Salmon Fishing and Ketchikan

This was a fun day doing different things. Judy, Sara and KC went fishing, while Mark and I climbed a hill.

Judy’s Journal: Friday

After traveling all night we docked at 5:00 and Sara, KC and I, dressed in almost everything we’d brought, left the ship for our salmon fishing adventure at 6:00 am. A bus took us and about 60 other stalwarts to Knudson Bay Marina, where we met Capt. James, our skipper, who took us aboard the “Just Right.” We were joined by Ray, a retired middle school counselor, and Esteban, who spoke limited English and was from Puerto Rico. How lucky for jim because KC wemt into translator mode. His eyes lit up as they conversed and she was able to translate for the skipper.

What an exciting morning. After safety and procedural instructions, the five of us took turns at the four mounted rods. The skipper baited hooks and kept the rods in action and netted the fish as we brought them in. After losing my first try, I in my turn caught six pink salmon and one small king salmon, which had to be thrown back because of the size limit for king. During the three hours we all easiy caught the limit of 30 pinks (and two chum and two kings–caught by others) and it was time to head back to the dock and complete the paperwork to have our salmon processed and sent home. 

What a wonderful morning. I was afraid I would not be strong enough to reel the salmon in, but it was really not a problem. My arm felt the strain, but not too badly. All the fish we caught were 5-10 pounds–a hefty amount to reel in, and they fought against the catch. Fortunately because we were taking turns, there was time to rest our arms between fish. Unfortunately the fish could not be shipped to Puerto Rico, so Esteban did not get to keep his fish, and they were divided among the rest of us. 

I’m so glad I decided to fish.

I napped that afternoon. We ate at the Mexican pay restaurant–not worth the money–last night.