Grumble grumble

Grumble Grumble

This is the grumble edition of PickFIsh Tales.  A rant, if you will.  What I’m sick of.   I ‘m just going to list them, in no particular order,  not most to least or vice versa and I think if I listed them alphabetically, you’d all think I was anal retentive or have OCD or something.  However, despite what I just said, I think I am most sick of the weather.  I know, I know.  It’s Alaska, it’s supposed to be cold. Well, even 49 degrees is cold for Alaska in June.  This part of Alaska anyhow.  I’m sick of being cold.  Of working in it on the boat, working in it in town while mending at the warehouse, of waking up in it in the morning (I still have yet to figure out what is wrong with my heater in my camper.  It only works if you manually turn it on, which I do in the morning once I wake up but I still have to wake in the cold.)  I’m sick of the rain, too.  I might be more sick of that than the cold.  If it were sunny but brisk I think that would be better than rain. 

I’m sick of being tired all the time.  I made the mistake this morning of adding up all the hours I’ve been putting in.  I remember doing this once a long time ago then going one step further and figuring out what I was making on an hourly basis.  It’s a good thing there weren’t any sharp objects around then because it was a pretty dismal amount.  Like 7 bucks an hour or something.  I knew better this time to stop where I was and not add up my hourly wage.  But, I didn’t know enough to not add up how many hours a week I was putting in.  We are currently fishing two 36 hour periods a week here on the Flats.  That’s 72 hours just in itself.  Then figure in run time and skipper likes to leave the night before.  Just leaving the night before twice a week adds at least 24 hours, possibly more (but I’ll say 24 hours because anything more than that will just be too depressing).  Then ballpark that I’m mending about 15 hours a week and that’s ……holy shit!  111.  No wonder I feel like I don’t have time for anything.  I don’t!

This is on top of the fog in my brain created by lack of sleep.  Its only 2 nights a week but somehow it lingers.  On those 36 hour openers, I get about 6 hours of sleep but it is broken up into 11/2 to 2 hour chunks.  Nights before the opener, I usually get 5-7 hours of sleep.  Trouble is, when I get to back to town, my body only sleeps about 6 or 7 hours because that is what it is used to.  Besides, sleep cuts into other activity time. 

This fog creeps in and you lose the ability to think.  All fishermen know what I’m talking about or anyone else who is sleep deprived on a regular basis.  You get that 1000 yard stare and just look at something, blankly, and know you know it but you can’t think.  Then someone else will come along, who is not a sleep deprived fisherman, and look at you, incredulously, and will give you a hand.  “Jen, 2+2=4”.  “Oh, ok, uh..thanks” and I’ll sheepishly walk away.  The other morning I woke up on the boat and couldn’t remember the skipper’s name.   Shit.  What’s his name, what’s his name?  I mean, this is only the 2^nd season I’ve fished with him.  I’ve only known him for about 10 years.  Jack? No.  A list of all the guys I used to fish for came pouring in.  Dave? No, that was the Gene S back in ’94.  Mike? No, good guess, there were 2 Mikes, the Coral down in southeast and the Whiskey Creek out in Bristol Bay.   Louie? Christ no, it’s not Louie! It did come to me, eventually, but what a feeling not be able to think of something so simple, something that I probably say 100 times a week  and a face that I see more that I get to see my own boyfriend’s!  Anyway, I’m sick of that.

I’m also sick of my hands being sore.   Not just the little nicks and cuts I get because my hands get dried out from salt water and crack, but sore from picking fish and mending.  I’m sick of the ache in the fingers and the sting in my knuckle of my right middle finger, the knuckle just under the fingernail.  It’s a small joint, but it hurts.  I’m also sick of smashing my hands on things when they are cold and wet.  Under the hatch covers, the level wind….I haven’t smashed them bad enough to cause any damage or bruising, just enough to smart for a while.  And you know how things hurt more when your hands are cold.  I know, I know, I should be grateful I even have a job.  I’ll try to remind myself of that next time I slam my fingers in the hatch cover.

