The Ones That Didn't Get Away

May 7th (Thursday)

We headed out fishing in the morning.  It was a beautiful day, the wind was light, the water was calm, and the air was warm.  It felt like summer.  As we planed our way out to the area of Wallace Bay we went through patches of warm and cool air.  There is one area in particular that we have found always seems to collect cool air, and it is the first spot to develop a low-lying mist on a cool evening.  We watched the little Guillemots on the water as we planed along, and they were almost completely back to their summer coat of black feathers.  We had our lines in the water and were fishing by about 09:30.  

For the first three hours we drifted around and barely had any action.  We had one bite from a Quillback rockfish, caught one small Walleye and one small Sablefish, and we had a couple of nibbles from some unknown small fish, but that was it.  It was a beautiful day to be drifting in the sunshine and it was the first day that I felt like taking off my long-sleeved shirt; I was fully comfortable in a tank top.  It was lovely!

At around 13:30 I got our first significant bite of the day, and after a fight on the way up it was a nice-sized Halibut.  Unfortunately, because our net is not oval for the width of a Halibut, when we tried to net it the angle on the line changed and as we struggled to get it into the net the hook changed its angle in the fish’s mouth, it popped free, and the fish flopped back into the water.  It was frustrating because it had been our only real action of the day and we had lost it, but we carried on fishing.  As we fished we noticed two things floating towards us on top of the water, they looked like little fish.  Sure enough as they came closer we could see that they were partially disintegrated fish, about the size of the herring that we use for bait.  The Halibut must have coughed up some of its food in the stress of being pulled to the surface.  We had seen Lingcod do that in the past, but never a Halibut, and we commented that perhaps it would be quite hungry now and that it would go after Jason’s bait. 

About 15 minutes later I got another good bite.  Jason reeled in his line and got ready.  Ever since Jason caught, and lost, that massive Halibut, we had been bringing the gaff with us fishing and so Jason got it ready.  We really did not want to lose this one too.  When I got the fish up to the surface it looked about the same size as my first one had been, and so we decided to try gaffing it rather than netting it.  After a bunch of flapping, and some moments of worry about having the point of the gaff around our inflatable pontoons of the tender, we got the fish killed and into our boat.  Yay!

Because of the frenzy of activity, two big bites in such a short time, we decided to keep fishing and try for another.  Our fish supply in our freezer was getting very low and since we would be back at work next week and stronger winds were in the forecast we figured that we probably wouldn’t get a chance to bottom fish again for a few more weeks.  We very much enjoy eating the fish that we catch, and it also helps to substitute the meat that we otherwise have to purchase and pay freight on.  

A couple of hours later, with no further action, Jason got a big bite.  He could quickly tell that this one was big, and I reeled up and got ready.  We had not been fully happy with our gaffing attempt on the last fish and we did not want to use the gaff on a larger fish.  Instead, I got out a length of parachute cord and tied a slipknot at one end.  The other end I attached to a structural part of the boat.  Our plan was to try to lasso the tail.  Jason’s mom had suggested this idea to us after our loss of our last massive fish and we don’t know why we didn’t think of it ourselves.  All prepped and ready I waited for Jason to fight the fish to the surface, and as it loomed up out of the depths we assessed the situation.  The trick was not to rush anything; we didn’t want to lose this fish.  

In order to keep the fish tired and give Jason a bit more control as to its placement beside the boat, we put the engine in gear and Jason moved to the very bow of the boat.  As we puttered along the pull of the fish on the line put a lot of pressure on Jason and his rod as he tried to bring the fish up to the surface and directly beside the boat.  I was at the very back of the boat with the noose in my hands and I made a first attempt to lasso the tail.  

Because we only had parachute cord, and not a wire-reinforced rope, the water wanted to pull the rope backwards and together, so I had to hold the loop open with both hands, put it into the water and bring it up over and in front of the tail and then pull tight.  Each time, I just missed it, either the loop was pulled back by the water or the fish would swim downward because I had bumped its tail, and poor Jason had to struggle to hold it at the surface for me.  After some attempts I got better at my technique and finally I got it.  When I pulled the noose tight it was held firmly on the small of the tail, at the base. As soon as I had a hold of the tail, the fish was somewhat immobilized and things got a lot easier.  I was then easily able to pull it up to the side of Kiki so that the tail fin was out of the water.   Jason maintained tension on his line and we puttered into shore.  

Once ashore we were easily able to pull the fish up onto the beach tail first, the poor fish, what an experience.  We measured him and he was 46”, 3.6” shorter than the maximum allowable size.  Yay.  Our first Halibut of the day measured in at 35”.  Wow, what a day! Just under one year ago we caught our first Lingcod of the trip and it was 34”.  That remained our largest fish for almost a year, but now that record has been broken by Jason’s 46” Halibut!  

Back at the dock we went to the fish-cleaning station to fillet the fish, and we packaged up seven bags to give away to different people in the community.  

We ended up being left with 12 bags for our freezer.  Yay!!  

While cleaning the fish we ended up making a new friend.  Her name is Joey, and she is a seal.  Apparently she is well known in the Ocean Falls area, and she has learned that come spring there are usually lots of boats around with people fishing who will share their fish carcasses with her.  We enjoyed feeding her; she was so gentle and she would come up to the side of the dock and take food right from us.  If we dangled a piece of fish skin or some kind of fish scrap from our hand she would gently take it from us.  

She was beautiful, and if we ignored her for too long she had learned that making a splashing action with her flipper draws attention again and she gets more food.  From what we have heard she is roughly 30 years old as people claim to be able to identify her by a growth on her lip and that she was around at least 30 years ago.  Pretty interesting!