Live Oak Ridge Park Lake Belton, Texas

We have been using our Travel Trailer a lot lately. After our trip to Phildelphia, Virginia, Washington D C and Maryland (didnt take the travel trailer) we went to visit Amy, Josh, Noah and Andy for Andy's first birthday. We left there after a few days and went to Kyle, Texas for our family reunion at an RV park on the San Marcos River and then the following weekend we were celebrating the Kyle High School Reunion. After the reunion we were back to Temple for Halloween and Josh's 30th birthday.

September and October have been full of traveling and we really had a great time at every activity and function we attended. Our trip was a lot of fun, the family reunion was relaxing and fun, the High School reunion was a lot of work but it turned out great, Andy's birthday was a sheer joy, Halloween was a blast watching Noah Trick or Treating as a Pirate Captain and Andy as a Scare Crow. Enoyed Josh's birthday party on Friday evening, having lunch and dinner with him and his family on Monday his birthday.

Our next planned activities are a visit from Amy, Josh, Noah and Andy this next weekend and going back to Belton Lake to store the Travel Trailer, Boat and a Truck in two storage units we rented last week. It will be nice having the toys there as this is our home away from home. I have posted a few pictures of the RV Park we stay at when we are visiting the children. It is a very pretty, clean and quite park just a few miles from the children's home.

Other planned trips will be to Kyle to enjoy Thanksgiving with my Mother and brothers and sisters and their families,camping in Canton, Texas the first week in December with Sharon and Danny and then celebrating Christmas enjoying the two grandsons on Christmas morning.

We haven't stopped since mid September and we will be busy toward the end of the year.

Early morning at Live Oak Ridge Park on Lake Belton, Texas, our home away from home.

We enjoy the same spot each time we go as the play ground is directly behind us. Noah and Andy really enjoy the slides and swing.

Another real nice feature is that the sites are far apart from each other. Each site has a paved slab for the Travel Trailer, a covered concrete picnic table and benches, a fire pit and barbecue pit. The public showers and restrooms are a short walk from this site.

The roads are wide and paved and the park is extremely clean and well kept.

The view of the lake from the site is beautiful and is directly across the road from the site. While there are sites available across the road, we like site number 9 , the view isnt blocked by another camper. Another reason we like to park on this side of the road is that the park sits on a bluff and the drop to the water is about 30 feet straight down .

Philadelphia and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland Trip September 23 to October 3, 2009

(to viewall of the pictures we took on the trip click on: http://picasaweb.google.com/holtnotesrah/PennsylvaniaWashingtonAndBaltimoreTrip2009#l
Our trip started with a flight from Houston to Philadelphia. We were in Philadelphia from Wednesday to Friday having the opportunity to visit a number of historical sites, tour the US Mint, the Constitution museum, a tour of the city of Philadelphia on a Duck vehicle and we enjoyed great Philly cheese steak sandwiches, Pizza and a wonderful dinner at a Tavern well over 200 years old.

Rob, Susan, Connie and Henry in Philadelphia,

Independence Hall, the place where our Declaration of Independence was signed, the location where the United States was born and the place that served as our nations capital for the first few years.

Philadelphia is a wonderful city, full of historical sites and tours. Visiting this city gives you a deep appreciation for what the men who signed the Declaration of Independence did for all of us and how the document they wrote and signed has shaped our country and laid the foundation for what we are today.

While not to get too political here, our visit deepened our concern for the current administrations approach to policy and their approach to governing the people of the United States. Our fore fathers jeopardised their lives to ensure a foundation was laid for a country whose Constitution starts out as We the People, governed by the people for the people and not the Government or any one individual leader.

Philadelphia was the home of Benjamin Franklin. We toured the Franklin Museum and walked all around the neighborhood where he lived, worked and is buried. Unfortunately, his home and printing building is no longer there, however there is documentation that provides information as to the exact location of where the home and printing business were located.