I’m sick of my feet being clammy in Xtra-Tuff’s all day long.  I’m sick of my clothes smelling like fish.  I’m sick of smelling exhaust.  Sick of my ears hurting from wearing earmuff’s while running. (I have this nice expensive pair of Bose Noise Cancelling head phone that are light and comfortable, but I can’t wear them on this boat because there is too much vibration and they make noise.) I’m sick of flip-flopping around all day.  Sick of slamming into things and getting all bruised up like an apple.  Sick of having to hold the throttles for the entire 2 hour run down to Softuk because they don’t stay up themselves.  Sick of the loud bang everything makes on an aluminum boat.  Sick of the color of aluminum.  Grey.  (On a side note, did you know that you can’t put an copper bottomed pot on aluminum?  Electrolysis.  The copper eats through the stainless steel.  On the other hand, if you have meat that needs to be thawed out, just slap in on the aluminum deck and it will thaw in a minutes.  You can’t just set the Styrofoam package down, you have to put the meat side down.  Makes me wonder if I strip down if I would thaw me out? Just a thought.)  Let’s see, I was on a roll here………Oh, sick of my hair being a mess,  sick of not getting enough showers, sick of looking at my huge pile of laundry and mail and the too tall grass in my yard and my unplanted flowers. Sick of not posting my blog on time. There is more, I’m sure, but you get the idea.

But then, on the other hand,  after all that, I get my paycheck and think, OK.  I’ll do it one more time. 

Copper River Flat's 4th & 5th Fishing Period.

There was a big run out tide Monday morning before the opener.  Skipper got up at 4 AM to run out the Grass bar.  Low water was a 6:47 AM with 12 feet of water moving.  Crossing the bar at low water could get a bit dangerous.  Unfortunately, this proved to be true, though not for us.  We were floating around waiting for the 7 AM work bell to go off when we heard someone relaying a MAYDAY call to the Coast Guard on channel 16.  Hearing a MAYDAY never ceases to send a chill straight through to my spine, each and every time. 

At first, we were getting just getting bits of information, waiting for the story to unfold.  The fishing vessel (f/v) Topnotch was standing by a vessel in the break at Kokenhenik Bar.   Vessel was upright but appeared to be without power, two souls on board.   Coast Guard asked the make and color of the vessel.  Topnotch reported that it was a 30’ aluminum bowpicker.  Well, that narrows it down to about half the fleet.  After a few more minutes Topnotch spelled out the vessel name “Golf-Uniform-Lima-Kilo-Alpha-November-Alpha”. Skipper and I looked at each other, incredulous.  At the same time, we both said “Did he just spell out Gulkana? That’s my buddy, Billy Jr., fisherman, direct marketer, Copper River Salmon Marketing Association Board member, Prince William Sound Yacht Club President, Wine on Wednesday (WOW) goer and boat builder extraordinaire.  6 flags over Billy. So named after the 6 pennants he flies on his boat.  Flew.

Topnotch, being a single engine, fiberglass Miller rig, and the wrong side of the bar, was unable to assist.  There would have been 2 to rescue if he had attempted.  The Gulkana was on bottom in the breakers and taking ‘em over the cabin.  I waved to him on his was out the night before.  We were both leaving the harbor at the same time.  I could see he had his girlfriend Lori with him.  I don’t think she usually fishes with him but since it was a long weekend, Memorial Day and all, she probably had an extra day off.  It was a nice forecast and probably thought it would be a fun time on the flats.

The f/v Cape Fear , an aluminum twin jet boat, came in from the other side of the bar to tow Billy and Lori out of there, but got the tow line sucked in his jet and was unable to assist.    The f/v Sewak, also an aluminum twin jet rig was able to get a hold of the Gulkana and tow them out of there with both on deck in their survival suits.  The Sewak is Bill Sr., Billy Jr’s dad.  Billy built both boats. 

In the mean time the Coast Guard was sending a helicopter with a pump, but it was 45 minutes out.  The Sewak was able to tow them to safety but reported that only the bow rollers of the Gulkana was the only part above water.  She sank in 80 feet of water.

Here is the story I was able to piece together. Billy was running out, rode a wave, came down on the bottom and snapped off his two lower units.  A wave hit his stern, busted out both windows, flooded the engine room and left them without power, which is why they never made the MAYDAY call.   Several 12 footers crashed down, tweaking the cabin and making it impossible to open the door.  They were able to escape out the window.  They were pounded by breakers about 45 minutes before anyone could get to them and tow them out of there. 

