Eagle II skipper William A. Johnson brought in 25 halibut, the first fresh fish of the season for some happy customers.
Halibut was fetching $7 dollars a pound at the Dillingham harbor Tuesday afternoon.
Audio transcript:
Eagle II skipper William Johnson arrived in Dillingham with 25 halibut caught Monday just ahead of some rough weather.
“It was calm yesterday but now it’s blowing again, that’s why we came home.”
Crewman Mike Johnson was unloading the chilled halibut and weighing them for customers.
“We had 25 halibut in here, biggest one was 75 pounds, smallest was around 12 pounds.”
Sander Johnson was one of the first happy customers, with a 50-pound halibut in his truck bed.
“It’s always the first fresh fish of the season for me… Yes m’am.”
Johnson says he looks forward to this meal every year.
“The only way to eat halibut is deep fried and beer battered…. Go to N&N and get McCormac’s beer batter. Then you go to the liquor store, get a good Pilsner to mix with it. Old Bay is good in the batter too. -- What are you serving on the side? -- Coleslaw and homemade tartar sauce.”
On the commercial side, KDLG spoke with Togiak Seafoods Tuesday. Plant manager Jarek Hanak says he’s ready for halibut deliveries.
“We haven’t bought any halibut yet, but we are set up to buy halibut. We are ready to buy some. We’re making ice for our fishermen and some of our fishermen went to catch the bait, we helped them store the bait. We just waiting for our fishermen to go fishing.”
Hanak says he hopes fishermen will start delivering halibut this week.
Contact the author at hannah@kdlg.org.