The regular session was done, and Sara let me leave for Craig while she returned to work to work on the gasline. Everything in Craig was as I left it. Seemed like I’d only been gone a weekend. I plugged in the refrigerator and freezer. The boat was in good shape. My clothes were moldy, though, so need to better control for humidity next winter. I used those bags you put in your car for humidity, but they had used all their crystals so two bags was not enough.
The first few days back in town were spent doing errands and getting things lined up for Eric to build the house. I filled out the paper work at the utility company for bringing the Nissan Leaf to Craig. I’m already loving having a car here. Most of my driving is around town or to Klawock to the store or Hollis to the ferry, so great for an electric car. The electric cost per mile for charging the car here pencils out to an equivalent gasoline cost of about $2.75 a gallon.
Next, I had to complete paperwork for transferring my hand troll permit. I printed out the form at the library, then walked next door to city hall to get the form notorized, then back to the library to get the completed form scanned and emailed to the buyer. The librarian grew up with my nieces, went to Spain and lived and worked there for 10? years, coming home summers to deckhand with her dad on his troller. She came home for good a few years ago to run the library. It was good to catch up with her.
After that, I needed to move the boat to another slip in the harbor. I’m hot berthing right now until I’m up on the waitlist for a permanent stall. The owner of the slip I was in was returning, so the harbor master had me move the boat to the other side of the finger. By luck, the owner of the boat next to me is a good friend, and that’s always nice to keep an eye out on each other’s boat.
I’d sent down the car full of stores – nuts, raisins, mayo, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, etc., and I brought down my favorite Costco cheese, butter, and some venison sausasge with me on the jet. I also picked up some avocados in Ketchikan before getting on the ferry with the car to Hollis. Ripe avocados are my secret to making a creamy concoction smoothie with protein ice cream mix, ice cubes, coconut milk and water. I stopped at the store after moving the boat to pick up the remainder of my now simple diet- salad greens, onion, peppers and eggs at the store here. I’ve got canned venison, halibut, smoked salmon, kelp pickles and kelp relish in stock from last summer and fall, and fresh fish for the summer starts now to round out my diet.
I offloaded the groceries and jumped in the truck. I needed to get my boat at Lew’s lot in Hollis, where I left it last winter for the welder there to put on a new rear wall on the wheelhouse to replace the wrecked canvas that had been there. I dropped off a few things Lew asked me to look for in Juneau – a free new vice that Jeff gave me, and a pair of sneakers I got at the thrift store to wear with his waders. Then I hooked up the boat and returned to Craig. The welder mentioned there was an issue with gas fumes in the wheelhouse, and now that the wheelhouse was airtight, it was overwhelming. When I got back to Craig, I pumped out the fuel tank with a cool cordless Milwaukee fuel transfer pump Brian loaned me into two of his fuel barrels, and got the tank out. Could be the tank has some kind of leaks, but the tank was full and I don’t see any place it’s weeping nor fuel in the bilge. I did see the vent hose was bent over and the outside of the hose was degraded, so maybe it’s just bad hoses. The University of You Tube says it could be either causing the fumes. I’ll deal with that later.
Next I got the builder here one day and we measured and painted the corners of the house on the lot, and talked about what needed to be done with water and sewer and electric pipes dug in under the foundation. The next day I had Chuck, the dirt guy, come over and talk about it. It was all a little confusing for me, so I got them both here the next morning. Turns out the two of them came to the island at the same time, started working for the same contractor, then made their own company and built houses for years together till Chuck spun off and started a fishing lodge. It was great to hear old friends telling stories about their fishing and hunting trips together. Turns out the initial dirt work is simple. Chuck just got a new (to him) cruiser boat and wanted to take his wife out on a trip, so we’d get to the dirt work when he got back. That was my cue for a shakedown trip on the tug.
After the cursory look at the tug, I got down to business getting ready for the season. I wiped down the surfaces, some of which had a moldy film. The only winter casualty was an add-on sprayer I put on the galley sink. The plastic gasket on the sprayer broke and was not replaceable. I the hose to the store and luckily matched the fittings to a stainless steel replacement hose. Turns out my spayer hose is the same size as that for a shower head hose. I replaced the hose on the sink, and we’re back in business. I checked the fuel and water levels. I noted I needed to change the fuel filter and do the annual spring maintenance lubing of the seals on the head. Luckily, an oil change was still 50 hours away. I checked the drip on the shaft packing. I mounted a downrigger and checked that it worked. Outside the boat I thought: I gotta get some crap off this boat. I’ll get the shrimp pots off to start, and one of the 2 coolers. And get the pile of crew boots off the boat so there’s room to sit down around the galley table. As Kurt says, you should always have something in your hand on the walk back to your car from the boat that you’re taking off the boat. I’ll get the stuff off after this trip.
