So for yesterday's afternoon high tide, Maria and I went across the bay to the China Poot - a little stream that flows down the mountain into a big tidal flat. The China Poot has a natural run of red salmon, and we wanted to check and see if they were coming in yet. Up the stream, there are some barriers, and the salmon get stuck in pools where locals can dipnet six fish a day. Unfortunately, the fish were just beginning to come in - so not worth hiking in to give it a whirl. Maria and I met two parties coming out with little for results. So, we ran over to The Tutka Lagoon Hatchery, where the AK Fish and Game has a hatchery operation for reds and pink salmon. We arrived after high tide, but met a couple of boats coming out that had smiles on their faces - I mean, the people in them did :-)
At the back of the cove, there were people on shore snagging, and people snagging from a couple of boats too. You basically tie a weighted treble hook on your line and rip it through the water. When the salmon are in thick, you rip it through a school of fish, and when you hook up, you pull them in. Anyway, there was a random fish coming in here and there, but not much. Then the state hatchery workers swooped in with one of their big boats, and dropped a net around the entire bay. Then slowly pulled it in till it was just like a purse, with hundreds, perhaps thousands of salmon in it. Then they transported the fish over to their hatchery operation for stripping. We talked to one of the workers, and asked if it was worthwhile to continue snagging, and he said "oh yeah, there will be more coming in all the time." So Maria and I went back over to the snagging area.
Not long after, I saw a school of salmon swimming by the boat. I cast my treble hook just ahead and beyond, let it sink a few seconds, and then let it rip. FISH ON! Ok, so now we got it. Makes no sense to just cast randomly. Just wait - cocked, locked and ready to rock. Sight fish them, like we do back home. It was well passed high tide now, but I kept spotting schools of fish, and make a cast, and direct Maria where to cast, and both of us started getting them. Twice, we got a double. By 8 pm, the tide was just ripping out of there, and we had to leave or else get stranded and then have to spend the night with the mosquitos.
What a gorgeous playground God has blessed us with. Here we are, in a little lagoon that is lush and green, surrounded by snow capped mountains on a warm sunny day - and by that time, everybody had left, so we were the only ones there. We came home with ten beautiful pink and red salmon. We grilled some of each quick for dinner, which was amazing by the way. Below, me happily cleaning my first salmon ever.
According to Maria, the pink salmon tend to go soft and mushy if you freeze them, or let them sit too long, so we immediately put them into a brine for twelve hours. They will dry today for 12 hours, and then we will put them in the smoker for 8 hours. Soon, we will have fresh pink salmon smoked to eat - and I think Maria is going to can some too. We are going back for more today. Now, we know what we are doing, we will be there earlier, and, the word from the AK fish and game is that they are done netting for now - so there should be a lot more fish in the lagoon. I'll try and document more of the actual fishing fun with pictures today...
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