It’s been a crazy season so far.  The weather hasn’t been too bad, only that one opener, but there sure have been lots of rescues.  Luckily, so far, everyone has made it through. 

Fishing was pretty good on Monday then slowed down a bit for Thursday's opener.  Thats the way she goes though.  We'll try 'er again on Monday.  Until then, eat fish!

I’ll catch ya on the flip side. 

Stand by to stand by

This week's blog will be delayed a day due to a conflict of scheduling.  Basically, short version, fishing trumps everything and it taking over my life.  Correction, has taken over everything in my life!  However,  the new post will be up on Saturday.

Thanks!!

Jen 

Memorial Day Weekend

Fishing was stellar this week.  The anticipated catch for Monday was around 93,000 with the actual catch about 240,000 sockeye salmon.  Or there abouts for the 12 hour opener.  That’s an average of 300 fish per boat.  With escapement right on target Thursdays opener is a 36 hour one.  Or so I’m told. But me?  I’m in Ohio.  It wasn’t a planned trip, but a necessary one.  You see, my mom was just diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer.  It has a more technical name than that, but I can hardly remember it let alone spell it.  I just know that you never know about these things and it was time to get home to see her.  So, a ferry ride, a red eye flight and an eight hour drive across 3 states and I showed up on her at her door.  

My sister, my mom, and I are trying to take it all in stride.  But it’s hard.  And overwhelming.  And too much.  And did I mention hard?  Well, it needs to be mentioned twice, because it is.  There is so much to digest and to do.  I tried to prepare myself but I didn’t know what to prepare for.  Turns out the things I was prepared for didn’t happen and I wasn’t prepared for what did happen. Funny how the universe likes to throw those curve balls. The things I thought would be hard aren’t and then the hard things catch me off guard.   Like taking her to her chemo.  We pull up in my out of state rental car and the free hospital Valet parking guy says “Welcome to Ohio.”  We are still giggling at his sense of humor when we walk into this nice, well foliaged building.  My eyes automatically start scanning the place as I walk through the door.  I see brick, plants, a coffee shop, stairs, and all things you would expect to see.  I see people walking around………in head scarves and hats or bald.  That was one of those unexpected moments that hit you like a ton of bricks ………. “I’m in a chemo ward”.  I had to muster all I had not to cry right then and there.  “Be brave for your mother, she needs you now” was what I heard a voice in my head say. 

There is so much to do.  The paper work, financial aid applications, medicines, check lists, nutritional diets, support groups, more paperwork………the dreaded will. We are still trying to process that cancer part.  It’s all too much and all I can report this week.  But, one bite of the elephant at a time.   

If anyone would like to send my mom a card, I’m sure she would love it.  You can mail it to:

Jeanne

c/o Jen Pickett

PO Box 1135

Cordova, AK

99574

A real rip-snorter.........Revised Edition

Well, it's Friday and we have 2 openers under our belts for the week.  The first opener was on Monday, May 16th.  The weather was decent and sunny, though there was a bit of a lump out there from a westerly swell.  It was a low water opener, with a minus tide.  So, big tides and lots of water running through there.  Rumors were the river was low and colder than normal and the ocean was warmer than normal, but no one knows what that means.  Anyhow, we started inside and targeted kings.  We got a handful, including one 50 pounder!  My job was to scoop it up with the dip net and bring it aboard.  With the high price we get at the beginning of the season, that makes that king about a $300 fish!

Me & and $300 50 lb King Salmon

  After that, we jumped outside of the barrier islands and fished in the open ocean. 

The Copper River Delta

I "borrowed" this image online, but it shows the fishing grounds well.  The red word says "Cordova".  We commute out through the light blue water.  If you look close into the grey, kind of where the blue letters are, you can see barrier islands.  In between those islands are big swells and breakers caused by the shallowness of the water.  Fishing "inside" means inside those islands and fishing "outside" means out in the open ocean.

It has been along time since everyone had such a good first opener.  There were fish around, decent weather and good price.  I'm not exactly sure what the price ended up being, but I heard $6.50 for kings and $4.00 for reds.

