You know you are a lowliner when---
Salty
2009-06-19 18:40:57
Fellow trollers,
Carl Petersen started a conversation on the VHF the other day which morphed into a discussion of how you know when you are a lowliner. We both came up with some gems. I had not realized how many of the guys were eavesdropping until I got back into cell range and had several calls relating how much other guys enjoyed that discussion. Some had some ideas to contribute so I thought I would start a thread here.
You know you are a lowliner when:
The hoist operator asks you twice "Is that all??" after you have unloaded your partial tote of fish.
After agonizing days over where to start on July 1 and you travel hours to get to the hot spot you look around opening morning and their is not another boat, bird, or whale in sight.
After you unload to the remote buying station with your 50 coho a day trip that you are pretty proud of and ask the buyer how your trip stacks up and he says; "They are doing better both a little north and south of where you are."
You call the plant manager and he can't remember which boat you have.
You find out all the highliners are getting a dime under the table and you have not been offered that incentive.
The guys unloading before and after you are getting meal tickets but you have been "overlooked".
You are more worried about the grading of your fish than you are about turning around quickly.
The gear store manager tries to sell you the hootchies that have been on the rack for decades.
Your "partners" have developed an "alternate" secret method of communication and "forgot" to clue you in about it.
Anyway I think it would be great if others wanted to contribute.
ericv
2009-06-19 21:32:40
This is great Salty, here's few that come to mind: (of course none of these have ever happened to me) ;)
Your accountant looks at your fuel bill and fish income and asks "Do you have any other means of income?"
The ice man from the sole place you do business remarks he knows you've been going out but hasn't seen you in awhile.
You can get 3 weeks of use out of a 1/2 ton of ice in the summer.
When the new, orange fishing gloves still smell new, and have no signs of wear after a 5 day trip.
Your spouse notes your post-trip laundry doesn't smell fishy but sure reeks of coffee and peanut butter.
You "borrow" your kids wagon to deliver your fish at the 11pm processors closing time instead of a daylight dock delivery.
When the next boat on the off load list gets called for an open hoist and says "Gee that was sure fast" as you leave.
You dig out the paint while on a desert drag and paint 70% of the boat while on autopilot.....and it dries to a fine cure.
The day selling handtroller in a beat up skiff has 3 dock carts of fish at the scale waiting for your 1 cart, 5 day load to be weighed.
When picking up your fish check the owner of the plant you've been doing business with for a decade says "Have we met before?"
When you find the Tide Tables from Brazil to Barrow and your Light List enjoyable reading.
The only kings you catch are undersize and caught in the tail as they tried to frantically flee your operation.
The sea otter you pass at an arms reach doesn't dive and has a distinct look of disgust on it's face.
When the only thing of size you see during the day is the humpback that plowed through 4 wires worth of gear leaving a crusty barnacle on hook that used to have a hoochie on it.
When you are relieved when you calculate that you have caught just enough fish to pay for the day's fuel.
The Bass-Pro-Greenhorn-Kansas-Grain-Farmer-Charter-Operator-Dock-Neighbor has more fish than you from a 4hr charter than your 4 day trip - Ouch! Then you know you're
yak2you2
2009-06-20 04:10:52
My all time favorite is being reminded by the buyer that the minumum requirement for a sale is; " one fish at least two pounds!"
you know your a lowliner when your bass and lingcod by-catch weigh more than the money fish!
You trade "secret hootchies" with the local highliner, then a week later you see the one you gave to him hanging from the rearview mirror in his truck.
You over hear a group of guys belly laughing down at the end of the bar as their talking about the idiot they were fishing near, and describing a boat that sounds alot like yours.
and you KNOW your a lowliner when you just can't seem to " mark" the fish everyone else is talking about over the radio on your Eagle depth finder.
Hotspott
2009-06-20 05:41:46
You know you’re a lowliner when:
A group of highliners runs towards you when you are fishing by yourself, sees you flip a nice one aboard, reads the name on your boat…and keeps going!!
Salty
2009-06-20 15:58:38
These are great guys. Thank you for sharing. Another one that came up is that you know you are a lowliner when the highliners are jockeying for position
gumpucky
2009-06-20 16:50:00
When at the grocery store you request paper instead of plastic so you'll have something to put over your head when you deliver..............Guess plastic would work too if it gets really bad.
yak2you2
2009-06-21 02:57:29
You know your a lowliner when, you get boarded by the fish cops while 2 miles over the line, with an extra line out, and get off with a written warning because they feel sorry for you!
