Boat Work

August 21 to September 11, 2011 — I took a few weeks off of fishing after the August 21 king opening because I had to attend to a boat project that I had been putting off. I needed to re-do the engine mount on my 18-foot open skiff, the Lady Ruth, so I opted to do a backyard hull extension with fiberglass and polyester resin. The guys at the Petrzelka Brothers' boatyard in Mount Vernon, Wash., were willing to fabricate an aluminum extension/engine mount, but I didn't want to pay the price. I figured I could do it myself on the cheap.

So I hired a very competent glassman off Craigslist, bought a whole bunch of material, and went to work on the Lady Ruth. To make a long story short, I would have been money ahead to have the guys at Petrzelka Brothers do it. I missed three openings where I could have made a few bucks, not to mention the entire pink salmon season around the island. And I missed those nice fishing opportunities because I was neck-deep in fiberglass laminations, all gooped up with a gas mask strapped to my face, working long hours and cursing my decision to save a few bucks — in the long run I'm certain it cost me more to do it myself.

My goal was to make the silver opening on September 4, and I almost did, but it would have been total chaos in unorganized confusion. Instead I took my time tying up the loose ends of the boat, and made the September 11 opening —  in which there were no fish.

You live and learn.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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King of Samish Bay

Sunday, August 21, 2011 — It turns out there were a few kings around Samish Bay on that night. It opened at 7 p.m., and we had a couple fish hit shortly after we set. We picked them out right away before the seals beat us to them.

We got the first one aboard no problem, but had trouble with the second fish — a big, beautiful king salmon — which slipped free of the net and disappeared into the depths. It was painful to see him slip away, and after discussing what went wrong in picking that fish, Linda and I worked as a great team, and didn't lose another fish that night.

We picked the net up around 10:30 p.m., after it was really dark. The net had been in the water for quite a while, and we had a few crab to pick, which is always a hassle because they try to pinch you as you are trying to help them out of the net, but it wasn't too bad. The fish kept coming, and we wound up with about 35 fish total for the night. The highlight was when the big fish that had slipped out came aboard with a CLUNK; he had tangled in the folds of the leadline in the shallow water and came up cradled in the net.

By the time the net was aboard, the tide was ebbing full speed off the flats of Samish Bay, which flushes out a bunch of eelgrass along with it. Because we sell the fish directly to the public on San Juan Island, we were money ahead for the opening with the catch we had aboard, so instead of setting back and loading up on eel grass, we kept the net aboard and cleaned our entire catch right on the spot. After they were all iced and stowed, we headed back to San Juan Island, happy with the fruits of our labor.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Kings for a day

I sold our freshly-caught sockeye on Friday, August 12, at the San Juan Island Food Co-op, and again Linda sold them at the farmers market on the following day. We also brought back all of our pink salmon, which she sold at the market for only $7 or $9 each, depending on the size.

I had been planning on fishing for kings with my three daughters on Sunday, August 14, but they gave us a sockeye opening on that same day, so I had to make a decision. Because of the threatening weather (I didn't think 6-year-old Lucy would like a storm), I opted to leave the kids at home and fish sockeye.

Sockeye fishing was slow and the weather turned out to be beautiful. I managed to send a toteload of fish to the processing plant to be turned into premium pin-bone-out vac-pac fillets to sell to the islanders over the winter months.

I still pulled off the family king salmon fishing trip. Sophia, Lucy, and my wife, Maureen, fished Samish Bay on Tuesday, August 16. It was an all-night event as it opened at 7 p.m., and we let the net soak until 10 before we hauled, then after it was finally up we had a 3-hour run back to Friday Harbor. We had a couple handfuls of kings, and we sold them all in short order at the Co-op the next day.

Next, I am heading over to Samish Bay to (hopefully) catch a few kings on Sunday, August 21. The sockeye opening has been put on hold for some reason or another, but we might fish sometime this week. We'll see what happens.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Set on sockeyes

Thursday, July 28 — I arrived home on San Juan Island on this morning after a solid two months in Bristol Bay.  

I had plans of kicking back for a week before I did any fishing-related activity at home, but that idea went to hell when my brother Frank called, informing me there may be a sockeye opening soon, right in my backyard. I would have blown it off, but all my fish customers were asking when I would be catching sockeye, and went on to tell me how excited they are at the thought of a fresh sockeye. So after only three full days at home, I was back on my gillnetter, thinking fish.

It took three solid days' work, which were dispersed through a week, but the Satisfaction hit the water on Thursday, August 4, 2011, just in time to make the first sockeye opening in Puget Sound on Friday, from 2 p.m. to midnight.  

