7/22/07

FISH ON!



so i mentioned a while back that there are some rather funny things to remember when doing a general assessment on a patient who happens to reside in alaska. one being; someone who complains of arm or shoulder pain should be immediately asked if he/she has recently been halibut fishing. i now, will never forget this little pearl as i have halibut arm, and shoulder.

this weekend we were the fortunate guests of heather, todd and elaina who welcomed us on board their boat and re-introduced us to fishing in alaska. mother nature couldnt have cooperated better with calm seas and sunny skies. it was truly a spectacular day.

the silver salmon are running now in resurrection bay (outside of seward) and initially they werent too interested in what we were serving up, so we moved into deeper water and set up halibut gear. halibut are bottom feeders, fish that blend right in with the topography of the rocks and sand. they look like someone wasnt paying attention when designing them as they are all mixed up with weird eyes misplaced and cockeyed on top of their heads, but they are my favorite fish to eat. they are hearty, yet flaky, they are versatile and not too overpoweringly "fishy".

now, i have no technique at all when it comes to ocean fishing. basically, i dont know what the hell i am doing. thankfully we had 2 very patient teachers who showed us the way. no sooner did i drop my weighted line, sending it down a mere 250 feet to sit on the bottom, did i get a hit. being a stream trout fisher woman, i simply began reeling. it soon became apparent that that technique wasnt going to work at all. you must (just like i had seen somewhere on some silly fishing show) puuulllllll, then reel, puuulllllll, then reel with a big rocking motion, and, without falling overboard. lucky for me, the halibut we caught, (the regulation 2 per person) were what todd affectionately called "chicken fish" meaning pretty small, between 10-15 pounds. but because of their shape, being rather flat and wide, they are nonetheless, somewhat of a challenge to bring up from a depth of 200+ feet. - hence the halibut arm and shoulder today.


after limiting out on halibut we moved back into the combat fishing zone searching for salmon. when salmon fishing, you again drop you line which is weighted to a depth of around 20-25 feet depending on what the little fish radar says the fish are hanging out at. then, you engage the motor to barely moving and troll around until you get a hit. we managed to bring on board 7 silvers and one pink salmon. a fruitful day and now i can no longer complain about having no fish in the freezer this winter. jeff diligently spent all evening vacumpacking the steaks and now we are set for several months of fish eating. yummy.








this aint no store bought salmon baby!!

3 comments:

V said...

"with weird eyes misplaced and cockeyed on top of their heads"

You know those halibut eyes migrate, right? It's interesting stuff! Sometimes they move to the wrong side.

Lisabeth and Jeff said...

yup, very weird fish indeed, but mmmm, tasty!
thanks for reading val.

V said...

Thank YOU for blogging! :-)