Back home

July 17th:

We actually had to do a bit of work today. We slapped out 6 sets before it was all over, which is more than we’ve done in a while. It was all fairly meager though, because there aren’t really any fish left in the Valdez arm. The run has progressed enough that pretty much all of the fish have made it up to the hatchery near Valdez, leaving the waters leading up the Valdez pretty dry. I mean, we can still consistently get 3000-4000 pound sets, but that’s nothing compared to what it was.

I think our time here is pretty much over now. I have been saying that for awhile, but I think it’s for real this time. Tomorrow we have another opener here in Valdez, but I bet afterwards we will run over to Gravina, our next fishing grounds.

Yesterday evening our fleet got a little smaller. One of our boats, the Pagan, was at anchor when the skipper, Steve, got a phone call regarding today’s opener. As Steve was talking he noticed another boat, the Kanak, coming towards him. Initially, Steve thought that the Kanak was just coming over to say a quick word before he anchored up for the night. However, as the distance between the boats was shrinking, Steve noticed that the Kanak wasn’t slowing down at all, and coming towards him at full blast, around 7-8 knots. Steve yelled to his crew to get out on deck and brace themselves, and the Kanak rammed dead into the side of the Pagan. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt in the crash, but the Pagan was smashed up pretty badly. We found out today that it is damaged enough to prevent it from fishing anymore this season. The Kanak escaped with minor damage, but the skipper was lead off from the scene in handcuffs after he was determined to be drunk at the helm, and was charged with a DUI. So right now we have no idea when the Kanak might be back in action. It just shows how fast things can change, and how your season can end in the blink of an eye.

Total poundage for us/co-op: 26000/?

Total poundage bought from us: ?

-Jack

July 18th:

Man today was crazy. We started off fishing at the hatchery didn’t do too well the first couple of sets. But then came the third set; holy crap it was a monster. When it was all pumped off, we had caught 141000 pounds of fish in the set. We got lucky with a huge school of fish running straight into our net, but luck still counts. It was a new record for the Jonathan S, beating the previous record of about 118000 lbs.

Unfortunately since we had to hold the set for so long, the tide changed on us and the it wouldn’t have been worth the effort to throw out another set at the hatchery. We headed up the Valdez arm and made one set at the narrows for about 3000-4000 pounds, and then decided to call it a day, find the tender, and head to Gravina.

The run to Gravina was uneventful. I manned the helm for about 2 hours along the way, and we didn’t even hit anything. I’m guessing that I’m the only corkman who gets to drive the boat. In fact, I’m probably one of the only non-skippers to drive a boat. Other might see it as a liability, but Andrew sees it as a chance to take a nap.

Total poundage for us/co-op: 145000

Total poundage bought from us: ?

-Jack

July 19th:

Well, we are certainly back at work now. After 3 weeks of setting 2-3 times a day in Valdez, we did 10 sets today. I think during our time In Valdez I lost some of the shoulder muscle I had built up, because it takes a bit more effort to stack now than it did before. Oh well, at this pace I should regain what I might have lost and add some more in no time.

We have no limit now, at least for the time being. If the fish start pouring in, then we will maybe get one but right now there is no need. On average the sets are 3-5 thousand pounds each, and Andrew says it is very early for this area so it might even pick up some. Valdez spoils people; sets like we are getting now are pretty good, but after the 60 and 80 thousand pound sets we were getting a couple weeks ago, they seem meager. I really can’t complain at all though, because supposedly there are at least twice as many fish here as last year, and the Smallwoods believe that there may even be more fish than 2005, which was a monster year. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Total poundage for the day: 40000

Total poundage sold: 489000

-Jack

July 20th:

Today was both a good and bad day. Good, because we caught a lot of fish; bad because we were very sloppy. In 12 sets we had 8 lead line flips, which is an unfortunate record for the day. A lead line happens when the lead line on the bottom of the net flips over the corks while the net is setting out, causing the corks to sink and making a huge door for the fish to exit our net. There were some that weren’t my fault, but I think most of them were. I was stacking too far back which caused my corks to get too close to the lead and purse lines. Oh well, hopefully I adapted my technique enough throughout the day to prevent it in the future.

So we have tomorrow off, and maybe Sunday too. I wouldn’t mind getting a 2-day break, because fishing 4 days in a row is tiring. We have work to make the money though I suppose.

Tonight we are running back to Cordova for the first time in over a month. It will be nice to get back because it is the closest thing to a home port for me up here, and hopefully we can see all of our friends who stayed behind.

Total poundage for the day: 50000

Total poundage sold: 539000

-Jack