21 more days...but who's counting?! 9.6.09

Happy Labor Day everyone!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe weekend. We're close to finishing out the summer season here with only about 21 days remaining before our ferry over to Prince Rupert, B.C. on the 27th. The Hummer tours have been slowing down already but we have had some wonderful clients lately. The Salmon are really jumping at the waterfall, something I hope to show you on a video soon, and the bears are still showing themselves often. If I were to recommend a time to visit Alaska, I would suggest the middle to late August.

I have to tell you....the fishing out here is spectacular. I have never thought of myself as a 'fisherwoman'....but let me tell you, I LOVE getting out there! Now, I have to admit, I'm still a girl....the boys have to bait my hook, bring my fish on board (after I have it reeled up to the surface), and well, filet the fish too...but I still LOVE it!! We went out another time this week with 4 other guys to the same secret spot and limited out at 2 a person again!



John, the owner of the company we work with, called us up and said he'd meet us at 1pm at our boat and along with the other guys coming along, we headed out. We were only out for about 4 hours but the sun was out, the wind was calm, and once we were out in open ocean, the swell calmed down. Halibut fishing is interesting. You bait a hook, hang a heavy weight about 12" above the baited hook, then send the line down until you hit bottom. You kind of 'bob' the weight on the surface a few times and you know when the halibut has chomped the bait as the tip does a little dance when the halibut shakes its head from side to side. When the tip dances, you jerk the pole straight up and REEL!! The funny thing is, when a halibut is hooked, he swims round and round and more than likely, will get tangled in the other lines that are down. So when one person gets one, everyone is worried they'll be tangled. Michael got the prize for the biggest fish caught - a 63lb one!



It was a monster. And when he was reeling it up, it tangled everyone's line....except mine. haha!! We had a great time, again. After all of the fish were processed, bagged, & frozen, we had a little over 100lbs of halibut meat. What a treat!!

We also had a change of scenery this week. The boat we have been staying on, the F/V Rebel, is a commercial fishing vessel that hunts geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck) clams & sea cucumbers, which are hunted in the winter season beginning October 1st. So we were kicked off the boat so the owner can begin getting the boat ready. Luckily, one of the captains left for the season so we moved to the apartment that he was living in. It's a nice sized apartment and has a few items we've missed this summer! An apartment sized refrigerator, an oven, a bed we can both sleep in together, high speed internet, and TV! We're outside of town by about 10 miles or so in a great wooded area.

I'm sure these next few weeks are going to fly by!

Rene