Epic Fishing Day

I got back to fishing charters this summer and am working exclusively for the Tutka Bay Lodge, a high-end destination that's on the backside of the lagoon where we have our cabin. I spend nights at the cabin and then start my charters at 8am.

It's a great clientele and I've known the owners for years, having slept a few times under their ping pong table at their other remote lodge, Winterlake Lodge.

I don't usually stack fish on the dock when I'm done, but last Thursday was a truly memorable fishing day, and the Paul kids (Jake, Caroline and Taylor) had a great time pulling up this mixed bag.

That's a 70-lb halibut in the front row, a couple of silver salmon in the middle sharing space with a yelloweye rockfish (red snapper) and the big surprise of the day, a lingcod. The ling was not caught on a hook. We were pulling up a pink salmon when the ling latched on to it with it's terrible teeth and wouldn't let go. We got it to the side of the boat and into the net.Thursday was the first day of lingcod season and at 40-inches long, it was a legal keeper.
I never know what the day will look like when I head out fishing. It can turn in a minute from a desperate hunt for fish, to the sea of plenty. That's one of the things I like about fishing: it's all possibility.

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