We live on a boat, so of course we're going to try to catch our dinner once in a while. Only problem is, neither Jason nor I have any sort of clue what we're doing when it comes to fishing. We picked up the essentials in Nanaimo nearly at the beginning of our summer and ever since have been dropping the hook once in a while, with absolutely no success. In Tahsis, our motivation was renewed when we saw every sport fisherman coming back with 20-30 pounders and stories from other cruisers about living off of the sea. We dropped the hook today, following some new advice...and? We got one! We decided that instead of trying to kill it with a winch handle, we'd drag it along for a while and drown it before bringing it on board. While we were dragging it, we were both reading up on exactly how to kill and fillet a fish, this is how novice we are. The salmon had other intentions and after about 20 minutes of being dragged, he somehow unhooked himself and got away.
Bummer.
So I tried again. And? I got another one! The second was even bigger than the first. I'm guessing 10 lbs. We weren't going to let this one get away, so we got out the winch handle, Jason manned the bucket and I reeled her in. Just as we got her out of the water, she flopped so much that Jason couldn't get her in the bucket and the hook slipped out (though not before taking her left eye and nearly one of Jason's). 2nd one lost as well. But then again, it's probably a good thing because we had no idea what we were going to do with it once we got in on board.
If anyone sees my 1-eyed salmon roaming around the Pacific, there's a hefty reward.
49°22.277'N 126°38.195'W
1 comment:
Invest in a gaff. You can get cool ones that attach to the handle you use for your boat hook and deck brush, so it takes up almost zero space.
Then practice using it. Put it down in the water next to the hull. Then bring the fish alongside. Slowly pull it close to the fish, then hook it and bring it aboard in one smooth motion.
This will save you a lot of fish.
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