Well, that was fun. I was hoping to do a full photo essay, but of course that didn't happen.
Left Depoe Bay on the F.V. Siamez at around 6am. Headed out, chugging along. Evidently the Siamez's top speed is around 12 knots, so we really were chugging. Since the Siamez is only a 34 foot boat, things were rockin' and rollin' for pretty much the whole trip - between the swells and the wind, it was a little rough. Which is okay for me - I like bumpy rides, and I didn't get ill.
We chugged out to the area known as the "Chicken Ranch" and set up drift. Our drift speeds ended up being close to 3 knots, which made it kind of hard to keep the weight on the bottom, even though we were using in upwards of 48 ozs.
Reeling in a 48 ounce sinker, using a right hand retrieve reel when you are used to left hand retreive, in swells topping 6+ feet, fighting a 3 knot current, is a little on the exhausting side.
But I had the fish gods on my side. We stayed out until everyone had a fish on board. The largest landed was only 35", by the guy who lost one that was probably 50+. My keeper was 32".
By the time we got back, I was worn out - we had left at 6, started fishing around 9, finished fishing around 2, and got back around 6. Completely forgot to take a picture of my fish, until I was up at my car dumping the bag o'fillet in my cooler. D'oh!
All in all, I really enjoyed the charter. Next time I am going to have the fish filleted and keep the whole carcass as well - while they did an outstanding job of getting as much meat off the bones, there was still a considerable amount left, which would make for outstanding soup.
Next charter is going to be back on the Siamez this August, for tuna!