The next three pictures is that of Christ Church where Benjamin Franklin and his family attended along with other Revolutionary Leaders. His in laws sat in pew 70 in the church and when he married he sat with the wife's family in this pew in the late 1700's

Christ United Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Known as "The Nation's Church" because of the famous Revolutionary-era leaders who worshiped here, Christ Church was founded in 1695. It was the first parish of the Church of England (Anglican) in Pennsylvania. It is also the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church

Pew 70 where Benjamin Franklin sat with his wife and in laws

The grave site of Benjamin Franklin, his wife and his in laws, Christ Church Burial ground.

Christ Church Burial Ground is one of America’s most important Colonial and Revolution-era graveyards, with 1,400 markers on two beautiful acres right in the heart of historic Philadelphia. Located three blocks from the Church, and just across the street from the Visitors' Center, the Burial Ground is the final resting place for some of our most prominent leaders including Benjamin Franklin and four other signers of the Declaration of Independence. (Picture is a sign next to the cemetery.)

We rented a car in Philadelphia on Friday and drove to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Amish Country. It is a short hour in a half drive and we arrived at our bed and breakfast, Flowers and Thyme around 5 pm. The countryside is very beautiful, rolling hills, pristine and well manicured farms all over the country side. I had seen pictures and television shows about this area; I never really grasped the beauty, much less the pride the Amish take in their properties.

We noticed that the major crop in this area is corn. We saw a number of farming activities while we were in Lancaster, County. A very rural area with a number of small towns most of which are populated by the Amish people.
Another Amish farm we saw while in Lancaster County.


You could hear the horse and buggy from far away as there is a distinct clip pity clop on the pavement. I was amazed at how quickly the horses could get around. We also saw a number of the Amish people walking and riding scooters (not motorized) and bicycles. I don't have any pictures, I honored their desire to not be photographed.

While we were in Lancaster, County, we toured an Amish Farm, rode in a horse and buggy through the country side, saw covered bridges, went to a canning factory and sampled many different relishes, pickles, canned eggs, beats, etc. and ate lunch at an Amish Fund Raising Benefit having the opportunity to visit with some of the families. This particular benefit was to collect money in case some of their Amish neighbors needed help with hospital bills Learned to make a pretzel at a pretzel factory, Susie and Connie viewed an Amish film while Henry and I went to a wine retail outlet where we enjoyed samples, ate dinner with an Amish family and just enjoyed the very laid back quiet of this part of our trip.

This is part of the Amish Farm that we toured, the tour lasted over an hour. We were able to get a real feel for their way of life.
While we saw a number of homes with clothes drying on the line, some Amish use propane appliances. No electricity is allowed, the reason is that they do not want to be tied to an electrical line not knowing where that line may supply energy to someone outside their faith.

My Pretzel on the left, Susie made the one on the

We left Lancaster County and drove to Hershey, Pennsylvania, a half hour away where we visited the Hershey theme park and took a theme ride that showed how many of the Hershey products are made, packaged and shipped. We drove through town and saw the many street lights that look like Hershey kisses.

Hershey Chocolate and Candy Factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hershey, Pennsylvania Street Light. Some of the lights were chocolate kisses unwrapped and other lights were the wrapped candy kisses.

From Hershey, Pennsylvania, we headed toward Virginia, our first stop in Virginia was a three and half hour drive to Luray, Virginia to spend the night in the Shenandoah Valley. We rented a cabin on the side of a mountain with a wonderful view. The cabin was very large and had all the conveniences of home. We bought steaks, corn, salad and dessert before we got there, breakfast foods were in the refrigerator. Henry grilled the steaks and we enjoyed sitting on the deck eating our great dinner.

After the sun went down, Connie and I observed how pretty the full moon was in the sky and we pointed it out to Susie and Henry, it was later that we realized that the moon was not full and that it wasn't a tree branch that blocked part of the moon. The moon wasn't full, we enjoyed a great laugh about all of the conversation we had about that beautiful full moon. Non the less, regardless of the moon, this was a very romantic spot. We sat by the fireplace that evening and enjoyed listening to music and relaxing.

