Shrimp for dinner, anyone?

. . . . and feel free to eat as many as you like. Prior to this past weekend's catch, I'd have to limit how many shrimp everyone was allowed to eat at a meal. With tonight's meal, shrimp won't be the snack or the appetizer, but the main course!

On the way out of Anchorage on Friday, we bought another shrimp pot that someone was selling on Craigslist. You're allowed to have 5 pots and so far we are up to two. Along with having another pot, we placed them in a different location in deeper water. Not only did we have more shrimp/pot, but we also had bigger shrimp. We must have done something right.

Here's how shrimping works. I have the easy job of manoevering the boat to the correct spot and in this day of GPS navigation it is a very easy job. Bryant stuffs the bait of cat food and left over herring from the halibut days into the container, closes up the shrimp pots and drops them down, both are attached to the same piece of line. When the pots hit the bottom of the ocean, the line slacks off and he attaches a buoy. We leave it there and set up anchor for the night. The next day, Bryant pulls on the 500 feet of line with two pots attached. Who says we need a shrimp pot puller that fits neatly in a downrigger system and effortlessly pulls the pots from the bottom of the ocean?

As Bryant sweats profusely, we all wait anxiously on deck to see what the pots holds. As soon as the pots are on the bow of the boat, we start twisting the heads off and saving the meat in zip lock bags. The shrimp move along and can wiggle their way free, so we have to be quick. The kids play with the small crabs that find their way into the pot, and they also manage a few oohs and aahs at the size and quantity of shrimp we were able to catch this go around. I see pictures and hear of people catching a lot more than us but I suspect with a little more experience, we'll figure it out. Once all the shrimp are out of the pots, Bryant rebaits the containers for a second soak, and we are off to find a new place to explore for our second night.

So far, we haven't sailed in Prince William Sound because wind is non-existent. There are a few localized breezes that blow into our anchorage, but nothing that will get us anywhere. We figure there is plenty of time to sail, and in some ways for a our "weekend warrior" expeditions where we don't have a lot of time the motoring option of a MacGregor is quite nice. For about 1 1/2 hours, we trolled for salmon. Bryant caught 2 and I caught 1. Saturday is our official fishing day. We decided that cleaning fish and blood off the boat on Sunday, while we are packing up to head home doesn't work out too well. While we were anchored up in the South Arm of Granite Bay Marine Park, Gus and I each caught rockfish, but we didn't bother keeping them. I also spent a little bit of time casting from the shoreline and caught some pink salmon. Again, I didn't bother keeping them, but I had a lot of fun reeling them in.

For more photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/jillcaho/PrinceWilliamSound8808