Roland Learns the A,B,Cs of Fishing in Kindergarten Bay

Wednesday, June 2

A little known fact. Roland, with his Edgewater center console boat in Vermilion and this trawler we are currently cruising on, owns perhaps two of the finest boats built for fishing. And he’s NEVER fished in his life.

Well that changed today. Jim, an expert fisherman, was out back fishing for an hour or two after we set anchor in Kindergarten Bay, a small, secluded anchorage surrounded by steep pine slopes on the southwest side of Etolin Island in Stikine Strait.

Unfortunately for Jim, the fish just weren’t biting. So when Roland stepped out back to watch, Jim offered to show him how to fish. Minutes after dropping his line, Roland caught his first fish!!! We think it was a sculpin. Jim took it off the line for him, he dropped his pole back in the water and minutes later … another fish! All in all, he caught 5 fish in less than an hour, 4 sculpin and one black rock fish.

No one was more surprised than Roland.

Later, after waiting for another storm to blow through, Jim and Roland launched the tender, used our new caught fish as bait, and took the tender out to set two crab traps.

The next morning before leaving our lovely anchorage, Jim and Roland jumped in the tender and pulled the crabs hoping we’d find dinner. No such luck. Just one huge, ugly starfish engorging on our bait. Can’t believe we haven’t caught any crab!!!!