Sunday, June 25, 2006

Fried Clams and WHAT?

It seems that the older I get, the less I am able to hear. Yeah, I wear those little electronic devises that plug into my head. They are suppose to make things easier to hear. I wonder sometimes if they contribute to worse hearing because when I take them out, things get awfully quiet.
Last night I was wearing the little critters while talking to my owner. She has been down in Redwood City goo gooing over her new grand daughter.
I was bragging about the salmon I had cooked for supper. She had loaded up most of the clams I had dug recently, and hauled them down there with her. It seems that her Mother has a passion for clams.
She exclaimed that her Mother and her were having clams and porn-on-the-cob, for supper. I immediately said, "Clams and porn for supper"?? "Maybe I should have been down there too"!! She quickly spouted back," Clams and corn, you deaf old goat"!!
I told her how relieved I was, because I was having trouble understanding how one could get porn-on-the-cob.
She went on to say something to the effect that I was getting worse. I don't think it was necessarily about my hearing either.
Other than loosing my hearing, going blind, can't remember anything, etc., I'm doing just fine.
Bad things always happen when she leaves me to my own resources.
I wonder what trouble I'll get in to tomorrow??

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Salmon in the Freezer!!

I have been quiet lately due to running a set net in Cook Inlet.
My fishing partner and I caught 69 red salmon and one king in four days.
For those who don't know what a set-net is... It is a gill-net that salmon swim into and tangle their gills and can't get loose.
We put a metal stake out in the tidal flats at low tide, tie on a 15 ft. Rope attached to a big buoy.
We then tie a pulley to the stake and run a rope back to another stake and pulley on the bank, creating and endless loop of rope. We then tie a 60X10 ft. gill net to the line. This allows us to pull the net in when it fills with salmon.
It was my first time to use a net, and it will be done for years to come. It is a quick way to get our fish supply in so we can get ready for moose season.
I had my freezer set up in camp along with a vacuum-sealer. In less than 30 minutes the salmon went from the sea into the freezer.
Later on I will catch salmon down in the Kenai River below my house using a fishing pole. Just for some fun.
Monday I'm going back to the beach and dig the big razor and red-neck clams. The limit is 60 clams, which fills a 5 gal. Bucket.
Sigh...Wish I had something to do...So boring!
In two months we will be in moose camp, high in the Caribou Hills. We will be there for a month.
My brother, his wife and son-in-law will be joining us.
Last year we harvested three large bull moose, which will last each family for a year. We believe it much better than beef, with very low fat and no "growth hormones".
I suppose this pioneer life-style sounds a bit primitive to city dwellers. I know folks in California who won't buy anything unless it comes from the local store. The thought of harvesting their own food is not only unnecessary, but it can't be fit to eat.
What they don't know probably will hurt them.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Bubba and the set-net

Well, I have been busy with a "Bear Safety- Moose Calling" seminar.
We packed the house out last night. I was doing some training for the locals for the North American Moose Foundation banquet next week end. I'm holding a moose calling contest for the state championship at the banquet.
Tomorrow my fishing partner and I are beginning to set up camp on the beach . We are running an anchor out about 600 feet at low tide. It will have a pully and a loop of rope tied back up on the beach near camp. We will be able to pull the set net, which will be floating, from the bank, to remove the salmon. A few family members will be coming down to get their supply of salmon.
I'm really looking forward to fish camp. We will run the set net for about a week. By then we'll have several hundred salmon caught. We are allowed 35 fish each, and more if a family has kids. I'm also doing a video documentary of the event for anyone interested. It's just one more kool thing we get to do up here each year. I'll also be digging more big clams at low tide.
Moose season is less than 3 months away. I"m also getting ready for that.
The king salmon are running in the Kenai River below my house. I'll play with a fishing pole when I have all of my fish in the freezer. Right now I have a problem of where to put more fish. I have three big freezers and they are still full of moose, salmon, halibut and clams from last year. Guess I'll be giving more meat away this summer. Such a hassle, huh?
I suppose that most folks like the safety of the suburbs of California. Most folks can't handle the stress of a long move, and being far away from old friends.
Then there are the adventurers who long for the land of the wilderness. Folks who have to live an adventure every day and can't stand growing old without living their dream. A "rut" is a grave with both ends kicked out.
Too soon we wake up and our health has left us inable to walk the wilderness trails. Too late to do what we always wanted to do and we find that our lives have been stamped out just like a cookie cutter. We were just like so many others.
I am kicking on 64 my next birthday. I came to the North Land when I was 26. My only regret was I waited so long. I have lived the life of adventure that most only dream about and I'm a long way from slowing up. It's a dirty job, but some one has to do it.