It was more Catchin' than Fishin'!

We were to be on the dock at 6:30 this morning. So, last night, Sarah made our lunch (Salami, Roast Beef, Swiss, Lettuce, Mayo and Mustard sandwiches, fresh cherries, and Pringles) and we got our backpacks ready with "foul weather gear" (Alaska's term for rain gear, because here, foul weather may not only be rain, but sleet, snow, high winds, whatever). My sleep was restless, as it usually is when I have to be somewhere early.

Let's back up for a moment. You see, my friend, Jana, introduced me to Steve a couple of weeks ago. Steve summer's in Alaska (he is retired from the military - Navy, I believe) while his wife keeps the fort down in Montana. She comes up for a visit in the summer but does not stay for the length of time that Steve does. He is in love with Alaska, as are most of us here. He has a terrific boat, the "4 Freedom," which comfortably seats 5 people (one sleeping in the berth... "love you, Jana.") Cap'n Steve loves fishing. He needs it like air. But, with over 300 pounds of fish already in his freezer, he doesn't "need" to fish. So, he takes friends fishing most days of the summer here in Homer, Alaska. Invited on today's trip were myself, Sarah, Jana, and Gauge... 4 women!

Ramp 4 was our destination in Homer's harbor. Down the ramp. Take a left. About 5 boats down on the left was the 4 Freedom. Steve was readying his ship and was eager to give Sarah and I the grand tour (you can stand in one spot for this) and the safety instructions... to include dialing *CG on a cell phone to reach the Coast Guard. Jana and Gauge were not far behind us and as we pushed off and headed out of the harbor, the skies were blue with the promise of good weather.

After about an hour and 20 minutes, we arrived at the fishing spot near Flat Island in the Cook Inlet that promised us dinner. We were 25 miles from Homer at this point. 55 degrees with a slight breeze and plenty of sun had us taking layers off immediately - no foul weather gear needed today! From the first time we dropped a line, we were reeling in Halibut. It was unbelievable!

As promised, Cap'n Steve hauled in the biggest catch of the day! It was a 45 pounder (yummo!). After a few hours of fishing (and eating lunch at 9:30am), we had caught our limit of 2 each. Actually, we each caught several, but would throw back the smallest fish as we caught bigger ones. It was more fun than you can possibly imagine! However, those 30 pounders can give quite a fight when reeling them in, as you can see by the expression on my face!

As we headed back to the harbor, Cap'n Steve let Sarah drive the boat! She loved it and the Captain was quite impressed by her skill at the wheel! Sarah did a tremendous job of avoiding the sea otters - so cute floating around carelessly on their backs, and the sea birds floating on the water. Who knows... maybe she'll Captain her own boat someday!

We arrived back in port around noon, but still had a lot of work ahead of us. We unloaded the fish, cleaned the boat, hauled the fish up to the cleaning tables on the dock and fileted them out!

It was the first time Sarah and I had ever fileted Halibut. But, with a few tips from the experts, we didn't do too bad! However, the seagulls were pretty fearce and the folks who had been there cleaning fish when we showed up told us to watch out because one of the gulls had come right up to the cleaning table and carried off one of their filets! Sarah and I were careful, threatening the gulls with our knives whenever they got too close. However, it was a little unnerving when a bald eagle showed up and all the gulls were scared off and the eagle was eyeing us. We held our ground, though and, ended up with 35 pounds of fresh Halibut filets to put in the freezer!

Just another day in paradise!