Happy Wife welcomes the arrival of summer with a Sangria (or two). The first day over seventy in what has so far been a record setting cool July. While the rest of America swelters. Lending credence to my hypothesis that hot summer air is a zero sum game, it can’t be everywhere at once, there’s only so much to go around, and this year so far it’s all been in America. Until Tuesday.
Wednesday I arrived at the bank of the Kenai River at 8:30 am and waited for my nettin’ buddies, Mike & Greg, to arrive with the boat. Looking out on the day I was reminded as I so often am why I live here. Mt Redoubt looms on the horizon. She blew her lid the year I moved to Alaska, 1989. Covered my driveway and filled my gutters with ash.
I want to see a larger version of this picture.
Mike selected the inflatable boat (Achilles) for this trip. The strategy was to have Greg and I net from either side of the boat while Mike kept us positioned or moving slowly with the motor, depending on the direction and strength of the tide. Tide swings in this part of the world fluctuate from 14-22 feet. It can be tricky, especially in the company of hundreds of other boats filled with eager netters. I’ve never seen anything like it this year.
Before we even got underway we discovered the bow of the Achilles was flaccid. Hole or bad valve? A Viagra joke was uttered. Either way, unfortunately the pump had been left behind, so Greg and I stayed with the boat riverside and chatted while Mike went to fetch the pump. About an hour later we were underway with a firm bow. Only to watch it go flaccid again within fifteen minutes. Oh well, other than annoyance of having to repeat over and over again to other boaters — “Yes, we’re aware it’s flaccid” — it was no big deal, being it is unnecessary for flotation.
Expectations were high when the tide finally turned, and water started pushing back into the river. Typically, this is when the salmon make their run into fresh water. We’d only landed one Sockeye before the tide turned, but a really nice one, a male, probably 12 lbs or better. The Kenai River is known for big Sockeye. On the day we came away with about a dozen fish, well short of what we expected (>25). Nobody else appeared to be doing much better. But what a fantastic day on the water it was.
From the killing fields into the coolers they went. The three of us cleaned and filleted ’em riverside.
Later, today, at home, I vacuum sealed my take and introduced them to our freezer. Save one fillet, which I will grill tonight. Life is good.
Rod, though you did not net the >25 you hoped for, you still had a good day, as your response to my comment to your previous post notes. Enjoy the grilled fillet.