I was working as a kitchen supervisor at a lodge in Glacier Bay, Alaska. I had never fished in the ocean before, so, for my birthday, my boss decided to take me out on one of the fishing vessels owned by the resort.
We would be trolling for salmon and jigging near the bottom for halibut. I had caught salmon in the Great Lakes before but had never fished for halibut. Even though jigging off the bottom is a pretty boring way to fish, the fact that halibut can weigh upwards of 500 pounds made me pretty excited to give it a try. The resort’s accountant, an avid photographer, came along as well. Her trophy would be humpback whale photos, hopefully leaping out of the water in a full breach.
We started early, reaching our first destination near Pleasant Island around nine in the morning. We trolled along the island’s reef in search of Coho and King salmon. After catching a few…