So we went through a little gnarly water crossing the Gulf of Alaska on the way to BC and in the process we did some pretty serious damage to our bow. As a result we were diverted to Everett, WA for an structural engineering assesment.(Thank you to those who sent reccomendations for fishing in BC, sorry I couldn't make it...)
Well, since I was in WA, I called up my buddy Jim who lives in Mount Vernon. He asked if I wanted to fish and and I think he could hear the face I was making over the phone. "Of course I want to fish, stupid!"
Had to work the first day in, so that was a no-go. Sunday we had to be back to the ship by 3:00pm for an awards banquet.(Otherwise known in the Navy as "Mandatory Fun") With the 30 mile round trip for Jim to come down and get me, combined with the stop to pick up the boat, grab food and beer, and pick up a fishing license, we were going to have about an hour to fish. No problem, Jimmy is the man!!!
We dump the boat in the water an run out to the rips to make some bait. Jim warned that there are times when you can spend an hour just looking for bait, so this may be a bust. Not today!! Birds crashing all around the edge of the channel right in the tide rips. Five or six drops of the sabikis and we had about two dozen herring in the well!
1/2 a mile later and we're pulling up under the Deception Pass bridge! What a view!
First drop and I get slammed as soon as I hit the bottom!! Fish pops off, I drop again in the same spot and whammo! I'm on!! Two drops and my first WA ling is in the boat!!
Note the outstretched arms...
A few more drops and we both lose a couple of baits. Jim does a damn good job of keeping the boat in postion, but with a serious incomming tide it's almost a full time job.
We're both looking at the clock and figure we have time to reposition once more and then we'll have to run. Just as I'm reeling in for us to move I get hammered again! This time my bait was at least five or six feet of the bottom so the ling must have followed it up!!
Wham, bam thank you ma'am!! Limit of Deception Pass lings with 15 minutes to spare!! We made a couple of drops for rockfish and Jimmy came up with a little snake ling that signaled the end of the trip.
Boat back on the trailer and about to haul ass when a WA fish and game scientist asked us if he could check our fish. "Sure, no problem"...
29.7" and 10.8lbs for the first and 30" even and 11.2lbs for the other. He also took spine samples to get the age of the fish. Nice guy and aparantly those were only the 2nd and 3rd fish he'd seen all day! Like I said, Jimmy is the Man!!
Dropped off the boat and the fish, hauled tail back to Everett and I made it across the Quaterdeck with seconds to spare!!! What an awesome day!!
Thank you Jim! Hope I get back up here sometime soon! Maybe for ducks this winter!!!
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