Our cabin in the Shenandoah Valley near Luray, Virginia
View from the middle deck of the cabin, there were three decks, one off the lower bedroom, one off of the living area and the third off the 3rd floor bedroom loft.

Looking down from the loft bedroom to the living area, a great place to stay.

After a nice breakfast, cooked by Henry, we packed the car and headed for our next destination, the Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia.

The caverns are beautiful and claim to be the world's largest. This is really neat, the bottom is a mirror image of the top due to a crystal clear pool of water on the floor of the cave.

The tour took about an hour and was well worth the stop.

We left the Caverns and headed along Skyline Drive, Virginia to Charlottesville, Virginia. Skyline Drive is 105 miles long and connects to the Blue Ridge Parkway from the north. It took us three hours to make this drive, stopping at a number of overlooks to enjoy the beautiful views. The fall color had just started, the temperature was in the high 50s and low 60s a nice reprieve from our recent hot summer back home.

The views were awesome and the weather fantastic.
Henry, Connie, Rob and Susan along the Skyline Drive in Virginia.

We ended our drive near Charlottesville, Virginia. We spent the night in a house that was built in 1817 by James Dinsmore who was the master carpenter for Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. After a nice dinner, an evening in a beautiful room and a great breakfast the next morning we headed to tour Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson just a few miles down the road from Charlottesville.

Dinsmore House, built in 1817 across the street from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Left Susan and Rob and across the table Connie and Henry enjoying breakfast at the Dinsmore House.

After breakfast we checked out of the Dinsmore House and drove just a few miles to Monticello. This is truly an amazing place, the tour of the grounds and house took almost 3 hours. After the tour we ate lunch at Michals, Tavern just a few miles from Monticello. Lunch was a buffet and served by waitresses dressed in early 1800's clothing. The food was very good and we enjoyed eating in this old log cabin tavern. We left the Tavern and went to the Thomas Jefferson winery, a winery near Monticello located on land where Thomas Jefferson had grape vineyards. The wine is made and bottled under the Thomas Jefferson name.

Monticello home of Thomas Jefferson outside Charlottesville, Virginia

The working portion of Monticello, the ice house, cellar, kitchen etc. was housed below the house in this structure.

Michal's Tavern between Charlottesville and Monticello

We drove to Washington, D.C. where we stayed 3 days touring all of the landmarks, enjoying all of the beautiful scenery and we took a dinner cruise on the Potomac River. There was a lot of walking in this town. We utilized the mass transportation, the subway system is very clean, reasonably priced and proved to be the best mode of transportation while we were there. The weather was great and it was great to visit this historical city again. Being able to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier was just as moving this time, as it was when I saw the ceremony a number of years ago. Our hotel was very comfortable, we stayed in the Covention center district and it proved to be conveniently located for everything we did. We had tickets to tour the White House and United States Capital. We visited the US Mint, Connie and Henry visited the Supreme Court and I toured the Navy Museum and Susie and I toured the Spy Museum while Connie and Henry toured Ford's theater.

The Washington Monument, we rode an elevator to the top and the view of Washington was spectacular. I took the next pictures from the top of the monument.

The White House

The Lincoln Memorial in the background and the World War II Memorial in the foreground.

The Jefferson Memorial

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Cemetery.

On the next to the last day of our stay in Washington D.C. I walked over to the Navy memorial museum.

Lone Sailor Statue at the Naval Memorial Museum


Picture taken off the computer screen in the memorial, my personal page.

Our dinner cruise was very relaxing, the food and music was good and the view of the monuments at night was great.

The Spirit dinner cruise prior to boarding.

Sundown, right before we sailed for our dinner cruise.

The US Capital at night taken from aboard the Spirit during our dinner cruise.

