Dip Netting/Halibut Charter

Fishing season is definitely in full swing around here. On Thursday, Kenny and his work buddy left after they got off work and drove down to Kenai to go dip netting. He slept in the truck and the next morning they got up bright and early and were out on the boat all day. His friend, Louden, owns the boat. We borrowed the Reed's dip net, which was very nice of them to lend it to us so we didn't have to buy one. They are really big (5 ft. round) nets that you just dunk into the water as you slowly drive the boat around. When you feel a little vibration on it, you have to hurry and pull it up so they don't swim back out. It's just the kind of fishing challenge that Kenny LOVES. They caught a lot of flounder, but he didn't keep any. He did come home with 6 salmon though. He didn't get home until about 11:30 p.m. on Friday, but since we were going to be gone all the next day he had to filet and bag them all that night. He plopped into bed around 1:30 a.m. totally exhausted. (As soon as I find Kenny's phone I'll add pictures of his trip) *Update*: and now for the pictures

Tough guy :)

One of the flounder

Serving up fresh fish for lunch right there on the boat

Saturday morning we left around 7:30 (wanted to leave at 7 but our babysitter was late and I lost my fishing license so we had to quickly stop and get a new one) for the 3 1/2 hour drive down to Ninilchik. We got a groupon for a 2 for 1 deal on a Halibut Charter a while back. We've had this set for a couple months and were excited to finally go! Kenny went on a few last summer, but it was my first time. We were with Bottom Line Charters, and thought they did a good job. It was a pretty small boat though, and the waves were super choppy which made for a pretty rocky day. There were 4 other people on the boat with us vacationing from Maine (plus the captain and his helper guy). One lady couldn't stop throwing up or just dry heaving. It was disgusting, and I felt so bad for her. By the end of the day I think everyone was feeling pretty sea sick and had bad headaches. It was just so choppy! We were definitely ready to go home. I was catching a lot of fish, but kept throwing them back in hopes that I would get a bigger one--with confident reassurances from the boat guys that I would. You're only allowed to keep 2, so it's hard to know if you should keep it or not. But I never did get any bigger fish, and I was so worn out by the end I didn't care. Reeling in those big fish with the 5 pound weights on the line too, is harder than it looks. Especially when my hands are frozen. It was so cold and my body was like non-stop shivering which wore me out faster. I'm not trying to sound negative, because we did have a good time overall. Mostly I'm glad we got to do it together. Between the 2 of us we came home with 23 pounds of halibut that is now looking so good in our freezer. We still had a long drive back home and didn't get back till 11. We had LeeAnn (Lamby) babysit for us and she did a great job. She took the kids to the Bear Paw festival in Eagle River and they had a great time. I was grateful for that day with Kenny, and that we were all kept safe while apart from our kids.

The boat ride back to the shore, Kenny was so worn out. After 2 nights of not much sleep and very physically exhausting days, he was just gone. We were getting yanked around and bouncing a lot from the waves, but he stayed asleep even with his head bobbing around, and his body almost falling off the seat several times haha. I was truly amazed. Wish I had that sleeping talent  :)

Ours are the 4 small guppies we're standing by. Those others were caught by the people from Maine.