You know your a lowlier when, the guy you sold your boat too is casually picking at the corner of the first letter of your vessel name with one hand while doing the final handshake with the other.
You can leave your bait on the hatch cover all night, and seagulls won't even eat it.
The ass is worn clear out of your rain pants!
John Murray
2009-06-21 03:27:04
Good one's Eric, Hi Yak good season up there.
yak2you2
2009-06-21 04:52:37
Hello John, I sent you a pm so as to keep the thread on track.
Salty
2009-06-21 17:31:30
You know you are a lowliner when your partner, who catches at a comparable rate to you; is on the spot where there was a big bite and didn't get poop, so you didn't get the word until too late.
You know you are a lowliner when your ex-troller friend who comes crewing with you politely asks if he can run his own hootchies and gear arrangement on "his" side and then proceeds to catch about triple on that side.
Salty
2009-06-29 04:17:16
You know you are a lowliner when you are more optimistic about finding a floater than getting a bite.
You know you are a lowliner when you are evaluating the quality of your strikes rather than the size of the fish on board.
You know you are a lowliner when two days before the July 1 opening you are tying chum and pink bugs instead of king hootchies.
ashadu
2009-09-25 22:07:02
you know you are a lowliner when the only way out of alaska is credit card miles.
your best day of chumming, the guy behind you pitches off 4 to your 1.
the only way people acknowdge you is when you mention your offspring.
squarehead
2009-09-27 22:05:24
your asking about the winter king prices before the summer season is over.
your buddy got more for his emergency transfer than you made on both king openings.
your 10% crew share includes three cases of of canned #2 cohos.
3 fathom hand marked line has so many splices it looks like 1.
carojae
2009-10-29 17:21:00
You know you are a lowliner when you pull up to the dock and ask where you can get some "hot spot flashers" and the answer directs you to the pharmacy for some menopause medication to help ease your "hot flashes". :oops:
Salty
2009-10-29 19:00:29
You know you are a lowliner when it has been so long since you updated your hot spot flashers that you can't find one without white spots all over the flashy stuff.
Journey
2009-11-09 19:25:03
your permit renewal fee is $37.50 instead of $75.
Salty
2009-12-12 01:48:26
You decide to add bowpoles because your floats don't catch
mydona
2009-12-16 16:09:42
your shoveling the snow from your driveway ...wondering what all your coding buddies are drinking in paradise
over 50yrs and still hanging sheet rock to supplement your trolling income
rushing out to buy the kids a new outboard for Christmas so your income taxes will balance out to 0 for the year
sparky
2009-12-20 03:07:03
You know your a lowliner when you go into the p bar with your 200 dollar check for the last 5 day trip and and you watch the lady sitting next to you win 500 bucks on 35 dollers worth of pulltabs.then ask if she might buy you a beer.
Salty
2010-02-05 20:24:51
You know you are a lowliner when the troll snaps you are using are phased out at the main gear store.
You know you are a lowliner when the guys at the coffee gathering know all your scores for the past week and they still aren't going out.
You know you are a lowliner when the food grade grease you use on your gurdies is only available in cases because the only people buying are the processors. How come I am the only troller using food grade grease on my gurdies. We have saltwater running around them all day and leaching grease onto the deck out the scuppers etc. Am I the only guy catching so few fish that I have time to worry about quality issues like whether the beautiful king salmon on my deck is being bathed in non-food grade grease running off my gurdies?
Katlian
2010-02-06 01:28:41
You get a letter from fish and game letting you know all the wire tagged fish you caught in 2009
The letter only has three fish listed
and they are all on the same day
from a hatchery opening
and zero from the summer.
Can anyone beat that with a lower number.
slr
kjwelder
2010-02-06 02:27:55
You have to start a welding busness to subsidise your fishing habit
Most of your clients for your welding busness are your fishing partners
your fishing partners can't afford to hire you
you end up trading welding labor for an old mini van with a transmission that sounds like a dry gurdiy
Carol W
2010-02-06 02:34:44
Welcome to the life KJwelder chuckling here.
Salty
2010-02-06 02:57:27
You win Katlian, As founder of this thread I hereby anoint you as an official 2009 "lowliner".
I just got my sheet and while not as full as I would like it, I once caught 33 fin clipped Chinook in one day, it does have more than three marked Chinook on it for 2009. I like looking at the range from where my fish come. I got one this year from the Elk River Hatchery in Oregon. I have been to that hatchery and talked with a fish culturist there about the program. Usually we don't get many South of the Santiam which I also got one from this year. Anyone got one South of the Elk? Or did anyone get one from a hatchery they have visited?
