Day 3...the first day we arrived and set up, Day 2 we fished 2 tides. We closed the day with the common consensus being we would not fish in the a.m.
MORNING TIDE
Krista and Luke pulled up at 0700. They had opted NOT to fish last evening and did not realize the plan had changed. Next year - a GIANT group text is a must, maybe posting a rough schedule daily.
In any event I set down to blog as they headed back to camp to get something they'd forgotten...and then I realized I would regret NOT spending time with them and making memories. Cory said he was going to go with them. Josiah heard them at the campground and decided to go with them. I texted them to say I was coming. They stopped and picked me up a chai tea...it was a beautiful morning. LOL We arrived on the beach a bit before Cory and Josiah. Krista had a couple from base who were dipnetting for the first time. They joined us as well. Andrew and Breana had come down a day before Krista and Luke. They got stuck on the beach the first day and got 1 or 2 fish? We were happy to have them join us and share any pointers we had. In an ironic twist, they arrived at Beale AFB, our last dut assignment, about six months after we had left. Andrew said he felt like he knew us. He now works with Krista as Religious Affairs Support or Airmen (the name keeps changing). It was fun to meet them in person.
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| Andrew and Bre |
I wanted to be sure to grab a photo of Luke and Krista. I went out to do it early. As I took the photo a salmon hit Luke's net. LOL
Josiah and Cory came down a bit later than us. Along the way they spotted a porupine on the trail down from the bluff we take.
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| Photo by Josiah |
I had told Cory it would be fine to bring Benny to the beach. Benny came dipnetting his first time as an 8 month old baby in a back pack. He has been shore crew - bonking fish with Bachan since he was 1 1/2. He's ready to work.
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| Benny & Bre |
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| Bre, Benny and Josiah |
I enjoyed visiting with Breana while Andrew fished. We had beautiful weather. I've never seen it this nice when we were dipnetting. The mornings and late evenings are a bit cool - but it's gorgeous.
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| Benny, Krista, Luke, Me |
AFTERNOON/ EARLY EVENING
I am unsure how many fish everyone caught in this tide. Our household didn't get any. KrUke got all the salmon they wanted - I believe it was 10 or 12. Cory and Josiah both got a fair amount for their family's and Andrew and Bre caught more in that tide than they had the day before. We invited them, Danny and Krista and all the kids to process the fish we had caught after lunch.
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| Coolers of fish to fillet and bag... |
These two are our quality control. They pat fillets dry and carefully bag them. They put them into a CLEAN cooler and then they were walked back to the RV.
This is Danny and Krista's 2nd year dipnetting. In the past they've paid to process their fish as they felt they loss to much meat doing it themselves. We have Cory and Josiah fillet - they're our best. Others descale, wash, derib....and I don't know what all. We invited them to just watch and SEE if they would be happy with the way we do it. They were welcome to use our bags and sealer and save the price of processing - IF they were happy with the results. They were. They jumped in to help in several areas.
Breana wanted to learn how to fillet and Josiah spent some time showing her a couple of tricks.
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| Cory & Luke |
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Josiah and Breana
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| Breana and Krista |
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| Cory |
While they played with fish at the cleaning station Arielle, Carrie, me and the two-year-olds prepared things back at the RV.
The chamber seal vacuum has been the log jam for the past couple of years. Cory and Arielle bring their own sealer. Krista rented the middle one for the weekend from the Outdoor Rec at base. The one on the right is ours. I had fun comparing the two models and how they work.
And...then...we sealed salmon....and labeled them, put them in various bags and sections and started filling the chest freezer in the RV.
Arielle says these pictures capture Danny and Charles. Danny is happy as a clam, Charles wanted to go inside. They both were good sports and in no time, we were done! The 3rd sealer DID help us keep up with the fileting crew.
The status of the freezer midway through Day 3. It's always a bit of a trick to get prepped food out of the freezer by the time salmon need to go into the freezer.
With the fish in the freezer, Carrie and Arielle took the kids to the playground and to pet the goats, emus, and pigs...
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| caterpillar |
Ketziah turned 8 today. We sang happy birthday. Lorelei stayed to visit with the girls for a bit of the afternoon.
Krista (our Krista) spoiled us with dinner...rice, Chicken Divan, fruit and cheese, chips and dip, ice cream cones. This is the first year I have come and not cooked all the communal meals. I have the freezer, appliances, pots, plates etc....and he gals are doing a great job. I have had much more time to relax.
Jamin stopped in for the afternoon. He didn't fish any tides, but he visited and that was nice. I'm not sure what else he did. I barely saw him before he was leaving before dinner. BUT I do know we'll be at his house next Sunday night.
EVENING TIDE
The morning tide had picked up and so we were all hopeful for this tide. We FINALLY figured it out and met up with Danny and Krista to fish together. We had ALL nets in the water this time. Krista decided to come down and help. Sadly, all but one of her Salmon jumped out of her net. Allie, Michael, Stacia, Krista, Danny, Krista (his Krista), Andrew, Breana, Josiah, Cory....I was the one shore crew member and they kept me hopping....well...some of the time. Some of the time I sat back and enjoyed the view.
Our ten nets, plus Livie.
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| Josiah - #1 son |
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| Krista - #2 daughter |
Stacia and Allie each got fish, Michael got one. The fish were BIG...so big they didn't fit in the cooler big. In a year when the count is down, it's nice to catch big fish.
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Stacia #10 daughter brings in a fighter - see the splash?
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Didn't Carrie catch a great picture?
Cy caught it and Livie came out to help bring it in....she wanted to catch one and that was the best way to do it this year.
Krista (as in G - Danny's wife) brings in a salmon
Cory and I checking fish.
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| Assembling nets |
Michael brings in a salmon
At about 11:30 p.m. Krista, Andrew, Breana, the girls and I left the beach. We left Michael, Josiah and Cory to fish a bit more. We took all our extra nets and Andrew and Bre's fish. The girls and I were hitting the showers near midnight...nothing feels as good as a shower after being covered in fish slime...
Our household is at 26 salmon. Michael's back hurts. The girls have been a huge help and we appreciate it, but we know they'd like to be done too. We are happy with 26...almost the 30 - 40 we wanted. Michael's back is important...and we are still trying to avoid a back surgery. It's time for us to quit. We will rest tomorrow and explore Kenai on Monday.
Note! Carrie and Arielle took most of the kid photos and Carrie took all of the fish processing photos. I would go back and give credit to each one...but frankly, it's midnight and I'm tired. The great shot of Livie and Cy was Carrie's....the great one of the 2-year-olds with the sealers is Arielle's.
Further Note! I was proofing this at 12:30 a.m. grace!!! AND
Krista N - was Krista G and is our daughter, married to Luke.
Krista G - is a friend from church and in our life group, married to Danny
