Whale of a Tale

July 3, 2008

With wind, rain and fog it was pretty much a miserable morning as the Lana J untied from the dock at St. Paul's harbor.   Mid-way through the day, the weather started to clear and in the end, it turned out to be a good fishing day with limits for everyone.  What happened next will have Dave Marzac of Oregon talking about the honor of hooking the biggest fish for the day!

When Dave's fishing pole snapped - the call was made - Fish On!  The first mate, Zach knew it was a big one and called out to Captain Mel of the Lana J to come back to assist.  In seconds, it was all over and no one managed to get a picture.

Moving Dave to the bow and going with the fish, some thought it might be a barndoor size halibut (300-500 pounds) while Zach thought it might be a salmon shark (as it came up and crested the water's edge).  The sharks come in to feed off of the pink salmon who are starting to arrive in Kodiak waters.  The 100 pound fishing line was stripping outbound fast and Dave’s heart was racing with anticipation of what he had hooked .  Then IT surfaced with a blow!  IT was a humpback whale that somehow hooked onto the bait and kept right on swimming.   100 yards out and still peeling line from the reel - Captain Mel gave instructions to cut the line and save the memory.

  Great whale of a story Dave!