Thar She Blows!! (and) Fish On!!

Clover Pass

Saturday the 17th was a no ship day. Jarad and K.T. invited us out on Jarad's boat to do a little fishing. Plus there has been a pod of humpback whales hanging out in Clover Pass for the past couple of weeks. Maybe I would be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one.

So we donned our rain gear (well, it is Ketchikan, you know), grabbed the camera and binoculars and headed out to Clover Pass where Southeast Exposure Kayaks is. (Jarad and his mom, Betsy, own S.E.)

As we were getting into Jarad's boat we looked out and saw spouts; many of them. THAR SHE BLOWS!! We have WHALES! Jarad put the boat in gear, got it on step and we high-tailed it over to where they were bubble net feeding, being careful to stay at least 100 yards away as required.

Bubble net feeding! It is the most incredible sight to see. The whales go down deep, start swimming around in a circle as they come up toward the surface, all the while blowing bubbles to "round up" the fish, and bring them to the surface as well. Then, when they are at the surface one at a time the whales come up in the center of the circle and, with their mouth open, scoop up the fish. Also, some lay on their sides and slap their fins on the water's surface, which also herds the salmon. Dan has also seen them, heads down, slapping their tail on the surface as well. Then it's back deep to do it all again.

I was so mesmerized that I almost forgot to click the shutter on my camera. I also grabbed my binoculars to get a closer look. So, I may have not been able to get that picture of the actual bubble net feeding, but I SAW IT. And you will have to just imagine it, from my description.

Their tails are magnificent. Unfortunately I only got a side view of them. Oh well.

 

We decided to go and do a little fishing now. We could come back to see the whales later if we'd like (if we'd like??)

Jarad turned on the fish finder and we motored over to where all the other boats were. It was a half way decent day and there were a lot of boats out there. It looked like the opening day of some fishing derby. But it was just another day of fishing near Clover Pass. Jarad fixed the down rigger on both sides of the boat and set the poles in their holders and we sat back to wait for the fish to bite.

K.T. and Jarad had gone out earlier in the morning before we got there and they had already caught 4 Silvers (salmon). So they said the next fish hooked would be ours to reel in. I got a quick lesson on how to do this. When the fish strike, grab the pole out of the holder, steady it on your hip, keep the tip up and start reeling it in. Just like that...............

Dan got a strike and he started reeling. It was a nice Silver. Jarad grabbed the net and they brought it in. I got the next, but it was a "Jack", or a baby King Salmon. What a rush, just reeling it in. But we had to let it go to grow some more. Next strike was Dan's, again a "Jack."

K.T. said it was time to open the wine. It would be impolite to disagree.

After a little while, K.T. yelled "Fish On! Nancy, this one's yours." 

I grabbed the pole out of the holder. Whoa! this one was different than the other one. This one had some fight in it. And it was strong! I planted the pole in my hip, kept the tip up (which was difficult as he was fighting with all his might) and started reeling for all my worth. He went to one side of the boat, and then to the other side. I kept reeling. Finally got him to the side of the boat and Jarad grabbed the net. But this guy wasn't having any of it. Jarad finally netted him after the third try. WOW he was big! It was a big Chum (or Dog) Salmon.

About 20 pounds and I don't know how long he was, but he was the largest of the nine fish caught by the four of us all day. I could get to liking this fishing thing (when ya can catch something like this).

It was getting to be late in the afternoon and Jarad and K.T. had plans for the evening, so we decided to go back in and clean the fish that we caught.

We went back to where we spotted the whales earlier. They were still there, still bubble net feeding. Only this time there were a couple of kayakers near them. Jarad wondered if they were from Southeast Exposure Kayaking.

5 Silvers and 4 Chum (guess which one was mine)

There's my big boy!

Jarad, Dan and K.T. cleaned the fish. The first picture is Jarad cleaning the Silvers and this next picture is K.T. cleaning the Chums. Oops, I didn't get a pic of Dan cleaning the fish, but he really did clean them. Fortunately they didn't make me clean them. It was hard enough to stick my fingers into the gills to hold him up!!

Jarad cut up the Silvers and gave Dan and me some, then he cut up the Chum to smoke later and he said he'd give us some of that as well. After all, one of those was mine.  ;-)   I have a friend here who said I could bring the smoked salmon over and we would can it so I can bring it home with us.

What a wonderful day!