Living on River Time

I grew up 45 minutes from the ocean, but had never been out on it except for a cruise ship when I was 14. I don’t count cruise ships because they’re so massive, you can’t even really tell you’re on the water unless the seas get really rough.

The closest I had been to actually being out on the ocean was fishing the San Francisco Bay Area Delta with my dad during a bass tournament. The Delta is intimidating if you don’t know it. It has a TON of backwater channels and is tidal influenced. You’re also on the water with every kind of boat imaginable from a skiff to a bass boat, to yachts and seaworthy fishing vessels. The marine life is just as eclectic. It’s not uncommon during certain tides to be fishing for bass and suddenly startle a sea lion or seal. This, in-turn, will scare the crap out of you.

My brief time on the delta made me want to be in a bigger more seaworthy fishing boat and to be out in the more open water. Not in the backwater channels that seemed claustrophobic at times. Since we moved to Alaska, it was only a matter of time until I got my wish. I am so thankful for Captain Carper for his willingness to take us out.

Seward, Alaska

We had launched out of Whittier earlier in the year, and this time he decided to take us out of Seward where he was more familiar with the water to target halibut. Much like our trip out of Whittier, we were extremely fortunate to have calm seas and a blue-bird day.

If you’ve never been out on the ocean on a smaller-than-cruise-ship vessel like I had, seeing islands, glaciers, and wildlife at a more reasonable and personal level is breathtaking. The scale at which islands and cliffs reach up from the sea is unfathomable. Puffins bobbed around in flocks and pairs just doing things puffins do. Black and white patched dolphins rode the inlet that marks the end of the bay and the beginning of the open ocean. Competitive seagulls flew around the boat because they sensed the herring we were using for bait. The indescribable blue of the ocean water beneath us, had hues that danced between the brightest sapphires to deep emerald to inky black and back again. The water played on my depth perception as long and wide rolling waves moved towards the boat only to gently rock it as they passed.

Staring out into the open ocean with nothing on the horizon but a few other tiny boats in the distance is humbling. The blanket of ocean blue stretches out endlessly until it meets the horizon and a thin layer of white haze before continuing to stretch upward into the brightness of the sky.

Looking at this far-away line of blue-turning-to-white-and-to-blue-again it seemed unfathomably endless. It made me realize how truly small we were. I am not ashamed to say that it took me awhile to refocus myself back on the task at hand: fishing for halibut. There was too much new to take in; too much vast and incomprehensible beauty to readily and quickly refocus on simply fishing.

Eventually I did. Because tacos are always worth it.

Fishing for Halibut

I will readily admit that I had only ever seen halibut at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, or chopped into filets at the supermarket. When it comes to the world of ocean fishing, I have obviously been living under a rock.

Once we got our bearings and our Captain found the spot he was looking for, we all baited our rigs and opened our bails to let the bait sink a dramatic 300 feet to the ocean floor. It wasn’t long until Wes and I were each hooked up on a halibut. We took turns bringing in the fish. It’s such a physical experience! Much more so than the delicate fly rod and fish I am used to handling. Our Captain gaffed each halibut for us to haul into the boat. This action alone is so violent and exerting compared to the delicate awareness of handling a trout or salmon intended to be released back into the water. In its own way its traumatizing , weirdly exhilarating, and very satisfying. Especially when all you can think about is tacos.

What a workout! What weird looking fish! These are only little ones?! This and so many things ran through my head as we all took turns catching our limit, eating lunch, and enjoying the beautiful day before us.

The line of hazy white that was on the horizon eventually caught up to us as fog, and we called it an afternoon. But not well before our arms and wrists were tired from reeling, our faces burning from laughter, smiling, and the brightness of the sun.

With some time left in the day we toured Resurrection Bay and the Kenai Fjords. We cruised by giant ice cubes, spotted countless eagles, and marveled at the glaciers that carved the rugged coastline.

We happily ended with an ice chest full of halibut fillets. My brain was all but mush from trying to comprehend the day, replaying every minute of wonder and excitement until I was exhausted.

Memories of Home

Going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium was always a special treat during my summers as a child. We would drive from our home in Gilroy to the coast and then make our way down Highway 1. Sometimes we would stop at Moss Landing for fish and chips. Always we would stop at Fisherman’s Wharf for clam chowder. We would park near Cannery Row, and walk the few blocks to the Aquarium. My favorite exhibit is the Open Ocean. It’s a wall of glass from floor to ceiling and stretches the full length of the dark theater. It suspends you in what feels like endless open water, and gives you some scale of how small you are in comparison to the tuna, mola mola, hammerhead sharks, turtles, and rays. This small piece of simulated ocean, could not have prepared me to experience the majesty of fishing with the true open ocean at my shoulder.

I am so glad it didn’t.

For more information about fishing for Halibut and touring Seward, Alaska, we found the following links to be helpful:

Alaska.org
https://www.alaska.org/destination/seward/halibut-fishing

NOAA Fisheries
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/resources-fishing/sport-halibut-fishing-alaska

Alaska Collection: Kenai Fjords
https://www.alaskacollection.com/day-tours/kenai-fjords-tours/

National Parks Services: Kenai Fjords
https://www.nps.gov/kefj/index.htm

Disclaimer: None of the above links are sponsored. They are only to provide information we have also found helpful on our adventures.