Fishin' wit Maria's boys

Joseph (18) on the left, and Christian (25), center, are back from six weeks out gill-netting for salmon in Bristol Bay.  Funny how they are sick and tired of their big boats and salmon netting, but jumped at the chance to go out in my small boat and bottom fish for halibut while just relaxing. This is nothing like work!

Below, Joe eyes up the halibut he just gaffed for me, while Christian looks on.

Joe had a good tussle with this skate as they are really quite powerful swimmers and hard to get up off the bottom, especially in 200 feet of water.

Underside of the skate and the jig it ate.  Funny how their face resembles a person; Maria thinks he looks like a Ku Klux Klan member...

Interesting look at the eye of the skate and breathing holes...

Joey and his mom pose with fresh halibut, which we plan to deep fry for dinner.

Joey snagging for salmon in Tutka Bay Lagoon/hatchery.

Snagging was really quite good. After high tide that day, we got 17 pink salmon and 5 red salmon in about 90 minutes.

Back home, I cleaned the halibut and salmon quick, and we got the fish on the grill as the full moon was rising over the Kenai mountains across the bay.

Christian did a great job deep frying the halibut, and we enjoyed potato chunks, tomato salad, and ice cream for dessert while we watched a movie.  Later that night (shortly after 3 am), I awoke to dogs barking, and peeked out, and there was a bear IN MY BOAT!  I had made the mistake of leaving what was left of the lunch, and some smoked salmon in there, and the bear sniffed it out and climbed right in.  When I opened the door and stepped out into full view, the bear popped his head up (apparently he was lying on the floor behind the seats), looked over and saw me, and promptly hopped out and disappeared into the night.

Now Maria and I have an argument going on.  I say it's time to fill my bear tag. She says it's illegal to shoot inside homer city limits. I say: but this is Alaska. She says don't wake up her guests. I ask the guests directly, and they say no problem. Joe and Christian are on my side. Bears don't belong in my boat. Heck, he almost broke one of my rods. We'll see...   :-)

Maria - I know you will eventually read this. Just relax!