You know you are a lowliner when you don't have a car worth getting some welding done for.
Eric,
Slow down,... Before you crown Stephen with the coveted "Low Liner of the Year" award, remember that his deckhand
I think that disqualifies his ADF&G tag report don't you?... So the verdict is still out.
Jonathan
You know you're a lowliner when...
After preparing your 2009 taxes your accountant:
1.) Asks you why you didn't fish the entire troll season.
2.) Chuckles when you ask him if you owe any taxes.
3.) Says not to bother sending your crew a 1099.
4.) When he finds out that you
5.) ...
Salty
2010-02-08 15:36:39
Sven,
Good point about Katlian's deckhands. But, I didn't imagine there being only one "lowliner". I thought several of us might qualify. I don't think it is possible for you to ever qualify though. You have come a long ways.
[attachment=2]Sven 8x10.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]Sassy 2006.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]IMG_6648.JPG[/attachment]
Danny Boy
2010-02-09 00:52:03
Your fishing pal has spent the last 30 days in re-hab then comes out and you do not exist. Then goes out and sets 50 pots for a 350 pound haul and as usual your last to know.
Salty
2010-04-16 16:30:19
I am steadily embellishing my lowliner status this spring. I am up to five days of skunk in a row. While I have not been diligently fishing deep on the winter line or getting up in the dark, I have been putting in a good number of hours every day I got skunked.
So, you know you are a lowliner when you have strung together at least five days of skunk in April.
I have called the haulout yard to lift my boat so I can take a look at my zincs.
I have changed and diligently polished all my leads.
I have checked all the bonding connections above water.
I have taken the voltmeter out to the pit and checked line voltages to confirm the black box readings.
I have freshened up my salted herring.
I have carefully observed each flasher, spoon, and plug in the water at trolling speed to make sure they are performing.
I have replaced all my leaders, which looked fine but which have been in place since Oct. 11.
I have replace any hook that had any rust on it at all.
I have washed all my gloves.
I replaced the water in my spoon bucket.
I have began turning off all non-essential power on the boat.
I am contemplating prayer.
salmon4u
2010-04-17 04:52:35
Ok, good idea... I know feel guilty enough to find food grade grease... LOL : )
salmon4u
2010-04-17 05:15:21
banana peels make ok hootchies
you check the dumpster after the cruise ships leave.. never know what you'll find
eat fish for breakfast lunch and dinner
as for wire.. can you say?.. SPLICE BABY SPLICE
drift every night.. saves fuel running to town or the anchorage
get a big set of oars???
considering growing medical marijuana??? LOL
Salty
2010-04-18 18:14:34
When you haul out to replace your zincs after five days of skunk in a row and they are all in good shape.
Actually I had more growth of barnacles and mussels than ever. The guy at the yard said that was typical this year in Sitka for some reason. I cleaned up all the metal surfaces, scrubbed the slag off the zincs and hosed the scum off the hull. Hopefully I will get a bite next time I go fishing.
Salty
2010-05-08 14:21:03
You know you are a lowliner when all the guides and other sport fishermen have limited out and you are still trolling around with your sport pole trying to get one.
Salty
2010-05-08 14:21:49
You know you are a lowliner when you are accused of fishing "over the line" on a day you got skunked.
Salty
2010-05-08 14:23:11
You know you are a lowliner when you are painting, as I was this week, the nose clips for your herring in hopes it will improve your production.
Salty
2010-05-08 14:24:17
You know you are a lowliner when the processor calls you and asks for the contact information for three of your partners so he can meet privately with them while you are out of town.
Salty
2010-05-08 14:26:13
You know you are a lowliner when your chum retros are bigger than your end of April troll trips.
gumpucky
2010-05-09 15:11:20
Here here.
Salty
2010-10-06 18:01:11
You might be a lowliner when you find that you qualify for the low income fishing license.
Salty
2010-10-06 18:07:53
Someone mentioned to me that there should be another thread for some of the readers of this post who are hoghliners. So I am thinking of starting a thread. "You might be a highliner when.". What do you think? Or are all Trollers too humble? For me it is easy enough because I know if you troll long enough you likely will have both lowline and highline experiences.
fvsedna
2010-10-07 04:17:19
I like your Typ-o..."hogliner" better...That can be a more & fun creative thread......
Salty
2010-10-07 18:19:56
I actually noticed that typo before I hit submit but thought it might be entertaining.
So here is a submission, You might be a "hogliner" when you buy all the hot hootchie # on the west coast so no one else will have them.
