This time I got to fish... and I don't as a rule...

Went to Twin Harbors State Park and found our Fish Camp group. Slept in the Caravan, amazing how much room there is without the back seats. Started to take pictures and found that I had not re-charged the battery the night before, nor that day either. So I paid more attention and saw and talked than just took pictures. Thursday, some of our party fished from the pier, and we all checked into the charter service. The rain clouds were rolling in so fishing was cut a bit short, but by the time we returned to the camp the weather was fine and steak dinners for everyone were prepared on the grill above the glowing embers. I was going to weigh twenty pounds more by the end of the camp on Saturday. Saturday woke early, dressed for wet weather, cold seas and ate breakfast. Then we took our coolers and lunches and went to meet the Charterboat Slammer.

We got a polished inbriefing and rules of the boat speech by the Captain, then we cast off and went to sea.

First stop, fishing for flounder to use as bait for the bigger game which was LingCod, an an uglier fish is difficult to imagine. Being my first time, I was happy to learn how to use the reel and by chance catch two flounder. It was a start.

After enough bait gathered, off we raced (?) to find the LingCod and another class in how to hook the bait fish and the tactics and techniques to catch the LingCod.  Too Many Words but as soon as he was on the fishing site, we dropped hooks and let the sinkers pull the bait and line deep. And if we weren't too crowded, salmon didn't strip the bait, or the LingCod decide it didn't want caught and sheared the line - well, if they knew what was going on the Lingcod started coming up and cluttering the deck as the hands pinned them and tossed into the catch hold.  When there were enough LingCod for two per fishermen - they stopped fishing and got ready to work on Rock Fish.  New rods and reels (just when I had the old set working), lighter line for bottom fishing, still using sinkers.

Rock Fish and Salmon jumped on the bait and we reeled them in, over a hundred in the Skippers report. I only caught two bait fish, one LingCod, and one Rock fish. Not that I wasn't trying, I was. I had tangled line, I had caught gulls and others - the gulls stayed in my mind when they cried upon being caught, so human...

We tried a couple of Rock Fish areas and then finally went back in happy in the day, the weather and the opportunity. I tipped the boat boy, he had cleaned all the fish for required customers. Smooth operation all around, departed at seven am, came back at 6:12 pm. I had spent most of it rolling with the waves and helping a bit all around.

Back to the camp ground where we were warmly welcomed, some of our wives couldn't help but thinking that something had to have been wrong with our trip.

I took a hot shower, changed and went to sleep - such is a great day on the water on wearing this one out. The pictures posted were all lifted from the Facebook pages, and only the second one is of some of our fishermen that did very well. I know now more about filleting a fish, sharp knife and practice with get it all cleaned and bagged on the way back from the fishing holes in the sea.

Cleaned up the camp today, still telling tales of what we did and how great it was, and packed and drove back home into normal every day, not much happening. When I got here checked the email and found three alarming emails about my brother being admitted to the hospital in Spokane on Wednesday but he was released by Friday to continue his adventures. My sister had finally made it to Sherry's home (our niece) in South Dakota - and she is already talking about the long drive back to Winston-Salem, NC. The price of fuel hasn't stopped my family from moving on. May they all have safe return trips.