The last longlines

Sunday, April 15, 2012 — After a season of quick turn-arounds, we were in super-dink-around mode on our April 15 delivery. Although we arrived in Seward on Sunday, we didn't get our fish off-loaded until the next morning, and didn't take ice until the morning of the 17th, after all our gear was baited. 

Our final business at the RBS dock was to off-load our extra bait, as we had arranged to sell it to another boat. This was really good news to me, because it meant we would be only setting the gear we had baited, which was plenty of gear to catch our remaining quota. We left for fishing around 11 a.m., Tuesday, April 17.

We arrived at our halibut spot that evening, and set our single halibut clean-up string. We waited until first light on Wednesday, April 18, and hauled it aboard. Viola! We were done with our halibut quota! 

Next we ran a bit to the blackcod spot, slapped out all of our gear in three strings, and waited to haul. We napped, but we weren't sleepy. I fed the crew, but we were just eating to keep occupied. We finally started hauling at 11 p.m., and after the uneventful hauling of three strings with good weather and moderate fishing, were done by noon the next day.

We bucked an easterly headwind the entire way across the Gulf of Alaska, but fortunately it was a very light wind for the first day and a half; it picked up a bit toward the end, but we never made less than 6 knots; so although it was a bit of a shitty ride, nobody was complaining.

We made it across quickly enough to make an afternoon delivery in Petersburg on April 22, which took 3 hours total. We stopped for fuel in Ketchikan, which took FIVE hours because we had to wait for them to open in the morning, but that's OK because there was a spectacular northern lights display that night in Grenville Channel.

We bucked through Seymour Narrows, slowing down to 1.5 knots at full running speed against the strong current. But once we were through the narrows, it was fair tide and, after a few hours of 15 knots of wind on our bow, smooth sailing the rest of the way home. We made it back to Port Townsend around 8 a.m. Thursday, April 26. After we off-loaded the gear and cleaned up the boat, we were done!

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Short turnaround, short trip

Tuesday, April 2, 2012 — After leaving Seward in a record 8-hour turnaround, we were back on the fishing grounds on the morning of Tuesday, April 2.

We tried a different spot, and fortunately the whales must not have liked the fish from this area, because they weren't nearly as bad as when we were in the Seward Gully. We fished exclusively for blackcod, but wound up catching a few straggler flat-ones along with the black-ones. Fishing was good, the fish were big, and everyone was happy.

We were fishing in a period of increasingly strong tides (the strongest tides of the year fall just before Easter). When the tides get bigger, the current gets stronger, and when fishing in the deeper waters where the blackcod dwell (200-500 fathoms or deeper), it makes the gear very difficult to haul because of all the drag on the line as it is being pulled through quarter- to half-mile-deep water with a strong current. Plus, if we get hung up on a glob of lost gear or God-knows-what down there, it makes it a really sticky situation — one ripe for losing gear.

Because of these strong tides, our plan was to fish just two days, then fish halibut for one day, which lie in shallower water where the strong tide would cause fewer complications. But it turned out the tides were already incredibly strong, and on the morning of the second day, although we had already started baiting, we cut the trip short, and didn't even set the gear we had just baited. 

We were going to use the baited gear for halibut, but unfortunately just as we were finishing up our blackcod fishing efforts, there was a problem with the rudder assembly, which could have left us without steering, so after a quick repair we headed straight in without fishing for halibut. Instead, we took the bait off the gear by hand, which isn't nearly as exciting, or profitable, as throwing it in the water and waiting to see what comes up!

We were all done and headed in on the evening of Tuesday, April 3. It was a short trip, indeed.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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No April Fools!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 — We left Sitka in a hurry after an 8-hour turnaround at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, and headed out across the Gulf of Alaska to fish for halibut and blackcod in the 3A (halibut) and CG (Central Gulf blackcod) regions (the areas overlap). The weather was very nice running across, so baiting up was easy and enjoyable. We baited all our gear, then started fishing upon our arrival at the halibut grounds in the Seward Gully on Thursday morning.

