Fathers day trip

Started by AlasKen, June 23, 2015, 07:07:20 PM

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AlasKen

I went out on Fathers Day with my son and daughter in law, wife, and my 5 Y/O grand daughter from my daughter.  My daughter told me staying home with the 2 Y/O was her present to me.  This was the first fishing trip on the boat for Kayla, my granddaughter.  We got a late start and it was noon before we left the docks of Whittier, AK.  For those non Alaskans, to get to Whittier to launch you have to go through a single lane tunnel that is several miles long.  From Anchorage to Whittier the tunnel is open on the half hour for 15 minutes meaning you have to have paid the toll and be ready to transit by no later than 45 minutes after the hour or wait for the next opening on the half hour.  We hit the toll booth at 10:47 so had to wait until 11:30.  Luckily the launch ramp was relatively empty and we got an immediate launch.  While my engines warmed up my son went to park the trailer and take the ~ mile long hike back to the ramp.

As I mentioned I had engine trouble last excursion so I was extremely happy when the motor fired right up.  When my son got back we motored out to perfect conditions. FAC weather, both wind and water.  Flat @$$ Calm.  Temps in the mid 60's and high clouds.  No rain.  With the late start and the fact we wanted to get back before extremely late we were somewhat limited to how far we wanted to travel.  Because Kayla was with us I was more concerned with letting her catch some fish than going after the elusive halibut or salmon.  I wanted to limit her rod time between fish.

We were all in agreement that we would try for some rockfish.  We tried the west side of Esther Island for a bit with little success and the decided to travel a bit further in a cove on the south side of Esther Island.  We got a drift going that was fairly productive in relatively shallow water, ~60'.  I had had a custom jig made for Kayla's 5th birthday a couple of weeks ago and she wanted to fish it.  5 minutes and bam, got the first strike on it and brought up a decent black rock fish.  She was so excited she could not stop smiling and as a true fisherperson made sure everyone realized she was first.  Back down and bam she had another one on.  Papa helped her jig a little and then held the rod while she reeled it in.  She was about worn out handling the reel.  Back down and 15 minutes later bam her third one.  About this time everyone on the boat was going through the tackle looking for pink.  Before the day was done Kayla had 5 that she kept, and maybe 10 that were released.  We were shallow enough that there was a lot of issue releasing them which makes it nice.  We were fishing with a Charter special on a Cabala's brand Ugly Stick knock off.  The Charter Special had new greased drag washers but was not put to the test this trip.   

She never quit smiling and never got tired and cranky.  Tired yes but not 5 Y/O cranky.  We ended up fishing a little longer than planned and got the boat loaded at just after 8 pm.  Not able to make the 8 o'clock tunnel.  While we were loading the boat my wife took Kayla for ice cream.  She grabbed a pizza at the same time so when we que'd up for the tunnel we sat in the boat and had pizza for dinner with great vistas to see.  Made it home about 10:30.  Tired getting up to go to work but worth it.

We put 70 miles on the boat and newly repaired Suzi 115.  Around 18 gallons of fuel used.  Around 3.6 - 4 mpg according to fuel management.  I had 2 small issues that I need to troubleshoot.  I noticed that my sonar would sometimes not read bottom.  After a few minutes it would start working.  Not sure what is up with that but will troubleshoot it, I think I will adjust it slightly to ensure I do not have bubbles collecting on it.  It is the original sending unit.  The other issue is the trim gauge quit working.  It is on the NMEA 2000 network as part of the engine unit.  I will have to try and see if I can figure it out.  I am hoping perhaps something didn't get plugged back in after the repair.  The rest of the engine data was working well.

All in all a great day.  I attached some photos of the trip.  Kayla never quit smiling as you can see in the photos.  The photo of the fish is the smallest one she caught and she thought it was cute and wanted to keep it in a bucket and take it home with her.  When I told her she could hold the pliers to release it she was good with it.  She asked if we could go back tomorrow.

coastal_dan

Looks like a nice trip!  Great scenery I'm sure.
Dan from Philadelphia...

Where Land Ends Life Begins...

Keta

Cool.

Whittier was one of my ports, when we went there on our biannual maintenance trips the only way to get there was the AMHS or put our trucks on a flat car and take the train through the tunnel.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

Newell Nut

Looks like a great day on the water. Nice to see the little ones out fishing.

Dominick

Quote from: Newell Nut on June 24, 2015, 10:29:20 PM
Looks like a great day on the water. Nice to see the little ones out fishing.
What Dwight said.  Dominick
Leave the gun.  Take the cannolis.

There are two things I don't like about fishing.  Getting up early in the morning and boats.  The rest of it is fun.