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July 13, 2007
Nearing the End
We have reached the part of the fishing season where things get a little tedious. The Department of Fish and Game, now confident that our "escapement" of 1,200,000 sockeye has been reached (thus ensuring the ongoing health of the fishery), is now interested in us catching as many fish as possible. So even though we fished this morning's tide, we'll fish again tonight at 9:00pm. Instead of the 8- or 10-hour openings we have been allowed so far this season, tonight's opening is 20 hours long, not ending until tomorrow evening at 5:00pm. Which means, of course, that the sleeping that is supposed to happen tonight probably won't. The meals that are supposed to happen will have to be squeezed in as the fishing allows, likely in full rain gear outside the house.
The weather today is the worst of the summer. It was pouring rain at 5:30 when we woke and the wind was blowing furiously. The wind makes waves, which make setting out the nets difficult and picking the fish out of the net even moreso. The fish caught near the shore are completely mangled by the raging surf and look not much like fish you'd want to eat by the time they are finally extricated from the net. But there's not much to be done about it on days like these.
We're all back in the house now. Maiko is making chili, Bob is napping, Seiko is vacuum-packing fillets for us all to take back home at the end of the fishing, I'm writing this entry, Roji's present occupation is unknown, and Robbi is catching up on her reading.
One's literary standards are significantly lowered up here.
As a foil to today's foul skies, I offer you a glimpse of sunset a few nights ago.
And yesterday's blue skies as we stood on the bluff overlooking the water while the drifters fished.
And Iggy's bath at the spring the other day. A dog in Alaska has a tendency to develop a fishy smell.
And that's it for now. More to come, if I can, but the fishing may open indefinitely from here on out. We leave for home on Tuesday.
Posted by bogenamp at July 13, 2007 01:17 AM