Subsisting

Saturday was a fishing day. My brother was in town, so it was a big treat for him: fishing in the cold Alaskan seas for king salmon and halibut. Many people never get to do that. Most who DO get to fish here do so on a charter, and pay handsomely for the trip.

For me, though, it was a grocery procurement trip. Yes, I love being on the water, especially when the weather is nice, and the whales are breaching alongside the boat and the gulls are wheeling overhead. I can't imagine a better place to spend a day.

But what it's really about it getting the fish. See, up here food is really expensive, and often in winter there just isn't much to be had, as bad weather means no barge, and the barge is what our food comes in on. We have a lot of bad weather, and therefore there are often times when we wait and wait and wait for the barge. Ah, island living. Anyhow, so I go fishing to catch fish that I then put in my freezer so we can eat all winter long.

Saturday was a good day fishing. We caught some kings, including a rare white king, a halibut, a rockfish, two starfish and a skate. We put the last three items back. One of the starfish had a collection of seashells in his possession, and was munching on a barnacle. Well, it sort of seemed like it was stuck to his lip. If a starfish has a lip. Either way, he was really loaded down.

We also caught a bucket of herring early in the day to serve as our bait. If you catch the herring, you get free bait. If you buy it, it's several dollars per bag. Why would anyone buy it??? Catching herring is ridiculously easy and lots of fun. You find a school of herring, drop the herring line over, pull it up and it's full of fish. Rinse and repeat. In 20 minutes you have a full bait bucket. I thought we really needed some circus music to play while we got the herring, as they are wiggly and slippery little devils, and getting them from the hook to the bucket is nothing short of comedic.

The best part? Heh. I got to drive the boat. Nothing is more fun than flying through the water on a sunny day, waving at the other boats, watching sea otters, sea lions and puffins bobbing in your wake. We cleaned fish until almost 11 pm, but it was a great day and my freezer is filling up nicely.