I headed out early the next day. I headed for my familiar king and coho drag to start. My neighbor caught a couple kings there a few days ago, and my Brian said he’d seen whales there, which meant there was feed. Everything ran fine on the boat as I headed out. I looked with satisfaction on the upgrades I’d made since buying the boat. Moving the autopilot from below decks to the helm above deck, with a beautiful wood cover that Bob custom made for it. The DC powered 4 USB port. The camera and monitor to see the fishing rods and crew on the back deck. Replacing the incandescent light bulbs with flourescent bulbs. Moving the stereo from the galley steps to overhead in the helm so it is in easy reach. Adding the Starlink, so we’re never out of cell coverage. Adding the switch to isolate the cabin batteries from the starting battery, so, as long as I remember to switch it at night or when I leave the boat, the boat should always start and not have the batteries go dead if something is left turned on. Adding the circuit to feed the small freezer on the back. Adding the electric downriggers last year. Adding the new crank up and down pedestal for the galley table, that also serves as my bed when I have crew on board (that still needs some work) And, when I went to cook dinner later, seeing the long handled pan my cousin gave me that was hand made by her cousin but never used where it lived then, but is now used regularly as it’s perfect for a boat galley. Crap, I sure like our boat.
I got the fishing gear down well ahead of the drag, out in the deep, in case anything went wrong. I started out fishing a flasher and a spoon, using the combination that was money last year. I fished down the drag and caught nothing, so changed to a cop car king kandy plug on the tack back. Then I changed out the flasher. And so it went for the day. Back and forth. Feed showed here and there, but not alot of it. There were a few whales I seemed to recognize from last year by their dorsal fins. But no kings. Just one rockfish I planned to have for dinner. I anchored in a new spot at the other end of the drag, just to check it out, as the winds were favorable for trying it. The bottom seemed to hold well after I dropped the anchor, so I launched the punt, put on the electric outboard, and motored to shore to beach comb. The EP Carry electric outboard was another upgrade I made to the boat. The outboard weighs under 20 lbs, and so easy to put and off the punt. It has a little separate lightweight lithium rechargeable battery for power. Mount the outboard, plug in the battery, turn the throttle at the end of the tiller, and away you go. I especially like it for non-boaters who use the punt. Little gas outboards can be finnicky to start, even for an expert. But for a novice, it’s daunting. I didn’t want someone to go to the beach without me and not be able to start a gas outboard – not that they couldn’t just row back, of course. This electric outboard will supposedly run an hour or more on the battery, but I’ve yet to find out the exact range as I’ve never run it that long. I recharge the battery from the tug inverter when we’re running the tug engine. The other cool thing about the outboard is that it’s made by a one man (I think) business in Washington state.
I explore the little island. I’m surprised to see game trails, as it’s so small I doubt a deer would live there fulltime. So what made the trails, I think, as I see no deer scat. I get a decent little hike in in the woods of the interior of the island, but the coastline is too steep and rocky to walk. As I come round back to the boat, I finally do see some old deer scat, so that explains what made the trails. When I spill back down to the beach, I spot a nice bleached otter skull to add to my collection. It’s my only beach find.
Back on the tug, I settle in for the night. I take out the book Hand Troller, by Mike McConnell. Like Francis Caldwell’s Pacific Troller, and Mike’s other book, Bear Tales and Deer Trails, and all the books by Wayne Short, it’s a book I’ve read over and over. It’s mostly about hand trolling in lower Chatham Strait, mainly. It’s not a how-to book. It’s a book about life as a hand troller, in the 1970’s to 1980’s, I’d guess. It was everything I’d ever wanted to do. And still want to. I just don’t have to do it for a living anymore. But the addiction remains, and always will. The flourescent lights sure are nice to ready by.
