As the title of this post suggests, our resident ghost has made another appearance! It has the lodge buzzing. So what happened is that the cook was making a bowl of beer batter. As it was sitting there (on a dry surface with no one within the immediate area) it launched itself right off the counter in full view of him and one of the server girls! It was like an invisible hand just up and swiped it right off. It made a huge mess on the floor, and it was a real pain in the ass to clean up as it happened about ten minutes before lunchtime. The only thing we can imagine that happened is that Yes Bay Johnny didn’t approve of the Coors Light the cook was using to make the batter! Maybe that was his way of saying use a better beer next time!
I asked the boss some questions about Yes Bay Johnny after it happened. As an amateur ghost hunter I like to know about these things. He told me that about 5-6 times a year things like that happen with no rational explanation. It’s always some kind of poltergeist-type phenomena, no actual full-bodied apparitions have ever been sighted. He also says that these things usually happen in the months of January, February and March when the lodge is closed, but can happen any time of the year. If I stayed here in the off season I’d be trying to catch some EVPs or maybe would set some cameras up in the kitchen or hallways. I bet someone would catch something of interest if they were persistent!
The same day of the ghost incident, our dishwasher Devan caught the first dock salmon of the season! It was a huge pink, and I guess they have finally arrived in the bay. He’s been fishing for weeks to catch one and it finally happened for him. He’s not the only one who has been fishing for these fish, people have been casting lures off the dock for weeks trying for them. I happened to be standing right next to him on the dock when it went down. It must have been waiting right up under the dock because he caught it only about a yard away from where he was casting in the water.
It was a hard fight with a lot of runs, but he finally tired it out and brought it up on the dock. Ty the dog was there as he always is when someone is fishing and I had to hold him back so Devan could fight and land the fish without dog interference. Devan let the fish go, something he took a lot of flack for. I thought it was a good thing to do from a karma standpoint. It’s not like we are lacking for salmon around here!
On the same day as both the ghost incident and the dock salmon catching, I got tipped 100 bucks by some really awesome guests we had who came from Kansas! It was an older gentleman and his three sons. They were handing out bills to everyone and I got one kicked to me. This is the first time this has happened, usually guests tip out the house at the end of their stay and it gets divided up among us all. Getting it in person was really special though. I took it as a sign to buy some of the expensive lures that caught the dock salmon! They are called Blue Fox Pixees and run about 10 bucks apiece. I ordered 3 off of Amazon and they should be here in a week or two. I hope to get into some dock salmon action here soon!
In other fishing news, the guest who caught the monster 102 lb halibut last week caught an even bigger one the very next day! As it was on the day I publish this blog I didn’t include it in last week’s post but it’ll go in this one. The monster weighed in at 117 lbs! This guest had the super fish luck. He and his son went home with around 180 lbs of halibut, salmon and rock cod fillets! He got his money’s worth of fish on this trip, that’s for sure.
I went out this week fishing with Captain Jimmy and his wife Erin who works in the office. Last week I didn’t go out and I deeply regretted not doing so. This past week I was really starting to go stir-crazy from being cooped up here all the time. Getting away from the lodge even for a few hours really does good things for my head. I spend my days in about a 200 yard area and it is just unnatural. I was really starting to get cabin fever!
We had a pretty good day. I caught my first silver-grey (a type of rock cod that is supposedly good eating) and my first pink salmon. I also caught a couple of chicken halibut, both were around 7 lbs each. Erin caught a huge goldeneye rockfish that we had to throw back unfortunately, only Alaskan residents can keep them. It was a pretty decent day fishing, it was overcast and drizzly but the winds & sea stayed down for the most part.
We had a really weird catch come to the dock this week. Some guests brought in a wolf-eel! It was a big, ugly sucker around 4 feet in length. It looked like something you’d find in the deepest parts of the ocean with its smushed-up face. We processed it out and the meat looked quite good actually. One guy said it reminded him of perch, I thought it looked like flounder. I’d definitely try some if offered. I know in California people eat the monkey-faced eel, I hear it tastes like cod or haddock. Actually there are places that serve it as fish & chips and people can’t tell the difference. Eels are just long fish I suppose!
I just realized this week I’m at about 1/3 of the way through my stint here. While some days are better than others, time seems to be moving at a glacial pace. I really enjoy my job, but being stuck at the dock for 12 hours a day really is wearing on me. Being a landlubber ain’t my bag, man. I suppose I have to pay my dues as I’m sure all the skippers have at some point. It just makes it clear for me that I’ve got to get my Captain’s Licence to really be where I want in this racket. It’s not that hard really, the main thing I need is 1500 hours of boat driving time and around 1200 dollars in fees. Plus I have to take physicals and drug tests. Whenever I can get it it’ll open up a whole new world for me. At least I know what I need to focus on for the future. Until then, I’ll just have to continue grinding away at the dockmonkey life. Anyways, that’s it for this week’s installment. I’ll holla at ya’ll next week!
Tales of the Dogfish 