Sun, Fish and More Sun or should I say Fish, Sun and More Fish!

Just a forewarning this is a large blog (the largest I think I have ever done at one time). I really tried to pick my top pictures but I also wanted to paint a really good picture of this great weekend. Last Thursday evening my Dad and Mom (Scott and Eileen) came to Juneau for a visit/fishing trip. They came on one of the most beautiful weeks we have had in like two years. It actually felt like Summer here in Juneau - 80 degree sunny weather!

Friday morning started off very early - we left our house at 6am and were King Salmon fishing by 7am. Captain Mark Sanders ready to go - boat in the water, bait on the lines!

Mom's ready to go . . . Dad's a bit excited . . . .

And then there is Caitlin! Yep she was on board for this trip too~ shades and all . . . . Now they say in Juneau the average rod time for catching a King this year is 91 hours. . . this weekend it was 3 1/2 for us! The fish hit the line and Dad was on it, fighting hard at about 10:30am! Mark netted this King - measuring approximately 36 inches long. . . we are not 100% certain but it was approximately 25 pounds or so.

Just look at his face - so proud!! Maybe 15 minutes later it was Mom's turn to fight a fish!Look at her beauty! If my memory serves me this fish was 30 inches long and probably about 20 pounds or so. . . . This kind of fishing just wears a guy out! About 2 hours later, I caught my first King of the year! We didn't get any pictures while on the boat (we were wondering if we got the lines back in the water quickly maybe another fish would bite!). You'll see a picture of my fish a bit down.

Not only did we get action on the poles we had a ton of whale action! Our first major encounter was a Humpback whale in a cove at the Shrine of St. Teresa. At times this whale seemed to be 10 feet from shore just splashing around and eating krill.I believe this picture was taken the second day, we weren't getting any bites except for dolly's but there was a pod of 12-18 Killer Whales splashing all around us! It was amazing to see so many Killer whales at one time. We did see a ton more whales over the course of the weekend but I don't want to bore anyone with a million pictures!

At the end of day one we headed home with 3 beautiful King Salmon, Dungee Crab and Shrimp!

Mark was so on top of everything, baiting the lines, checking the lines, teaching us to drive the boat in the right area, how to clean shrimp/crab, etc - he did an amazing job keeping up on everything! (AND he worked on Sunday morning!)

He even took care of cleaning the fishes. . . . Crab anyone???Surf and Turf - King Salmon and Deer Back strap for dinner. . . . . YUMMY!

Oh yeah, Mark BBQ'ed for us too!Happy Girl!!!Reading with Papa

Here is a Humpback Whale that followed us back and forth - at one point he was right next to us, just checking us out.Hanging with Grandma after a long day of fishingSnuggling up with Papa too!

Day 3 - Sunday was our final day to catch fish/shrimp/crab. Saturday was very productive with Dungee Crab but no bites on the line. We got a little later start but were out by 9am.

Caitlin and Papa checking things out. . . . she seemed to want to be right up close to Papa, she even fell asleep in his arms like 3 times (she only falls asleep in my arms if she is sick!)

Dad got the first hit on the line - he followed this fish 360 degrees around the boat! Seriously, he fought this fish around the bow of the boat! After the fight we realized just how big of a monster this fish was! I am not sure of the exact measurements but I believe it was about 40 inches long!It's a whopper!The again the here came Mom's fish! She fought it hard - once we got it in the boat we realized it was bigger!! Mark and I weighed the fish gilled and gutted at home and it was 35 pounds. . . this was very likely a 40 pound fish!Whopper #2 is below! Very quickly we had realized we were catching the fish in almost the same spot each time - so off we went again to get the poles in the water. Mark was on the third fish not too long after! Again a Whopper, about equal to or bigger than what Mom caught! And again we didn't take a picture on the board due to wanting the poles in the water as quickly as possible to catch the next one!!Caitlin has her own little play area in the bow of the boat! She keeps nice and cool down there and comes up to visit us now and again!And here is Mark's WHOPPER! (Notice the biting of the lip. . . this was a heavy fish to hold up!)Dad getting ready to clean themMom and her beautyWe Three Kings. . . . .

Mark asked me to mention that if you take a look at Caitlin and compare the size of the fish to her you'll notice that the fish is longer! And at Caitlin's last appointment she weighed 25 pounds, this fish was well over 35 pounds!!

We had a very successful weekend and were so blessed to have the time together, the wonderful weather and the chance to catch this bounty - as Mark called it :0)

Thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad!

Thanks for taking such good care of us Mark!