Slammin' Salmon!

Many of you know that we are not the biggest fans of salmon.  We enjoy it on occasion, but not as much as to dip net or fish incessantly for it.  Plus we are a bit of what you might call "fishing snobs."  We like to fly fish with dry flies and use finesse.  Fishing for salmon is not exactly like this.  

We keep hearing about the incredible numbers of sockeye salmon coming up the Kenai, and we finally had to go!  Maybe it's not as genteel to fish for salmon, but when they are thick, it is FUN!  We have some wonderful friends who have a place on the river who open it up to others as often as they can.  We called and they said to come up!  Then, not only did they let us use their gear, but Chuck basically kept our fish netted, handed a fresh ready rod to whomever needed it, and cheered us on!  

 The prep was rather quick.  Salmon fishing requires some flashy yarn on a big hook with a proper weight.  Chuck "hooked" us up and refreshed our "Kenai Flip" technique.  It was a beautiful evening!

 It took a little while, but once they hit, they HIT!  On one such occasion, a fish that was caught but not "bonked" flopped under the fish walk in an attempt to return to the river.  Pat was on it and scrambled down to pull it back into our grasp.  There really is not that much room under that thing!!

 In less than 2 hours we had all three caught our limit!  It was great!  My arms had quite a workout.  Those fish have a some strength, though some more than others!  We took a few pictures!!

 It was a big pile of fish!  Though, these are the moments I wish I'd done my hair and make-up.

It's been a fun week with fish.  On Monday evening, some new friends showed us their set-net site.  We've never been invited to this kind of thing, so I was especially goofy, taking pictures like a tourist.  I loved it!

 We took 4-wheelers down to the beach site and despite the winds, I was all excited!  I didn't even mind riding with Pat on one 4-wheeler.

 Before there was a road to the beach near their site, they used this to pull their catches up the steep bank. Pretty cool to this land-locked-born girl!  I did feel pretty glad that they knew the strength of J.D. Green!

 It wasn't long before it was time to pick nets!  We watched the tractors pull the nets in through a system of pulleys and the fish were flopping in the nets!

 We were told it's pretty simple, but we appreciate the simple things!  When the net comes in, they pick the nets clean of salmon, disregarding the random flounders.

 Just like harvest when I was little, this is a family affair!  All the cousins and family come together to help out!  We were thankful to get a glimpse into this family's summer excitement.