Halibut fishing was good, but as planned we fished only one day of halibut, then shifted to blackcod for Friday and Saturday. The whales joined us while we were hauling, and helped us out with a few of the big ones. I made up a rhyme about the whales, "We feed 'em, and the Japanese EAT 'em!"

We cut our trip short a day because the ice we got in Sitka wasn't very cold, and was melting away in the hatch. That was the story from George, who was the one who put the ice into the hatch. It didn't matter; the decision to deliver had been made, so that is what we would do. We baited up a string on the haul-back to reduce our in-town time when we delivered.

The delivery crew was waiting for us at Resurrection Bay Seafoods' dock, first thing on Sunday, April 1. We baited gear while we were delivering, then we flushed out our hatch, took ice, I got a few groceries, and we were outta there by 4 p.m. If it didn't actually happen, I'd have said it was an April Fool's day joke; an 8-hour turnaround is fast, and this was the second one of the season… back to back!

So we were off again, hoping to enjoy nice weather and good fishing in the Gulf of Alaska!

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Beauty turns to beast

Wednesday, April 4, 2012 — On our run in from the fishing grounds on the morning of April 4, we decided that since the boat wasn't going to go fishing until the strong tides subsided, we could go home if we liked; which I did. So for the first time in Y-E-A-R-S, I spent Easter with the family; it sure would be nice to make a habit out of THAT!

We returned to Seward late night on Monday, April 9, and were back in the baithouse the next morning, as if nothing had happened. We headed out for fishing on Wednesday afternoon. Our first fishing effort was directed at halibut, and in the three strings we set out we caught most of our remaining quota. Now our sites were set on wrapping up our blackcod quota, of which we still had a decent chunk left. With good fishing, we could catch most of it, especially considering we had three full days (nine strings total) in which to catch the fish.

Blackcod fishing WAS GOOD! We were a boat load of happy fishermen, fishing in nice weather, and taking bets on how much fish we would have aboard after three days' time. Unfortunately, our parade-of-joy-and-happiness was rained upon on the second morning, when the wind fetched up. By the end of the first string, it was BLOWing. So we decided, even though we had a string all ready to set, to head for town and cut yet another trip short.

I was flat-out pissed — at first — but after I stood at the roller as we hauled back the second string, I was glad we didn't reset the gear. It was downright shitty. My biggest concern at the roller was to keep an eye out on the incoming swells so I didn't get plastered by a nice, big, green wave, or super-splishy-splashy comber.

So we headed to town, late-evening on Sunday, April 14, the wind blowing 30 knots on the side. Fortunately, we had a few fish in the hatch to smoothe our ride — always a good feeling, indeed.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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A fast-tracked trip

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 — I started to write this we were running in from the fishing grounds, looking to deliver our catch, on the evening of Monday, March 26.

We were on the run back in at 8 p.m., about 30 hours after we left Sitka to go fishing. This was a really quick, easy, and fun trip. We had a few pounds of cleanup fish to catch, to top off our quota — too much to leave but not enough to work too hard to catch — we baited up the gear we needed before we left on Sunday, March 25, then sailed a few hours northwest of Salisbury Sound (six hours from town), slapped out the gear, started hauling the next morning, and now we're done. We were scheduled to deliver Tuesday at 6 a.m.

So we made the delivery, did a few errands, and then got out of town in a hurry to beat the weather. We are leaving RIGHT NOW at 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday. This is definitely the most fast-tracked longline trip we had ever done. This schedule is mostly driven by our desire to take advantage of the nice weather.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Breaking in

Saturday, March 24, 2012 — We are back in Sitka.

We delivered our catch today. We fished one day on halibut and caught my quota, which I must say wasn't much, but fishing in Southeast Alaska can be pretty scratchy, and it has been a challenge in years past. The fish were really nice, and really big. Lots of 40-60-pounders. Most boats have had decent trips lately, which I'm sure makes the Sitka locals very happy.

