One thing most people don't know about me is that I love fishing. I'm not very good at catching, but I'm obsessed with trying to hook trout in Colorado reservoirs. The trip to Alaska promised actual results with salmon and halibut.

Friday, August 29, I dragged myself out of our Fish On! cabin for day two of Alaska fishing. This trip was on the Kasilof River. The goal: salmon.

The weather was better than the previous rainy day. We shared a boat with fishing guide and self-proclaimed riverman, Brandon, and two guys from Mississippi, Wade and Lee. I enjoyed listening to their banter in thick Southern accents. 

The fishing was okay. Only Lee made his two fish limit. Wade was skunked. My husband caught a whopper of a silver salmon. I enjoyed seeing bald eagles and seals, although I suspected they were stealing my fish.

The next day, August 30, was the big day. Halibut! Our neighbors in the cabin next door were also on this expedition. The two guys were from Oklahoma, a state I lived in for almost a decade. We got up at the horrible hour of 3 AM. We had to drive across the Kenai peninsula to Seward. I'm sure it was an area of stunning beauty, in daylight. 

We reached the dock, and found our boat. Captain Chuck was in charge of the fishing boat, the Ann Marie. Deck hand Jake ("from State Farm," he jokingly told us) was the crew. One other couple arrived late. Later, we all wished we'd left them behind.

My Ahab-like dream of catching a halibut might be realized today. The Captain steered us out of the incredibly beautiful dawn harbor and into the open ocean. Leonard and I had already been on a larger boat, touring glaciers several days ago (see my Sept. 14 post - An Alaska Mini-Mystery). We had skipped the advised sea-sickness medicine then, with no ill-effects.

If you don't know whether you're immune to the motion of waves tossing you about, take the medicine. I don't know why Leonard and I could handle it. Just lucky? But the couple who arrived late? The man became ill the instant we left the harbor. He continued to be ill, in a very loud and dramatic manner, the entire trip. He made me wish for a revival of the old tradition of making people walk the plank.

And Captain Chuck could have done the job. I gave him due respect as the man in charge of the boat. He was a little scary, but also remarkably patient. He was used to dealing with wackadoodle tourists. Still, his boat, his rules.

The scenery was mind-blowing. The weather was great. And the fishing? Oh, my!

The first time I hooked a silver salmon on the open ocean, I felt that thrill. The fight. This was an entirely different style of fishing than trying to catch Colorado trout. Different hooks. Different bait. Without our fishing guides, we wouldn't have known where to go or what to do. Leonard and I caught our limit of salmon. Three each. 

Then I hooked a halibut. 

"Reel," Jake from State Farm yelled. "Keep reeling! Reel!"

The halibut was heavy. And on the ocean floor. I reeled. And reeled. Until I felt like my arm would fall off. Jake continued to yell at me that I could do it. I had to reel in my own fish. He refused to help.

​Muscles burning, I cranked on the reel. I caught my first glimpse of the large, flat fish struggling to get free. I continued reeling, until finally Jake used the gaff to pull it onto the deck. The halibut continued to flop around. Crack! Jake whacked it. The halibut was still.

I felt exhausted. Triumphant. A dream realized. Do I feel bad about killing the large fish? Not at all. The halibut, frozen at Jolly Wally's and brought all the way home to Colorado, has been delicious.

I had accomplished what we came for. And we had two more days of Alaska fishing.

The Alaska adventure inspired ideas for book three in the Tapestry Tales YA science fiction series, written with co-author Merida Bass under the pen name Ann Belice, coming in 2026. Books one and two are available now in e-book and paperback. Audiobooks are currently in production!
Broken Strands: book two
​​Frayed Dreams: book one

The third book in my Rose Creek Mystery series set in Oklahoma releases December 1st. You can catch up on books one and two:
The Body in the Cattails
The Body in the Cornfield