Deep Sea Fishing!

When we booked our trip, we knew that one of the adventures we wanted to go on was fishing, and ideally we wanted to catch some salmon! Unfortunately, at this point in the season, it was too early for salmon, but halibut was a popular option, so that's what we chose.

The halibut fishing excursion was another all day event. For a variety of reasons, though, our group was a little 'slow' getting started. It wasn't so much that we were slow, so much as everything we did that morning was just WRONG. Our hotel had a free shuttle 'to town' which would take us to the docks, but somehow we ended up on the wrong shuttle. Really, how does this happen? I'm still not sure any of us have any idea. The shuttle we got on WAS going to the docks, but first they were taking a little detour through the town, with commentary provided. We realized quickly we were on the wrong bus and asked to be dropped off right away. After a bit of begging, the driver grudgingly agreed......sorry! Following our dropoff, we needed to determine where to check in, find our boat, and then head out!

When we booked the fishing excursion, they recommended that we bring our own food and drinks, because it would not be provided. We had purchased these items the night before, but decided we needed more refreshments, thus taking even more time. I'm not even sure I can tell you how much time passed before we FINALLY figured out where we needed to go, then walked up to our boat and our fearless captain, named Neal. Now Neal was about our age, but when we came walking down the dock at around 8am yelling 'Neal!' (you'd think we were drunk), I think he rolled his eyes and tried to call in sick. Sorry bud, you're stuck with us. (Don't worry, by the time the day ended, he was loving us. He even said how much he appreciated a young group, usually he has retirees.) About the time we got settled in, several of us had to take potty breaks. Yup, let's just keep the delays comin'. Truthfully, Neal didn't care. He told us we probably wouldn't get a great fishing spot, and that we still had to return at the same time, but as long as we were cool with our delay, it was okay by him. We were the ones paying for it after all.

Waiting and waiting

The long ride out

I'm not even sure how late we were by the time we got headed out, but it definitely wasn't on time. Then we took this tiny little boat, for what felt like three hours, out into the middle of the ocean, where we got ready to fish. We were going so fast and the boat was so small, the motion wasn't ideal for any of us, but remind yourself - it's part of the bucket list experience!

Let the fishing begin! Here's what I remember about the fishing, it took most of us a lot of time to adjust to the motion of the waves and it took even longer to catch some fish, but sure enough, both worked in our favor eventually. Each of us were allowed to take home two halibut (assuming we caught two each), but one had to be under 28 inches in length. This was the game - could you catch a big one early so we knew we had one?!

April bringing in the first one

First, Neal taught us how to properly reel in a fish. Because the halibut lines are so long and deep, you want to pull the rod up, and while you're reeling in, let the end of the rod make it's way back to the water. He also showed us a belt he had, that you could use for support if the fish was too heavy, and encouraged us to take turns if we needed to. Neal worked fast and furious to keep our poles out and to keep the bait fresh to attract the fish. The first few hours were slow, but toward the end of our trip (naturally) we started reeling some in. We were moving fast, too, so that we could bring in enough for our limit for the day. When it was my turn to reel one in, I recruited Julie to help me since I could only use one foot. Huh?! What are you talking about? Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that during this entire trip, I had a medical boot on my foot? Yup, talk about a new way to travel - quite the adventure! Since I had the boot on my foot, I really couldn't get my feet set to bring the fish in, and with the waves of the ocean, I was constantly scared I would fall overboard. Yes, this was a constant fear in my head that day. Thankfully, I had a great group of friends to help me.....and at the end, I even brought in a nurse shark! We couldn't keep it of course, but that was a fun one to bring in and throw back.

By the time we had to call it a day, we had nine halibut in our cooler! Not quite two per person, but we were VERY happy with our haul! So back to the dock we go....or so we thought. We got a few minutes out and our engine died. Got it up and running and it died again. This happened a few times and we started getting worried. Neal even tried to call some other captains that might be able to pull us in, but because we were so late getting started, we were also late coming back in ,which meant the other boats were already too far gone. Eventually, Neal got the motor running and we were off, on another three hour ride back. Thank goodness, because all we had left to eat at this point were Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and we gave the last one to Captain Neal for being our hero - ha!

Getting back to the dock, we hauled the fish up where Neal fileted them and we got photos taken. This is also where you can decide if and how much you want to take back with you. Normally it can be pretty expensive to ship the fish home, but again, we were fortunate because Tommy lived in Alaska, we had a solution. The boat company is able to store it over night while they filet it and vacuum pack it, then we took it with us on the train and stored it at Tommy's house, before flying it home with us back to Denver, for free. What a win! And what tasty halibut we had in our freezer for weeks!

The next day was our last in Seward. We actually got some time to enjoy the town, visit a friend of Tommy's and her incredible art studio, Janina Simutis. We strolled through some other sites before boarding the train and heading back to Anchorage. This was the end of the vacation for me, as I was headed to the Anchorage office for work the next day, but I was okay with that! After this fun-filled weekend, I was wiped!