July 30 - Ninilchik Halibut Fishing

We had to get up early for a change to make it to the charter office by 8:00.  Dressed up in about 4 layers, including the long johns, expecting it to be a bit cool on the water.

They launch the charter boats at the same park we are camped in.  The tow vehicles unhook, we all climb in the boat, then one of these rigs, operated by the "water boys", tow the boat and trailer across the beach and push the boat out into the water.

This isn't our boat, just one of the 2 dozen or so that go out of Ninilchik every day.

The tide was not really in our favor today.  Because of the moon phase, the change in water level between high and low tides in the Cook Inlet is about 23 feet!  The water goes down so low that they call it the "Clam Tide".  So there were a lot of people that came in to dig razor clams. 

The problem it causes with fishing is that the current goes in and out so fast that we would only have a a couple of hours of "slack tide" to fish while anchored.  While the tide is going in and out, even with a 4 pound sinker, the bait just wouldn't stay on the bottom.

The captain ran the boat south for about an hour and a half.  We passed puffins and sea otters along the way.  The further south we got, the rougher it got.  When we started hitting some 7 foot waves, we had to turn back north for some calmer water.  Here's our sister ship anchored not far from us.

The waves here were still rolling at 4 or 5 feet, and it didn't take long for a couple of people on the boat to get sea-sick.  Everyone was fine until the poles hit the water, then looking down at the end of the pole to see the bites got them.  Unfortunately, one of them was Roxane, even though she took a dramamine before we left. 

After a bit of fishing and a couple small halibut, Captain Brian (from Romulus, MI and still spends 3 or 4 months a year there) decided to get us north to some calmer water before any more of us got sick.  Still not much luck though.  It wasn't long before the tide started coming back in and the only choice was plan C, which stands for hitting the "chicken hole" to at least get our fish, even though chances of getting a big one would be slim to none.  So we drifted through the hole, picked up and ran back up to the top, and drifted through it again, and again, and again.  Roxane started feeling better and fished some, but drifting at 4 knots with 6 lines hanging off the boat made for lots of tangled lines and it was tougher to feel a bite before they stole the bait.

It took longer that it should have, but we finally got our limit of 12 fish, plus one for Captain Brian.  The guy that got sick, Zak from Utah, actually got the biggest fish, about 20 pounds, still pretty small by halibut standards.  Greg ended up catching 4 big old cod (no good because they are full of worms), a shark, and 7 halibut, 5 of which went in the box.  After what really was a tough day of fishing, we were all happy to get our fish, even if they were all the "ping pong paddle" variety.

We got back to the camp and bagged up the fish and realized that getting small fish was actually a good thing.  Between the food we had in it, the salmon we caught in Valdez, and now 4 1/2 halibut (Capt. Brian gave us half of his), the freezer in our fifth wheel was totally full.  We even had to pull out a couple things and put them in the fridge.

We are leaving Ninilchik tomorrow, heading for Seward, which is on the other side of the Kenai Peninsula.  We really enjoyed ourselves here at the Deep Creek State Park Campground.  We had a perfect spot to camp, walk the beach, and watch sunsets over smoking volcanoes.  At 5 nights, it was the longest time we've spent in one place so far.

Our last sunset here was suitable for framing!

And that darn low "clam tide".  Guess we'll have to come prepared for clamming next time!

One other thing we didn't get around to was picking a batch of sea peas.  They are pods full of small peas that are cooked by just steaming/sauteeing the whole thing like you would green beans or asparagus.  They grow wild all over the place near the water.  Here's a pic for folks that might want to pick some on their trip to Alaska.  The purplish pods aren't quite ripe yet - gotta wait until they are mostly green.  The purple flowers make the plants easy to spot.

On to Seward, and rainy weather according to the weather reports.