Alaska Vacation 2011: part 9

Monday, June 13

Kya let us all sleep in on Monday (which we all needed) so we didn't get out on the boat until 10:45 am. Our fishing buddy Ted joined us once again.

The plan:
- Lay two long lines out by triple humps (a 45 minute boat ride from Kodiak)
- Fish for salmon the "old fashioned way" with fishing pole and lures
- Pull into the bay at Long Island and take the skiff raft to shore for hiking on Long Island
- After hiking, get back to the boat and pull in the long lines
- Return home by dinner time


After we left the long lines ...
Corey caught his "old fashioned" salmon! It is a red/sockeye salmon. Congratulations Corey!
This has been Corey's goal since we arrived on Kodiak.


We rafted to Long Island and Kya was once again happy as a little clam out in nature.

Long Island is uninhabited (that we know of) and was a WWII base.


There is a very cool primitive campsite and swings on the island.


Long Island, AK




Long Island is like no place I've ever been. I felt like an elf while walking in the mossy forest.


My parents and Ted have been there many times before so they took us inside this old bunker. Corey and I were not sure it was safe but we're happy to report we make it out in one piece. There is no electricity, so it was pitch black. These is lots of leftover "stuff" in the bunker.


We were told that this base was "blown up" when the troops pulled out of the island ... and there it sat.






These Quonsets were everywhere (old WWII housing). Many many of them ... and each as creepy as the next.


Great place to film a horror movie.




Heading back to the boat.


We arrived back at the boat and then headed out to triple humps to check the long lines.

The first long line came up great - we caught a few small (but keeper) halibut. From the start, the second long line was very heavy. This long lone was the one we made last week and this was the first trip for the new line. Corey and Ted took turns puling it in. We caught a few more halibut and few ugly fish. After about a third of the hooks were up, we started to wonder why it was so darn heavy. The guys slowly pulled the rope in, inch by inch, with lots of grunting. They had to tie it off to keep the tension and to keep the line from being pulled back in the water. This was like no other long line Ted or my dad had seen. It was SO heavy. The hooks were about 10 feet apart, and most of them had a fish (halibut or junk fish), so that kept us excited.  It was soooo unbelievably heavy. While pulling it in, the guys wore life jackets and were very careful not to get the rope tangled around them ... but I was still nervous. Ted was thinking that since we were able to pull the line in (albeit very slowly) that we had a huge fish on the line. So ... slowly, slowly, one inch at a time, we kept pulling the line in.

After about two thirds of the hooks were up, we had to use the boat to help us pull in the line. We'd have my Dad back up or slowly drive forward to give us the right angle for pulling. We'd count each hook to figure out exactly how much line we had left in the ocean. We figured that we still had a little line on the bottom of the ocean. At one point, we thought the best plan was to drive the boat back to Kodiak, while the rope was tied off (on two of the tie-off hooks) in hopes that it would tire the fish and/or dislodge the rope. When we tried this plan, the boat started to tip. Not a good plan. Back to pulling. After another hour of pulling, they got a little bit more line up. At that point, they deemed the best plan was to cut the line. The line was cut, and we shall never know how big the fish was ... and/or how stuck the rope was.

All in all, we caught about 12 halibut. Plus, Corey's salmon. And lots of ugly fish and a few star fish (which we threw back to the ocean).


We got back to the Kodiak harbor after 10 pm  ... very late for dinner ... and the sky was still very bright.

Alaska Vacation 2011: part 8

Sunday, June 12
Sunday morning we had brunch at Mill Bay Coffee - delicious crepes and seafood eggs benedict. After we filled our tummies, we drove south out of town to Kalsin Bay and Kalsin River for fishing and hiking. My parent's friends Ted and Kathy joined us for the adventure.


We saw this bison along the road. No fence at all. Must be a roaming free-range fellow.


This is the Kalsin Bay Inn. Another place that looks like it is straight out of the Goonies.


Corey wore waders and went into Kalsin River to look for fish.


Kya thought he was pretty funny walking in the river.


We got out to explore.


... and saw sea lions in the river


Kya LOVES the beach.


I think she'd sit here for days.


Happy beach bum. Corey didn't see any fish at Kalsin River, so we decided to drive back toward town to the Buskin River.


Corey had this Buskin River fishing spot all to himself.


The ocean is just around the bend.


Grandma ReNay got to cary Kya in the Ergo while we hiked around the fishing spot.


We found these fish leftovers ... must be from an eagle's lunch.

Corey didn't catch any fish, but we had a fun and relaxing Sunday in Kodiak.

Alaska Vacation 2011: part 7

Friday, June 10

Friday was a rainy day so we got caught up on laundry and errands.


With over 25 pounds of fresh salmon and not enough room in our bellies to eat in right now, we decide to take most of it to the local smokehouse. They smoke it and package it for only about $4 a pound.

