Happy Thanksgiving everyone! The Julia Lynn got pulled out of the water in early November so Debra and I could travel back East to see our newest Grandchild, Oliver. We stopped at Fish EXPO in Seattle and visited family there on our way home. She is now in the shop, out of the weather getting her annual manicure. We are doing shaft work and some minor repairs. No major changes this year. We should be back in action around the middle of December. Looking forward to a fresh crab feed! Hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will post progress as it happens!

Took a couple of interesting girls fishing today. They were full of stories of their trip to Dutch Harbor (where they met). Allyson hailed from England and Anne Marie from Tacoma. Both were in Alaska for an adventure, but both had in mind to meet Jonathan Hillstrand of the Deadliest Catch fame. Well, they got a great ferry ride and visit to Dutch, but Jonathan was in Homer! Not to be denied, they tracked him down and actually had a smashing time with him and had some great photos to prove it. Back to their fishing adventure….we got four kings today and once sent to Coal Point Trading Company we loaded back up with friends Tom Young and Peter Lind for a crabbing adventure of our own. We had success, as the photos suggest and Debra is at the sink cracking crab as I post this. I am watching the grill as I cook our supper of king salmon that Allyson so generously gave me as a farewell gift. Yum!

Today was a FOGGY one…..had four nice people, two from Anchorage and two from Georgia for a combo salmon/halibut trip. Started out at the Bluff and once I made a few calls, figured out I should have been twelve miles out into the Inlet in the FOG! Well, the Julia Lynn got us there in about a half-hour and we enjoyed some HOT king salmon action! We got ten kings (two for the captain) in less than two hours, but we had no more than an eighth-mile visibility during the whole experience. Ran about ten miles back into the Bay and got our halibut on the Golden Pond. It was a good day of combo fishing and I am happy to report that Debra and I will be eating King Salmon on the grill tomorrow! Oh yeah, the fog cleared and we are enjoying a beautiful evening on Kachemak Bay.

Rick Birch was in town this weekend and we were able to get his family out crabbing. There is nothing more I like to do than introducing young people to the fun of catching crab in Kachemak Bay. Rick went with us last year and we have planned taking his girls out all year…..here is the result. It was alot of fun and am sure they will enjoy the crab as much as Debra and I did.

Well, guess it took our friends from Minnesota to head back to college for us to get the weather we were missing all summer. At least it came and has been a very welcome reprieve. We have been enjoying 60-70 degree weather with sun during the day and a beautiful full moon shining on the Bay at night. Fishing has been good and yesterday we took some of the young people that keep Coal Point Trading Company running fishing for salmon and halibut. We saw humpback whales on the way out and set the gear and caught a nice white king salmon. We continued out and trolled for a couple of hours and caught another two kings and two silvers. We spent an hour on the anchor and caught twelve halibut….nothing over twenty pounds, but good action and we were back in the harbor by 1:30, so they could get to work by two. It was a fun day and I am sure their families will appreciate getting some fresh fish to eat. I have always been impressed with the way the employees of Coal Point Trading Company work together as a family. It was good to find out where these young people are from and where they are going. A most enjoyable day. And yes, I let them fillet their own fish on the way home!