I get up the next morning and my lower back is killing me. Now what? I think. Crap, I’m getting older by the day. These bunks have always been comfortable for me and everyone else that’s slept here. I slowly get moving, take some ibuprofen, and eventually it goes away, mostly. Maybe I need a better pillow, especially when I’m reading. I also have been feeling my sciatica coming back. That I can surely point back to not swimming as of late. And that’s not going to change for awhile, as the pool is broken here in Craig. So, more to deal with as my body ages. The new hip and newer shoulder, however, are both good.
I head to check the 2 hook skate I set the evening before. I pull it and have caught a nice chicken halibut, but it was eaten up by the sand fleas, so I shake it off. Dang, it’s nasty what these tiny critters can do to a fish on a groundline. I thought for sure I’d set in a rocky area like Brian taught me, but I obviously did not. Dang it.
I reported to Brian I’d caught no kings the day before where I was, and he said to try out towards the outside coast a little further. So, I made a pass up and down where I was first. I caught nothing and did not see the whales or feed. So I pulled the gear up for the relatively short run to the new spot. This area was a favorite of our late friend George who lived right down the road. There’s an inside, mostly protected part of this area I can fish most days, but I’d only ever caught one king there – with Kurt on our trip here from Juneau a few years ago. On the rare days there’s not a big ocean swell, I can go around the corner to a drag that’s around a subsurface reef where I have caught a few fish, but I’m only willing to fish there if I’m not going to get thrown around all day in the swell.
I put the gear down in a bay on the inside of the area, and fish my way towards the outer coastline. There are a couple charter boats fishing there, but they soon leave. I continue out of the bay and work my way to the distant point that is a border between the inner protected waters and unprotected big ocean. Anytime I get the lure near a rockpile down 50 to 70 feet, I get a ling cod. I love ling cod, but can only keep one a day, so the rest of the time they’re kind of a pain because they will get on the lure and just ride behind the boat without pulling the line out of the release on the downrigger wire. So, you can have one on there for a long while without knowing it. You learn to check your when you troll by a shallow rockpile. Not long after I leave the bay, I get a fish on. The first king of the year. Until you catch one, you wonder if you’ve got the wrong lure on, or the wrong color flasher, or you’re at the wrong depth, or your boat is making a noise, or your fishing the wrong spot. All that angst disappears when you see your rod tip bouncing with a fish on, then land that first fish. Then, everything is blue sky with a light breeze and 60 degrees. No one else was fishing near me. The charter boats seem like they are under so much pressure to catch fish that they rarely spend time somewhere if they don’t catch a fish within 30 minutes. They may have 4 clients they are trying to get a king for. Me, I’m here for several days, so not in a hurry. In addition, I can’t run to some distant hot bite I hear about with twin 300 outboards cruising at 25 knots. I cruise at 6 kts. And like it. So I’m much more patient.
I work my way down to the point and whamo. King number 2 on the line. I land the beautiful king. That’s it for the day, so I head to a nearby anchorage to test it for wind and bottom. While it’s a protected anchorage, it’s still exposed somewhat to the northeast, and since it’s so close to the open ocean, there may be a swell in there. As I idle into the little cove and I’m looking for bottom, I see hordes or juvenile fish – either salmon or herring, I guess – right up to the surface. I get into the little cove and tuck myself up behind a kelp bed and idle there for a few minutes to test for the swell. This will work. I drop the hook. As I’m taking care of my catch, a full size humpback whale comes into the cove. I’m in about 27 feet of water, with 100 to 200 yards of water between me and the beach. The whale comes in behind me, feeding on the small fish I saw coming in. Boy, I realized this is one of the things I missed over the winter. It never gets old. Then, the whale surfaces and cruises right behind the boat, casually just under the surface. I think I see it turn a tad to the side and look up at me. I say hello there to the whale. It’s the first time I’ve been able to see a humpback whale just under the surface from the boat like this. The closeness of the whale to me, the lighting, and water color were all just right. Wowser.