And while we were halibut fishing, we caught a decent supply of rockfish to donate to Fish for Teeth, which is the charitable organization I started a few years ago to provide dental care to those who cannot otherwise afford it. Fish for Teeth recently made big progress when we brought a dental van to Friday Harbor, Wash., and in two days fixed 28 people's teeth, with $12,900 worth of dental treatments, and 51 hours logged by our volunteer dental professionals. Check it out at fishforteeth.com. And remember, it all started from just a few stray rockfish that came up on the halibut gear.

The halibut fishing was good, but the blackcod fishing was even better; and while we really cranked through the gear, it came at a cost. We ran over 24,000 hooks in the two days of blackcod fishing. This isn't anything new, but we are now fishing without Brett, who for the past 24 or so years has been a part of the program on this boat. Brett's absence is quite apparent, especially for the old guys.

Yes, we have the kid (Mike's son, Rich) in Brett's place, and yes, the kid is doing a great job, and is working hard, and doesn't bitch, and has a good attitude, and learns fast, blah blah blah. But there is just no substitute for Brett. Now we all have to hustle a lot more. Before, we had our routine down so well we hardly hustled for anything, and we were done every night by 7 p.m. As it is now, we've been bustin' ass all day, then getting to bed by 10 p.m. I can handle this, because I just need less sleep, but as I said, the older guys (which is everybody, aside from the kid) are having a tough go of it.

But still, despite everyone's exhaustion, we are pressing on without delay. The weather is really good now, so we shall sally forth! We came in after three days' fishing, immediately started off-loading our catch this morning, and are now planning on leaving after we take ice and bait tomorrow, probably around 3 p.m. So I'm sending this off tonight, without delay, because it may be the only chance I get!

TO BE CONTINUED…

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*POOF* Longlining again

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 — Finally, a moment's peace to sit on the longliner and jot down what is happening.

We are anchored up just inside of Salisbury Sound, North of Sitka, Alaska. We are all set to go out tomorrow in the early morning for halibut and blackcod. We loaded up the Discovery with groceries on Wednesday, March 14, then it left Port Townsend without me, because I had to be in attendance at the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association meeting in Anchorage. So I flew up there to make the meeting, then flew down to Sitka to meet the boat on Sunday, March 18.

It's kind of disorientating to just appear on a boat and go fishing; I did help bait up for the past two days, but I have not yet fallen into the rhythm of the boat.

The fish prices are incredible. Halibut ranges from $6 to $6.75 per pound, and dressed blackcod is coming in at what will probably average close to $8 per pound! Just CRAZY! The season opened on Saturday, March 17, and all day yesterday and today there were boats delivering their catch. The weather has been good, so a lot of small boats were out getting the first shot at the fish.

We have a crew change this year. Rich, the owner's 18-year-old son, is with us now. He is working out great, and after his initial learning curve, will be an asset to the crew. Unfortunately Brett, who has been here a couple years longer than I have (and this is my 22nd season on this boat) went crab fishing and didn't get rotated out in time, so he missed out on this trip, and possibly the whole season. I hope he works himself back into the program next year.

So that's all for now — tomorrow we'll find out if the fish are biting!

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Strangling stragglers

November 8 to 10 — The fishing schedule Washington's DFW granted to us for the week of November 8 was Tuesday and Thursday nights in Seattle, and Tuesday and Thursday days in Hood Canal. In both areas the seiners fished before us on Monday and Wednesday.

There weren't a ton of fish in the canal, but the seiners caught enough to put them WAY ahead of the gillnetters, and catch up most of the remaining non-Indian quota, so the state shut the canal down after Tuesday's fishing. On the Seattle side they cut the seiners' Wednesday opening back to six hours, then gave the gillnetters an extra night, Wednesday night, in addition to our previously scheduled Thursday night opening.

