June 19th & 20th - Seward

June 19th - Tues - to Seward
Got an early start today for the 180 mile drive to Seward. Had to dump tanks and get fuel, arrived in Seward about 12:30. We are staying at the city RV park on the beach - water & electric but no sewer hookups. Our spot is on the front row of the second level so we have a wonderful view of the water and mountains out the back windows. Clem & Marlene’s rig is here too but they are out somewhere.
After lunch we went with Larry & Barb to the Alaska SeaLife Center. Very nice facility - part aquarium and part science “exhibits”. Hit the Safeway for booze & food and then back to the rig for Happy Hour(s) and dinner.
Terry’s friend Marv Thompson, his wife Diane and their friends Steve and Renee came by about 8:30 when they finished cleaning fish from their charter trip. Marv used to live in Spokane and fished many steelhead tournaments with Terry. Now he is a guide and operates charters out of Seward. We are going to join Marv tomorrow to fish for halibut.

June 20th - Wed - Seward
Foggy this morning. Could not see anything on the 2 hour trip out to the spot that Marv picked to fish for halibut. No luck at the first spot so we moved after just under an hour and got into a great spot. We switched from herring on halibut poles (boat anchored) to lures on lighter salmon poles that we jigged while the boat drifted slightly. Another guy on the trip (Dustin) and I got fish on at the same time just after we put our poles out. Dustin got his in quickly while I was blaming myself for being wimpy and not able to wind mine in even after Marv tightened up the drag. We found out why when the fish got close enough to the surface and sent Marv running for the harpoon and 410 shotgun. It was big! Turned out to be 95 pounds. Marv didn’t get the first harpoon through and the fish took off for the bottom again. So I had to wind it in again - I thought for a while that I would not be able to do it but with a few rests and advice from Terry I got it in. Then I got my “souvenir” from Marv - the 410 shell that was used to shoot the fish before they bring it in the boat. Large live halibut have very powerful tails that can do serious damage.
After the pictures at the boat dock (with an appreciative audience!) and getting our fish filleted, we came back to the RV park and did some bragging to Larry & Barb and Clem & Marlene and shared some halibut with them. Diane had asked us to join them for dinner and we got to sample some of the fresh halibut.