On Friday afternoon we caught a shuttle from our hotel in Washington D.C., riding to Baltimore, Maryland. Our hotel was located on the Inner Harbor and we had great views of the harbor from our room. We enjoyed lunch at water side and walked around viewing the beautiful views of the ships in the harbor. That evening we enjoyed a fabulous crab dinner in the city and walked aroung the water front viewing the city lights and just playing tourist.

The USS Constelation docked on the water front with our hotel in the background.
Oh no, must be time to head home, Henry on the left, Connie on the right. Notice who is holding the sign and who the Old Crab must be. :)

We had a great time, the trip was very memorable and being with such great friends made it much more memorable.

The month of October is an extremely busy month for us, we will be home about four days all month. We ended the above trip the first week in October, immediately we headed to Temple, to celebrate our beautiful grandson Andy's first birthday, we had a family reunion on the San Marcos river where we enjoyed camping in the RV with Josh, Amy, Noah and Andy. The following weekend was my High School reunion which turned out to be a lot of fun and then I took the camper to Temple and came home for a couple of days. We leave for Temple again tomorrow for Halloween and celebrating Josh's birthday

We are enjoying ourselves, dont know how I ever found time to work.

Alaska Fishing Trip June 6 to June 13, 2009 Sitka, Alaska

The below post includes some pictures that were taken on the trip, to view them all click on the slide show to the left or click on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/holtnotesrah/SitkaAlaskaFishing#

Henry, Mark, Larry and I left Houston at 9:45 am on a Continental flight via Seattle, Washington to Anchorage, Alaska, to Juneau, Alaska arriving Sitka, Alaska at 11:00 pm. It was an extremely long day, changing planes twice, traveling over 4,000 miles and spending 17 hours to get there. When we booked our flights the only available route was the one we took, there are much shorter routes, we learned after the fact, we could have flown directly to Seattle to Sitka reducing the mileage about 1400 miles. We met up with Danny and Stan in Juneau and rode the 95 mile flight to Sitka with them. Also boarding the plane in Juneau was the Sitka High School baseball team and some fans. This was my first exposure to the remoteness and vastness of Alaska. A 95 mile trip to play baseball and they had to fly to get there.

To get to Sitka you must fly or go by boat, there are no roads leading into Sitka due to the mountains and water surrounding the city. We learned that there are only 14 miles of road available in the whole Sitka borough which is the largest in the 50 states. Not largest in population but area.

The trip was long and tiring and I lost my best camera (taken out of the bin on the airplane as we departed Continental airplane in Seattle), my energy and attitude quickly changed in the Sitka airport when Danny, one of the fishing party told me he heard my name over the loud speaker. I went to the counter and the agent asked me if I had lost something and I replied, No. She reached under the counter and pulled out my wallet, she said the Pilot found it in my seat on the plane. What a relief thanks to the honest pilot; cash credit cards and all personal identification was intact. Thanks Alaska Airlines pilot.

Picture out of the airplane as we arrived at the Sitka, Alaska airport at 11 pm, still daylight
Brown bear on display in the Sitka, Airport. A one gate, one counter airport.
Jim, our host and guide. Very friendly and personable individual. He went out of his way to make our trip succesful and memorable. Normally a Hunter and Bear Guide, Jim also does some fishing trips and is the owner of the Float House we stayed on. He picked us at the airport, took us for supplies and groceries, delivered us to the float house, took us fishing, returned us to Sitka for our last evening and then transported us to the airport on the last day. Thank you, Jim.

Jim our guide and owner of the Float House picked us up at the airport and drove us to the Sitka Hotel for the evening. We visited with him for an hour or two over a couple of drinks at the bar next door to the hotel. We all agreed Jim would join us for breakfast the next morning and we would then go get our fishing license and get our supplies for the week as we were to do our own cooking on the Float House. I woke up after only being in bed a couple of hours, it was about 4am but 7am at home. I was awakened by a horrible screeching noise outside our hotel window. I got up, it was daylight and I could see two huge Ravens fighting over a piece of what looked like chicken. Larry yelled at them and they flew away. I was able to get a couple more hours sleep before waking up to get ready for the day activities.

