Mmmm, Halibut

When Jan was visiting Homer a number of years ago, she caught a 127 pound halibut--something that outweighed her by a significant margin. Since history repeats itself, as they say, we made a trip down the peninsula to give it a go. Eager for the next day's fishing, we stopped in The Salty Dawg for a drink. This traditional watering hole out on the Homer Spit had no problem living up to it's reputation.

We decided to break up into teams, with Jan and I taking on Ash and The Wife. All I've got to say on that point is that I'm glad Jan was on my team. That woman ran a clinic, catching the first and two largest fish of the trip. Here's Jan going after the first one:
As our guide, Peter, says, "it's a shooter." With all the rust on his little shotgun, I was a little surprised it could fire. This was the largest fish for our group, topping out at 92 pounds.
Despite the impressive size of her fish, Jan remained composed the entire time and barely showed any emotion.
Ash getting in on the action.
The Wife caught a few fish, and managed to keep me in line for most of the trip.
With Jan having already caught a 92 pounder, she was all wore out by the time she hooked her second fish. Worried she was going to lose grip on the rod, I became the designated hitter part way through.
This puppy weighed in at 68 pounds. With Jan catching the largest fish and hooking the second largest fish of the day, our team beat out the sisters with ease.
All in all, it was a very good day on the water. We all managed to limit out, and had a great time. Our typical fish was in the 35-40 pound range--a perfect eater--and, thanks to Jan's big fish, we had quite the haul.
Here's the whole lineup, with our fishing partners Kent and Kendall included.
When it was all said and done, we brought 184 pounds of halibut home. Good eats!

"I'm getting a beer, I think it'll help"

-- Jan August 8, 2009

So The Wife's sister and mom are visiting for a couple weeks. In anticipation of our upcoming halibut fishing trip out of homer, they've purchased team-colored T-shirts for all of us. Jan and I are taking on the Ash and The Wife. Somehow (?), my team T-shirt is pink--or, as they put it, salmon colored. As I write, Ash, Jan and The Wife are decorating their team shirts but, despite the fact that I'd look like a piss-poor Elton John imitation if I took part, they are a little disappointed in my lack of enthusiasm for the shirts. I'll just have to out fish them this weekend.

Turning the page back a few days, we headed up Turnagain Arm last weekend for a little exploring. Not to fear, I managed to take the fly rod along and, with The Wife largely abstaining from fishing, I finally managed to out fish the competition.
We tromped around the tidal flats, throwing sticks for the pooch and playing in the mud.
We also managed to see a number of sockeye. These fish sure are sweet.
And a couple chum.
I'm going to have to hook into one of those hogs this weekend. Trip report to follow.

Finally getting out on the water

The local rivers get hit pretty hard around here. Grade-A combat fishing for everyone involved. Nonetheless, The Wife and I ventured out after work today for a few hours. The first stream out of town was shoulder-to-shoulder on both banks for as far as we could see. We kept driving.

After motoring about 45 minutes out of town, the crowds had petered out. Lazy bastards. Finding a convenient place to stop, we ventured down to the river to give it a once over.
Things were looking up. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Bear tracks...
Fish tracks?!?
I managed to lose my first chum of the year. It horsed me around for about five minutes before I got impatient and let him get the better of me.
The Wife slayed the pinks--one after another for a bit. For those at home keeping track, she's up 2-0.
Happy birthday Karta!
Rippin' lip.
Humpy!
All in all, a pretty good way to spend a couple hours. I foresee doing a lot more of this in the near future...

About 20 minutes into the first day of the bar exam I thought to myself "why the hell did I move to a new jurisdiction." About an hour into the second day I thought to myself "this must be what a lobotomy feels like." Now that it's three hours after the conclusion of the final day of the bar exam, I'm thinking to myself "yes, IPA does taste as good as I remember."

Sockeye!

Living in Alaska isn't all bad, especially when your clients are set net fishermen and the sockeye are in.