Fish on Board
Been kinda’ busy lately. The blog will get back in gear soon.
I still need to cut and stack several cords of firewood before school starts.
In case anyone cares to look at some historic photos, these help to show how I got the fish.
I’ve got about a week before I get my key and start organizing the classroom.
Rebecca wrote,
Lovely salmon! Are you planning to smoke them?
Link | August 3rd, 2007 at 6:25 am
A. Mercer wrote,
Now I’m going to ask the “why” question, about your fishing method. Why not fly fishing, why not rig and tackle, why not poorly aimed buckshot scatter in the river?
Link | August 3rd, 2007 at 8:31 am
Doug Noon wrote,
Heh, heh…The reason we use dipnets is that the Copper River is glacial, and full of silt. The river water is murky brown, and the fish can’t see a thing, so rod and reel are useless. The fish pass a sonar counter at the mouth, about 80 miles (maybe?) downriver, and that information is published by Fish and Game, so we know when they should be in the canyon, where we’re allowed to fish.
With tens of thousands of fish moving through, we can stand on the rocks and hope they swim into the net. When the run is strong you stay pretty busy. When the fish aren’t there, it’s like any other kind of fishing. It’s not sport fishing, and the permit is only good for a particular stretch of the river, which is hard to access. It’s an Alaskans-only “personal use” fishery, with a limit of 30 fish per family.
Some of them do go to the smoker.
Link | August 3rd, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Ms. Whatsit wrote,
Those are great photos. What a catch!
So….how do you like to prepare the fish that you don’t smoke?
Link | August 4th, 2007 at 4:53 am
Doug Noon wrote,
Ok, the fish that aren’t smoked get frozen. It’s taken us a while to develop a process that is both simple and effectively ensures the meat doesn’t get freezer burned over the course of a year, which is about how long we need it to last. We cut the whole fish in two and vacuum pack them in roast-sized pieces, using a little vacuum packer machine that uses special heavy duty freezer bags they sell here in town.
When we want to cook fish, we thaw it and cut it into steaks for the grill. My wife got a barbeque recipe from an Alaska Salmon Bake place down in Juneau when she lived there long ago. We stir melted butter and brown sugar together and season it with garlic and salt. It makes a glaze that we spoon onto the fish while they’re cooking.
We grill all year. Even when it’s cold and dark.
Link | August 4th, 2007 at 4:36 pm