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| South end of the Turnagain Arm |
Brendan has the fortune to work for a company that pays for an annual halibut charter out of Seward, AK. This was not only Abby's first deep sea fishing charter, but also her first time to Seward. Needless to say, we were both excited and anxious to spend 12 hours in a boat on the ocean.
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| Upper Trail Lake |
Since check-in is at 6:30am and the drive is about 2.5 hours, we decided to drive down the night before and get a hotel room. This would also give us a chance to see a little of the town. With a population of about 3,000, a little is all you get!
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| Train Bridge on Snow River |
It's always a pleasant surprise when the weather along the Turnagain Arm is clear. We had plenty of time, and great weather, so we got to stop along the way and take some pics.
By the time we got into town and checked into our hotel, it was time for dinner, so we stopped into Thorn's Showcase Lounge. For decades people have enjoyed this place and literally been able to say "this place hasn't changed one bit!" The wheeled pleather love seats, the infinite display of vintage liquor bottles, and the haze of cigarette smoke make this Seward hot spot a real blast from the past.
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| Thorn's Showcase Lounge |
I've been there a handful of times, and I know there are a number of items on their menu, but I always wind up with the "Basket of But." Hali-but that is. The basket of but is always fresh, perfectly fried, and sure to please even the pickiest seafood eaters.
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| Thorn's Basket of But |
After dinner and a beer at Thorn's we headed across the street to the Seward Alehouse. Its a Seward staple for beer drinkers, and is also frequently headlined by one of our friends who DJ's. Due to our early departure time, and being worried that the ocean may not agree with Abby, we had one quick beer there and decided to retire.
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| Too Early |
Despite a reasonable amount of sleep, 6 am always comes early on a Sunday. The pouring rain did not help motivate us to get out of bed. Nevertheless, we slogged our gear down the dock and boarded the M/V Sea Quest.
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| Halibut Experts |
Being an early season charter, the chance of catching salmon is significantly less. This does, however, leave more time to go after larger halibut. So, we spent the first 2-3 hours motoring all the way out to Montague Island, the largest island in Prince William Sound. This gave us all a chance to catch a nice nap inside the comfortable cabin, and then enjoy some coffee as we watched the weather go from absolutely awful to exceptionally nice for the area. By the time we got to our first fishing spot, the sky was mostly blue and the swells were almost non existant. It really doesnt get any better than that in this area.
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| The heavy weight halibut reels |
We stayed at the first spot for a couple of hours. Bob Bell, the company owner, caught an unlikely king salmon on the very first cast of the trip. Several of the more experienced fisherman on the boat were able to land a few of the days largest halibut. Abby and I unfortunately did not catch any fish at the first spot, but we did enjoy the scenery and the fact that the rain had stopped. We also enjoyed getting the feel for halibut fishing equipment and technique in the shallow (40-50ft) waters where the larger halibut feed.
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| Harvest from the first spot |
After fishing for larger catch at a couple more spots, we did not have nearly our limit and time was ticking. So, we pulled up anchor and got underway for some more certain waters. These "chicken holes" as they are called are closer to 200ft in depth. The smaller, younger halibut live here until they are large enough to head into shallower waters and face competition from predatory fish such as king salmon and ling cod.
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| Abby working her halibut charm |
As expected, this spot proved reliable for landing fish. Almost as soon as we dropped our lines, people started pulling in halibut with near constant regularity. It was mid afternoon, and the sun was out in burning force - yes you can get a sunburn in Seward! By this time, Abby had plenty of confidence that she was not allergic to the motion of the ocean, so we doubled our fish catching chances by having a couple of lucky beers. After about an hour or so, Abby and I had both landed a decent size halibut.
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| Picture perfect day for fishin in AK |
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| Abby's first halibut! |
As it neared time to head home, I got caught in a massive tangle with numerous other people and had to cut the line. I decided to call it quits and let other people fish, since the boat was near its limit of fish. Shortly thereafter, Abby hands me her pole and says "Hold this I gotta go to the bathroom. And oh yeah, I think I have a fish on there." I didn't give her too much grief since her first halibut took a while to land, and as such I knew her arms were probably tired. So, I took her pole (and her beer) and started reeling in. I knew right away that even if she didn't need a potty break, she would have needed help. This fish was fighting. And so were the other fisherman who thought they had it.
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| Loving it |
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| Reeling in Abby's monster |
You have to understand that with 20 or so people fishing off the side of the boat, when one big fish gets hooked and starts frantically swimming, there can be a lot of tangled lines. Each tangled fisherman feels the tug on his or her 200 feet of line and starts reeling with all their might.
Even as the fish came up, and one-by-one, lines were removed from the tangle, the fish continued to fight. By this time, we had reached our limit, so most of my coworkers were standing around watching the commotion and continuing to remind me that as hard as I was reeling, there had better be a big fish on the line or I would never hear the end of it.
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| Abby's Cod |
Well, to all of our surprise, Abby's fish turned out to be a pretty good sized ling cod. Since they weren't in season, we had to throw it back. I did however take the time for a photo opportunity....with Abby's fish
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| Captain stopped to take pics |
We headed back to Seward with a full limit of halibut and plenty of great pictures. Everyone was happy. The captain even went out of his way to stop and watch some sea lions playing on the rocks. It was a perfect day on the ocean!
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| Bob Bell enjoying the scenery. Thanks Bob! |
Saturday was a nice day (by Alaskan standards) so we decided to go for a ride to the nearby town of Eagle River. The total ride is about 14 miles along a paved trail that parallels the highway. We did this trip the previous summer as part of a group and decided it would be fun to do again.
