Today is my husband’s 60th birthday. He is King Salmon fishing. With our son. Captaining our salmon troller, the Saint Jude.
When our son was young, he also went commercial fishing with his dad. Usually with a deckhand on board, though his first King Salmon trip was off of the “prairie” in Washington state when he was 7-years-old. Just he and his dad were on that trip too. Freezing King Salmon on board.
Here is a photo when our son was younger fishing off of the California coast.
My husband and son with an ocean-caught King Salmon aboard the Saint Jude. Fishing Season 2013.
Our boy is the sole crewman for this current trip
He is old enough, now, to land Kings. It may be the first trip he is paid a percentage of the catch, depending on how he does cleaning the fish and practicing landing them.
We are currently on a 50 fish King Salmon quota here in Washington State, for this trip. The dock price for iced fish is low as the Alaska troll King Salmon season started on July 1st. There will be plentiful fish on the fresh market. Requiring extra strategies to get the best price for the premium grade of fish that our boat delivers.
So the on board blast freezer is on, and the fish will be processed for our direct markets, local customers. Filling a niche market in the Winter months.
(Happy Birthday Al! I hope the fish are biting, wherever you are!)
I suspect there is nowhere in the world my husband would rather be right now. He has put in over 40 consecutive fishing seasons as a King Salmon troller!
Our son, too, likes fishing.
When he found out he would be getting to go out on the next King Salmon trip, now that school is out for summer break, our boy packed his XtraTuff boots and changed into fishing clothes in the wink of an eye.
He put on long pants and a gray knit watch cap even though the weather outside was hot for our marine climate here at home in Sequim, WA.
We had to get him to change back into shorts. Let him know that the boat was in a port further down the coast from where we live.
That evening, he would take the bus with his dad, to where the boat was moored in Westport, WA.
Capt. Al & son boarding a bus.
Our boy is getting tall. From the back, he looks a lot like his dad. When he has his brown XtraTuff boots on, our son, is nearly a dead ringer for Al when he was younger.
To Allan: Enjoy. Every. Single. Minute.
Soon, our son will be a man. Just as our daughter is now a young woman. And then, it will be just you and I growing old together … with our memories.
Integration 