Developing a taste for salmon

The hunt planning continues, but, luckily, we’re not scheduled to leave for another month. Arranging for a charter aircraft is proving to be a little more difficult than I thought. Just trying to make contact to discuss details on gear and being placed in a good hunting area is problematic because of work loads for the pilot. We’ll get it figured out even if we must visit the flight service and wait for a free moment of the pilot’s time!

King salmon season is over and, while some silvers are starting to show, the numbers are still comparatively small. So, what’s a person to do in this “in between” time? Plan another trip and then make it, what else?

“Knock-on-wood,” I’ve got everything working and upgraded on the motorhome, down to the smallest items. I need to wash the exterior, but that’s not critical to its usability. We’ve been talking about taking a trip down to Hope since we’ve never been there, and it would be fun to try some pink salmon fishing.

Now before you question my sanity about catching and eating pink salmon, let me explain. I grew up in the Midwest so my exposure to salmon came in the form of the canned product. To this day, I still enjoy canned salmon.

When I first came to Alaska to live, I had to “acquire” a taste for fresh salmon. As odd as that may sound, fresh sockeye salmon was almost an overpowering taste to me. I was living where I could have easily had salmon dinners four or five times a week. If I had salmon once a week, that was pushing my limit.

I eventually discovered pink salmon and learned its flavor was much more subtle and delicate than sockeye or silver salmon. I’m speaking, of course, of an ocean bright pink and not one which have already begun transitioning into its spawning colors in fresh water. While I did develop a taste for fresh sockeye or silver salmon, I still enjoy a fresh pink.

Catching them on ultralight sportfishing gear is a challenge as well. As I understand things, once in Hope and set up in the RV camping area, it’s not too long a walk down to the Resurrection River mouth. Supposedly, the area around the mouth is relatively flat and easy walking. If the pinks are in, there should be schools swimming near the mouth and within range of my ultralight casting skills.

I don’t plan on catching and keeping a big pile of fish. If things do work out, five or six fish will be plenty. I’m planning to do some silver fishing in the Valley later and I’ve got a small order in with a Northern District commercial set netting friend for some sockeyes, so a half-dozen pinks should be plenty.

I’m not sure how the driving to Hope will go. We’ll be far enough north that the big fire further south on the peninsula shouldn’t cause us problems. With the dipnet season open on the Kenai, we’ll be picking a travel time, hopefully, when we won’t have to deal with heavy traffic. The weather isn’t forecast to be a problem, so let’s hope everything works out. At the very least, we will have seen another little piece of Alaska we haven’t seen before!

I haven’t gotten out and about much this past week because of home items. With the return of some cooler weather, I’ve been working on some yard chores that needed attention. We’ve also got two spruce trees which need to be cut down because of the spruce bark beetle situation.

One tree died during the heatwave and the second is only a few feet from the first and is undoubtedly infested. A friend has offered to help but I think I can cut the trees myself. The question is what to do with the wood. I’d just as soon burn it in a pile in the yard, but with the burn ban, I’ll probably have to stack the cut-up trunks and limbs and wait for a rainy day and the lifting of the ban.

We also dealt with a FEMA inspection of the house last week. While our house didn’t suffer any major structural damage, we did loose some major appliances. Since I’m getting two different stories from FEMA and the Small Business Administration about grants verses low interest loans, things will be interesting. Remember, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help!” Oh boy, what a mess.