The trip started off with me at work. (no room to park it at work) I had a buddy pick up my truck and boat at my house since I had a plane to catch then launch before I could leave work Friday evening. They got to my work place at 9pm. I got the fishing flue two hours from the end of shift so we hit the road probably around 9:10, snagged another buddy on the way to the Edmond's ferry and managed to make the 9:50 crossing.
Pulled into LP around 1:30am and put the boat in the water. I slept on the boat and left the three guys in my truck to fend for themselves. It seems that the last guy in the truck was the first guy to start snoring. I got up at 4:30 and went to the truck to find Chris Penning in the bed of the truck sleeping in a Sleeping bag covered in dew. the guy that snored is in the back seat still snoring and the third guy in the front seat wide a wake. I got them up they rubbed their eyes and were on the water by 5 heading for the Prairie.
We got on the scene by 7 and we aren’t even settled yet before we’re surrounding by dolphins. I got busy pulling the first ling up. Boom, Chris get hit and start cranking. Get both on the boat and back down we go for damn near a repeat. We all manage to catch a fish and limit out by 8am We released 4 or 5 smaller lings to get our limit of 8. So off to the closure we go.
Hit the closure, found a place to snuggle in among all the boats and out go the lines to the bottom 530' down. Wasn’t nearly as quick as the lings so I pull my line up and tip the B2 with a black label herring. I do not even hit the bottom before I realize Jim has managed to get his line wrapped around the kicker. I passes my rod off to Jim and tell him to get it the bottom. Chris pulled his line up to put a the black label on as I cleared the line from the kicker. Jim hollars he’s hooked up; he’s got a pretty nice one on but his line is angled way out the back. Turns out the folks about 25 yards from us aren’t paying too much attention to their lines and we’ve managed to tangle up with them. How we kept the fish on as we untangled the two is a surprise to me, but somehow we do.
Next thing I know, Chris helping out holding another rod as they get the mess untangled, when he realized he is hooked up as well. Jay not wanting to miss anything throws on a herring as well proclaims he’s hooked up as well. Jim finally gets his on the surface and it’s a nice butt. it taped out to 48". Jay and Chris get theirs on the boat and they are in the 30 to 35 lb range. The last three times out my rod was the hot one. I did get two bites but did not bring one to the boat. I let Jay catch mine. Get all four bleed and in the box and start heading back in.
On the way back, I realize I was having battery problems; they were not charging properly so I decided to pass on the sea bass even though we hear chatter on the radio that they’re boiling all over at Seal Island. Three times My electronics turned themselves off when I had started my kicker motor. On the way out Saturday my FF showed I had 13.5 volts. Which was better then the last time out. I had replaced the brass wing nuts to SS nuts on Friday morning because they kept getting loose. While at Idle the charge was 12.5. as soon as I started the run in I noticed that the Voltage on the FF was bouncing back and forth between 11.8 to 12.1 volts. go to Idle and the FF would show 12.5 V. The new Lowrance Interface Cable was reporting to the FF that the Main motor was charging at 13.7 volts.
We got back in at the dock by 11:30 and all cleaned up and on the road home by 2 pm. I Suck at fish cleaning. I take way to much time doing so. Last three years I along with the rest of my buddies would pay Ralph in Neah Bay to clean our fish. $20 bucks and 20 minutes later we would get our fish back in three bags. 4 Butts, 8 Lings, and 40 Sea Bass ready to be cut up and vacuum packed. Everyone gets an equal share of the fish. This trip it was about 35 lbs ready for the freezer. Cost of the trip was $600. That equals out to $150 a person or $4.25 a lb. Halibut at the grocery store is $20 a pound and ling cod is around $10. We did good and had a lot of fun and now I get to fix the Electrical gremlin.
And Yes Dave we do fish here I just wish I could have posted the Picture of 40 Black Sea Bass on the dock for you to drool over. Though I would not have liked cleaning them.
mon
