Fishing with the fam

Gretchen and I just returned from salmon fishing in Sitka, Alaska. Gretchen's dad, Steve, has fished there for years with his buddies.He invited us, Gretchen's sister and husband, Kristen and Mark, as well as Patsy to come up and find out how much fun it is. Boy did we have fun!

Sitka is a small town located on Baranof island on the southern arm of Alaska; about a two hour flight from Seattle. We met up with the family after a short Horizon flight from Portland. Our first little adventure consisted of our lodgings being double-booked the first night, so we ended up staying in a hotel. We enjoyed the local Chinese cuisine and steeled ourselves for the 4:30 am wake up call to go fishing the next day. Did we mention that it doesn't get dark until 10 pm?

We awoke on Sunday morning and met our boat, the Seeker, to take us out into the Pacific to hunt for some salmon. We spent the first hour running at about 25 mph over rough chop, which seemed to tenderize the stomachs of everyone on board. Once we got to our fishing hole, we were all a little green. Kristen and I took some Dramamine, but Gretchen and Mark both hurled over the side before we even got to lunch. We did catch our limit of salmon, as well as some rockfish, which we used to feed the numerous bald eagles that lurk in the trees on the coast.


Day two was much better. Nobody got sick, and we were blessed with a little sun too. Kristen hauled up an 80lb Halibut, and Mark brought in a 41 lb King salmon. Gretchen got a 31 pounder and I cranked up a 50ish lb Ling Cod.
What a great vacation!