We know that some of you follow this blog to hear about us in general, so here's a quick photo update: We had a great winter in Washington, where the snow conditions were not at their best but surely better than coastal Alaska's!  (yes, we tried to stop being seasonal but haven't quite figured out how to kick the habit yet . . .)  Grandma Kathy "Rah Rah" enjoyed her time with Maggie. We had a nice Mexico get away.  The highlight for Maggie was for sure all the little dogs! Here's Maggie on one of her first fishing adventures, fishing for little Bonita by kayak.  (She still signs the story of how Mama had the fishing line tied to her toe, screamed, tried to pull the fish in and lost it!).  Did we mention we're expecting another baby this fall!! We recently escaped from boat work for a little biking adventure in Denali National Park.  It was complete with snow most days, bears and sheep. Maggie (now 18 months) learned how to use her very own sleeping bag! On a more serious note, in the midst of little girls growing up and babies growing in the belly, Emily's stepdad, Dave, died this April.  It's still a shock and we miss his presence.  He was a kind, giving man who lived a full life and even helped drive your fish around last summer.  We love you Dave.

The Northland fishing Upper Cook Inlet 2013.

 

Kyle has flown north to Homer, AK to start boat work for the 2014 season.  With summer right around the corner we wanted to give everyone some updates:

• This winter we sold our Upper Cook Inlet Drift permit and bought a Bristol Bay Drift permit!  (We've long considered switching to the Bay and decided to make the plunge with permit values approaching each other and the political scene in Cook Inlet getting more and more volatile . . .)
• We will still be offering some great Small Scales Scrumptious Sockeye Shares, but our distribution and exact product will be a little different this year.  (More details to follow shortly.)
• On the personal, non-fishy note, our little girl Maggie is almost 1.5 years old and we're expecting another munchkin due end of September.  Rita is happily living with a new non-kid family, Dakota passed away last summer and Sassy is going strong.

As always, thank you to all of our great customers.  We love hearing from all of you about how much you're loving your salmon!!

We've been a little preoccupied lately with our new small fry, Margaret Chenel Lints.  Maggie was born on November 11th at 12:00am in Brewster, WA.  She weighed 7 pounds 14.5 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long.  She is now 13 weeks old and is growing and changing every day.  Maggie loves skiing! and sunbathing (more like shade bathing)!  Maggie is generally very sweet but can get a little crabby at times.  On other notes, we will continue to offer Small Scales Seafood's Scrumptious Sockeye Salmon Shares in 2013.  Keep eating your 2012 fish so that you have room for the freshest fillets this year.  (Hopefully our quality salmon is making salmon snobs out of all of you, and a salmon snob never eats a year old fish!)  We will post 2013 order information in the near future.

We've been out for two days of fishing.  The fish are starting to show up, the boat is running great with some new improvements and our new crew is great.  This year JP (John Paul) returns and Jake Beaudoin joins us.  (Yep, it took two strong young men to replace Emily's deckhand skills ;). Two of our favorite salmon spawning ground research tools: packrafts. On the shore of Skilak Lake, headwaters to the Kenai River.

Check out our Facebook page or click on this link to see some fun pictures from the trip we took before the season began.  It was a bit of a 'research' trip because we explored two of the main glaciers that drain into the rivers where our fish spawn, the Tustumena and Skilak glaciers.  Now you REALLY know where your fish come from!

We have just a handful of orders left.  

Thanks to everyone for already placing your order!

The 2012 salmon season is approaching and Small Scales Seafoods is ready to take orders!  

We're giving past customers a two week lead to get on our order list and then we'll open it up to people on our waitlist and the world at large.  Feel free to email or call to get on our lists!  We are the most limited in our Methow deliveries, have room to add some customers in Anchorage and the most room for added customers in Homer and shipped orders.  Read our Salmon Shares page and Orders page for more info.

