Lynda agreed to join me on a full day halibut-fishing trip out of Seward, Alaska. She had never been ocean fishing and based upon a recent experience Lynda had with motion sickness, I was a little concerned for her health. But the weather had been very nice, so with a little Dramamine I figured she would be OK. I was wrong.

The boat captain was a tall, lanky, low key, quiet man named Eric. His deck hand was Corey, a high school student but a carbon copy of Eric in build and temperament. They were a couple of very pleasant fellows. A pair of fathers and sons out of Anchorage joined us.

As we left the small boat harbor in Seward the weather was beautiful. It was sunny and the water was calm. But by the time we finished our two-hour boat ride to our fishing area, the fog rolled in. It got cold. The sea was getting rough and it was windy. When we anchored I knew Lynda was going to be in trouble.

The fishing, I thought, was pretty good. As soon as I picked up my rod, I had a rockfish on. The rod went back in the water and I immediately hooked a 45-pound Ling Cod. It was June 26 and the Ling Cod season opener was not until July 1, so I threw it back. It was a great experience.

Lynda hadn't caught anything yet but by this time she was feeling pretty sick. She quit fishing and went inside the cabin. The captain said the weather was a little weird but I didn't care. I was now catching halibut. I couldn't believe it. The captain was throwing all the halibut back. He explained that he didn't recommend keeping anything under twenty-five pounds.

Lynda holds her ground

Lynda was joined by another fisherman who had a little too much of the sea. Another fisherman was an eight-year-old that couldn't reel in the twenty pounders. Yet another fisherman was a high school kid, whose heart just didn't seem to be into fishing. So the boat was virtually left to me and one other fisherman. Seems we were the only two that were happy. The captain was frustrated by the little fish (20 pounds).

As I was reeling in one fish after another, Lynda was spending her time in the head getting rid of her breakfast the hard way. After a period of vomiting, Lynda came out and announced to everyone that she was ready to go back now. She was serious. She thought that because she was sick we would go back. It wasn't even lunchtime yet. Although I was among the minority that actually had hunger pangs that day, I explained to her that there was a lot of fishing to be done and that as unbelievable as it might be, we were not going to turn around just for her.

About an hour later, the captain decided to take us to another spot where fishing had been good. He started the engines and pulled anchor.

"Oh, were going back now?" asked Lynda to anyone that could hear her. I couldn't lie to her. I told her we were just moving to another spot. I didn't tell her we were going farther away from Seward.

Catch at the End of the Day

The fishing at the new spot just got better and better. The fish were bigger. I was still catching one fish after another and Lynda was still spending most of her time in the head trying to lose weight.

By day's end we were both exhausted and our muscles were sore. I was sore because I been catching fish all day. Lynda didn't catch a fish but she was also sore from using muscles that she hadn't used in a while. Neither one of us will forget this trip.

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