and knew that he had something on. we were hoping it was a halibut and not a ray or something. he kept pulling and it got heavier and heavier. pretty soon we were able to see a shape way down in the water and could tell that it was a halibut or two or three! the big 63# halibut was so mad that we were not going to be able to put it in the boat because it was thrashing around so much and would have caused a lot of damage in the boat so troy ended up having to shoot it. then, with a lot of grunting, he pulled it in. we were able to go home with two halibut and a ling cod. we let one halibut go since it was on the small size and we lost a ling at the boat while we were making sure that it was legal to keep. but with that big guy, it didn't matter since got a few packages out of him! after having a mad halibut and two aggressive ling cod on the line, we ended up with a nice big mess!....
it is nice to look back in the boat and see it filled with fish!....
when the fog moved in we decided to call it a day and head home. here the boat is anchored out before we left the beach. we were not worried about getting home since we had a trail on our gps to follow. but we were a little concerned that another boater would come at high speed out of the fog and ram into us, so it was a watchful ride home.....
this all took place at the foot of majestic mt. edgecumbe, peaking out of the fog here.....
the kids had taken their spin cast rods out today, hoping to catch a pink that was jumping all around the boat. because of the halibut and the fog, they were not able to . but when we got back to the dock, we were standing there as schools of pinks were swimming all around. so we let them pull the rods out for a few minutes and try their hand at casting. they didn't catch anything but they sure had fun! and we were watchful to duck as hooks were flying!...
we told them we will come back to the dock tomorrow and let them try a little longer to catch their fish. we even had to "pinky promise" them that we would! haha.
andrew and I were enjoying the view and the sunshine.....
it was a great day of fishing. we were able to add a few more fillets to our freezer!! we could have had more, but we lost quite a few because cohos are great at getting loose - they jump and twist after you catch them which usually knocks the hooks out. but we thoroughly enjoyed the show as they jumped and twisted behind our boat and at times would almost land INSIDE the boat. we also ran out of bait and leaders due to the many pinks that we hooked into. once you run out of those important tools, you have no choice but to stop!
on sunday after church we once again headed out, this time to try for some halibut and to play on the beach. the skies were overcast with the possibility of clearing up, and the temperature was a muggy 70*. so we set out and dropped our halibut subsistance line and then headed for a cozy sandy beach. this beach had plenty of firewood so we had a great fire going. our friends were just leaving as we arrived so we took over their fire and anchorage.....
someone had been there before us and put up a little shelter so the kids moved in.....
we even saw three mountain goats!....
the girls enjoying thier hamburgers....
megan was running along the water's edge when she tripped and fell in. she ended up covered in sand and very wet, much to her annoyance. thankfully, it was so warm out!....
the view from the beach....
after playing at the beach for a few hours, we packed up and headed over to our halibut line. here andrew helps his dad bait the hooks (done before the beach).....
as soon as troy started pulling it in, he could feel tugging and knew that he had something on. we were hoping it was a halibut and not a ray or something. he kept pulling and it got heavier and heavier. pretty soon we were able to see a shape way down in the water and could tell that it was a halibut or two or three! the big 63# halibut was so mad that we were not going to be able to put it in the boat because it was thrashing around so much and would have caused a lot of damage in the boat so troy ended up having to shoot it. then, with a lot of grunting, he pulled it in. we were able to go home with two halibut and a ling cod. we let one halibut go since it was on the small size and we lost a ling at the boat while we were making sure that it was legal to keep. but with that big guy, it didn't matter since got a few packages out of him! after having a mad halibut and two aggressive ling cod on the line, we ended up with a nice big mess!....
it is nice to look back in the boat and see it filled with fish!....
when the fog moved in we decided to call it a day and head home. here the boat is anchored out before we left the beach. we were not worried about getting home since we had a trail on our gps to follow. but we were a little concerned that another boater would come at high speed out of the fog and ram into us, so it was a watchful ride home.....
this all took place at the foot of majestic mt. edgecumbe, peaking out of the fog here.....
the kids had taken their spin cast rods out today, hoping to catch a pink that was jumping all around the boat. because of the halibut and the fog, they were not able to . but when we got back to the dock, we were standing there as schools of pinks were swimming all around. so we let them pull the rods out for a few minutes and try their hand at casting. they didn't catch anything but they sure had fun! and we were watchful to duck as hooks were flying!...
we told them we will come back to the dock tomorrow and let them try a little longer to catch their fish. we even had to "pinky promise" them that we would! haha.
1 comment:
Kindly filet that halibut and send it on down. Overnight delivery!
What if a big fish came when Nelly was on the back of the boat? It would have pulled her right in! Scary!!
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