by Kathleen Ganster

Around and around and around. My arm was killing me but I kept going, kept reeling in my fish. Even though my fishing experience was somewhat limited, I knew this was a big fish ­ at least by my standards. “You’re doing great,” J.J. Backer, the owner of the fishing boat and our fishing guide, assured me. I felt like a wimp but I wasn’t about to complain.

After all, I was the only woman on our little fishing adventure and the men gallantly let me catch the first fish. I couldn’t dare complain.
I was in Alaska, the Glacier Bay area to be specific, and we were out for the day on Backer’s 32 foot boat, Reel Time, trying our luck for the day. The weather was damp and cloudy but our spirits high as I reeled in our first fish of the day. Soon my catch came over the side of the boat and indeed it was my biggest fish ever ­ about a 30-pound halibut. “That’s big enough to keep and the little ones make nice eating,” said Backer. Little? It looked mighty big to me and I was proud. And even though my arm did indeed ache, I was able to catch another one a little while later that weighed about 22 pounds.

Halibut is a popular fish in Alaska and can actually be quite large. In fact, a little while after my catch, my significant other, Branson, caught one that Backer estimated to be close to 90 pounds. Backer told us that halibut under 100 pounds are best for eating because the larger ones tend to be older and tougher. It isn’t uncommon to catch halibut over two and three hundred pounds in Alaskan waters, although usually farther out than we were settled.

This white fish is a member of the flounder family. Like the flounder, it has both eyes on one side and is considered a flatfish, swimming on the ocean bottom. Accordingly, one side is dark brown with spots so that it blends into the ocean floor while the underside belly is very white. The halibut in Alaskan waters is the Pacific halibut.

My research says that halibut grow very slowly and it takes about five years to reach 20 inches, about the size of my fish. When halibut are caught, they are measured and then, according to the measurements, the weight is estimated. The male halibut can reach about four feet and 40 pounds but the female can be huge, growing up to eight feet and weighing more than 500 pounds. Yikes. At 120 pounds myself, I couldn’t imagine pulling one of those in.

While many tourists like to be photographed with the large halibuts ­ referred to as “barn doors” ­ there is a movement to throw the larger fish back in. Like Backer told us, the larger fish are actually tougher, and since they are older female fish, they are better left for breeding purposes.

The smaller fish are called “chickens" or “Ping-Pong paddles.” As a food writer, I was interested in the meat of the fish. The halibut is a mild flavored white fish that works well in all sorts of recipes. Since we had Branson’s filleted and flown home with us, we have plenty for many dishes--- baked, fried, smoked and grilled. Like many white fish, halibut is low in fat and high in protein ­ a benefit for health conscious fisherfolks.

And while the fish was delicious, truth be told, it was the thrill of catching my fish that was the most fun.

Writer Kathleen Ganster lives in Pennsylvania and plays around the world.
Her email is kganster@fyi.net

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