Salty
2010-10-07 18:23:50
You might be a "hogliner" when you consistently tack west outside the fleet (and the line) in the winter fishery in Sitka Sound.
Salty
2010-10-07 18:27:46
You might be a highliner when you have helped sustain or improve the fishery by:
Think Linda Behnken leading the drive to prohibit groundfish trawling in the Federal waters east of 140 degrees.
Salty
2010-10-07 18:30:56
So, what do you think, start two new threads
1) you might be a "hogliner" when.....
2) you might be a "highliner" when....
shakers
2010-10-21 07:11:20
U dig spoons, leader and wire out of the trash can at the harbor.
All ur gaffs were found beachcombing or floating.
Salty
2012-02-04 21:39:22
"You know you are a lowliner when your feezer is full of Chinese filets from Albertson's."
Trnaround
2012-02-05 16:35:15
How about you might be a lowliner if
-your deck hand wants to jig for salmon when you anchor up at night
- and catches more than you caught all afternoon
- then wants to stay and jig the next morning.
Salty
2012-02-05 20:54:17
You might be a lowliner when some of your best days ever are in the Anchorages.
From Trollers Islands, to Gedney, to Malmsbury, in Simon's Bay, and watching sports fishermen catch in Kalinin Bay, to name a few, I have come to believe the best spots for me are in the Anchorages. Kind of screws the drag up when people quit early and anchor in it. Confirms my lowliner status.
It is kind of cool when everyone takes off to fight the ocean and you have to sleep in to let them clear the drag before you can go to work.
Jerry Beeson, a part time handtroller out of Juneau, taught me in the late 70's to leave a rod out with a slow rolling herring in the Gedney/Tebenkof area while anchored at night. Nothing like waking up to your reel singing and your first conscious sight is of a nice king clearing the water in the moonlight. Miss those handtroll days.
Trnaround
2012-02-06 15:46:14
Ya, you might be a lowliner if you go in for a mid day nap and can't sleep.
Or you stay late in the anchorage in the morning because you want to finish your book.
You finally get out of the anchorage first and then you realize the others are letting you have the first crack at the sea lions.
Salty
2012-10-11 18:30:32
You know you might be a lowliner when your bank account is empty on the 1st of October.
Salty
2012-10-27 16:02:37
You might be a lowliner when guys you don't know start dropping off their "hot gear" to help you out.
Salty
2012-10-27 16:03:20
You might be a lowliner when the local marine service providers ask you to pay in "advance".
Carol W
2012-10-31 03:34:13
You might be a low liner when you get a job in a cereal factory working 12 hours a day for less than $10.00/ hr less than a month after season is over, yep I am a lowliner. SHEEEESH
Salty
2012-10-31 04:03:42
Yeah, Tom, and if I believe that you have a bridge to sell me, right?
Salty
2012-10-31 04:04:36
You might be a lowliner when you believe known highliners might have done as bad or nearly as bad as you did.
Carol W
2012-10-31 04:19:04
Well actually Eric Aug And Sept were good to me but I still took that job and fully intend to push SPC to return more on ALL SALMON. Hey you might like to know trollers caught almost 160,000 SSRAA Coho this summer.
Salty
2012-10-31 04:24:22
Tom, I also had fun in September, but I can't say it was kind to us on the ocean off Kruzof.
[attachment=0]Morgan, September, 2012.jpg[/attachment]
Salty
2012-10-31 04:25:56
You might be a lowliner when you are tacking with it and two twenty something gals in a 32 footer are tacking into the wind to get another clatter.
Salty
2012-10-31 04:29:19
You might be a lowliner when your best coho day for the season was less than a hundred.
Abundance
2012-11-04 03:56:11
Hey Tom, you've got a job with a guaranteed income to work at this winter. That puts you up on the top of the heap. Ten dollars an hour on the winter troll drag would result in a gold rush type fervor amongst the fleet. Here's one: you might be a lowliner if you put as many travel miles on the boat in July as you did dollars in the bank.
khaos
2012-11-08 21:03:10
You might be a lowliner when..... your captain keeps speeding up to the floating rockfish being tossed overboard by the troller in front of you.
"Quick! Before the eagles get him!"
Salty
2013-01-18 19:34:01
I think it is time for some new additions to this thread. This actually happened to me last night. One of the editors of a fishing magazine who has published a couple of things I wrote sent this:
For each example, you'd have a short description ("Don't buy a boat from your brother-in-law"). And then a few sentences describing why it's a bad idea.
In many respects, fishing is like a small town. The best humor here should touch the writer. In other words, make fun of yourself first."