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Here's a quick update on the past months:

Kyle spent a month in Alaska working on his Uncle Frank's Chesapeake Bay Oyster Tonger, The Pixie.  The Pixie plans on fishing Upper Cook Inlet this season under Captain Tony Umlauf. Homer had an epic snow year!  Kyle was pretty sure someone stole our two cars, but he later discovered that they were parked in the driveway. Ernie, Emily's dad, left us two lovely, large "Spring Rots" (aka Springer Spaniel/Rotweiler) last summer.  They made the drive up the Alaskan-Canadian Highway with Kyle and are enjoying their first ever visit to the great north. We had a fun road trip to California, complete with a 46km Nordic race at Mammoth Lakes and high altitude sunshine.  (Did we mention that Emily is pregnant!!  Being in her first trimester and skiing at 9,000 feet meant that this may have been her slowest, most challenging ski race ever.) Enid, Kyle's sister fed us many eggs from her heritage chicken farm in California.  She collects almost 90 eggs a day! We've enjoyed spring in the Methow, including a bit of backcountry, family and great friends.  Now it's a 30th birthday party on Cinco de Mayo for Emily and then we'll fly north on May 7th.

That's it for now!

In AK fishing season and ski season can always overlap if you seek it out! Emily is in the Methow enjoying perfect spring Cross Country skiing and Kyle is in Alaska rebuilding a drift gillnet boat for his Uncle Frank.  (Cousin Tony hopes to make the adjustment from setnetter to gillnetter this year!)  We'll admit we're a little perplexed about if it's ski season or fishing and boat season . . . After a jaunt to visit Kyle's sister in California, come May we'll both be in Alaska, likely still skiing and dreaming about fish. Whatever you're dreaming about these days, it's time to make sure and eat all of your 2011 Scrumptious Sockeye Salmon Shares to make room for the fresh 2012 shares!  Within a few months we'll figure out our 2012 business plan and reach out to past customers first, then interested customers, then the 'world at large.'  Methow orders are expected to fill up fast because of our small scale, but we expect to add to shipped and Alaska orders.

Happy Spring and Happy Salmon Eating!

Merry Christmas!

Out at Sea, Mexico Style We are settled down in the Methow Valley of Washington state enjoying evenings by the woodstove, sunshine, great cross country skiing and our salmon delicacies.  Every salmon fillet we thaw and eat is a reminder back to the exciting and busy summer we had on the waters of Cook Inlet.  We're also enjoying the salted silver salmon we put up and are making jars of pickled salmon as little holiday gifts. Every one who tells us just how much they love their top-notch salmon makes our outreach efforts worthwhile.  Thanks for being our customers and for appreciating our efforts and the quality of your fish! Before the start of the ski season we had a little beach get away to Mexico.  One evening we ate at a little beachfront restaurant (complete with sand fleas nibbling on our ankles and a deep magenta sunset).  Our dish was Fillete Relleno, or a stuffed fillet.  In this instance it was a white fish, that we can't translate, stuffed with shrimp and octopus, topped with a red sauce and cheese.  Here's our version of a Salmon Fillete Relleno for you to try this winter with your fillets.

Salmones Fillete Relleno Americano

-two of your thickest salmon fillets, thawed

-fresh homemade pesto or a jar of pesto

-olive oil or butter

-small wild shrimp (Alaskan ideally ;)

-tomatoes

-shredded parmesan

Saute shrimp till partially done in olive oil or butter.  With a sharp knife make a butterfly cut into your fillet so that it opens up along one edge.  Layer pesto, shrimp and parmesan in the fillet and close.  Place in a glass baking pan and top with tomato slices and parmesan.  Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, or until the white fat just begins to show.  (NEVER overcook your Scrumptious Sockeye!) If desired broil for a few minutes to crisp the top.  Enjoy and Merry Christmas.

Last summer Emily's dad, Ernie, came fishing with us and that prompted Emily's mom, Kathy, to come this summer and see what her daughter is up to. Now that the season has slowed down we had time to enjoy a fresh fish barbecue on the back deck while floating in calm seas.

Just as we were ready to eat the radio blared with a fish call and we packed up and headed north, eating while underway.

We ended up catching a few hundred fish which is not bad at all considering the season is nearly over. Kathy had the opportunity to find out just how thrilling picking fish can be.

As the tide turned the seas picked up to a three foot chop and by the time we returned back to the river Kathy had experienced all the components of a fun day of fishing. She's not quite ready to sign on as a deckhand for next season but she had fun and now knows what it's all about!

We are super psyched that our customers have had the "opportunity for great seafood at an amazing value." Our shipments have arrived in tip top shape and salmon lovers around the country are learning what super high quality wild Alaskan salmon really tastes like.