It's an Alaskan Fishing Frenzy!!

Working on a fishing charter in Alaska has to be the greatest job in the world. Get up, fish, drink yourself silly, sleep. Repeat. That is all you do. And it's amazing.

When we got to Ninilchik, we got unpacked and then met the captain and the deckhands - all of whom were drinking already. Jason - captain; Curtis - deckhand; Mike - deckhand. They are all related and all spend their summer fishing and drinking.

By 2 a.m., we had shotgunned about 15 beers, tried to get someone to throw up and had eaten enough s'mores to fill my quota for the summer. It was a great welcome to Ninilchik and the life of a fisherman in Alaska.

The next day we got up around 10 a.m. and headed out to fish around noon. They have the craziest way to get the boat in the water. Everyone gets on the boat on land and then a tractor of sorts hitches up to us and pulls us into the water. Its awesome.



We got out to the fishing spot by 1 p.m. The water was flat and there was a bit of a breeze. It was sorta chilly but not too bad. We started fishing then and didn't stop until 8 p.m. Mom sorta caught the first fish. She was reeling it in when the line broke. However, Will began to reel in a halibut and it ended up being the same one that Mom had. So, technically Mom had the first fish but she shared it with Will.



It took me ages to reel in my first fish. I was reeling in a bunch, getting lots of bites but those halibut would never stay with me long enough. I ended up getting three halibut and a cod. Not too bad for my first time. Dad had some issues. He didn't catch one fish until we moved spots. Then he kept catching halibut that were too small. Finally he caught a good one and then went on a roll.

Jackie, Tim, Mom and Will all did pretty well. The first fish was the biggest one caught but Tim caught one that was close in size. His had a full salmon in its stomach too. Will had some bad luck with the fish later on in the day. They would use him for his bait and then not be there when he reeled in. Seems he has the same issues with women.



We got back by 830 after a really long day. 16 Halibut and some cod on the side. We got showers and then Mom and I went to check out the eagles. We got some awesome shots of bald eagles and golden eagles. Then we went back and......drank! I know, it's abnormal. This time we stayed up til 3 a.m. Another great night with some great people.



All in all it was an awesome day. The people were nice and accommodating to us. We were sad to leave but look forward to going back someday. We packed up this morning and headed out to Seward. But again, that blog post is for another day. Til then.