Here is part of my response: You know you are a lowliner when your editor friend, who prints all kinds of stories about great fishermen, how they hit em, how they changed the fishery etc. writes you and asks you to write a story on things not to do, how to miss the bite. Then I contrasted his request with another request I got from a different fishing magazine editor a few years ago.
I was working on humility this month, little did I know it would arrive in one e-mail request.
FV_Wild_Card
2013-01-25 20:15:02
... when they send down the small traco without even asking what you got.
Salty
2013-01-26 03:05:12
And don't return it....
Salty
2013-01-26 20:15:18
You know you are a lowliner when you have fished over 60 years in SE Alaska and you don't have any IFQ's.
Salty
2013-01-26 20:16:10
You know you are a lowliner when the salmon permit you bought in 1981 is worth the same today as it was when you bought it.
Trnaround
2013-01-31 06:14:16
You know you're a lowliner when you can't wait to get back to town to have a Macdonald's McFish sandwich.
Once and Future
2013-03-15 13:41:31
You know you're a lowliner when you're filling out the mitigation payment forms; and you wonder if releasing your catch data to the DCCED will make the miserably low totals you will be confessing to (in writing) available on the internet for anyone who cares to do a search.
If they would give me an extra ten bucks, I am also willing to post a current mug shot of myself on the official web page holding a sign which reads: "Accused of being a commercial troller. Released due to insufficient evidence."
Abundance
2013-03-15 16:34:47
Sounds familiar. I was just marveling with my Dad just how pathetic our catches were on the mitigation forms. It sure is embarrassing. There is not going to be much of a bonus for me, that's for sure.
Salty
2013-03-15 22:39:37
You know you are a lowliner when you think the mitigation money will make up your loss of 15% of the Chinook at the treaty negotiations.
Kelper
2013-03-15 23:52:21
You know you are a lowliner when you look at your mitigation form and think "whew, good thing I landed that king." :-)
Salty
2013-03-16 00:31:00
You really know you are a lowliner when you fished chums those years and didn't land a king.
gumpucky
2013-03-17 15:36:27
So true.
Salty
2013-04-06 18:17:34
You know you are a lowliner when you are referred to a processor who used to buy fish in your town and he can't remember you or your vessel.
Salty
2013-04-06 18:22:36
You might be a lowliner when you pay insurance to fish year around but have not caught a fish in 6 months.
Salty
2013-04-06 18:24:36
You might be a lowline troller when your financial advisor recommends buying a net like three of your ex- partners.
Salty
2013-04-23 06:47:14
You know you are a lowliner when $.75 per pound difference isn't worth waiting in line for.
whojigger
2013-04-24 01:44:09
You might be a low liner if you don't care about the mitigation adjustment because you were too busy fixing up your boat to fish.
afteryou
2013-04-24 20:38:06
You know you are a lowliner when it's the end of April and you still have time to @#$% around on the internet ..:D..
Back to work! Ha Ha.
Salty
2013-05-11 17:27:35
You might be a lowliner when you skip the fisherman's gear sale market because even though you have lots of good gear to sell you can't imagine that any troller has any money this spring, and you know you always spend more than you make at this event so you will be better off avoiding it.
fanshawfan
2013-06-02 22:34:04
..... You catch your first fish at 8 in the morning, your second fish at 11 in the morning, then at 4 in the afternoon you say to yourself, "Well, I guess the bite must be over!"
mydona
2013-06-03 13:41:00
.. at the end of the day you wish you'd saved the bait for dinner.
... at the end of the day you'd saved one beer for a beer batter for the herring
Salty
2013-06-29 16:31:06
You know you are a lowliner when two times in two weeks the biggest day in a fishery is the day after you left.
Founder, Lowliners Anonymous.
Salty
2013-06-29 16:32:18
You know you are a lowliner when your friends text you to stay away so you don't kill the bite.
Salty
2013-06-29 16:33:51
You know you are a lowliner when the tenderman repeatedly asks you if you have more bags of fish, and then only offers you half the ice the guy on the other side just loaded into his holds.
Abundance
2013-06-30 01:56:35
You know your a lowliner when two times in two weeks the biggest days in the fishery happen, and you spend those days wondering why the radios went silent and what is up with those tenders running back to town when they just got there?
Salty
2013-08-01 17:36:55
You know you are a lowliner when it is the first of August and your biggest coho score is less than a hundred during the biggest coho year in SE Alaska in history.
carojae
2013-08-02 17:51:42
You know you're a lowliner when the buyer hands over 1 cookie for you and your deckhand haha.