That first opening was actually pretty good! I figured on only catching a few, so I didn't bring very many ice chests (where I store cleaned fish to sell on the island). Chaos ensued after I had 150 fish on one set, with no organized place to put them. I wound up selling some fish to the tender but I still had a very successful selling day on San Juan Island. Linda, my deckhand in Bristol Bay who also lives on San Juan Island, joined me for this opening, and also sold a batch of fish at the farmer's market.

Our next opening came a week later on Thursday, August 11, 8 a.m. to midnight; a full day of fishing. There were fewer fish than the previous opening, and more boats as well, but I managed to catch enough for the islanders, and we had a great time doing it.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Runs running down

Thursday, July 14 — After sitting on the beach since our last opening on Monday, July 11, we finally got an opening in both the Naknek and Kvichak districts.  We have been listening to Fish and Game updates, hoping for an opening, but being disappointed every time because the escapement in the Naknek and Kvichak Rivers have not met their escapement goals. Egegik, which hasn't fished for days on end was finally given an opening for today.

There have been many long faces on the dock, belonging to fishermen who are wondering where the second half of their season has gone. It seems to me the run managers just took the escapement later in the season instead of at the beginning, as they usually do. Either way it slices up to less fish than expected.

We're heading out tonight to fish tomorrow. Hopefully we will be getting regular openings again, and won't be coming back to land until this run is totally in the can.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Biding time and tide

July 10, 2011 — As I write this we are taking a management-imposed break from fishing. The biologist in charge of monitoring the Naknek/Kvichak district of Bristol Bay had the fleet stand down for two tides to allow fish to escape up the river to spawn. Already 750,000 fish have gone by; apparently he wants 1.1 million (that is a midpoint number, so I think 900,000 would be fine for the longevity of the run).

The river will get its escapement with the fleet not fishing; the question is when. Right now there are 760 boats registered to fish in the Naknek district, which is the most I have ever seen here. I think this volume of boats is doing too good a job of catching the fish, so not enough are getting up the river.

Egegik is a hurting unit, as well. The last I heard they were taking a couple DAYS off — that was a couple days ago. If only Egegik had its fish come in… there would be fewer boats in Naknek and maybe we would be fishing now.

No matter how you slice it the fact is that fewer fish have returned than expected. What does this mean? I don't buy into the doom-and-gloom theories that would suggest the ocean can no longer sustain life; rather, I just think the run is a bit smaller than they forecast, and after fishing aggressively in the beginning, they need to pull back and let the fish get up the river. Of course, Egegik has had two slow runs in a row (2010 and 2011), but in 1997 and 1998 Naknek had two slow runs, as well. I believe the fishery is fine, and just cycling through something.

The noon announcement gave us an opening at 8 a.m. on July 11, and no opening on the evening tide. I imagine we will be on this one-tide-a-day schedule for a few days, until the river gets its escapement. This is far better than Egegik's announcement, which was to stand down for another three to four tides before there any chance of an opening.  

At this point I am just happy to be fishing.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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All aboard in Naknek

July 6, 2011 — Hello from the Naknek fishing district of Bristol Bay. We have been out fishing, without returning to shore, since June 21st or so — I've lost track.

Fishing has been good in Naknek, which has been good for me because that is where I fish, good or bad. Unfortunately, for many other fishermen, fishing is slower in other districts. Egegik is really slow — but not so bad as last year, I think. Regardless, many boats have been transferring up to Naknek. When a fisherman transfers, he has to sit out 48 hours; so it is a big, and sometimes painful, deal to transfer. Lately fishermen from Nushigak have been transferring to Naknek as well.
 
We started fishing in Naknek with around 350 boats in late June and we are up to about 550 now. Part of the enticement lately has been the opening of the Westside — the expansive area of the Kvichak River District. The Naknek/Kvichak is separated by a line that makes the Naknek section quite small. We have only fished in the Kvichak section three times so far, and when we fish in the Naknek section only, it is very crowded. The boundary line is simply bananas.
 
Overambitious fishermen with way too much horsepower have stepped up the competition to the boiling point. Guys are going way over the line, and it is getting tough to scratch out a decent day of fishing. I believe the peak of the run has passed and we are on the downhill slide, but there are always pulses of fish that push through. I'll be fishing until it slows way down, so I still have a way to go.

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Bristol Bay — all in

June 25, 2011 — As I write this I have just returned from two openings in Egegik. We can fish in any East Side district through June 24, so I took in a couple of openings down there, where the fish come a couple days before Naknek. It was good fishing, and I made two openings there, and only missed one Naknek opening. I am now registered in Naknek, where I will spend the remainder of the season.

