It's summer in Alaska, which is generally magnificent. Leigh claims that this summer has royally sucked weather-wise. I disagree. Every summer everywhere has rainy days and, yes, we've had longer stretches of rainy or cloudy mess than I'd like, but we've also had some really impressive days too. Seeing as how I'm an active girl but not crazy active (I don't go running at 6am or pack multiple activities into a single evening, for example), being blessed with beautiful weather roughly half the time is enough to remind me that it's summer, it's Alaska, and there's fun stuff to do.
Several weeks ago I learned about dipnetting. In short, if you are an Alaska resident with a fishing license, you can buy a big ass net and stand in the water until a salmon swims into it. Then you can haul that salmon onto the shore, smack its head, gut it, and take it home to eat it.
The Rules: Head of household gets 25 fish per season, plus 10 additional fish for every other household member. So this year my limit was 35 fish. Next year my household limit will increase to 45 fish because we will have Baby Ruby. Every household member with a fishing license can fish, but every caught fish counts toward your household limit.
When I learned that fellow Hollins Alum, former NYC roommate, and recent Alaska returnee Lorrie had learned to dipnet earlier this summer, I promptly invited myself on her next outing. Two Fridays ago we packed for an overnight camping trip in Kenai and headed south in Leigh's Jeep. After a beautiful 3 hour drive catching up with each other, we arrived in Kenai to gorgeous evening weather and lots of dipnetters enjoying high tide.
Typical Dipnet Style:
On Friday evening we each caught three salmon. Not too shabby for two newbies. Around 8pm we admitted that we were both tired and hungry. So we went back to our campsite. Lorrie offered up one of her fillets for dinner. I provided black rice and mixed veggies. It was delicious and paired with malbec. Next thing we know it's 1 AM and we are drunk as skunks, so we collapse in the tent, intending to be up in time for the 7am high tide.
My Catch.
That did NOT happen. I rolled over at 7:30 to another amazing, sunny, HOT day and a hellish hangover. We eventually made it back to the river mouth for some more fishing. But the wind was rough and the tide was coming in as actual waves. Controlling our nets was nearly impossible. At one time I'm minding my own business only to look up and see a wave crashing down on me. So I looked at Lorrie and said, "Wanna go find some breakfast?"
Saturday Morning Hangover Cure: Carbonated Sugar
We found a greasy spoon on our way out of town. Midway through a plate of caribou sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns, my headache and tummy ache really start to set in. Blah. So we got some hangover provisions (Extra Strength Tylenol and Sprite) before hitting the road. I got home in the early evening, filleted my catch, and basked in my successful attempt to bring home the protein.
The next Friday I took the day off from work and drove to Kasilof on my own. I only caught three that day too, but I really enjoyed taking a break from my routine and discovering a new dipnetting area. So this season I brought home a total of 6 salmon, roughly 12-13 pounds of meat. I've already made some great meals (curry, salmon steaks, salmon cakes, BBQ salmon and rice) and am looking forward to having fish for most of the year. Hopefully I'll get better at filleting though.....
Dipnetting is definitely my new thing. Sadly, the season is short and I only discovered it in the last two weeks. Leigh promised to make a gift of my own dipnet gear for next season and we are already planning to spend a few weekends camping and dipnetting earlier in the season.
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