Saturday, July 31, 2010

HalibutHead


Every day—or at least four days a week—these retired guys leave their trailer camps to chase halibut. One guy, Larry, from Bakersfield or someplace, heads out on Outlet and brings back monsters. The top three halibut in the July fishing derby are LarryLarryLarry at 60+ pounds, and we know that he gets lots more “little” ones—25-40 lbs.

Fine. But what do they DO with all this halibut? And how do they survive catching, schlepping, cleaning and processing these things?


I spent seven hours out on Toad yesterday—a great day. It wasn't all halibuttery: I got this one—43 lbs, for the record—by 11 a.m., and then spent three hours farting around looking for salmon (caught one nice 12-pounder and got it in the boat, but it was a silver, and had to put it back. Silver salmon don’t seem endangered—I’ve caught five this season, compared to three chinooks (not counting the nice one that the sealion sole from the boat the other day. $%^&^%$#!!!). The fine for keeping a silver is $1,000. It’s been a very rough salmon season).

So then you get your monster halibut back in the harbor, and gut&gill the fish and clean the slime out of the boat. And get the thing home and set up the cleaning table and filet it down to about 25-30 pounds of meat.

And then cut up the filets and vacuum-pack them. And bag the remains, hose down the deck (and yourself!) and get rid of the carcass.

Makes for a long day and a lot of lower-back strain. So how do Larry and his retiree buddies back at camp do it? And what the heck can they be doing with all that halibut? I’m giving it away to strangers on the street. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Monday, July 26, 2010

Louie

Louie runs the taxi for fishermen in Trinidad Harbor. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Anyone for Fish Tacos?

A 50-pound hog! 3rd on the derby list. In the bag, a mere 15-lb snack. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Casey van Alten’s 47-lb halibut kisses his boots. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Comparing fish stories aboard the Trinidad Harbor taxi. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Seastack Gardens

This summer’s crop of flora covering the tops and sides of seastacks . . .

. . . along the Humboldt County coast seems more abundant than usual.

Clinging in gravity-defying arrays on the sides of the rock . . .

. . . apparently without the benefit of soil, ferns, flowers, grasses and wild hens & chickens flourish and bloom in seastack gardens, hanging above the surf in the Northern California fog. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Rockhound

Sadie on the rocks. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Frisbee Grrrrl


Lulu, a world-class frisbee athlete. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Driftwood Bridge

A log lifted by winter storms frames a placid summer coast. (©Ted Pease 2010)

...But Sadie is unimpressed.... (©Ted Pease 2010)

Waiting Room

Shoes await the return of the beachrunner. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Grey Morning

Lulu wanders a College Cove pool in the fog. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Foggy Explorations

Is it just me, or does she look like a Hobbit? Brenda peers around the watery corner between Trinidad Beach and College Cove. (©Ted Pease 2010)

Barnacles, Bill

(©Ted Pease 2010)

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Helicopter Rescue

A Coast Guard helicopter plucks a kayaker from the surf off the rocks of Trinidad Head. (©Ted Pease 2010)