Fishing trip was tense ordeal for Yukon man

There were tense moments for Yukoner Ron Chambers and the crew after their boat hit a whale last week while fishing near Hoonah, Alaska.

There were tense moments for Yukoner Ron Chambers and the crew after their boat hit a whale last week while fishing near Hoonah, Alaska.

But after a rescue at sea, and a long, slow trip with a crippled seven-metre boat, the Get Reel, Chambers and his brother-in-law were charged and fined for breaching the state’s fishing regulations.

But the way the charges read and the way it came out in an Alaska newspaper, it sounded as though the Whitehorse resident and the crew were out on the ocean slaying the last of the world’s salmon stocks, he said.

Chambers was charged with having too many chinook salmon and “mutilating” fish.

A veteran angler of more than 20 years, Chambers caught two chinook and properly documented the time and location on his salmon catch card.

What he didn’t do is record the red snapper he caught. He didn’t think he had to, but was later charged while relaxing with a bowl of soup after a harrowing day keeping a leaking and damaged boat afloat.

As for the mutilation charge, Chambers had filleted the halibut he’d caught, packaged it and put it in baggies for storage in his cooler.

As it turns out, under the regulations, anglers either have to leave the halibut whole or quarter in such a fashion that wildlife officers can determine how many halibut have been caught. Hence, the mutilation charge, Chambers explained.

He said he didn’t do anything he hasn’t been doing for 20 years fishing in Alaska, or anything he hasn’t seen scores of others do.

“I broke the law, no doubt about it,” he said. “I was wrong; I’m not denying that. It is just the way it was written, it sounds like I was there with a gaff and followed up with a chainsaw.”

Chambers said he has the utmost respect for the wildlife he harvests. Whether it’s salmon or moose, he makes every effort to use every ounce of meat, he said.

He was fined and paid his $460 US penalty.

His 61-year-old brother-in-law, Ron Thiessen, was fined for not documenting his two salmon, even though Chambers had reminded him it is a requirement.

There were, however, other things on his mind.

Chambers, Thiessen and Chambers’ son, Neil, had caught their salmon late on Sunday, June 15 and were on their way back to Hoonah early the following Monday morning.

The sea was calm, and visibility was good.

As the boat pushed along at about 27 knots, or 48 kilometres an hour, a whale suddenly broke the surface - just slightly - about six metres ahead of the Get Reel.

“All I could do was throw it into neutral,” Chambers recalled.

The boat was catapulted into the air, and Chambers was thrown back against the cabin, wrenching his back.

The propellor leg on the 260-horsepower Mercury inboard was all but ripped from the stern, and the Get Reel began taking on water.

Chambers powered up the kicker to continue on and made sure the bilge pump was keeping ahead of the leak before going to lay down for about three hours, his wrenched back causing so much pain he could barely stand.

But when he awoke, he learned it had been quite awhile since the rear bilge pump had kicked in, and when he checked the forward bilge, he could see water and knew they were in trouble.

In hindsight, he said, he probably shouldn’t have laid down, but he needed to.

Chambers put out a distress call at about 10:30 a.m., and within minutes, several boaters in the area responded, including Marc Tremblay, another Whitehorse resident.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter in the area also came to their assistance, as did state wildlife troopers who were patrolling on the water nearby.

A tour boat, the Taz, loaned Chambers a wobble handpump, and they were able to keep ahead of the incoming water as they made their way to shore.

The Coast Guard chopper circled until the Get Reel reached the beach, with the rescue diver suited up and sitting on the side of the chopper ready to act if necessary.

Once the boaters were on the beach, the helicopter landed and a member of the Coast Guard crew with protective gear went into the water to check the damage.

It was extreme, and it was fortunate the leg wasn’t pulled off altogether because the boat would have sunk in just minutes, Chambers said.

He said after making the assessment, Coast Guard officers suggested the situation had warranted a full emergency mayday call at the time of the collision.

A search by the Coast Guard did not locate the whale.

“So hopefully, there was little damage done to the whale,” Chambers said. “I was really concerned about the whale. It really bothered me, and still bothers me.”

Chambers was told humpback whales like to sleep just below the surface, so they can easily come up for air.

He suspects the whale was surfacing from its sleep when the collision occurred.

Coast Guard officers repeatedly asked Chambers while on the beach if he wanted to be flown to Juneau for medical attention, though he insisted he would stay and assist with getting the Get Reel back to Hoonah.

“The Coast Guard was fantastic,” he said.

Only with an escort would the Coast Guard permit them to continue the trip back.

Leaving the beach at about 2 p.m. with the troopers escorting, the Get Reel reached Hoonah some seven hours later.

Chambers, his son and Thiessen worked the wobble handpump constantly for the entire journey back.

The pump has been returned to the Taz, and though the Get Reel is fitted with rear and forward bilge pumps, there’ll be two new wobble pumps onboard for the next trip.

Upon arrival at Hoonah, a local couple offered the services of a special trailer with hydraulic lifts to pull the boat out of the water. They then invited the three exhausted men to join them for a bowl of halibut soup.

It was after they had docked that the wildlife troopers asked to check the catch.

A little more than two hours later, as they were finishing up their soup, the troopers returned and said they had to charge them with violating fishing regulations.

Chambers said he’s not ashamed of anything he did, though again he freely acknowledges he was in breach of the fishing regulations.

“I will change my ways.”

In the last week while boning up on the regulations, for instance, he’s learned that ports in Alaska have different requirements for anglers catching king salmon.

He said some ports require the head kept on, while others don’t.

It’s been an educational experience for Chambers and his crew, and he hopes others will gain something from their story.