I was intending on going to the beach again to explore, but not with a 40 foot, 80 thousand pound mammal that’s alot bigger than my 12 foot punt between me and the beach. I start on boat chores until the whale leaves the cove, then head to the beach. I see some canine tracks in the sand and wonder if a wolf has been to the beach, but then see Xtratuff tracks a short distance later and realize someone had been here with their dog. I do see some mink tracks later, and tracks made by a blacktail deer doe and her fawn. I find a beautiful shot of 1 inch blue steel line, complete with spliced eyes in the end. Looks like it fell off a commercial boat. It looked like it was wrapped around some beach wood and maybe buried in the sand, so I left it for the walk back. I walk up into the tree line, looking for any treasures that might have blown up in there. I work my way around the woods til I get above the end of the sand in the beach, where the rocky shoreline starts, and drop back down to the beach. I find a cool little snail shell that I put in my pocket. When I get to the shot of line, I lift on it to see how bad it’s buried, and find it lifts right out! What a find. This will make a great tow line if I ever need one. I put the coil over my shoulder and hike back to the punt. Luckily, the whale has not returned to the cove yet, and I motor back to the boat, put the found line on the bow of the tug, then offload myself on the swim step, take off the outboard and mount it back on the stern rail of the tug, then rig the lines that I use from the back deck of the boat to fold the tug up and on its side on the swimstep. The whale returns to the cove to look for more baitfish a short time later. I get on the group call that I have with my siblings every two weeks, and marvel at 2026 communications between any two people anywhere on earth now with the Starlink.
My back was a little better when I got up on Day 3, but not great. The sunrise is spectacular. I put the gear out at the point, and fish back to the bay and back to the point and even around the corner to the reef drag, as the swell wasn’t too bad, and caught a big black rockfish. Only one charter boat was fishing near the point. Not much feed around. I catch a a couple ling cod after the rockpiles.
I went back to my inside drag and fished my way towards town. Not much going on there either as I didn’t get a strike. The weather was so nice. The temperature was in the 80s! And fair winds. I decided to run the two hours to another favorite king salmon drag. The trip includes going to the outer coast before getting to the bay I will fish, so the seas need to be decent for the last 30 minutes or so of the run, where you run into the big ocean swell or waves, if they’re there. I hoped to fish the bay that evening and the next morning at first light. I’ve been there before when charter boats show up that mooch, and it’s not a place where boats can troll if the moochers come in and sit on the drag you’re trying to troll. I don’t often go there during lodge season because it’s a long run for me, and if I get run out of there by charter boats, it’s a long run back.
I arrive a couple hours later at about 530 pm. Steve, the Librarian’s father, is anchored in the back of bay in his troller. He’s likely out dinglebaring for ling cod, something he does in the spring when trolling for salmon opportunities are limited. He is about my age and a highliner in the fleet. He and Brian grew up together in Wrangell. He was one of the first boats I went out on commercial trolling when I worked for ADFG, and Steve showed me what it’s like to do something you are born to do, even though he could use his degree to be a teacher or his experience as an apprentice to be an electrician. My trips with him also taught me the respect full time commercial fishermen and women deserve. No paid days off. Nobody paying for your health insurance if your spouse isn’t in a job that provides that. Just hard work feeding your fishing addiction and feeding the world and yourself. It’s a commonality among fishermen of all types all around the world, I’ve found. Whether they fish in million dollar seiners or in a sailed canoe in Madagascar. It’s who they are, and what they do. They’ll work a second or third job if they have to to keep keep fishing. And always hoping their kids will do something more secure. With a better income. But understanding if they follow in their footsteps. Much like a farmer, I suspect.
Nobody is fishing in the bay. I put the gear out in the swell and soon get behind the point into protected waters. I see feed on the sounder. That’s encouraging. And a few murrelletes and rhinocerous aukelets. I catch a king in about 30 minutes. Then lost what felt like a nice one. Then got a second king to the net that was nicer than the first one. Well, that was worth the trip! Hope they’re still here in the morning. I motor around behind the island where I like to anchor. There’s a swell coming in from two directions on either side of the island. I cautiously tuck myself right up next to the island, inside the kelp patch there, and the swell seems doable, so I drop anchor in about 20 feet of water after checking the tide book to know I’ll have enough water under the boat overnight.
I’m up early the next morning. A spectacular sunrise as I drop the gear in at 345 am, hoping to catch some fish before a charter fleet might show up. I catch a nice king near the tide change around 8 am, and luckily, only a few charter guys came in, tried their luck, and moved on. I fish til noon and catch a few shakers, but no keepers. I was surprised I couldn’t catch a second keeper with good signs of feed, but that’s fishing. Chuck said he’d be back today from his boat trip, so I headed to town a little after noon for the 3 hour run to town. A great 4 day shakedown trip for me getting to know the boat again, getting all the systems tuned how I want them, and a good start on this year’s fish supply.
