The lessons I learned

[latitudes]

I figured I start this thread to help myself remember lessons learned, and to maybe make a "list" to pass along to other new bees if you end up with one on your boat. I had a great teacher/captain to learn from, and I know that this list is the very tip of the iceberg.
1. Never drop the float bag. Ever.
2. The clips all go the same way, and the correct way is the way the captain wants them.
3. When gaffing/bonking a fish, look 'em in the eye.
4. Man cannot live on Diet Coke and Redman alone, but they sure help pass time in the pit.
5. Keep an eye on your hands, they are your life.
6. The sound of seagulls following the boat is a happy one.
7. Always put your bibs on before entering the pit.
8. Nothing beats a dry pair of gloves.

I'm sure there's a lot more everyone can add. Hopefully this thread will help out other rookies as they get started.

Joe

[Salty]

1. Do not drop the gaff.
2. If you do drop the gaff and the skipper orders you to throw something over to help spot the area, do not throw over another gaff.
3. Make sure you understand the depth to put the tag or bag on. Make sure you have counted the marks right to that depth.
4. Measure three times to make sure that king is long enough.
5. Should be one. Do not ever fall asleep at the wheel. Set the watch alarm every time you are on watch.
6. Make the deck and working area on your boat the cleanest in the fleet. Get familiar with brushes, water, soap, etc. and use them, particularly on the way in to unload.
7. Enjoy yourself, an attitude of joy and gratitude the most important things you add to this boat.

[kjwelder]

When the captain says go get some sleep. You hit the rack immediately.

[FV_Wild_Card]

1. Do not even attempt to joke with the State Trooper from Petersburg.

[Salty]

Do not develop your own coding group independent of the skipper's group. In modern terms that means do not be texting your production to other boats or crew, or anyone for that matter.

[Jon]

1. Do not even attempt to joke with the State Trooper from Petersburg.

I'd like to hear more about this

[Abundance]

The trooper from Petersberg has a very nasty reputation amongst the Wrangell fleet. I've heard some downright scary stories about him going into rages about even minor, even still legal, things. I know a guy who got snarled at by him when reporting something to the office, and wasn't even bad news. Dude's got some problems.

[akfisher1978]

I also had a run in wih a trooper from Petersburg. I wont say his name but initials are CL. What a you know what! He tried to give me a misdemeanor for nothing! I felt great when the judge in court made him look a like a loser on court and dropped the case and said it was a waste of time!

[lassie]

I bought my first boat this last year and had a great time! Some of the lessons learned?

1. Just because the previous owner of your boat was doing something (and they were an experienced fisherman who should know... right?) doesn't mean what they were doing was working very well. So....

2. As has been repeatedly pointed out in all the trolling I've done on this forum, there are lots of ways to accomplish the same thing with a reasonable modicum of success.... just stay within the lines - as long as.....

3. The lines you're staying in don't run East to West or vice a versa while not only trying to keep your cannonballs basically scraping the sandy bottom with hopes of hooking the big one you have no reason to believe is there, (but you hope for anyways) but also trolling in the middle of a crab-pot strewn mine-field just off the Oregon coast because...

4. When you spent the bulk of your resources just getting your boat ready to go fishing (so are broke).... you don't want to have to spend the remainder of it buying new cannonballs. Especially not more than one a day, and extraspecially not accompanied by new wire, because.....

5. You can eat neither lead, wire, nor the fish you've yet to catch which you haven't caught because...

6. As a newb, you can head out and try to honorably find your own fish with all the skill and knowledge you're acquiring by making mistakes and not catching any fish, or you can actually find and catch them by following those in the know, which is not only acceptable, but expected.

7. I'm not sure about this next one, but fishing in anything seemingly over - oh... let's say 60 fathoms - is pretty hard to do with a good lump, bad current, lots of wind, and too little weight (which you're using because you lost all the big ones that came with your boat fishing them not only on the beach in the pots.... but West to East.

8. Don't worry about running more than 2 lines per side. It'll be plenty to start.

9. King Salmon are not Tuna.

10. If you're as green as me, and have the bug bad enough, 2 keepers in 7 days can be not only acceptable, but a thrilling victory foretelling the potential culmination of hopes and dreams you've had for a long time.

[Jon]

Great post lassie. Sounds like you've been paying attention to your surroundings and have learned a lot.

[Salty]

Great post Lassie. It is not "expected" or "acceptable" that you will follow those in the "know", but it is "understood and tolerated" by most. Some of us "expect" new guys to bring creative ideas and new technology into the fisheries so us old timers can learn.
It amazes me how often the young guys I visit with, who mostly know relatively little, have a pile of fish at the end of the day and I have a lot of "wisdom and experience" but not many fish.

