This is NOT a "Fish Story"

This Post deals with several fishing forays we've had thus far and their individual "success" stories.

First, in Seward, Pat, Freddie and Alice went in search of Salmon on the shores of Resurrection Bay. The type of tackle was a heavy treble-hook which is cast and then yanked back toward shore. This is intended to literally "snag" the fish and it does not exactly involve a lot of finesse. Pat was successful in landing two fish, which turned out to be Chum Salmon, also known as a Dog Salmon. The latter name is because the locals and Native Peoples do not eat these fish. Due to their inferior quality they are instead fed to the dogs.

Next it was off to Soldotna where, after a couple days, the Sockeye (or Reds) began their run up the Kenai. Pat did well at this style of fishing, where your "tackle" is a piece of brightly colored yarn, which is cast out, bounced downstream on the current and then pulled back, hopefully, catching a fish in the process. The first day resulted in Pat landing two fish, one weighed in at approximately 12 pounds and was one of the larger ones caught on the river that day. On the second day she landed another 8-10 pounder and had several more "hits" but, with no net, it was difficult to land them.

We then moved on to Homer where we went fishing on the Anchor River. This time we all fished and caught Dolly Varden, a variety of Char. They are smaller than Salmon and are caught by using salmon egg clusters and employing a fly-fishing cast.

Lastly, Pat, Judy and Alice went deep-sea Halibut fishing. The weather was not particularly cooperative; as a matter-of-fact, many of the sport-fishing charters did not even go out. This was the most difficult of all the fishing. The waters were rough and the tackle consists of herring baited on a round hook with a three-pound weight and lowered down 200 to 250 feet! Then, when you get a Halibut to hit the line, this FLAT fish, which is fighting, has to be hauled all the way back up and into the boat. It is truly an exhausting ordeal. However, we did, after a rather slow start, prevail with all three of us bringing in a quota of 2 per person.

So, thus far, we have fished four different styles and caught a variety of fish. It has been great fun and we have learned a lot about fishing here in Alaska. We are hoping to do more Salmon fishing in Palmer and Valdez and will hopefully have more success.


Attached is a collection of pictures from all of the different fishing forays.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Sbs27hoxZMPC&notag=1

Enjoy, take care and we'll send another Post soon,

P&J