I'll Be Dipped

This was another successful year dip netting sockeye salmon on the Kasilof River for the Team Homer. Once again several friends and myself headed north for our yearly supply of salmon and it paid off. Picking the right time to have a successful trip, which means achieving your limit of 25 fish plus 10 fish for every household member, depends on the tides, run timing, and commercial fishery closures. Alaska’s fishing regulatory process is not easy to understand; every year we learn another piece of information. This year we learned about the 24-hour window closure to commercial fishing on weekdays and it paid off. We arrived at 10:30 am and by 9:00 pm we our limit. By the time we hauled in our last catches we were getting triples and doubles in our nets. How lucky we are to participate in such an awesome natural event. Now that the fun has ended today the work begins. I will be spending the morning filleting all the fish and getting them ready to be vacuum packed.

Timeline

Check out the timeline from Dipity at the bottom of the blog. You can click on any photo, switch to a list, flipbook, or map. Add comments if you want. Pretty cool web application, it is easy to use. Tracy will love it for family events and such.

Went dipnetting for reds two days ago and got four fish for 12 hours of effort. Team Homer was there is force with 13 people and five nets in the water. We will head back up to the Kasilof River early in the week. For now I will be writting several papers for my college work at home and keeping Nicky in good spirits with the summer bounty.

Cheers,

Jeff

Wet and Broken

Nicky and I biked in to Upper Russian Lakes last Sunday. The plan was to bike in to the cabin, that is newly renovated since it’s original construction in the 1951. We figured we would stay for a couple of days relaxing and fishing for trout in the outlet and possibly fish the Russian River to Aspen Flats cabin three miles down river.

The day started out overcast and windy. It started raining six miles in, the cabin is at mile nine. Nicky was a bit sore from hiking the day before, 16 miles with Mary King, but appeared to have the energy. The trail took on an over grown character by the time we got to about a mile from the cabin. Then only a half mile from the cabin on a flat section of trail Nicky’s front tire went into a foot deep drainage ditch and she fell onto a one-inch diameter alder stump. When I got to her she said she heard something crack. After she caught her breath we hiked the bikes to the cabin. We decided to leave a note on the sign at the junction for the cabin to notify anyone hiking out to talk to us about setting up for a flight out of the lake. Nicky was pretty sore and it was hard for her to breath.

We ended up staying for the two nights. Nicky was sore and could not move around very well. It was very quiet with no hikers, bikers, or planes. I ended up fishing the next day only to have a run in with too many brown bears. They were everywhere; at times we were afraid to go to the outhouse. We had a sow and cub run through the cabin area in the middle of the second day. The sow bayed at the cub, which was pretty curious about the people making noise on the cabin’s front porch.

The last day a plane flew over and fired a signal flare, but it was too far behind the plane. Nicky had some pain relievers from a root canal in her first aide kit and we decided to hike out. We started out pretty slow, 1.9 mph on the GPS. By the time we got our and Nicky’s second pill we had improved to 2.1 mph. It was raining off and on and due the overgrown vegetation and a stream crossing where a bridge had been washed out we were pretty wet and tired by the time we happily made it to the truck and the empty trailhead parking lot.

On the drive town Nicky was pretty feeling pretty sore and stiff, so we went to the Soldotna ER. In the end Nicky had two broken ribs on her left side, number 10 and 11. She was given some Oxycodon and a note for employer saying she cannot lift no more then 10 pounds for the next week. Recovery will be in a three weeks to a month. At present she is moving gingerly and watching movies. She is unhappy about the hiking she will be missing in July, but already has Crow Creek Pass planned for August. By the way, the cabin renovation was very nice. This was the same trail and cabin I did my first hike as a trail ranger when I worked for the USFS 22 years ago.