July 15, 2009

July 15, 2009

Homer is advertised as the Halibut Capital of the World. I aim to test that billing today. Aimee and I walked down “The Spit” last night and we saw lots of people cleaning fish including a 170lb giant Halibut. Seeing the fish convinced me to sign up for a charter. Getting to the nesting grounds of a giant Halibut requires a full day outing. I am not sure my stomach can handle that long a boat ride so I sign up for just the half day version leaving at noon.

The boat leaves the harbor of Homer and drives full speed for an hour and forty minutes to open water. By the time the engines are turned off I am chilled to the bone. I am a little worried when I see there are twelve other fishermen on board. Thinking back to my Lake Michigan salmon days, I envision waiting in line to take turns pulling in the fish. I am pleasantly surprised when I am handed a pole and told to find a spot around the boat. It is a large rod with 80-pound test, a three-pound lead weight and a huge hook baited with a large piece of fish.

I release the lock and down the lead goes, for 200 feet of line. I get a fish as soon as it hits bottom. It is a struggle to pull it in. Must be huge. I get it on board and my arms are aching. Feels like 13ish pounds. I throw it back, hoping for a bigger one. For the next two hours it is like this. It takes 133 turns to pull in the line and it is a struggle just to pull the three-pound weight back up to check if I still have bait. I finally keep two, the limit. Almost every fish was the same size. When finished, my left hand is numb and my arms noodles. It is a good thing this is only half day. I couldn’t catch another fish.

The fish are filleted for us on the return journey. We get some 15 lbs of fillets out of the two keepers. Aimee meets me off the boat and we walk it over to the processing plant for packaging and freezing. We keep one fillet fresh. Aimee cooked me a delicious meal of fresh halibut and mashed potatoes. I am in heaven!