YOWSA! It's enough to make one's head spin, but I just try to keep things simple and not spend my WHOLE life out strangling fish, so I skipped the Hood Canal portion of this week because my boat is so slow and I figured the gillnetters wouldn't catch that much following the seiners in the confines of Hood Canal, which turned out to be the case. I caught about 125 fish on the Seattle side Tuesday night, which turned out to be on the better side of the catches, but still wasn't all that hot, in my opinion.

On Wednesday morning, with the unplanned Wednesday opening staring me in the face, I decided once again to skip the opening. I based this decision on the fact that the entire seine fleet had the whole flood tide to mop up an already spotty assortment of fish, AND my daughter and I were planning an 11-11-11 party/bonfire for her teenage pals, for which I had to prepare. Besides, Fawn John was slated to fish Thursday night, which he did, and added another 100 fish to the season's gross stock.

So I didn't make all the openings, but I didn't miss that much either, and I indulged in a once-in-a-lifetime pagan bonfire.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Tricks and treats

October 30 to November 1 — This week was a bit of a goat-roper show. The call was to fish Hood Canal, since the gillnetters had first start (before the purse seiners), there were good canal tides, and there were more fish than on the Seattle side. But I self-restricted to fish only Seattle, since it was Halloween the next day and I have three daughters of trick-or-treating age (well, only ONE really, but the others just go for the candy) and I wouldn't miss that for ANYTHING!

I started out fishing in Seattle at 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 30. After only 20 fish for my first two sets, I coaxed my friend and relief skipper, Fawn John, to run her over to Hood Canal in the wee hours of the morning to capitalize on the 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. opening. Like a fishing-addicted zombie, he did as instructed. With Linda staying on to serve as John's crew, they wound up fishing Hood Canal with a strong start, but a piddley finish, with a beautiful slack-water/change-of-light set at the bridge for only five fish. RATS!

I came back with guns ablazin' on the evening of Tuesday, November 1, leaving San Juan Island to run the boat over to Hood Canal. Linda spent Tuesday riding the boat bike around Ballard, and had a great time of it. My canal effort would have been the same as John's, if it weren't for a lucky evening set that brought me more than 50 fish.

After a quick delivery I ran the boat around to the Seattle side for a one-hour set the caught us about 30 fish before it closed in Seattle's Area 10 at midnight.

The part that made all this goat-roping feasible was an outstanding $1.40 per pound that we were paid for chums, but there was a buyer paying $1.50! We haven't seen prices like these since 1989, and the chum price has NEVER gone up as the season gets later. I guess changing the name to KETA did some good after all!

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Fishing in the hood

Monday, October 24, 2011 — It was a busy week for me, and finally a week with fish!

I left San Juan Island on Monday evening, traveled to Seattle (Fishermen's Terminal), then ran the Satisfaction 4 hours at 8 knots to Hood Canal. Linda, again, was my crew, and we found a mooring buoy around 3 a.m.

We started fishing at 7 a.m. and had close to a couple hundred fish for the day, most of which were caught in the morning. I left before the change-of-light set, which is always good when gillnetting salmon, to run for the fishing in Seattle's Area 10, which started at 5 p.m. Seattle fishing turned out to be rather slow, with only 50 or so fish for my efforts, which ended at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 26.

I was right back at it on Wednesday night, running to Hood Canal to make the Thursday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. opening. This time I fished the whole period, which was a good thing because I had a nice change-of-
light set of 80 fish for a quick hour (total time) in the water. I could have let that set go a bit longer before the closure, but I (and my gear) would probably have drifted into the Hood Canal Floating Bridge on the ebb current, which is NEVER a good thing.

Again, I headed over to the Seattle side, a three-hour run, and wrapped up the fishing over there for another 45 fish.

Still scratchy in Seattle, but decent fish showing in the canal, it had been an exhausting week of no sleep, but with reward of fish.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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