Ice Fishing

Smelt or smolt?  Which one did you get?  One you put back in, one you keep.  I wish I could show you pictures but the truth of the matter is, we didn't catch a darn thing!  

I could make up a beautiful story for you and talk about how they jumped out of the hole right into our bucket, but that would be a lie.  I could also tell you that we dipped our little hooks in and they hit them right away, that also would be a lie. 

What I can tell you is that I had another wonderful experience and learned how to do something I never thought I would get to do.  Ice fishing is something that was done to survive.  Now, many items can be bought from a store, shipped in and it's not a requirement to ice fish anymore just to survive.  I enjoyed getting the opportunity to see how it is done and experiencing the thrill of stepping out onto the frozen river, standing around hoping something would hit and relishing in the warmth of the jacket as the wind whipped by.  

Learning how important it is to scoop the hole so that the ice doesn't freeze over, watching the ice build up on the line as you wiggle it to entice the fish and standing there in the wind and realizing why people do build the little shacks on the ice when they are out there for days were all great experiences. BUT DANG, it was COLD!  BRRRR!

You might ask, "why make a hole in the ice in the middle of the river and then stand right next to it?"  Well to catch fish of course, silly.  That and because they have been doing it for years and I don't need to ask questions as to why it works, it just does.  Not enough of a hole to make the pressure crack the ice around it where you stand, but just enough to access the water below.  The mind tries to play tricks on you, well maybe just me, but as I stand around the hole, I swear I slid closer to it, the ice melting under my feet and edging me closer each moment.  I know it wasn't happening but the fear of a leg "post-holeing" into the freezing cold water was one that kept creeping into my mind.

To say the least, we had fun, got some good pictures and enjoyed the view of the mountains and the company we kept.  The only part that wasn't so great, my fingers got a tad bit cold.  Frost "nip" they call it when I took off the gloves to take some pictures of the mountains.  It was VERY cold!

These Mtns. caused frost nipped fingers.  BRRRRR

City Dock with the Mtns. in the background

Holding the fingers trying to keep them from hurting so much!

Stock that freezer!

Gone fishin'

Most people do it.  Down home, you put a pole in the water and hope for the best.  Maybe it's a bobber, a fly or just the old cast and drag.  Father-in-law likes to tell us it's "skill" that gets him the hits.  I think it's because he gets up earlier.  When we go, it's really to spend time together.  We love it when the fish bite and if we are really itching for a bite, we'll hit up the barrel (maybe). 

Sustenance fishing is a whole different world.  It's not really fishing, it's catching.  No bones about it, you're going to get fish.

Out in the water holding onto a fish

I was lucky enough to be invited by a local Native family to enjoy a BEAUTIFUL day out on the beach catching fish on their license.  They showed me the ropes once and I was out in the water by the time I could shimmy into the "preens"  I felt like a vacuumed pack fillet!   You set out a net and the fish can't see in the murky water, the swim right in, get caught and you gotta go and pick them out.  Some do a pretty darn good job of getting very caught.  Other's just kinda bite at it and you walk right up, unhook them and it takes only a few seconds.  *I like those kind!  They were impressed by my picking abilities and that was to be my main job for the day.

The student of mine that was with me, his main job was helping me out if I got a fish I just couldn't pick and watching for seals.  He held his .22 and made sure they didn't get to close.  They see the net and know there's an easy meal to be had so they get warning shots if they start coming our way.  If they get to close, he yells out seal which means I get out of the water and he starts shooting at it while I'm out of harms way.

Picking fish from the net

While waiting to pick, I was also helping clean slime off of the fish, clots out of the gills and watching for whales swimming up the river from the ocean.  We saw a pod of Beluga Whales cresting at one point but I was in the water and didn't get the camera in time.

The haul for the day was 50 Silver Salmon and 1 Red Salmon.  Only one of the Silvers had been up and started to spawn.  He still had half of his milk sac left but he looked to be a bit older as well.  That one was still cut into fillets and was cooked up for their hard working dogs.  Sorry Ciqu!

The half-spawned old guy.  Look at those teeth!

There are really 3 fish on each hand!  Each weighed about 10-15 lbs.

We filled the freezer of the Native family and my freezer is looking pretty good!  20 fish, 40 fillets.  It's amazing how much fish that really is!  I can't even imagine how much that would cost back home.  All this cost me was a beautiful day out on the river, 8 hours of hard work and a bit of a sunburn on the face.  Oh yeah, and some goofy looking glove tan lines.