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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ OT: Going Commercial Salmon Fishing

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 May 30 2005, 09:11 PM

As most of you that read the board know I just moved back to Alaska. Before I left here 3 1/2 years ago, I made most of my income commercial fishing. When I moved to Oregon I decided to get a "real Job" you know a 8-5 kind of thing. Well after 3 years of office work I am happy to go back to what some refer to as summer camp to men.

It's a month of living on a 32 foot boat with 2 other guys trying to catch as much sockey salmon as you can during the gillnetting openers. An OK season is around 100,000lbs.

I used to do this fishery when prices were good and we had record runs. There was a rough patch around 2000 with low returns and bad prices, but it is on the upswing now. I am just glad to get out on the water again and make a buck at the same time.

My wife will stay home with the little ones and work on our new baking business.

Here is a pic of "the line" where some real combat fishing takes place.

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Posted by: Rhodes71/914 May 30 2005, 09:12 PM

This is roughly what the boat looks like.

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Posted by: Travis Neff May 30 2005, 10:25 PM

Rhodes,

I envy your change of pace! I sure do miss the NW water. I spent most of my summers as a kid in the northern areas of the puget sound on a sailboat with my dad. Almost lived aboard one in high school.

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jun 9 2005, 02:07 AM

I'm just bumping the board while my wife makes cookies to send in the food crate to the Bay. I just built this wood box to hold some food and dry goods that will travel on a Tender from here to the Bristol Bay, hope it holds up.

For those of you reading this -

Eat Wild Salmon

Posted by: URY914 Jun 9 2005, 05:58 AM

My God, you got big balls.

What a man!

Paul

Posted by: Bleyseng Jun 9 2005, 06:55 AM

Have fun! I only eat wild salmon as the farmed fish tastes like

Posted by: morphenspectra Jun 9 2005, 08:34 AM

dude i do eat wild salmon,bieng half indian i gill net and rod fish the columbia river. for salmon,i can also hunt or fish on any fedral land.(no tags or lic),
But man my hats off to you that looks like hard work and cold times.
james
appearance & performance

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jun 9 2005, 10:08 AM

QUOTE (morphenspectra @ Jun 9 2005, 06:34 AM)
dude i do eat wild salmon,bieng half indian i gill net and rod fish the columbia river. for salmon,i can also hunt or fish on any fedral land.(no tags or lic),
But man my hats off to you that looks like hard work and cold times.
james
appearance & performance

Did the Chinook ever show up this spring?

I always thought it would be fun to gillnet the Columbia.

Posted by: Eric_Shea Jun 9 2005, 10:26 AM

For those of you reading this -

Send Wild Salmon

Posted by: morphenspectra Jun 9 2005, 10:47 AM

the march salmon run sucked!!!i never do the fall run
should better
james

Posted by: Hawktel Jun 9 2005, 10:54 AM

When I was a kid up in Oregon we would buy Salmon from the Indians (breakin da law)

Here in Utah, people act odd when I tell them I can tell atlantic from pacific salmon, and wild from farm raised. But you really can, and its easy after you have tasted them each.

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jul 24 2005, 11:51 AM

Made it back safe and sound. It was a fairly succesfull season with a lot of fishing time and not much sleep. 3 guys living on a 32 foot boat for a month can get interesting as well, luckily we got along well.

Here are a few pics, low quality stills from my dig. vid. cam. I will be making a small movie and posting it soon.

BTW it sure was fun to get behind the wheel of the 914 again.

Boat in the yard...

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Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jul 24 2005, 11:57 AM

One of the boats in our group, he is from Los Osos, CA.

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Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jul 24 2005, 11:59 AM

Some fish in the net

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Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jul 24 2005, 12:00 PM

We had some smoke from one of the many fires burning around the state, made for a nice sunset.

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Posted by: redshift Jul 24 2005, 12:17 PM

Cool! I thought you said 'slalom' fishing... and thought, "WTF!?"..

M

Posted by: kwales Jul 24 2005, 01:12 PM

Don't know if you know Bob Hartley and his wife Pat. Bob has been a fisherman and oyster farmer in Homer for quite a few years. He lives in Kechemak Bay during the summer and in town in the winter. If you do, tell him Ken Wales says Hi.

Watching the boats fish in Kechemak bay was interesting. All the boats lined up and the first one would go out, lay down the net and begin spiralling in. Then they would haul in the net, dump the fish on deck and move off. Then the second boat would repeat the process, followed by the third and so on.

Bob claimed they seed the bay with eggs so the salmon return to their spawning grounds and the boats in the line have done the seeding.

Last time I was up there, Bob took us out fishing in his boat and my Sister, Pat, and I reeled in 8 huge silver salmon in about 2 hours.

Quite a place you live in. Heard of some boats making a quarter of a million bucks in a season. Met some local Japanese guy that had a huge boat with his family as crew.

Ken

Posted by: neo914-6 Jul 24 2005, 02:30 PM

QUOTE (Eric_Shea @ Jun 9 2005, 08:26 AM)
For those of you reading this -

Send Wild Salmon

Good you can stand the rocking, I'd be every day.