At this point the boat seems ready to roll; all of our projects have been accomplished. The crew is acclimated to boat life and ready for the season. Tomorrow my daughter Madeline comes in to join us for the remainder of the season. That will give us a crew of four, plus me as the skipper, for a total of five on board my old-school high-tech wood boat.

We started out our season fishing in Naknek doing an array of drills to teach Linda, the new deckhand, the way the deck works. Linda is my wife Maureen's trusted friend; she is a hard worker and has a great attitude. I opted for the hard-working-greenhorn-gal to supplement my fifteen-year-old daughter, so with those two gals and my two other regular crew, Edward and Anthony, the Sunlight III back deck will be a force to be reckoned with. I refer to my deck as the octopus because there are eight hands ready to pull the fish out of the net.

At this point the season is upon us. It is time to go fishing for the long grind. We are expecting to be fishing two tides per day, and going for it for all it is worth. The Bristol Bay season is short, and we have to give it our all. We are ready for that now.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Martyr to the cause

Saturday, June 11, 2011 — After shooing away the robins, we pulled the Sunlight III out of the warehouse a few days later, and lowered her into the water. I was right on schedule and felt good with the way things were progressing.

I would have been geared up and ready to fish on Monday, June 13, but as a member of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association board of directors, I had to attend the annual meeting in Dillingham, Alaska, on Tuesday. Too bad because on the high water on Monday, we heard reports that those fishermen fishing the "free week" in Egegik were catching pretty good fish. The report I heard was 2,500 pounds by noon — only three hours into the opening.

That is good fishing, especially for this early, and I was pissed I had to miss it. I watched my brother Frank leave the dock to get in on the action, then I watched the tide go out and my boat go dry. I was resigned to this gut-wrenching fate because of my requirement to be at the meeting. My only comfort was accepting full responsibility for not insisting on scheduling the meeting over the preceding weekend.

But at the meeting I suppose I did some good. As a proponent of the BBRSDA providing ice to Bristol Bay fishermen, I argued the point and the board reached a decision that I believe will benefit the ice supply in both the short and the long term. So I guess I gave of myself to benefit the greater community. Since when did I become the a martyr? No, I never signed up for that. I should have insisted on an earlier meeting.

Upon my return to Naknek that evening, we finished wrapping up the boat and set sail for a "shakedown" trip in the wee hours of the morning of Wednesday, June 15.  We had missed the shot of fish in Egegik, but the peak of the season is right around the corner. Hopefully all will go well and we will catch our designated share.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Big bucks in Bristol Bay

Wednesday June 1, 2011 — I arrived in Naknek. One thing that was different was there were many other fishermen here to greet me; usually I am one of the very first, then other fishermen trickle in after me. And since I arrived on pretty much the same date as usual, this means the other fishermen are coming up earlier. In fact, three guys I know of came up, got their major projects done, and then flew home. I haven't seen this much interest in Bristol Bay since the the mid-1990s.

Another astounding snippet of real-time trivia is the price of permit leases. After years of $8,000 to $10,000 lease price to use a Bristol Bay permit for the season, permits are now leasing at the incredible price of $25,000. Of course, if a fisherman owns his own permit, he doesn't have to pay this. But if you need a permit in order to go fishing, you are going to have to fork out the big bucks.

Both of these facts demonstrate the anticipation and excitement of this upcoming Bristol Bay season. Last year we were paid more than we have been paid since the mid-1990s. Guys are building new boats, coming up early to work on refrigeration systems, bow thrusters, or hydraulic-upgrade installations, which shows this year the fleet will be on point and ready to fight for every fish.

On the more real side of life, over the winter a pair of robins built their nest in my mast, which was lowered when my boat was moved into the warehouse for the winter. I knew I would have to give these birds some kind of an eviction notice because my boat would be out fishing before their chicks hatched and fledged.

To accommodate the birds, my crewman Edward and I moved it to the rafter just a few feet away. When the birds returned after we relocated their nest, they were a bit confused. Edward and I watched as they tried to figure out what had happened to their nest, and after a full FIVE MINUTES of confusion, one of them noticed the nest in the new location, and they have been living there happily ever since. It is really cool because whenever I am working on a project up on my flying bridge, they are buzzing back and forth feeding their chicks.

At this point I hope to have my boat moved out of the warehouse in a day or two, so it is good to have the birds off the boat. It is also good to have those birds as a reminder that despite all the hype and excitement connected to this year's Bristol Bay season, everything is still connected to the natural cycle of life.

Let’s hope the sockeye are cycling as well as those robins!

TO BE CONTINUED…

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