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: A Public Defender's Life in Alaska

So, halibut fishing. First, let me start off by saying it was not as successful as I wanted. We did not limit out and we caught chickens. It rained. Bill got sick and we had to retreat to Seldovia. The boat sucked up something into the jet and was being stupid. But. Those are the negatives. Let me tell you about the trip. We went into Seldovia and Bill, Cooper and Intern #3 got to check it out. Neat town. We were trying to catch high slack so we left about 11:00. If we caught fish before midnight we could keep the limit for two days. I went to a place that I knew was full of halibut. Alas, we did not catch any. We did catch a gray cod and Cooper caught an octopus. She had the idea to bring it on board to get the hook out. I did. But it then slithered down the side of the engine compartment and hid under the stairs. Bill managed to get it out with a gaff and throw it overboard. I know they are good bait but I couldn't bear to kill it. Super cool critter. Unfortunately Bill got sick and we had to retreat to Seldovia instead of camping on the beach. I had never driven my boat in the dark and rain like that. To make things worse I sucked up something and I couldn't get the boat moving. But we made it to Seldovia where Bill got a hotel room. I slept on the boat and learned later that cost $18.00 because it was there more than 4 hours. Anyways the next morning we went back out and we did catch a few fish. I also learned how to pull the anchor with a buoy. I did learn a lot about the area and despite the fact that we did not limit out, it was a good trip. I was reminded how fast the tides come up in Cook Inlet when the fire I made barely had enough time to cook the bacon before the Inlet took it. Chickens are the best eating anyways. It was just good to have halibut blood on the boat again. We'll go again. I need the fish in the freezer! Today, of course, was the nicest day of the summer so far and I wasn't feeling well. I hope the weather stays like this because I am taking the Interns to Tustumena glacier next weekend.

Full post as published by A Public Defender's Life in Alaska on July 12, 2010 (boomark / email).