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Author Topic: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was  (Read 6959 times)

Offline AL WORRELLS KID

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Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« on: January 29, 2020, 09:17:41 PM »
Remember when the Fleet numbered in the Hundreds and the town of Westport, WA never slept, with the Bars closing at 2 AM and the Restaurants open for Breakfast by 3:30 AM.
Salmon Charters Big Yellow Boats were then a colorful presence at Dockside.
My first Skipper, Del Fender on "Drifter Too" (Charter Boat fishing back in the 1960's), went on to take charge of Salmon Charters and his Son, Harold "Bud" Fender took over for Dad, after he retired.
 
What good times were had by all, thanks to these hard working Folks.
We traded a lot of Fresh caught Salmon for "Smoked", back in the day. :tup:
Doug

« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 01:26:33 PM by AL WORRELLS KID »
"If you can't laugh out loud you've already got one foot in the grave!!!!!" - Author Unknown, But... (Still Laughing)

Offline Camo

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2020, 10:47:23 PM »
Definitely the good old days.
Very cool, thanks for sharing.
Albacore, the better white meat.

Offline Bullkllr

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2020, 06:43:46 AM »
 :tup: Lot's of great memories from Westport. Still creating some as well.
The Sugarfoot; now there's an old one.
My brother ran a boat for 10 years or so. We spread his ashes down there.
I think the Comanche's still around. Phil Anderson's still, last I heard. I think he ran a few trips after retiring again.
A Man's Gotta Eat

Offline Sr15

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2020, 06:58:02 AM »
Wow talk about memories.  I was on the Top Hat a few times. The skipper, Bob Vaughn was friends with my dad and would come pheasant hunting on our farm in the basin every fall and we salmon fished with him. Sadly he passed away from a heart attack on our farm on one of those hunting trips he so dearly loved.

Offline 206

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2020, 08:02:44 AM »
Woke up this morning with the VH song, "Where have all the good times gone"  don-don-dont   don-don-dont. Still can't get it outta head.  Thanks 2many. grrrrrrr

Offline AL WORRELLS KID

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2020, 10:39:42 AM »
Great Job for a 9 Year Old Kid during the Summer, working as a Deckhand on the Charter Boats (if you didn't mind getting up and being on the Dock before 5 AM. Of course $5.00 for washing down the Boat afterward was a lot of money back then. (Oh, but you would get .25 taken off for every Fish Scale you missed on Deck!)   :'(
 Sometimes after limiting out on Salmon we would head over and clean up on Sea Bass (if there were not too many Customers still Seasick) and if you were good at Filleting, for .25 each you could make a little more on the way back in. :tup:
Doug
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 09:14:46 PM by AL WORRELLS KID »
"If you can't laugh out loud you've already got one foot in the grave!!!!!" - Author Unknown, But... (Still Laughing)

Offline 2MANY

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2020, 10:53:50 AM »
Being a past deckhand I will offer the following...........................

Bottom fishing trips sucked!!!!
Standing in the back of the boat filleting pokey fish the whole run back in was the worst.

The only good part was taking a couple of fillets to the burger joint where they would whip you up a killer batch of fish and chips. Then headed back to the rental dive duplex and partying the night away.

Where have all the good times gone?


Offline AL WORRELLS KID

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2020, 10:27:23 AM »
2MANY,
I hear ya, on those Marathon Filleting Sessions at the back of the boat. Always well attended by Flocks of Seagulls and the Onlookers just waiting for your knife to slip.  :'(
The first year I had so many cuts on my hands and they got infected with the "Creeping Fish Crud". Pretty scary when it started to spread up my arm.  :yike:
The Skipper told me to show the Pharmacist in town and he will give you some kind of "Horse Lineament" that will burn like crazy but will kill the stuff right off the bat. (As usual the Skipper knew what he was talking about.)
I learned a lot back then and grew up fast, thanks to him.  :tup:
Doug
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 09:26:46 PM by AL WORRELLS KID »
"If you can't laugh out loud you've already got one foot in the grave!!!!!" - Author Unknown, But... (Still Laughing)

Offline Alchase

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2020, 11:31:45 AM »
Cool picks!
We use to sit at the Olsen dock fish cleaning station in Sekiu, and wait for boats to come in. We would make $2 a fish to clean and filet. On a good day, I could pocket $100 easy. Not bad for a 12 year old kid!
Only 2 defining forces sacrificed themselves for you:
The American Soldier and Jesus Christ. One died for your freedom, the other for your soul.

My rock,
He trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.
Psalm 144.1

Offline AL WORRELLS KID

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2020, 01:34:21 PM »
:tup:
I think the Comanche's still around. Phil Anderson's still, last I heard. I think he ran a few trips after retiring again.
Last I heard "The Comanche's" running out of Ilwaco. :)
Doug
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 01:39:55 PM by AL WORRELLS KID »
"If you can't laugh out loud you've already got one foot in the grave!!!!!" - Author Unknown, But... (Still Laughing)

Offline Skillet

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2020, 01:51:12 PM »
Great video of a Westport in the above video.  Can anybody make out the name of the troller coming in over the bar? 

Also, the Sea Spree, shown at about 0:25-ish, is currently up in Ketchikan serving as a transport boat for a kayak guide company.  One of my fishing partners up here used to run it for them before he bought a troller. Pretty cool to see it in the video.
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Offline 2MANY

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2020, 02:02:56 PM »
Is a good video.

Man it was soooooo good for soooooo long out there.

Cue the tears.

Offline Katmai Guy

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2020, 05:14:24 PM »
Doug, 2many, yes, it was a wonderful time and place for kids to learn to work, grow up and fall in love with fishing, boats and the elements.  Deckhanded for my Grampa on the original Lucky Lid (40' wood hulled boat) and on his second boat of the same name (62' Blanchard design glass hull) in the early 70's. Loved it, saw lots of fish and lots of big fish come in..we will never see the daily derby regularly won by 50lb kings or the season long derby won by a 70-80lb fish ever again.  Dumped my gpas ashes crossing the bar years ago and I still have to go fish with him each season.
"Keep shootin, when there's lead in the air, there's hope"

Offline Backstrap

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2020, 07:18:07 PM »
Wow talk about memories.  I was on the Top Hat a few times. The skipper, Bob Vaughn was friends with my dad and would come pheasant hunting on our farm in the basin every fall and we salmon fished with him. Sadly he passed away from a heart attack on our farm on one of those hunting trips he so dearly loved.

With all due respect, sign me up for that program....
Step once, look twice...

Offline AL WORRELLS KID

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Re: Salmon Heyday's.....The Way It Was
« Reply #14 on: January 31, 2020, 08:47:20 PM »
Great video of a Westport in the above video.  Can anybody make out the name of the troller coming in over the bar? 

Skillet, Looks to me like we might be watching the Troller "DEVOTION" crossing the bar.  :tup:
Doug
"If you can't laugh out loud you've already got one foot in the grave!!!!!" - Author Unknown, But... (Still Laughing)

 


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