Salty
2013-08-04 22:40:57
Some people get cookies when they unload?
k.bates
2013-08-06 03:58:56
You tell your wife at the end of the day that you can't deliver only "one chum" to the tender.
Salty
2013-08-11 04:47:17
You know you are a lowliner when you are invited to a "select group" and there is a guy from Kupreanof in the group.
Salty
2013-08-12 05:34:23
I have lived in Kupreanof
Salty
2013-09-25 01:16:13
You know you are a lowliner when you can't figure out the CFEC quartile reports.
Salty
2013-10-11 04:27:44
You know you are a lowliner when it is the night before a king opening and no one has asked you for a job.
Salty
2013-10-14 05:28:05
You might be a lowliner when you tell the hoist operator your king score "about 12" and he thinks you are talking avg weight instead of number of fish.
joeman79
2013-10-14 18:55:33
This happened to us this summer during King Season. Our Number was 16 and we were fishing in the same Bay as Salty! So we qualify and Capt is from Kupreanof even though it say Craig on the stern.
You KNOW you are a lowliner when the only fish you were able to keep from your first day of the 2013 Winter King season was a 10" herring you snagged on a Superior 7 spoon. Oh well, at least our cat appreciated the change in his diet.
Dogwhisper
2013-10-16 08:33:55
You know your a lowliner when your the only boat that can't catch so you make a big deal about your boats electrolyis problem to the entire fleet.
You know your a lowliner WHEN:
You have to lie about your numbers.
You still use colmen coolers.
You gotta gear check the bigger boats.
You think you need a power troll permit to catch.
You have to buy a black box.
You use blued hooks.
You ask what brailer bags are for?
You still can't seem to fill up your coolers w fish.
You go 3 knots an throw coho gear out for chums.
You have a different deck hand for every fishery.
The tender ask's "is that it guys"
fveureka
2013-10-17 03:14:21
the iceman slings down 2 five gallon buckets, 1 for re-ice and the other for your fish.
Salty
2013-10-17 03:59:39
Great posts. I think I have experienced nearly every one mentioned in the last two posts.
Most recently:
You know you are a lowliner when the "ice man" asks twice if all you want is ice in one brailer bag.
Dogwhisper
2013-10-17 06:26:42
You know your a lowliner when you really get in em good and you are proud that your catch of the day is 2 fish!
Dogwhisper
2013-10-17 06:33:31
You know your a lowliner when you can't catch enough fish to pay your fuel bill an peanut butter an pilot bread is the only thing on the menu!!!
Salty
2013-10-19 22:13:31
The last post reminds me of the times my dad struggled with whether to buy fuel or groceries. So, you might be a lowliner when you repeat the financial struggles of your troller parents.
Trnaround
2013-10-21 19:29:06
You might be a lowliner if your brailer bag is a 3mil "Hefty Garbage Sack" and you are yet to fill one up.
Salty
2013-10-30 04:54:31
You might be a lowliner when you are still trying to make a season in November.
Salty
2013-10-30 04:55:29
You might be a lowliner when you pounds of black bass and other rockfish exceed your pounds of salmon.
Salty
2013-10-30 21:47:19
You might be a lowliner when your biggest king salmon of the last month is less than 22 pounds.
akfish
2013-10-31 01:23:37
You might be a lowliner when you wish your biggest was 22lbs
Salty
2013-11-05 00:54:59
You might be a lowliner when you offer a struggling processor the opportunity to pay you after the first of the year and he basically replies that it is "not enough to make a difference".
Trnaround
2013-11-05 15:19:40
You might be a lowliner if you proudly deliver a load of Coho and they ask "why did you clean all of those Chums"?
Salty
2014-01-04 03:00:11
You might be a low liner when: your last trip of one year and the first one of the next year are both skunks.
Salty
2014-05-02 02:11:53
You might be a lowliner when your processor asks you if you are selling part of your loads elsewhere when you have been selling him all your fish.
Once and Future
2014-05-02 03:19:43
Hey Salty - did you notice the number of "views" on this thread? Over 17,000!!! Unbelievable! Congratulations on starting what must be the most popular thread on the site!
Salty
2014-05-02 17:11:44
No, thanks. Credit goes to Carl Peterson who helped launch this idea and all the creative posters.
What do you think of the other side of the coin: "You might actually be a highliner when....?
Salty
2014-05-09 14:50:46
Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, or sense that can either imply a congenital lack of capacity for reasoning, or a temporary state of daze or slow-mindedness. Author James F. Welles defines the term stupidity as “designating a mentality which is considered to be informed, deliberate and maladaptive to act in their own worst interest by choice, specifically to prevent adaption to new data or existing circumstances.” The height of stupidity is carefully observing actions that are proven failures and repeating them knowing full well the results will produce the same outcomes.
