Fishing in Alaska

I managed to catch one red salmon this past weekend when we went camping in Soldotna. The first night, I fished for 6 hours and caught nothing but a hand cramp, but I still enjoyed every minute I spent on the water. Sunday, I faired much better, and even landed one my first cast out.

Depending on who you ask, everyone has their favorite fishing spot, honey spot, or their own secret spot where they believe the fishing is best. Much like favorite berry spots for berry pickers, fishermen are very secretive about their fishing spots. I have a friend, Carol, at work that guards her secret fishing spot location. She will tell me all about how many fish they caught, how many fish were running, when they went fishing, but she stops short of actually telling me exactly where the spot is.

I haven't been in Alaska long enough to have my own secret spot. This is my first summer back here, and we've only gone fishing a few times. There are also several locations, according to the fishing regulations, where we can fish but then have to release everything we catch. That's the case around where we live in Eagle River, so we fish in Soldotna, down the road past the Fred Meyer, at the public boardwalk or the boat launch. When we fish there, we are shoulder to shoulder with the tourists who have no idea how to fish without the standard 20 feet of space between them and the next person. They also have no clue how to underhand toss their line into the water, so they fly fish over their shoulders like they don't see someone 4 feet away from them, with their lines flying wildly around, hooking on everyone and everything around them. I sympathize that their fishing licenses (because they aren't residents) cost $145.00, but the cost of the license doesn't include a fee for fishing like they own the river. They also have a tendency to keep anything they hook onto.

There are legal keeps and non legal keep fishing regulations when fishing for salmon. A hook in the mouth is a keeper. A hook anywhere else is a foul hook (a non keeper). Easy enough, right? Some don't seem to remember, and keep anything they hook into, fair or foul. I don't know if it stems from laziness, disrespect for the sport, or selfishness and greed, but keeping foul hooked fish is just wrong. With 60,000 fish running through a section of river on a given day, it's really not that difficult to fair hook the daily limit. It may take a while, but that's why they call it fishing and not catching. Fishing takes a while. It's about the experience, spending time outdoors, enjoying nature, not just about catching the daily limit allowed. If catching the maximum amount of fish without worry about skill or the experience, then dip net for them. Dipnetting requires no skill, the maximum number of fish that one can keep is increased in number, and it would open up spots at river locations for those of us that enjoy spending 6 hours on the river and going home with no fish, but many memories of our time on the water.

The Happy Medium

Birds, fish, flowers, plants, berries, animals, insects, trees, people. There is so much about Alaska that is unlike anywhere else, and I want to know about it all, and experience it all. I have to remind myself on a daily basis that I have as long as I want here, whether it be another 5 years, or a lifetime. I don't have to rush my experiences here. I'm not a tourist anymore. I had to remind myself that I could pace myself while I was in the bookstore today. Angie and I are going berry picking near Whittier on Sunday on the Horsetail Falls and Portage Pass trails so I wanted to get yet another book on wildberries. I purchased the Alaska Wild Berry Guide and Cookbook. But, true to my addiction of not being able to stop at just one book, I also purchased Wildflowers Along the Alaska Highway to add to the book I purchased a few weeks ago, Alaska’s Wild Berries and Berry Like Fruits. If money were no consideration, I would have purchased the dozen other books I wanted about mushrooms, fishing in Alaska, camping spots, trees and plants, hiking trails and Native Alaskan indian tribes. I've really got to get a library card!

I'm going to create a list of all that I want to see and do and break it down by season and year to focus my learning aspirations and activity goals. I want to smoke salmon (after learning about all the types of salmon, spawning seasons, fishing spots and habits of the fish, of course); I want to see more of the state (from Ketchikan to Barrow, which takes just a tad bit longer than a weekend); I want to learn to recognize animal tracks when I see them in the wilderness; I want to know all the names of all the plants, animals and trees around me so that if I had to, I could survive and not end up eaten or poisoning myself. I want to know about the people that inhabit this wonderful land, from the ancient inhabitants to the interesting folk on the Anchorage streets. I want it all NOW. I know that isn't realistic, however. There has to be a happy medium, a learning curve, a doing curve. I've also got to work, handle daily responsibilities of raising a child, pay bills, and enjoy the luxuries of being "civilized" and not having to live off of the land. I'm not ready to move into the bush quite yet, but I want to know everything I would need to know if I ever wanted to.

The happy medium this weekend, this month, this summer, is just to learn about the berries in Alaska (there are 50 types) and how to make jellies and jams from berries and flowers that most people I talk to, people who have been here for most of their lives, have no idea about (which totally surprises me). If I can do that, then I'll be one step closer to achieving my goal of knowing everything I want to know about Alaska. I will never know everything, but I'll do my darndest to learn as much as I can.

A Welcome Weekend

It's Friday! It's the weekend! It's sunny and warm in Eagle River and Soldotna too!

I've been in less than a good mood today. Alex is out of town, the refrigerator is still broken and not expected to be fixed until next Tuesday, someone let my cat out of the house yesterday and we can't find him, and I'm on a diet. I could go on with things that have irritated me last night and today, but I'm not going to anymore. Instead, I'm going to take full advantage of the beautiful weather we've been given this weekend and enjoy My Alaska!

Last night, I was introduced to the wonderful world of wild currants. I've now added them to the list of wild edibles I'm going to attempt to jar this weekend. Our friends near the Eagle River Nature Center have wild currants growing in their yard and invited me to pick as many as I like. Since they are moving, I'm going to pick to my heart's content and not worry about leaving some for them! A few days ago, we drove up Hiland Drive and saw that the fireweed are in bloom, and blooming in abundance, so I'll drive up there tonight with a few empty bags for the flower blooms and gather them. Another friend just let me know that some kind of berry is growing across the street from his home off of Hiland and invited me to come and see what they are and pick any of them I like (if they aren't poisonous). He says the bears love them, so I'll have to be very aware of my surroundings and especially cautious while I harvest them.

To add to my reasons to be cheerful instead of gloomy this weekend, I'm going to head back down to Soldotna tomorrow to fish. In the Russian and Kenai Rivers, there are still some reds (Sockeye salmon) to be caught. I can use Alex's chest waders and the kids can use the hip waders. I'm going to have someone else filet whatever I catch though. The poor fish I tried to filet last week ended up looking like oatmeal with red food coloring. It was a bad scene. Our tent is still at our friend's property, so we have a place to sleep.

I have to remind myself that my reasons for moving to Alaska and the things I was looking forward to experiencing here can't be overshadowed by broken fridges, lost cats, or children who are (as of late) plucking my last nerve. I'll throw myself into the joys of living in a place so full of life, beauty and abundance and (for the weekend at least) forget about my day-to-day troubles.