Never Thought I would Love it!

Last Thursday I had to get up before 6 and meet our staff down by the dock to head out for a fishing excursion. I was excited to hang out with the staff, but I wasn't sure about fishing for hours. Isn't that boring?
So we loaded Jim's boat and headed out for the 22 mile hour ride out to the southwest end of Gravina Island, near Metlakatla and close to the Prince of Whales Island. We got to our spot and dropped anchor. We were going to be bottom fishing for Halibut. I was happy about that because I actually like Halibut. I was the first to get a fishing rod. My instructions were to drop the line until I felt it hit bottom. I sat there and watched the string disappear from my pole for what seemed like for ever. I found out later that the ocean floor was about 300 ft. below us. I finally felt the bump of the bait, juiced up herring, and the lead weight hit bottom, so I locked the pole and now it was time to wait for the Halibut lurking the bottom to smell their tasty treat. Every 10 seconds I lifted my pole to move the bait and then let it drop to the bottom again.


After waiting about a half hour I started to feel some action on the bottom. We were supposed to let them nibble for a couple seconds and then jerk to hook them. I finally had a fish on and now it was the 300 ft. reel to the surface to see what I caught. It was quite the workout. Here was the result!

Front

Back
Halibut look completely different front and back. Their eyes are also both on the same side, or rather the top.
This was only about a 10-12 lb. halibut, I can't imagine pulling up one that weighs 200 lbs! They can get HUGE!
Second catch...




Third crazy catch of the day - a Skate, kinda like a sting ray



Other catches and random pictures...








I even filet my own fish!



All together we caught 9 halibut, 2 skates, 5 rock fish, 3 rat fish and a baby shark. I loved the peace and quiet and sitting there anticipating what we would drag up next. Can't wait until the next time I go fishing!