One of the things I learned is that "some" trollers really do not like company, in fact, can be downright unsociable on the drag.

And then there are the drag police, who must be minded at all times.

[lassie]

Thank you for your kind words. I'm speaking in generalities about these things, and there are definately some super skilled trollers here (Charleston, Oregon) who're pretty secretive and neither invite nor would be friendly about being tailed. I've seen some of them quite upset about others discovering their gear choices as well. However, I'm happy to say that here, they're the vast minority. When we purchased the boat, I was actually worried the locals would all be that way. I was so wrong! I've had so many people take real, substantial time to teach, talk, demonstrate and give of skill, experience, material... and friendship. I've learned more than I thought I'd ever need or perhaps even desire to, about so many things without and within this thing called trolling. I've mentioned this foreboding and the lack of its realization to these same men, and have received a few different answers. One thing universally agreed upon, is that there used to be a lot more money involved in the salmon troll fishery here, so the competition and resulting rewards and disapointments which came with success or failure were great enough to make information and cooperation a much harder thing to acquire for everybody - especially a new guy. A lot of the sharing that's been done with me is admittedly by some of the older guys who admit that back in the day, they weren't so open either. Which brings me to something else they talk about, which is acknowledgment of an industry which looks very different than it used to, and whose future is uncertain (albeit seemingly improving.) They've talked a bit about the lack of conscientious individuals entering the field and for the need of those who learn about, care for and nurture the resources - to replace those only concerned with taking. Some even admit to back in the day, themselves being more takers than fosterers. Though I suspect that increasing knowledge of our quarry is responsible for, and demands such changes. Besides all that, I still do want to learn to fish. There are so many pieces to this puzzle! So many how's and why's. How do genetics, cattle, rearing grounds, disease, lunar cycles, temperature, depth, chlorophyll, bait, salinity, current, O2 levels and so many other things, influence the life of a salmon? And... POLITICS!!! It seems patently obvious that bureaucracy is in the way of significant improvement for all parties involved - except the bureaucracy that is. I've been thinking about and wondering what a future in trolling would look like for quite a while. I'm so happy to have begun the journey.

[Jackson Combs]

When I crabbed out of Charleston I found most of the guys to be real nice and helpful. I'll assume you bought the F/V Lassie that was in the Giddings shipyard? I have an old picture of it from a couple years ago when it was on the hard. Great to hear it's fishing again. (If it is your boat)

[lassie]

The very same.

[Journey]

Most things are learned quickly, but it's helpful to have a few skills before you crew on a boat. How about practicing some knots, like a bowline and a clove hitch? Can you sharpen a knife? How about cooking?

Can anyone else think of some lessons that are handy to know before you get to the boat?

[fveureka]

The best post that I have read was at SPC years ago, "Wanted New Deckhand" must know the differnce between fathoms and feet. I will teach the rest!

[Trnaround]

-Don't approach the dock any faster than you want to hit it.
-Make sure you are in REVERSE when trying to stop your forward momentum.
-Listen to your boat. Listen to your skipper. Listen to your significant other. Listen to your body. Listen to your God.
-Don't listen to negative talk on the vhf
-stay positive and catch a boatload of fish.

[Salty]

Trnaround,
Good post. Then there was the time I pulled up to the pilings at the ice shute at SSS here in Sitka with my wife on the bow with the line. For some reason she had a hard time getting the line around and I didn't have the right angle to keep the bow on the piling and somehow she ended up with arms around the piling and the boat drifting away.
Next thing I know she has dropped the line and is totally wrapped around the piling. Fortunately there was a little catwalk right up to the piling and I advised her to slide down to it and wait till I got turned around and came back.
There was some "loud" communication involved on both sides.
I came back and got her and we got tied up. It was lunch time on a sunny day and the SSS crew was on the railing enjoying the sun and the show. They gave us a hand when Sarah climbed back on the boat.

The lesson learned: Don't leave your wife hanging on a piling.

[mydona]

A show worth buying a ticket to.
Check to see if reverse is working before you get closer than the safe turn away radius. Also have 1 extra bumper not tied to the rail and ready to toss between boats for the "ramming speed" miss judgments (wind or tide). Not so much to protect your boat but more for the guy your trying to tie to. A foot or a fore arm trying to stop a hard bump just isn't enough. I've had to tie in a spot that's 37' in my 36'er and add a spring line to the other's after.

[entropy1]

While working as a crab deckhand: Real men don't pull blanks, someone picked our gear.

On my own boat: It's quicker to kill the main then to try and figure out why the Micro Commander controls went full speed ahead on their own while in the harbor.

Dinner at the cannery mess hall isn't just dinner, it's war (the only retro we're gonna get)

While unloading brailers of gillnet fish: If they have to ask, they were reds.