You might be a lowliner when the above describes your fishing behavior. Correctly describes my spring fishing the last few years. Particularly the "state of daze".
Salty
2014-05-20 05:36:57
It is time for me to confess. I am not really a low liner. After my recent string of production my status is now a "noliner". To achieve this status you have to be skunked in a middle of a bite where your "acquaintances (former friends) are getting dozens of kings.
Salty
2014-05-27 04:48:52
You know you are a low liner when the voltage guru checks your boat out and advises you that "there is no obvious reason why you aren't catching."
Salty
2014-06-12 05:47:48
You might be a low liner if you are in Icy Straits trying to catch chums this week.
Salty
2014-06-12 05:48:49
You might be a Lowliner if you have not anchored since May.
Salty
2014-07-19 23:38:33
You might be a Lowliner when your hand troll friend highliners you in a coho bite.
Lazy I
2014-07-22 23:23:21
You might be a lowliner when you dont acutually know what a lowliner is...You mean other people acually catch tons of fish?
fveureka
2014-07-25 03:13:50
I am probably a lowliner since 3 drunks in a skiff turned in more coho's in the golden north salmon derby than I caught all fall....ha.
Salty
2014-08-02 05:35:10
You know you are a Lowliner when you wait 7 hours for an unloading hoist because it takes an average of over two hours a boat and you are into the hoist, unloaded, untied, and pulled out in 6 min 39 seconds.
Lazy I
2014-08-02 15:21:35
Salty,
or the sport guys take longer to get thier fish out than you do...
Salty
2014-08-04 22:28:50
Lazy t. Good one. I know they catch more on some days.
Salty
2014-08-11 00:59:18
You might be a Lowliner when you are still in the hole at the August closure.
Once and Future
2014-08-11 03:08:25
Pull up Salty, you're flying too low! Time to find something positive to post. Any little thing.
Salty
2014-08-13 01:59:25
The chum trolling is so poor I went clamming today. Believe it or not I shook more kings than I caught chums yesterday. An unprecedented and amazing testament to both the weakness of this years chum run and the super abundance of Chinook here this year.
The eel grass had wiped out being able to see the cockle signs so the clamming was also at my current lowliner level.
But, on the positive note you requested, I was accompanied by Iris, the wonder dog, who is my new best friend this year, my bride of over 40 years, and our friend Anne. They were all enthusiastic clammers and the four of us had a great time.
Also, after days of rain (over 5 inches this weekend) the sun has come out and it is a beautiful evening. A longtime troller friend has agreed to come up for a drink and story sharing. Even us lowliners can find the sliver lining:)
Once and Future
2014-08-14 01:39:17
Glad to hear it.
Sometimes the only problem is we're worrying too much and trying too hard.
Help yourself to a shrug and a smile.
You know you can do this.
Think of all those noble king salmon who chose to yield themselves up to your talents in the past.
That is why we love trophy animals so much. They are proof that in one shining moment, at least, we did something right.
Salty
2014-08-17 07:17:46
You know you are a Lowliner when you run the gear after a collision and it is your best pull of the week.
Salty
2014-08-24 06:02:29
You know you are a Lowliner when your crew takes an evening cat sitting job to supplement the crew share.
Salty
2014-08-25 05:18:47
You know you are a Lowliner when the fishing is slower than a salted slug going uphill.
entropy1
2014-08-30 16:00:27
Salty: The Rodney Dangerfield of trolling.
Salty
2014-08-30 18:59:23
LOL entropy.
There’s power in looking silly and not caring that you do. Amy Poehler
Entropy1, I take my work, salmon trolling, very seriously. I do not take myself so seriously.
Hans2
2014-09-28 22:22:08
As a first year fisherman reflecting on my season and knowing that I can't quite yet tell the boss at the regular job to shove it, I feel uniquely qualified to contribute to this thread.
This happened to me. Several times (by a damn good fisherman, tho):
I have found my own reliable determiner of lowliner status -
You know you're a lowliner when you drag near a sea lion haulout and they lift their sleepy heads to see what's for breakfast - and quickly decide to resume their nap until a better prospect swings by.
akfish1
2014-09-29 04:00:59
Good one Hans
Robot
2014-11-13 04:23:39
I saw the original post when I first signed up to this forum and had a great time reading it! A lot of these make more sense now that I have actually fished a season... here's one I came up with on a slow Coho bite down by duke island (maybe that's another determiner..)