View from Sitka Hotel Parking Lot on the first morning in Sitka

My first experience to the cost of things in Alaska was at breakfast. Two eggs, two bacon and two sausages with a cup of coffee was $20. I was wondering, what will a week of groceries and supplies cost for 6 people when we go shopping later that morning?

After breakfast, Jim drove us to a sporting goods store to buy our fishing license. A 7 day non resident Alaska fishing license was $87. We then went next door to the grocery store and started shopping for our weeks supply. We bought all the necessary cooking items, breakfast and lunch items. picked up enough dinner items for two meals and planned on 3 of the other dinners would be fish that we caught. The biggest expense was water, drinking and cooking water for 6 people for a week. Water cost $10 for a 24 pack of bottles, at home around $3 on sale.

Loading the truck with supplies. Groceries were not all that expensive. Our total bill in the grocery store was just under $400. $65 per person, not bad for 5 days.

After shopping we went back to the Hotel and checked out. Jim needed to go by his house and let the dogs out for a while before we went fishing. The view from his back yard was unbelievable. A 180 degree view of the bay and mountain ranges with Mt Edgecombe directly across the water from him. We also saw our first eagle sitting in a tree in front of his home. We then went to the fish processing plant to find out how we would be getting our fish processed, packaged and delivered to the airport. We then went and bought our drinks and loaded them on the truck and went from there directly to the boat to head to our Float House and a couple of hours of fishing.

From left to right Henry, Stan, Larry, Danny and in the background Mark. This picture and the below picture was taken in the back of Jim's house. Me with Mt Edgecombe in the background.
Picture taken of the Sitka Harbor from the Lakeside Grocery Store where we did our shopping.Mountains surrounded Sitka, this picture was taken from the dock next to our guide's slip for his boat.


Annahootz, our fishing boat for the week. The configuration of the boat allowed Jim the captain and two of us to ride in the cabin leaving plenty of room for the other 4 on the open deck.

Leaving Sitka Harbor headed for our Float House


Our ride on the way to the float house.

The ride by boat to the Float House took about twenty minutes. The water was blue as the sky and the view was spectacular. We entered into a narrow body of water off the main bay and at the end was a beautiful mountain pictured below. About half way down the narrow body of water we turned left into an opening that entered into the cove where the float house was located.

Mountain at the end of the narrow body of water on the way to the float house.

As we turned into the cove this mountain range was behind us.


This view was off to the right as we turned into the cove.

First view of the float house as we turned into the cove where the float house was moored. Jim moved the float house to the current position the week prior to our arrival.

The float house, to the left was an 18 foot skiff we could use while we were there.

Accomodations & Food (Float House):

The Float House was the neatest place I have ever stayed. Located in a remote cove about 2o minutes by boat from Sitka. There was plenty of room for the 6 of us. The kitchen was well stocked with pots, pans, cups, glasses and silver ware . We took in plenty of groceries and paper products for the week. There are 6 bunks in one room and a queen size bed in a separate room for sleeping. We used four of the bunks, the queen sized bed slept two, leaving two of the bunks for storage of clothing and luggage.

We anticipated we would eat fish for 3 nights and two other nights we would fix spaghetti and bratwursts. Breakfast consisted of eggs, ham, sausage, toast, breakfast tacos, coffee and juice. Lunch was eaten on the fishing boat each day, ham, crackers, apples, bananas, cookies, salami and cheese and plenty of water to drink.

Two evenings Henry fried fish that turned out to be excellent. The third night Henry grilled salmon with a lemon pepper rub and Danny grilled salmon with a brown sugar rub. Every morning Stan had coffee ready for us and cooked the breakfast with Danny's help, we even had skillet toast. Danny made the bratwurst and I cooked the spaghetti. Everyone had a role in the daily meal preparation from meal preparation to washing the dishes. On one occasion we intentialy used more pots and pans than needed so as to pile up the dish washing duties on Larry and Stan. Needless to say there was no weight loss on this trip.