It wasn't all roses, though.  One boat had a leaky through hull fitting and was taking on water in the bow.  Boats were standing by and the Coast Guard Helicopter came out and dropped him a high volume pump so he could keep up with the amount of water he was taking on.  We was able to limp back to town.  Out plight was much less severe.  Coming in, I got us stuck.  We were following boats and was off my track line on the GPS.  It was a new area for me and I didn't know it.  I looked away for one second to ask where to go and we ran out of water.  It's all sand bottom here, so it's not a huge deal, well, it can be if you get stuck in the wrong spot. But it was low water and the tide was coming in, so all was OK.  Still, Skipper got pissed and yelled.  I got pissed and yelled back, like we were this old married couple or something.  I think it has something to do with spending more hours together than the length of the boat.  48 hours on a 32 foot boat changes you. We could see two other boats high and dry.  That made me feel better.  And on the way in, I saw about another 10 boats dry. 

Then there was the second opener........There were still fish around but the price dropped in half, about $2.25 for reds.  It blew and there were big tides, making it pretty sloppy out there.   We anchored in Grass Island, about in the middle of the river.  That wind just came screaming down the river all night. We hopped out the bar around 5 AM and things didn't look too bad.  The forecast was calling for Gale Warnings, SE 40 and rain.  The forecasts almost always calls for rain.  Anyway, we made a set when it opened at 7 AM and it had gotten kinda lumpy out there.  As one guy said "A little bit more and it could really get ornery out here."   We ran west a bit and was nestled, more or less, in between the Grass bar and the Pete Dahl bar were its wasn't too bad.  But it was blowing about 35 knots and a 10 foot swell.  It wasn't nice. Guys were running east to set back out and you could see half their boats at a time.  One guy put it well, "You need some kind of bullet proof operation to get though this."  A lot of guys just staying inside or on anchor.  A valid choice!

Just as we were setting the net, I looked up and about 200 feet away was a hump back whale breaching all the way out of the water!  A little bit of beauty amongst all the snotty weather. Though not if it went through our net.  By the time we picked up our net, we were sailing 2 knots with the current and it was blowing about 40-45.  That's a real hair parter.  One guy was calling for help on the radio.  He had lost his hydraulics and couldn't pick up his gear. His boat had power, just no way to get the net in.  If it's nice out, you can pull it in by hand.  But it wasn't nice out.  I never did hear how it panned out for him, but I'm sure he's fine.

We picked up just before wrapping the Pete Dahl can, a metal marker buoy that likes to collect nets.   We went in as did the rest of the group.  Too bad, too there were fish out there.  But, when it's blowing like that, one little thing goes wrong, and things go down hill fast.  Plus the tide was about to change and then the current was going to be running against the wind, making it a real rip-snorter.  That's a technical term. 

Last night, there were several MAYDAY calls to the Coast Guard. One was from the Warhawk, but I heard he made it to Shag Rock later (which is almost to town) and was OK. I heard through the grape vine that he rolled it then it righted itself, still running.   Another boat, the Wanted (which is my old boat and the one you see in all my pictures) also made a MAYDAY call. Four souls on board, they had lost their anchor and were almost out of fuel.  Another boat, the Knee Deep sunk coming in the bar.  Sounds like the Coast Guard plucked them out of the water.  At 10:00 PM last night, the ambulance took three people to the hospital, where they prepped for hypothermia. Another guy, the Accelerator took a wave over the cabin and swamped the boat.  I guess the only thing that saved him was the fact that his fish hold was full of fish and it acted as a ballast. Otherwise, it could have launched him.  That happened to Skipper, ironically,  he used to own the Knee Deep.  He took a wave over the cabin and went ass over tea-kettle in Pete Dahl.  His anchor was tied on and when he flipped, his anchor set him in the breakers.  He was there several hours ducking under his swim step every time a wave came until the chopper came a scooped him out of the water.  That was in the late '70's. 

Those are all the details I know, but will update you if more trickle in.  But I got to hand it to the Coast Guard.  Those guys and gals sure earn their keep around here, risking their lives to save the lives of others.  I salute you! 

A real rip-snorter.........

