Last week with his bags packed, Kyle decided to stay in Bristol Bay a little longer.  On his planned departure day too many fish were being caught to leave and yet his crew had to get home and his boat was already out of the water.  2015 set records for so many fish returning so late!  Commercial fishing is one big financially dependent decision after the other based on a complex, ever changing system of oceans, rivers, fish and management plans. In desperation Kyle took his permit aboard another boat and crewed for a handful of days.  A boat with two permits gets an extra shackle of gear allowing them to catch a little more fish.  This choice was the best option at that point and a nice way to unwind from the insanity of fishing Bristol Bay.  Kyle wanted more than anything to return to his baby, toddler and wife after almost two months apart and eventually decided that being home was more valuable than making more money. The run seemed  to slow down and most boats pulled out of the water a few days ago.  But even yesterday the remaining boats are catching a lot of salmon.  At this point 51 million salmon (!) have returned to Bristol Bay, out of the preseason forecast-ed 52 million.  During the season the return was so slow that even the scientists doubted the pre-season forecast and downgraded the forecast to 30 million.  There are just so many variables involved. ] The many glaciers that feed into remote Bristol Bay Ahh Home Sweet Homer!

Just when it seemed like the fish would never come, they came!

Kyle, Jake and Jake found some darn good fishing catching thousands of pounds of sockeye salmon a day.  The fishing has been good for a number of days and the fleet has been allowed to fish two periods every 24 hours.  Last night our cannery asked all their boats to not fish because they were too plugged with fish!  Hard work and good fish have added up to make the season a good one.  You never know until it's over, but Chum (or Dog) Salmon are starting to show up along with the aforementioned straggler fish, signaling that the end is in sight.  Exhausted, the boys are ready to come home soon.  They plan to fish two more periods, put up the boat and race home to a real bed and loved ones. Meanwhile, Maggie, Ben, Emily and Grandma Kathy journeyed to Alaska and are moving into the 'round house' as Maggie calls it (aka Yurt).  We are settling in for a few months of Homer, AK living.  The 60 degree weather and daily rain is a nice break from near 100 degree and smoky conditions in the Methow Valley, WA. On the order front, we still have room for more orders!  Send your friends our way and we'll add them to our list.  Pricing information should be out soon.

The chase continues! 

Fishing in Egegik continued to slow and the stragglers of the run started to show up, indicating the near end of the Egegik run.  When you start to see fish with lesions, missing fins and crooked spines you know two things- that salmon are one determined species to make such a large journey back to their spawning grounds to procreate (!!), and that it's about the end of the run.  Sensibly, the males also return towards the end of a run, giving the females time to get up river, make their redds and lay their eggs before the males spread their milt.  Kyle and crew made one more transfer to Nakenek with hopes of "a last ditch effort to save the season." The F/V Northland can fish again tomorrow at 7am and is hoping to connect with some good fishing.  The usual peak in Bristol Bay is July 4th, so everyone is assuming that not too many weeks of fishing are left.  Rumors abound of a 'huge mass' of fish moving north and jumpers all the way south to Ugashik.  Do the rumors have fish behind them or just there to help a bunch of tired fishermen get out of their bunks? Time will tell- is there just enough of it to get a great return and a strong season for 2015 or not?  Will it be a year of rice and beans or caviar in the Lints' household? Uh oh. Too much time on their hands means old boots on their heads!

Fishing can be a guessing game, especially in a season when everyone is still wondering where the fish are.  An original forecast for the 2015 run to be the biggest in over 20 years got everyone excited, ourselves included.  With the arrival of July and still an absence of large numbers of Sockeye Salmon returning, everyone is scratching their heads.  The test fishery index numbers have spiked to near 100, up from 10, a few times but have not held.  It's too soon to throw in the towel and all the fishermen and women are hoping for a condensed run that comes in fast and hard.  What will the next few weeks bring!?  From a biology standpoint most of the rivers are on their way to escapement goals, or the goal of how many fish the biologists want to spawn, and that's a good thing! In terms of the adventures on the F/V Northland Kyle dropped his permit card in the Nushagak district, fished a few slow days and then pulled his card to transfer back to Egegik.  He had to sit out 48 hours and will fish the next opener.  Some boats are still waiting to commit to where they are going to fish, with hope that they'll score big once more fish come.  Kyle's gamble is to transfer before the fish come . . .