Water was at a premium, the only water available was rain water in a barrel. We brought on gallons of water and 24 pack bottles of water for cooking and consumption. We used the rain water for washing dishes and an occasional sponge bath. (In most instances bathing was not done, individuals used their body wipes for hygiene during the week).

Restroom facilities were at a minimum. There was a shower with a propane heater to heat the water but there was only one barrel of water and we saved it for washing dishes. The marine style porta potty worked, but while it was located inside the cabin, there was a thin sliding door separating you from the bunk beds. We all consider each other to be close friends and or family, however, not that close. One approach was to tell night time stories and jokes to those in bed while sitting on the throne. Great laughter came from this one particular accommodation.

Bunk room at end of the float house, opened out onto a large deck in the rear. I slept in the lower bunk to the left, Danny was above me, Larry slept on the right bottom bunk, Stan slept on the lower bunk at the foot of my bunk and Henry and Mark shared the bed in the small bedroom. The bunks above Larry and Stan were used for storage and staging of our gear. There was ample sleeping bags, pillows and blankets for our comfort. The kitchen and living area proved to be very comfortable, well stocked with utensils and plenty of sitting space for the 6 of us. The wood stove was not used for warmth, as the cabin remained comfortable the whole time we were there.

Weather:
The weather was excellent for us the whole week. Most days were perfect, temperatures ranged from lows in the low 40 degrees to highs in the high 60 degrees. Most days were cloudy, almost every morning there was a thick fog all around but burned off by mid morning. On Wednesday there was hardly a cloud in the sky and you could see for miles. There was a fine mist on a couple of days, we were very fortunate that the weather allowed us to fish the whole time we were there. Dusk was around 11pm and dawn 3am for a total of about 4 hours darkness. There was always enough light to see 24 hours a day without the need of flashlights.

Wednesday morning about 5am picture taken from the front porch of the float house.
Friday morning about 5 am picture taken from the front porch of the float house.

Mt. Edgecombe: Picture was taken on Wednesday while we were fishing. One of the most amazing sites happened at this spot. We were fishing in approximately 150 foot of water and when a small fish was brought up, the change in pressure unfortunately killed the fish. When we discarded the fish back in the water they would float and Eagles would swoop down and grab them in their claws.


About 7am on Thursday morning as we headed out to fish. A cruise ship headed to Sitka.

Clothing and gear:
We tried to pack as light as we could due to the extra cost of bags on the airlines and to manage the amount of luggage we would carry around and store while we were in the hotels and on the float house. Since this time of year in Sitka is the rainy season we made sure to take along plenty of rain clothing and shoes. Additionally, due to the coolness in the morning and warmer temperatures later in the day we took clothing that could be layered, sometimes taking off or adding layers as needed. I personally took along a Simms fishing jacket that proved to be the right approach. Fishing shirt, Simms Jacket, long underwear, fishing pants, a frog togg rain suit and Shimano Evair fhishing boots proved to be my normal dress for the day.

Sun screen, body wipes, toothpaste and tooth brush were essentials.

Wildlife:
While the whole trip was fantastic, the scenery was beautiful, the weather perfect, the fishing fun and a great experience and the float house was a unique and comfortable. Being in the wild and getting to see the wildlife in it's habitat was truly a blessing. We saw numerous birds including a blue herron and eagles. The eagles were a lot of fun to watch, we fed them at night when we cleaned the fish for dinner. At one point there were 11 eagles on the rocky shore by the float house eating the fish carcasses. We saw a mama bear and two cubs and Stan and Mark saw two additonal male brown bear later that same day when they went down to the shore line in the skiff. We saw hundreds of sea lions on a cluster of rock islands. We chased whale on two different occassions, Jim got us so close at one point, when the whale blew it startled a couple of us.

