Anniversary "snag" fishing

Today is Norm and my 14th anniversary!  We woke to a very warm and brilliantly sunny day.  We were staying at such a lovely place,  we decided to spend the morning on the deck surrounded by flowers, having a nice breakfast and taking a few hours to do our respective computer work.

Celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary with a little french toast on the deck of our "home away from home" here in Seward, AK

Dennis and Vickie wanted to go for breakfast and walk the harbor. It was great- we each got our own “couple time”.  

We met them after lunch to take in the movie about the Iditarod down at the local library, then went about renting equipment and licenses to go  Sockeye Salmon “snag-fishing”, which was the only way to land these delectable fish at this time.  Low tide was about 4:30 PM, which we understood was the best time to go.  The object of the “game” is to take a 3 pronged hook and toss it into the water and JERK!  You need to hook these guys as they swim by any way or where you can.  Really crazy, but VERY popular!

Alison fishing at the mouth of Resurrection Bay in the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

We went to an adventure center called 60 Degree North to rent waders ( tall rubber boots that come to the top of our thighs ) and rods.  Another stop for the licenses.  Since we were convinced we would be as successful as most others, we assumed we would come home with the legal limit of 6 salmon each.  That’s a lot of fish, so we bought lots of ice to put in a couple of coolers. Planned many meals.

Being the ex-Girl Scout that I am, I got a large waterproof bag and filled it with a half-gallon jug of water to share (thought we might work up a thirst hauling in those huge, beautiful fish), bug spray of course, bear spray (just in case they want our fish) snacks, sunscreen and other things that made this bag pretty darn heavy and cumbersome.

Here is a little video I made Norm snag fishing

The Little’s travel light – backpack with water, and little else.  It didn’t occur to me that the back-pack would remain on the back while you fished, and I didn’t want to get my beautiful new backpack muddy when I set it down.  

We arrived at the mouth of the river, paid the $5 parking fee, and while being excited, I was a little nervous not knowing where to go, or how in the world you “snag” a fish!

What we encountered was what Alaskans call “combat fishing” ( technically people are literally shoulder to shoulder ) so considering today’s crowd, it might be only a “skirmish”.  Looking around I saw a huge representation of the US Army from the local station.  Buff men and woman alike ( plus a lot of locals and us silly tourists ) standing 20 feet if you were lucky, or 10 feet if you were in a good spot, apart – casting lines, jerking the road, reeling it in. Repeat. 

I spent quite a while just watching – there were so many different techniques!  I had trouble with my left-handed rod and the line kept getting balled up.  I did remember how my Dad taught me, how to tie the knot for the hook. So that was something.

How in the world did my reel get so tangled up? Norm's has such patience to fix it for me.  Such a sweet guy!

No one around us were catching much, but up toward the mouth of the river I could see commotion, a lot of splashing, then cheers every 5 minutes or so.  Darn. Just HOW are they doing it?  I didn’t want to get too close to the others for fear of getting hooked myself, ( Vickie got grazed, and one man got badly snagged ) so we chose the less popular spot. You know – the spot no fish go to – the one the stupid tourists pick. The safe one.  One 15ish year old rode up on his bike, threw in his line, and proceeded to catch one after the other! He whipped out his saber-like knife hooked to his belt, and plunged it into the fish with a flourish.  Then quickly caught another.  I had visions of tackling him and stealing his fish like a hungry bear.   

That big bag of mine proved to be such a pain!  It was heavy and awkward, and we had to constantly move it as the tide came in. It finally got soaked along with everything in it, making carrying back even worse.  Norm was not happy with me. Live and learn. 

Other people had the technique to snag these

After a couple of hundred casts, jerks, and reel-it-in sequences, our old bodies started to cry out.  We all were determined though, and kept at it for over 4 hours.  ( I have to admit I took plenty of time to just watch the antics – it was such a hoot, and honestly more fun! ) When a girl competently hooked a fish, her boyfriend gallantly jumped in the freezing water to try to catch it!  The fish was wiggling; the guy was leaping and yelling.  It was like watching the pig wrestling contest at a rodeo. Only wet, and really cold. Not only did the fish get away, but so did the young woman’s rod!  She was so angry! She kept yelling “ What are you doing? Are you crazy? Why did you do that? You lost my fish, you jerk!”  It was really funny.  Not feeling my toes for the last couple of hours due to the cold water, I could not imagine jumping in like that.  I do venture to guess he had enough liquor in him he probably didn’t feel a thing! Dennis happened to hook her rod shortly after, and received a very grateful hug!

 Norman was the hero of the day and caught one, unfortunately when my back was turned, so I didn’t video tape the historic moment. I finally gave up and watched bald and golden eagles soaring all over the place!  They swooped down and took the fish parts lucky fisherman where tossing into the stream, and perched on trees to eat nearby.  I didn’t take my good camera, but vowed to return.  It was so awesome! 

Who wants to fish when you can stare at this? Note the full moon. Would you guess this is 8PM?  The day is young!

When I had enough, I offered to carry the fish back to car while fording the very fast stream, which was pretty difficult carrying the fish in one hand and the rod in the other.  I finally started testing the water depth with my rod to determine if it was going to fill my hip boots ( which would be very cold, and possibly deadly ).  I gladly made it across the 3 streams and iced down the fish.  

 Weighing in at 5.5 pounds, Norm’s prize was skinned and prepped at the local processing place ( not allowed to do it at the house, thank God ) the group could enjoy 2 meals, costing approximately $180 per meal!  We had one that night, and froze the other half. 

It was a great day, but we were all exhausted by the time we finished dinner around 10PM, noting how it was still totally daylight out.  Weird.