Day one - drive to a cabin in Sterling. Mike and I took advantage of family to go out alone. I dip netted for the first time. Only AK residents are allowed to do this. You wade out into the river with a 5 foot net on the end of a 10 foot pole and wait for salmon to swim into it. It was ridiculously difficult. The tide was in and the current was strong and I was having a hard time holding the net in place. I'm hoping that my next experience with dip netting will be more successful and I'll be stronger and less grumpy. Then we went to the river to use a rod and reel. Fishing for salmon is much different than any other fishing I've done. But I got the hang of it pretty quickly and even had a few bite but in my excitement I forgot to start reeling and I lost it. Red salmon are nuts. They're strong and jump around. That was super fun and I hope I get to do it again a lot more.
Day two - Halibut fishing in Homer. We woke up at 3am to drive to Homer for our fishing charter. It was cold, cloudy, and drizzly. I knew I'd probably feel a bit sea sick, and I'd never get my sea legs, but I didn't expect this. After every fish I'd reel in, I'd get sick. I'm not sure if it was the motion of the boat coupled with the reeling motion (those suckers were heavy!) but I threw up more than I ever have in my life. We had a good captain though, a super smart and nice guy. I didn't feel bad or embarrassed for puking in between everyone. It was a small boat so I literally had to squeeze to get to the edge of the boat.
Day three - Kenai Fjords Cruise Tour. We set out on an 8.5 hour cruise along the Kenai Peninsula and out into the gulf of Alaska. Beautiful blue skies and sunshine made this trip spectacular. We saw sea otters, puffins, sea lions, harbor seals, humpback whales, porpoises, and orcas. And we saw huge glaciers sea caves and mountains. We sat for a while watching the humpback whales feeding. They'd dive together and round up the fish. You'd see the fish jump out of the water followed by the whales. Lots of flukes and fin slaps. It was awesome. then we stayed for a whole listening and watching the Aialik Glacier. I never knew glaciers were so loud. It sounded like gunshots and explosions. Then a minute or two later a huge chunk would fall off. Simply amazing. On the way back to port we stopped at Fox Island for dinner. This was and will be probably the biggest and most special thing I've done in Alaska.
Day four - another halibut charter in Homer. I didn't attend this one. My fear of puking got the best of me so I sent Mike in my place. And from what I hear it was the most beautiful fishing experience ever. Calm seas, blue skies, humpback whales and volcanoes. Granted it was so clear our that I could see the volcano Mount Redoubt from our cabin, I know it was something special to behold on the water.
Day five - red salmon fishing on the Kenai River. Long story short, it was fun and very frustrating. After being out ALL day, I caught zero fish and left with a sunburn and sore shoulders. One day I'll get back out there and actually catch something. I'm thankful to the woman who felt sorry for me toting my twins and three yet old around, and not catching any fish, because she left two huge red salmon on our porch.
This is the way family vacations should go. Extremely fun and extremely exhausting.