A blue herron as it was landing in the tree top
Eagle in the middle of the picture, it was truly amazing to watch this bird. Their heads are in constant motion moving back and forth searching for prey and food.

Eagles eating the carcasses of fish we cleaned for dinner. The remoteness of our float house was cause for almost complete quite, only noises of nature. You could hear fish bones breaking by the eagles beaks.

A mama bear and her two cubs in the grass.

A sea lion, he was making such a loud snorting and grunting noise, obviously he didn't like us there. We saw hundred of sea lions on a group of rock islands.

Fluke (Tail fin) of a Humpback Whale we chased


Two Humpback Whales one rolling out of the water and the mist coming from the blow whole of another.

Fishing:

Most of the fishing was trolling for Salmon. We decided that we would take turns bringing in the Salmon that was caught while trolling. Jim set up the down rigger (similiar to the picture below), one on each aft side of the boat. The fishing line would be attached to the down rigger and a 10 pound ball attached to a steel line on the down rigger. The ball would be dropped to the depth that we wanted to fish. This takes the bait (we were using herrring) to that depth, usually around 80 to 125 feet. Once the bait and a flasher (attracts the fish) is in place we would troll about 1.5 to 2.5 miles per hour. As you are trolling the fishing pole is somewhat bent from the tension of the flasher and bait. When a fish hits the bait the line would release itself from the down rigger causing the fishing rod to pop up or flutter. The rod is taken from its holder and the hook set and the fish is on (hopefully, we missed a few). Whoever was closest to the rod would set the hook and hand it to the next person who was in line to bring in the salmon.

An example of a down rigger that we used.

The other way we fished was mooching, nothing more than putting on an artificial bait and dropping it to the bottom and then retrieving the bait up about one or two feet. Then raising the rod up and down would catch fish. The fish that we caught other than the Salmon was caught by mooching or sometimes called jigging.

Salmon:

The Chinook salmon or sometimes called the King salmon is blue-green on the back and top of the head with silvery sides and white ventral surfaces. It has black spots on its tail and the upper half of its body; its mouth is dark gray. Adult fish range in size from 33 to 36 inches (840 to 910 mm), but may be up to 58 inches (1.47 meters) in length; they average 10 to 50 pounds (4.54 to 22.7 kg), but may reach 130 pounds (59 kg). The current sport caught World Record is 97 pounds 4 ounces (44.1 kg) and was caught in May 1985 by Les Anderson in the Kenai River (Kenai, Alaska). The commercial catch world record is 126 pounds (57 kg) caught near Petersburg, Alaska in a fish trap in 1949.

We caught 9 keeper salmon of which 1 was a Coho Salmon that Stan caught.

Danny and a nice Salmon
Mark and one of his Salmon that he caught
Stan caught a nice Salmon

Larry and his salmon above

Henry and the huge salmon he caught below

My Salmon caught on Wednesday

Other editable fish we caught:

Halibut:

The one fish we all wanted to catch but didn't. I caught one small Halibut and Mark caught one, it got off the hook but at least he got to see it. Henry hooked a huge fish, it wouldn't budge off the bottom. The way it hit and shook it's head was certainly a huge Halibut. Jim indicated he bet it was 80 lbs or greater, unfortunately the gear and the way we were fishing didn't allow us to catch the Halibut we all desired.

Lingcod (Ophiodon elong-atus):

Hexagrammids, a family of fish unique to the west coast of North America. Unlike their name implies, they are not true cods, but are greenlings. They can be found from the Alaska Peninsula/Aleutian Islands south to Baja California. They are common throughout Southeast Alaska, the outer Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, and Prince William Sound. While found to depths of 1,000 feet (300 m), lingcod more typically inhabit nearshore rocky reefs from 30 to 330 feet (10–100 m). Lingcod are voracious predators and can grow to weigh over 80 pounds (35 kg) and measure 60 inches (150 cm) in length. They are characterized by a large mouth with 18 sharp teeth. Their color is variable, usually with dark brown or copper blotches arranged in clusters.

