Dip Netting (July 19, 2011)

We took advantage of being Alaskan residents on Tuesday evening by becoming dip netters. Dip netting happens once a year during the red salmon run. This year it is open from July 10-31. In consists of wading in the water with a enormous net. The net sits on the bottom of the river and you simply hold it and wait for a salmon to swim into your net. We got there about an hour before high tide and were doing well. We caught 3 red salmon pretty quickly. However, once high tide hit, the fish slowed down. We are definitely planning on going again, next time a few hours before high tide. We talked with a coworker who dip netted earlier that morning from a boat. He said the fish were so thick that they were pulling 3 or 4 salmon in at once.

Jon is still busy with commercial fishing, which makes it challenging to find the time to sport fish for our own sustenance. When he finds time to come home he is very exhausted, cut up, and badly bruised. And of course, very stinky.

Midnight Salmon Fishing (July 17, 2011)

Quick correction from the last post. I spoke to Jon this morning and his commercial fishing crew caught 55,000 pounds of salmon on Saturday, not 45,000. That is a huge amount! He is out on the boats fishing again today and it sounds like the numbers are still high.

Late last night I went out to the Kenai River with a friend and colleague of ours, Ken, and went fishing for red salmon. The fish were biting! We each caught our limit of three. We filleted them right on the beach. I have officially caught and filleted my first Alaskan salmon! Ken also taught me how to package them without the expense of a vacuum sealer.

There is definitely a rhythm to salmon fishing. It involves a lot of movement in comparison to fishing on Minnesota lakes. In regards to which is more enjoyable, you really cannot compare the two because they are so different from one another.

Commercial Fishing (July 17, 2011)

The commercial fishing season for the Cook Inlet started this past Monday. Jon is fishing as a set net (beach) site. The first few days were slow, but on Saturday the red salmon started coming up towards the Kenai River in masses. Saturday morning they caught 25,000 pounds and Saturday evening they caught 20,000 pounds. This is the most they have caught in one day since the man who Jon is working for has owned this site. He worked from Saturday morning at 5:40 until Sunday morning at 8, with only a couple minutes break. In addition to catching red salmon in their nets, they have also caught king salmon, pink salmon (which are only suppose to run on even years), a couple sand sharks, a lingcod, a halibut, and many flounder.

Our weather has been back and forth. We have had some beautiful days, giving us some cloudless views of the mountain range across the inlet. We have also had some cloudly day that at times leaves us little to no view of the mountains. Earlier this week we were blessed with a gorgeous view of just Mount Redoubt peeking out between two layers of clouds.

And More Visitors: Fishing and Hiking (July 7, 2011)

On Thursday, Jon, Wade, and I went salmon fishing in the Kasilof River. We are still not catching anything, but we did see a harbor seal swimming upstream, so the fish are in there. On our way home from fishing, we spotted a caribou just off the side of the road. In the afternoon we all drove out to Skilak Lake Road where we took in two hikes, Burney's Trail and Bear Mountain. Burney's Trail was an easy hike to a view looking over Hidden Lake. Bear Mountain is a bit more steeper with a view looking over Skilak Lake.

Pictures from Halibut Cove (July 5, 2011)

And More Visitors: Homer and Halibut Cove (July 5, 2011)

On Tuesday the five of us went down to Homer and then across the bay to Halibut Cove. We spent some time on the spit and boat harbor during low tide. On the spit we found jelly fish, crab, and a fairly large sea star. On the posts in the harbor we spent some time looking and messing with barnacles. We would run our fingers past them and watch them shrink back. In the evening we took the boat called the "Danny J" over to Halibut Cove. While crossing Kachemak Bay we saw a harbor seal, a puffin, and a MINKE WHALE! Minke whales are the smallest baleen type whale. We saw it's fin a couple of time and then its tail as it made a dive down. The weather was beautiful for wandering the boardwalks and trails of Halibut Cove.

And More Visitors! (July 2-3, 2011)

We brought Joe and Danielle to the airport on Saturday to fly back to Minnesota and then picked Wade and Cheryl up from the airport. It's been great to have family up here. On Sunday we went down to Seward and once again hiked the Harding Icefield. It was an absolutely perfect day! Luke and Cheryl went on a wildlife boat cruise and saw a pod of orca whale that were actually bumping their boat. While they were taking it that amazing wildlife, we took Wade to the Sea Life Center. There we saw puffins, harbor seals, and stellar sea lions. We also got to touch anenome, urchins, cucumbers, and sea stars in their touch tank.

More Visitors: Homer (July 1, 2011)

We spent some time down in Homer on Friday, taking our visitors on the fermentation tour: brewery, winery, and meadery. We also walked the Homer Spit and ate lots of good food. We were fortunate to see a sandhill crane mother with two young.