Kyle, Jake and Jake aboard the F/V Northland are ready for some real fishing to happen.  They've bounced between Egegik, AK and Naknek, AK fishing a few days and then having a day or two off due to mandatory fishing closures.  Enough salmon need to go up each river before the biologists give the go ahead to allow a lot of fishing openers.  In Bristol Bay days when you can't fish often mean that you're hanging out in a cramped little boat or you put the boat up high and dry on the riverbank at low tide and then get a good mud walk in. The fishing has been fairly slow with most days bringing in only a few hundred pounds of salmon.  It's too soon to say if the run is late or going to come in much less than projected.  They are headed out for another fishing opener tonight.  Tomorrow is a big day because every boat has to drop their permit card in a river district.  If you decide to change districts after dropping your card you are penalized by not being allowed to fish for a period of time.  If this forced closure hits you at the peak of the season it can really cut into your yearly catch.  Where will they drop their card!?

Good luck boys!

Kyle's been in Bristol Bay for a week and a half and is ready to go:

Naknek River and Leader Creek

 

Boat in the water (gosh we're older and smaller than most of the fleet!)- CHECK Two crew members named Jake on board- CHECK Jake 1 and Jake 2 New anchor roller installed- CHECK Bow thruster operational- CHECK Refrigerated Sea Water pumps updated- CHECK First test sets of the season made (two)- CHECK First fish caught (one Sculpin)- CHECK  

All we need now is salmon heading into Bristol Bay!

  The next fishing period is Monday and the boat will probably head south to Egegik.  So far there aren't any 'fishy reports.'  After Monday every fishing period is declared based on abundance and announced as Emergency Orders. Thanks for all of your orders!  We'll try to put up some extra salmon that isn't sold yet, so keep the orders coming in.  If there's something you'd like to know more about, just ask.

We're all getting ready for the upcoming season:

-Emily is tallying up everyone's orders, making her lists and checking them twice.  (Get your orders in asap to guarantee your Share of Scrumptious Sockeye Salmon!) -The munchkins are practicing their slip and slide skills on our new salmon slide.  (Once installed on the boat this slide will help every salmon gently slide from the net to the fish holds filled with chilling 34 degree water.) -Kyle recently returned from 5 furious days of pre-season boat work in Naknek, AK.  He cut a 9" hole through the bow of the Northland to install a bow thruster.  This will help maneuver the boat through swarms of boats and nets.

For all the details, including ways we're improving quality and shipping in 2015, pricing, and fall delivery information, read about our Salmon Shares.  Subscribing to our blog is a great way to get announcements about the 2015 season and your order. We hope you're well and enjoying those last scrumptious pieces of the 2014 season. Thank you, thank you, Emily, Kyle, Maggie and Ben

Kyle will be in Seattle next Friday, 3/13 at 5:30 pm with the last of our Scrumptious Sockeye Salmon Shares! All shares are in portions (5-7 oz. size, flash frozen, vacuum packed) and sold in 25 pound increments.  $12/lb!  If you’d like to come and pick up a share contact us and we’ll send you the details.  The pickup will be near Capitol Hill, just E of the intersection of I5 and I90. We will also bring some shares to the Methow after the 13th.  Let us know if you’d like in on that!  I know some of you are anxiously awaiting getting some more salmon.  The first 25 pounds can go much quicker than you’d think. We have a handful of halibut shares left as well, sold in 10 pound increments.  For $29/lb it ships out of Alaska.

Thanks for reading =).