We caught a number of lingcod, however due to the limits imposed we had to release a number of them, including the one in the picture below. The current limit is between 30 and 35 inches long and over 55 inches can be kept. This one was over 35 inches but not over the 55 inch limit We ate fresh lingcod on the float house, it was excellent.

Lingcod, caught and released as it didn't meet the 30 to 35 inch and 55 inch and over limit.

Yellow Eyed Rockfish or Red Snapper:

In keeping with their name, these fish sport bright yellow eyes. They are commonly known as Red Snapper. These fish may be found in shallow water in early spring, sometimes feeding on lingcod spawn, Their eyes are highlighted with a spine above each eye socket and rough ridges behind each eye. Their coloring is yellow-orange washed with pink tones. Fins are pink with black on the lips and include a large spiny dorsal fin with irregular notches. Average length is 50 cm, life span is up to 115 years.

Yellow Eyed Snapper, we caught many of these. The limit on these is two per fisherman. After our second day of fishing we had our limit a total of 12 nice fish. We continued to catch the Snapper but had to release them .

Quillback Rockfish:

These fish are often found near rock reefs, in inlets and in shallow rock piles. A quillback is easily identified by its high dorsal fin with deep notches between the spines, large mouth and compressed body. Colouring is brown and yellow with orange-brown speckling on the lower back. The fins are dark, except for a yellow streak through the spiny dorsal fin. Average length is 35 cm, life span is up to 76 years.

Watch out for those spiny fins. One of the fish flopped on the deck of the boat, the spiny dorsal fin went through my fishing boot and into the top of my foot.

We caught a number of Quillback Rockfish, this was one of my favorite fish to eat while on the float house. This picture was taken from the internet as I did not get a picture on the trip.

Copper Rockfish:

These fish are striking in their variable colors, which may include dark or olive brown tones washed with copper-pink and occasionally spashed with yellow. Two yellow bands radiate backwards from the eyes, and the fins are copper-black. Length is up to 55 cm, life span can be 45 years.

We caught some Copper Rockfish but we didn't keep any, they were all released. Internet picture also.

Black Sea Bass (Stereolepis gigas):

Fish native to the northern Pacific Ocean With its conspicuous size and a curious nature, it is surprising that relatively little is known about its biology or behavior. There are published reports of giant sea bass reaching a size of 2.5 m (8.2 feet) and a weight of up to 255 kg (562 lbs). However in Charles F. Holder's book The Channels Islands published in 1910, the author claims specimens taken from the Gulf of California attained 800 pounds (360 kg). In the eastern Pacific its range is from Humboldt Bay, California to the Gulf of California, Mexico, most common from Point Conception southward. In the western Pacific it is found in the sea around Japan. It usually stays in relatively shallow water, near kelp forests, drop offs or rocky bottoms.

We caught more of the Black Sea Bass than any other fish. We ate some for dinner one night and it too was excellent.


This is one fish that we caught and threw back every time. I think Jim said it was called a pistachio or picassio fish or something like that. We did catch a lot of them. I will try and get the real name and add it to this picture when I do.

The trip turned out to be more than I could have expected. It was two years in the making. Henry had met Jim, our host and guide a couple of years ago on a bear hunting trip. Henry set up the trip and we were originally scheduled to go last year in June but Danny and his wife Marci had twins the first week in June and we postponed the trip until this June (obviously a glorious occassion and great reason to reschedule).

We brought home about 27 lbs of fish each and more memories than can be weighed. I had a great time, thanks Henry, Mark, Larry, Stan and Danny for being such good friends and making the week so much fun. Thanks especially to Henry for setting up the trip and to Jim for being our guide and host.

Next fishing trip, who knows, maybe Blue Marlin somewhere in the world?