44 lbs of fish

Okay, so what does 44 lbs of fish fillets from my charter fishing trip look like?

3 bags full!!

Fishing Trip

About a month ago, my husband decided to finally give me the fishing trip he had promised years ago. The promise was made to me in regards to finishing my doctorate, a promise made back in March 2002. John had "tossed the bait" so to speak by telling me he'd give me a chartered fishing trip (in Canada), if I'd only finish up my dissertation.

Well, that really was all it took, and by the end of March that year, the completed document rough draft was submitted to my committee chair. Long ago history, I had my Ph.D. in hand by September of 2002.

The Fishing Trip? Well......it was postponed and postponed and postponed.....and then we moved to Wisconsin.

Last summer, John and I wandered the dock next to the M&M Restaurant in Two Rivers and picked up some brochures from the various charter fishing businesses. The 2006 summer passed by (I had a summer cold that just would not let me be). In May of this year, John decided he better "pay up" on his promise, so he made arrangements to take me charter fishing on Lake Michigan...asking me if that would fulfill the Canada trip promise. I was game. I'd really wanted to fish on the "big lake", and so we made a charter fishing reservation for the second week of June.

Of course the weather had to mess with the plans, so the trip was postponed twice. We finally made it out for an early morning fishing trip on June 21st - Summer Solstice!!!

Early morning meant getting up by 3:30 a.m. to be at the dock by 4:30 a.m. The Bald Beaver Charter was ready to go, and off we went to fish about 5 miles out on Lake Michigan, pretty much parallel to where our house is in the town. The fish were biting fast and furious, and certainly by 4:45 a.m. I had my first BIG fish on the line. Within just a few minutes of that, as second fish hit the lure, and John, too, was reeling in a King Salmon.

The ironic thing...or first timer's luck?....was that the first fish for me was the biggest fish I've ever caught, and maybe will ever catch! As I was working to bring the thing in, it seemed that for every 5 inches of line reeled in, a good 100 feet went zinging out. The fish fought. The fish was a struggle to make progress with. Scott (the charter skipper) said to me, "Soozee, you are going to be working on bringing this fish in for quite a while. Its a big one."

Since it was my "first", I was unsure that what he said was true. I thought he was just jollying me along, as the work in reeling in the fish was extremely tiring. My arms got very tired, and I wasn't sure I'd have the last ounce of strength to do what it takes to land a lake fish. However......I am not willing to admit that I can't do it. Its a "strong woman thing" for me. So....I grinned and bared it, and was rewarded with a 22 lb, 36 inch long, King Salmon. It is/was an AMAZING fish.

The fishing action continued to be decent and we had caught our limit by 7:30 a.m. Fact is, we were back at the dock. Pictures were taken, the fish were cleaned, filleted, and bagged, and by 8 a.m. I was back at my home, wondering what the heck I was going to do with 44 lbs of Salmon, plus the 22 lb trophy fish.

Oh, did I mention that when I got on the boat at 4:30 a.m., I announced that I didn't believe in the taxidermy thing. Well..obviously I had a change of heart.