Well, my schedule finally jived with my buddy MIke's and jumped a seat on the Homer long range trip. A trip that we offer as an add-on to our packages, it's a rare treat (maybe once a year) for me to jump aboard for one of these freezer-filling runs!

Long day means an early start ... left our place at 3:30 AM, this is about as dark as it gets this time of year:



Just me and the moose on the road .... except for the damned rental car another couple of corners down that stopped in the middle of the highway on one of those blind corners/rises to take a pic of another one. Had I been one of those tractor trailers that typically do this run overnight, there probably would have been another fatality on the highway this week STUPID!



Coming down "the hill" and the fabled spit lies ahead:



Figured this was a good sign with Mr. Eagle sitting on top of the bathrooms I parked next to:



Mikey's boat, the Arctic Addiction:



Powering out past Pogi Point, where we stop now, nobody knows



After years of running solo, Mike finally got a deckhand this season ... just Day 6 for John. Nice guy for being a bass fisherman half the year



We had 7 y/o Jaiden on board. The rockfish suited him perfectly and was loving life, until he and Mom got quite sick as soon as the 4th of a 5 rockfish limit was reached for all (1 slot always saved for later).



It was now time to break out the jigging rods ... u could see the look in John's eye when I climbed aboard and was "one of those guys" who brought his own lucky rod. He approved though after close inspection



We stayed off the ling spots for a bit, waiting for a tide change, so we armed up on some flatties. Most 20-25ish, but some smaller like this one headed back down. Probably should have kept a few of the bigger ones as a crew given the deteriorating condition of some people's bellies and arms already.



Then it was off to the Land of Lizards .... first one hitting the deck!



The muskie rod works perfect for this!!



Lizard coming up, one of several dozen for me through the course of the day



John giving some words of encouragement to keep them arms working:



Finally enough messing around, time to put some fillets in the box:



Hmmm, I'm liking the weight of this one!!! What might be on the other end??



Oh, this will provide just a few fish frys! Thanks Mike!



Some more dandy lings hit the deck as well:



Say AHHHHHHH!



With whimpering bellies on board, we opted to go back in close and do some jigging for halibut rather than go anchor a little deeper. Fish weren't huge, but plenty of action and we had 'em flopping all over the deck:



Oh yeah, that last rockfish slot? Time to go find some yelloweye! Here's a dandy and a half!



And my dessert fish for the day:



Poor John had his work cut out for him on the ride back in ... that's a load of fishies!



And we weren't totally done yet. With a couple of fish left to clean as we approached the harbor and Jaiden's belly finally feeling better, we sent him out to do some more jigging for pollack ... perfect for the little guy!



And to top the day off, we headed across the street to a fine little establishment:



for some blooming onions:



and a few big chunks of our lings deep-fried and and also baked with a dill sauce and toasted breadcrumbs:



And this morning, the final preps begin for round 2 of my summer