SNIFF, SNIFF.
Hear that?
SNIFF, SNIFF, SNIFF!
Can you hear that?
That’s the sound the kinky boys make when they sniff their way back to Alaska. They have swum the distance, went wherever it is king salmon go, did whatever it is that king salmon do and are now, right now, swimming their way back home. Can you hear them now? Isn’t that exciting? The King Salmon are returning!
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| 50 lb Copper River King, 2011 |
This is such an exciting time of year. The fish buzz is just beginning. The season is approaching and I think I have just enough money to make it through. Barely. The process of selective memory is complete and I have forgotten all the reasons that I hate to fish and all the aches and pains it causes and only remember what I love about it. Being on the water with the chance that this next set might make me rich! And the beautiful sunrises and sunsets and nice calm days (hey, this is my fishing fantasy, and in my fantasy, the weather is always nice on the Copper River.)
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| 17 lb Copper River King circa 2001 caught on my boat | f/v King-N-I |
I have even forgotten the promise that I made my friend make, that if I even talked about wanting to go fishing again, to run, not walk, to the kitchen. Get out her biggest cast iron pan and bang me over the head with it until I have come to my senses. I wonder if she forgot this promise, too...Oh well, she’s not here.
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| 40-ish lb Copper River King circa 2001 on King-N-I |
Halibut season opened last week, March 17th, Sitka Herring is gearing up. Next thing you know, it will be May 15th, which is opening day (give or take) of the Copper River in Cordova, Alaska! In the past there have been helicopters on the fishing grounds waiting for the first king salmon. They shuttle the fish to town where it hops on a plane bound for Seattle. Where chefs are waiting for it, waiting to cook it up right for folks who get to have it for dinner, an exquisite dinner of King Salmon that was caught that very same day! But, shh! Nobody tell the salmon about the fate it awaits when it returns home. Let that be our little secret.
