The first shot is of the F/V Jill and I, with a respectable 1100 tons set. Thanks for the info from Dave Mann. The second pic is of the Infinite Glory the next morning while it was still pumping out the world record breaking set. Here’s a sweet video of the F/V Infintie Glory with its mega set. There is some great info in the comments about the tender in the photo above. It seems that they aided in the rescue of the Midnight Sun.
In the spring of 2008, the Sitka Sac Roe Herring Fishery crushed all previous records . The biggest set turned out to be by the F/V Infinite Glory. At nearly 1500 tons, it was truly a million dollar set. Multiple tenders were topped off, in a three day marathon. The real key to the size of this set is that it wasn’t in deep water. If a set this large was in deep water, it would simply pull the boat over. The area that the Infinite Glory was fishing in was actually not accessible to all the boats. It was impossible for some of the larger rounded belly boats to get into these shallows. So, for the flat bottomed boats from Homer and Chignik it was a welcomed surprise. What a day it was…
It’s almost herring time again in Alaska. I doubt that we will see loads like 2008, but the quota is the biggest ever. Search my site for “Sitka” for all posts.
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I apologize in advance for being fussy, but the photo shown here isn’t Tom Stafford’s “Infinite Glory”. It is Gary Suydam’s “Jill-Anne-I”. While it is not the 1500 ton set Tom had, it comes in at a respectable 1100 tons or so. Not bad work if you can get it eh?
In addition to the previous post. The tender in the photo is the Sea Warrior. He was in the news the other day. Turns out he had his ears on and was plugged in. He heard the Midnight Sun’s mayday on an offside channel. Had he not been listening, and contacted the Coast Guard, it’s entirely possible the whole crew would have been lost off the Midnight Sun. Way to go Mike!
Hey Dave I was in the skiff with Gary that set and our tender was the Deception.