Soldotna, Alaska July 30, 2013

Sorry about no posts the last few days. Saturday morning I went fishing again. I had several salmon on, but they got away. I pulled in 2 that were foul hooked and had to turn them loose. I did manage to catch one salmon that is probably the largest I have caught. 

Saturday evening I went out fishing again and the only fish I had on were the two I caught.

Cindy is feeling better all the time but keeps trying to overdo and ends up hurting again. She is more than ready to leave here and go see more of Alaska, but we are going to stay put until the end of the week, maybe Friday.

A view of the Homer spit.

Monday I drove to Homer and went on a halibut cruse. I had found one that cost $120 less $10.00 senior discount. I didn't think that was too bad. After we got going, we went for about 2 hours to where the halibut we supposed to be. I was sure glad the sea-sick patch worked, because the ocean was a lot rougher than the cruise we took out of Seward. In spite of the patch, I still got a little woozy, and I know I wouldn't have made it without the patch.

Another view.

The tour company I went with.

The boat we went out on.

The Homer Marina.

On the way out.

When we got there and started to fish I almost immediately got a fish on my hook. We were told the bottom was about 250 feet below us. There is a 3 pound weight to get our hooks to the bottom, and it is a lot of work to get the weight up, but with a fish it really is a lot of work. Anyway the first fish I got up was a little on the small side and the deck hand asked me If I wanted to keep it. After talking to him we turned it loose. The next fish he said was kind of in between keep and set loose, so I told him I would like to keep it. The next fish I brought up wasn't hooked very well and after reeling it all the way to the surface, it managed to get off. I then thought I had about 3 fish on that got away near the bottom. They got my bait and I had to reel the weight up to get more bait.

The top of the fish I caught.

After that, I got another halibut on, and the deck hand said it was larger than the one that got off at the surface, so I kept it which was my limit. There were still more people that hadn't got their fish. I just walked around and watched for a while. It wasn't too long till everyone had their limit of 2, and we started back to Homer.

The bottom.

One of the deck hands filleting a halibut.

Here I am cutting the fillets.

The ride back was a lot smoother because we were going with the waves instead of against them like on the way out. We spent 2 hours out, fished for 2 hours, and 2 hours to return. We ended up with enough halibut to finish filling our freezer, so I have mixed feelings about going salmon fishing again. We might be able to find room for a few more, so I might go out again.

I found a place to get the truck serviced, and got it done. So at least the truck is ready to travel. I had them put in synthetic oil, had the filter changed, and lubed the truck, all for $120.00, which I didn’t think was too bad. If you’re ever in Soldotna, and need the service on your truck, the name is Johnson Tires, and I would recommend them.

Cindy has been working on a watermelon picnic quilt, and finished it today. I guess that means I’m one more quilt behind for the long-arm machine when we get home in November.

That’s about it for the day, so thanks for visiting.