Fishing was HOT!

[Bucko]

We had to work for it, but we all managed to limit on our salmon and halibut every day. Got in last night at 2:30. We agreed to throw back halibut less than 50 pounds (not enough meat) and more than 150 pounds (the big ones are usually females), and throw back silvers less than 15 pounds. We did a lot of pitching but I still came home with 170 pounds of filets.

Come on up to WA and let's have a fish fry!

Now to open some decent wine -- I'm sick of beer.

Bucko

[hotwine]

Yeeowww! Sounds fan-tabulous! Nephew stopped by a few days ago and gave us some whole flounder and fillets of speckeled trout and redfish. We've only grilled some of the trout so far - beautiful!

Hope you've got a big ol' barbecue pit, Bucko.

[RAD]

Bucko,

Sounds great! Were all the salmon silvers, or were there any kings in the mix? Sounds like a great excuse to pop open a nice pinot...

RAD

[Bucko]

I have lots of BBQ space. :-)

The kings had already done their run. The silvers were the only game in town, salmon-wise.

[cpurvis]

Glad to hear that you & 'Wilson' made it back..& more quickly than the Castaway [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]
cp

[winoweenie]

BIGGGG PARTY AT THE BUCKMEISTERS!!!!!!!ww

[Bucko]

Bring it on, big boy. I got the fish, I got the wine! Let's party!

Bucko

[Bucko]

BTW, Wilson was ecstatic at all of the fish. He was bouncing off of the walls!

BuckFish

[RAD]

Fishing in AK has me spoiled. It's like a week of drinking (your all-time fav wine here), and then being relegated to the occasional sip of Manischewitz back home.

RAD

[Bucko]

You summed it up RAD. The fishing was a lot of fun. I got back home and one of my patients was clucking how they went out of Westport, WA and caught two 35 lb. halibuts. They were ecstatic. I didn't have the heart to tell them that we threw back anything less than 50 lbs. in AK.

Another patient was thriled to catch a couple of silvers, 12 and 13 lbs., after a day of fishing. We threw back anything less than 15 lbs., caught our limit of five, then played catch and release.

I'm not crowing mind you, just confirming that the fishing in AK is incredible. This was my first trip and will not be my last.....

Bucko

[wondersofwine]

When I attended St. James' Episcopal Church in Monterey, we celebrated St. James' Feast Day with grilled salmon in the churchyard. One of our parishioners made annual trips to Alaska and shared his catch with the small church. Sometimes a lucky tourist would join us for worship and get a salmon dinner as well! St. James was associated with fishing so it all played out well.
Glad it went so well for Bucko.

[RAD]

There is nothing better than grilled salmon on the side of a river, and a big grizzly cleaning up the leftovers the next morning!

Now, add a few bottles of a good pinot...I haven't tried that exact combo before.

Let's have a show of hands for an annual AK fish camp/wine tasting!!! [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

RAD

[cpurvis]

Real good ideer RAD! Here's one hand...the other is packin' fishin' gear [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]
cp

[hotwine]

Count me in! My only trip to Alaska was in August of '93 on a family cruise, and I was told to leave my flyrod at home. I've been spring-loaded ever since. That's got to be the most beautiful place in the world, and still largely unspoiled. How about next August? That seems to be the window in the weather. (Wonder if the BBQ trailer would go as "checked baggage"....?)

[winoweenie]

Have Reidel, Will Travel. WW

[Drew]

and of course you'll need security to guard the catch...count me in!

Drew

[cpurvis]

This is startin' to come together nicely:
Bucko brings the tastin' notepad & wears shorts to scare away women other than wives.
Roberto in charge of music.
Foodie brings the garlic & olive oil.
Hotwine brings the grillin' equipment.
IK brings the grill pan thingamajig.
cp joins IK on oak patrol.
Winecollector brings cash only & is not allowed to purchase wine for other than personal consumption.
Drew is security.
MrD brings the bird book.
WW is the "designated dri(nk)er" & brings a carpet remnant to pad the boat floors.
ddf brings the French pinot.
lolly brings the recipes.
RAD makes sure we don't talk 'bout bidness.
cck (does anyone know where she is?) is in charge of the photo album
barnesy brings an Oregon sampler case.
Others?

cp

[Innkeeper]

Have grillpan, will travel. However, though have thrown many things at flies, have never thrown flies at anything. Strickly a spinnerman.

[Bucko]

I don't need shorts to scare away wimmen!

Bucko

[hotwine]

IK, I was once a spinnerman, too. Until one Saturday morning on Ft Bragg's Rod & Gun Club pond, when flailin' the water with every manner of spinner came to naught, I got desparate enough to try some snelled-hook flies an uncle had given me as a child. Small panfish seemed to be taking gnats on the suface, so I rooted around until I found a Black Gnat fly. Grasped the six-inch leader and dappled the bug onto the surface, and instantly caught a little perch. Caught half a dozen more before rowing madly back to shore, and running into the clubhouse yelling "I need a flyrod!" The clerk outfitted me with rod, reel and line for $25, and I dashed back out onto the water, struggling to assemble the rig as I ran. Needless to say, I wound up with flyline wrapped thoroughly around both ears, but got it together enough to catch a few more little wrigglers by simply throwing the line by hand. And without a doubdt, I was the one who was hooked! As a battalion S2, I had access to topographical maps, and spent evenings plotting weekend fishing missions to hidden streams and ponds, and had an absolute ball. It ended after a few short months with orders for 'Nam, but that experience was a watershed. Highly recommend it for the peace and tranquility that always seems to characterize it.