Jul 2nd

Had a relaxing morning, then up anchored and headed out of the park boundaries. Today was fishing day! Before we left Jim made a few trips to the bait and tackle shop to buy some more gear. He bought these special lures that look like squid, a long flashy thing that look like it came from the 80’s and a red diving thing that gets the lure down below the surface for trolling. He also borrowed a couple of rods and reels from his friend Steve. He was now excitedly getting his equipment ready, setting up the rod holder and working out where we were going to bring the fish aboard with a net so we could kill it.

Once he began trolling, I had to drive the boat as Jim was expectantly waiting for his fish to bite, while I was quite skeptical that we were going to catch one today. Jacintha was excited too! I was expecting hours and hours of waiting around!

Twenty minutes after he started trolling, the line on his reel got tangled up and we had to pull the line up! So he transferred the lures, flashy thing and diving weight onto his back up rod and reel while I tried to untangle the mess on the first reel. Fifteen minutes later the reel started clicking and Jim shouted “fish on”!!! He reeled in a salmon and I netted it although it didn’t put up much of a fight. It was a coho salmon, 27 inches long! We gutted it and I took it below to fillet. My filleting skills were very woeful and I left a lot of meat on the fish. I cut up some pieces to eat with soy sauce (no wasabi on the boat) but the fish was chewy and not so tasty as the sushi from the restaurants. Perhaps it was the way I cut it up – I need a sushi license!

The 27 incher

Yummy fish!

Fisher Jim at work

After that, there were no more fish, a couple of nibbles, enough to get Jim all excited and when he reeled in the line there wasn’t a fish to be seen! When it got dark, we headed for Effingham Island in the broken group. I baked one fillet with salt, dill and lemon and the other with a curry paste and a tomato salad. I also made an apple pie for dessert. We anchored in Effingham Island late in the evening and had a wonderful meal.

Apple pie