The sun was nowhere to be found when my friend Marcelle and I left the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco at 4:30 am. We found it somewhere around 5:28am in Sausalito while frantically looking for the Clipper Yacht Harbor. A few minutes later and we were on board the New Rayann (we were the last to arrive). I drank the last two sips of my cold coffee, and started to chat with a handful of the seasoned fishermen on board. As we left the dock, and then the harbor, passing under the Golden Gate, our quick introduction with the sun was abruptly interrupted by the thick fog that enveloped our boat. The cold weather got even colder by the second.
Marcelle and I remained outside on the back of the boat. We were the chattiest on board (I was pretending to be unfazed by the slowly disappearing shoreline). Almost two hours later, the engine shut off and the rest of the crew stepped out onto the deck. Brian, one of the two Rayann workers, helped me to attach my bait, clip on my 2lb sinker, and count out 60 feet of line.
After what must not have been much longer than a minute someone to my right shouted “I’ve got a bite!”. Those words seemed to echo as three others exclaimed the same. I watched on as the scurry of bodies began to resemble a group of children playing A Tangled Chain, bobbing over and under one another. Except in this version our Skipper Johnny was shouting “WATCH YOUR LINES!!” and I was smack dab in the middle.
My strategy was to get down low, point my fishing rod down, and let every one else climb over me. Then I felt a small tug and my heart dropped. The realization that I really had no idea what I was doing kicked in. I followed the guidance from the guys around me. I kept my fishing rod up, I watched the line as best as I could, and followed it as it zig zagged from the right to the left of the boat. As soon as I began to get winded, Brian was right there with a net to scoop up my first ever caught salmon.
I went right back in for round two. Even though my hands were cold and shaky, I was foolishly less cautious. The next bite I got was the real challenge. I have no idea how long it took me to reel in my second fish. I do know that I expressed great concern to my fellow fishing comrades that I might not be able to reel my fish in. Quite frankly, I was also afraid my hands would quit and the rod would go overboard. Thanks to everyone’s blind faith in me, I can now say that I reeled in a 21lb King Salmon all by myself! It was only two hours after we dropped our first lines, that we had caught our limit for the day (2 each).
I am abundantly grateful that I had this opportunity for many different many reasons. The main reason is what prompted me to seek out this experience in the first place. To put me in touch with the reality of how I get to eat what I eat. I learned on the ride back that this is the second year after four consecutive years that fishermen are legally allowed to fish for Chinook Salmon because the population was so depleted. I promised myself that I would honor and cherish every part of my two salmon from head to tail. Recipes will follow!