Then we drove to the Buskin River so Corey could try his hand at river fishing.


The view from the truck cab.


The boys braved the drizzly rain while Kya, my mom and I hung out in the truck.


Corey really had a knack for river fishing, but he didn't catch anything.
Since the salmon are going up river to spawn, they are not typically "biting" ... so in order to catch one, you must snag it. As if that wouldn't be hard enough, you may only keep the salmon if you snag it in the mouth.

Just a few feet from where Corey was fishing, the Game and Fish Department was trapping salmon for egg harvesting and counting.

You can see the salmon splashing the the water.

It was a cool process to watch.

Friday evening we got a babysitter for Kya (friends of my parents) and went to dinner at a a small casual steakhouse just outside town. After dinner we had a drink at one of Kodiak's local bars. We put Kya to bed before we left and she slept the whole time we were gone.


To say the people watching was good would be an understatement.
Sights from one Friday night out in Kodiak:
- dude in Dr. Seuss "Red Fish Blue Fish" pj pants (shown above)
- security guard on crutches
- HUGE muscular guy wearing a shirt saying "these guns are loaded" ... thanks captain obvious
- fishermen. lots of fishermen.
- kid booster seats under a sign that says "no one under 21 allowed"
- more people wearing XtraTuff rubber boots than I ever thought possible

My sister's fiance Chaz is here working so he joined us  for the evening's festivities ... what fun!

Saturday, June 11
Another rainy day in Kodiak, so we had a slow morning and then went to the NOAA touch tank and aquarium.


It was a really cool building and the fish were so neat!


We had the place to ourselves.


The touch tank entertained us all.


A great way to spend a rainy day in Kodiak.

We went to afternoon Mass. Kya was a bear. Oh my, it was rough hour. 

For dinner we had salmon ... again. This time my mom made the salmon with a marinade. One piece of salmon had teriyaki and one had a sweet pepper sauce (kind of like sweet and sour). It was delicious.

After dinner, my dad took Kya outside to cover the grill. Kya refused to come back inside. It was drizzly and only about 45°F. She spent a lot of time just hanging out on the deck, barefooted, in the rain. What a tough little North Dakota girl.

Today is Sunday and we are planning to go to brunch and then out fishing. Have a great Sunday!

Alaska Vacation 2011: part 6

Thursday, June 9: Gill-Netting for Salmon

Yesterday we joined my parent's neighbors for red/sockeye salmon gill-net fishing. This is another type of Alaska subsistence fishing that is restricted to residents in certain small communities. Gill-netting works by installing a fishing line net near where a river and the ocean connect – we were near the Buskin River in Kodiak. The net hangs down about 12 feet and has weights on each end and along the bottom to hold it in place – we used two of these nets. Right now, the salmon are ready to spawn and are headed toward the river ... and ... hopefully ... they get caught in our nets on the way. The salmon's gills will get lodged in the net and, at that time, we zoom over in a little boat and pull up the net and fish. The goal is to get to the salmon before the sea lions do. The net is pulled into the boat, the salmon freed, and the net is placed back in the water for another chance.


There were eight of us total: Corey, me, and Kya, my mom and dad, and three of their neighbors.
This is the neighbor's runner boat for checking the net. Corey is in the orange and blue.


When the buoys bounce and splash it is a very good sign ...


We usually pulled up 1-3 fish in a catch.


We'd watch the fish finder for schools. If a group was near, the small boat would "rodeo" around to spook the fish into the net.


and then we hit the jackpot!
12 salmon in one catch!


This is what 28 Sockeye Salmon look like.
The cooler was full so we decided to clean the fish at our fishing spot.


My dad had to get a photo with the salmon before they became filets.


The seagulls arrive immediately ... and then the bald eagles joined us.


They got so close to the boat!


We threw "chum" (fish guts) into the water and the birds loved it.


The eagles put on an amazing show, stealing from the seagulls.






We all enjoyed the festivities, even Kya liked the "birds."


Corey had a celebratory beer.


We were out from 9 am to 5 pm so there was lots of waiting and playing.


We even talked to Grandma Rene in North Dakota!


And the best part of the day: salmon on the grill.
This was definitely the best salmon I've ever had. Corey, my mom and dad all agree. Delicious.

Because we were on the boat ALL DAY, we were all swaying for hours after getting off the boat. It was the strangest feeling.


After dinner, we went for a walk to the end of my parent's road, which turns into a wooded trail to the ocean. We saw lots of wild flowers.
These are spruce tips.


Wild chocolate lilies


The pink ones are shooting stars ... not sure what the white flowers are.


Beautiful evening for a walk to the beach.




Skipping rocks. again.


Lupine


What great day would be complete without a bonfire?




Ted and Kathy (friends of my parents) joined us.

Phew, what a fun day.