You know you're a lowliner when: You think it's efficient that, after your last 'big haul', you don't have to re-ice because there is enough left over for another 4 day trip.
Salty
2014-11-13 12:30:48
Good one robot.
You know you are a Lowliner when you are still trying to make expenses.........in November.......in the biggest Alaska troll season ever.
thediverdude
2014-11-14 07:13:40
You know your a low liner when your tax preparer says not to worry, you don't have to show a profit because you make enough money at your other job (no joke, he really did!)
Salty
2014-11-15 05:27:38
I wish there were likes to press on this site.
Salty
2014-11-17 06:14:30
You know you are a Lowliner when you dip into your retirement fund to afford fish expo.
entropy1
2014-11-17 07:18:36
---when fish expo is just a flyer that comes in the mail. What's this retirement fund thing?
Salty
2014-11-27 19:01:20
AN inheritance left by an aunt who married a successful author/professor entropy. You didn't actually think this Lowliner made enough trolling to build a retirement fund did you? LOL. Happy thanksgiving, I will chuckle all day.
Salty
2014-11-27 19:06:24
When you go to 3 days of fish expo and all you buy is $10 worth of cleaner for your wife to clean the sinks after putting up the pollock by catch for winter sustenance. (True story this year). Well, maybe pollock, or similar.
Hans2
2014-12-03 22:31:24
You know you're a lowliner when Joel doesn't even try to make you buy raffle tickets at the ATA meeting at Pacific Marine Expo.
Salty
2014-12-03 23:07:36
I have bought two books from ATA Board members plus one from Joel. Supporting ATA is the best deal for us lowliners.
Hans2
2014-12-04 06:52:57
I think having expendable income for raffle tickets, no matter how justified, would be a highliner topic.
Salty
2014-12-05 03:15:58
Part of the expenses. But you do have a point, most highliners invest in their organizations.
Hans2
2014-12-06 04:46:03
Touche...
As a first-year guy with likely the lowest king score for 2014 of any member on this board, I consider my initial ATA membership fees a strain as it is - but will proudly write that check. Next year, perhaps I have fewer mechanical issues and land on the fishing grounds in time to fish the king opener instead of the day it closes like I did this year. That would help me end up with enough money at the end of the season to donate to the cause that I depend on for a fishing future. I also hope those who can remember their first season and the risks they took to get there - and through it - can appreciate how every dollar counted towards better being ready for their second year.
You know you're a lowliner when you feel the need to defend your decision to not buy raffle tickets by explaining you're not a tongue-in-cheek lowliner, but an actual flesh and blood example.
Salty
2014-12-06 06:53:33
Great one Hans. Been there.
Salty
2014-12-13 16:33:16
I was at a fisherman's party last night and another fisherman suggested that in the troll community there needed to be a "high whiner" award.
elhewman
2014-12-29 07:14:03
You don't have a boat yet.
Salty
2014-12-29 16:27:16
Ether an,
No boat = no liner.
mydona
2015-01-02 17:45:27
When you didn't fish your boat and permit last year and feel like you came out money ahead... but your heart is telling you can't miss next year
Salty
2015-01-03 08:15:45
My doña,
You didn't suffer with us last year?
Salty
2015-02-09 04:51:31
You know you are a Lowliner when your son gives the high quality volt meter to his trolling buddies who might benefit from it. You don't get one.
Salty
2015-02-09 04:53:38
You might be a Lowliner when MR is on your speed dial, you have Aluminum anodes, and you still don't catch.
Salty
2015-02-09 05:04:58
You might be a Lowliner if you didn't submit comments on Alaska Board of Fish proposals. (This is one I don't qualify for. Mine are in.)
Salty
2015-03-01 16:55:39
You might be a Lowliner when you are a "Chumtroller".
Salty
2015-03-01 16:57:10
You might be a Lowliner when your hand troll friend fishing rods caught 100 more kings than you last week.
gumpucky
2015-03-01 18:13:43
You know your a lowliner when you sit and watch the quota dwindle to 0 and don't head back to the boat.
Salty
2015-03-02 23:02:43
Not going so fast this week Howard.
Salty
2015-03-23 03:21:46
You know you are a low liner when everyone, but one, that used to be on the winter drag with you has made enough and retired while you can't afford to retire.
dellori3
2015-04-08 23:59:42
You know you’re a low liner when not one sea lion out of a pack refuses to fallow your boat! Or your buddy floats you a big black bag full of gear with a gear diagram and a note saying “Do not deviate!
dellori3 errr thanks Bob