Hello from the Fishing Grounds!

It’s been almost 4 weeks of  fishing and nothing less than a mad dash trying to salvage what we lost from missing the first week of the season. We’ve caught just over two-hundred thousand pounds of salmon with a little over a hundred thousand pounds of it being Sockeye salmon. At this point in the season we consider this to be below average. Nevertheless we are trucking along and making headway.

Me holding a King Salmon

Whale in the Net!

When fishing your vulnerable to just about anything. It’s true, what could go wrong, will. About ten minutes into one of our sets, I start to feel my skiff being towed back. I turn around and see a huge whale coming up fifteen feet out of the water. At this point I am not sure whether to be stoked to see such an awesome site or scared for the damage it could do. It’s tangled in the web and pulling my skiff back. Mind you, these whales are powerful creatures and can easily sink a skiff. I quickly radio my dad then take the skiff out of gear.  As I get pulled closer to the wale it finally breaks free, leaving us with no more than a huge hole to patch up. I don’t have a picture to show for it but you can use your imagination. It was epic to say the least.

Sleep While you Can

When the fish are coming you don’t stop fishing. They dictate your schedule. You have to take every opportunity you can to squeeze in a power nap, even if it means in between sets. We’ve had nights where we only get 2 hours to sleep and days where we don’t ever stop. That’s the reality of commercial fishing.

A common scene on fishing boats. Squeezing in a snooze while traveling in between sets.

More to Come!

We are in the heart of the season right now but will be bringing you more updates and videos soon. Internet out here is about as slow as you can imagine.