On Friday we pulled two crab traps set last night and scooped up three large male crabs. They were boiled before breakfast and ready for a crab taco lunch. We returned to the Port Banks fishing ground and bagged several Cohos in less than an hour before putting out to sea, 4 miles northwest of Whale Bay in open ocean. At 500 feet deep the location is considered a Halibut Hole. We have just one rod rigged for DEEP water fishing and Willie dropped a white-wiggly lead head to the bottom. We drifted along for a half-hour in the relatively flat sea without a hint of breeze. Willie hooked up spending the better part of twenty minutes getting the monster form the deep up topside. Expecting a Halibut we were surprised to land a very pretty yellow eye. These fish are said the be over 50 years old for the 20-pound size Willie landed.
It was time to get our fish into Sitka for processing and freezer storage and prepare for a night at the Sitka Summer Music Festival. After crab tacos we hit the road.
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| Mike, Joe and Willie hold a 20-pound Yellow Eye. |
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| Yummy crab tacos. |
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| Salmon transporters haul fish to processors so trollers can stay out longer. |
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| Sea Otter is surprised by the big blue hull. |
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| The route to Sitka winds through narrow but protected passes. |
We enjoyed an early dinner won-tons, avocado shrimp salad, risotto, and fried Coho salmon bits. By 6PM we were on our way to the Sitka Summer Music Festival. The Wild Blue crew had cleaned up. Willie wore a new Hawaiian shirt with clean walking shorts. And he hosed off his flip-flops so even they were sparkling, or at least without fish guts. We were in our front row seats for the pre-concert orientation. The presentation was a bit slow and Willie, as expected, began nodding his head. Tonight's performance was videoed for later release, so Joe was assigned to keep Willie from snoring. Joe did a great job and we all enjoyed pianist Natasha Paremski, violist Kirsten Docter, cellist Zuill Bailey, and cellist Melissa Kraut in a brilliant classical music performance.
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| Avocado shrimp salad, risotto, and fried Coho salmon bits. |
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| Willie's spicy won-tons |
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