Well, it's Friday and we have 2 openers under our belts for the week.  The first opener was on Monday, May 16th.  The weather was decent and sunny, though there was a bit of a lump out there from a westerly swell.  It was a low water opener, with a minus tide.  So, big tides and lots of water running through there.  Rumors were the river was low and colder than normal and the ocean was warmer than normal, but no one knows what that means.  Anyhow, we started inside and targeted kings.  We got a handful, including one 50 pounder!  My job was to scoop it up with the dip net and bring it aboard.  With the high price we get at the beginning of the season, that makes that king about a $300 fish!  After that, we jumped outside of the barrier islands and fished in the open ocean.

The Copper River Delta

I "borrowed" this image online, but it shows the fishing grounds well.  The red word says "Cordova".  We commute out through the light blue water.  If you look close into the grey, kind of where the blue letters are, you can see barrier islands.  In between those islands are big swells and breakers caused by the shallowness of the water.  Fishing "inside" means inside those islands and fishing "outside" means out in the open ocean.

It has been along time since everyone had such a good first opener.  There were fish around, decent weather and good price.  I'm not exactly sure what the price ended up being, but I heard $6.50 for kings and $4.50 for reds.

It wasn't all roses, though.  One boat had a leaky through hull fitting and was taking on water in the bow.  Boats were standing by and the Coast Guard Helicopter came out and dropped him a high volume pump so he could keep up with the amount of water he was taking on.  We was able to limp back to town.  Out plight was much less severe.  Coming in, I got us stuck.  We were following boats and was off my track line on the GPS.  It was a new area for me and I didn't know it.  I looked away for one second to ask where to go and we ran out of water.  It's all sand bottom here, so it's not a huge deal, well, it can be if you get stuck in the wrong spot. But it was low water and the tide was coming in, so all was OK.  Still, Skipper got pissed and yelled.  I got pissed and yelled back, like we were this old married couple or something.  I think it has something to do with spending more hours together than the length of the boat.  48 hours on a 32 foot boat changes you. We could see two other boats high and dry.  That made me feel better.  And on the way in, I saw about another 10 boats dry.

Then there was the second opener........There were still fish around but the price dropped in half, about $2.25 for reds.  It blew and there were big tides, making it pretty sloppy out there.   We anchored in Grass Island, about in the middle of the river.  That wind just came screaming down the river all night. We hopped out the bar around 5 AM and things didn't look too bad.  The forecast was calling for Gale Warnings, SE 40 and rain.  The forecasts almost always calls for rain.  Anyway, we made a set when it opened at 7 AM and it had gotten kinda lumpy out there.  As one guy said "A little bit more and it could really get ornery out here."   We ran west a bit and was nestled, more or less, in between the Grass bar and the Pete Dahl bar were its wasn't too bad.  But it was blowing about 35 knots and a 10 foot swell.  It wasn't nice. Guys were running east to set back out and you could see half their boats at a time.  One guy put it well, "You need some kind of bullet proof operation to get though this."  A lot of guys just staying inside or on anchor.  A valid choice!

Just as we were setting the net, I looked up and about 200 feet away was a hump back whale breaching all the way out of the water!  A little bit of beauty amongst all the snotty weather. Though not if it went through our net.  By the time we picked up our net, we were sailing 2 knots with the current and it was blowing about 40-45.  That's a real hair parter.  One guy was calling for help on the radio.  He had lost his hydraulics and couldn't pick up his gear. His boat had power, just no way to get the net in.  If it's nice out, you can pull it in by hand.  But it wasn't nice out.  I never did hear how it panned out for him, but I'm sure he's fine.

We picked up just before wrapping the Pete Dahl can, a metal marker buoy that likes to collect nets.   We went in as did the rest of the group.  Too bad, too there were fish out there.  But, when it's blowing like that, one little thing goes wrong, and things go down hill fast.  Plus the tide was about to change and then the current was going to be running against the wind, making it a real rip-snorter.  That's a technical term.

Last night, there were several MAYDAY calls to the Coast Guard. One was from the Warhawk, but I heard he made it to Shag Rock later (which is almost to town) and was OK.  Another boat, the Wanted (which is my old boat and the one you see in all my pictures) also made a MAYDAY call. Four souls on board, they had lost their anchor and were almost out of fuel.  At 10:00 PM last night, the ambulance took three people to the hospital, where they prepped for hypothermia.  Those are all the details I know, but will update you if more trickle in.  But I got to hand it to the Coast Guard.  Those guys and gals sure earn their keep around here, risking their lives to save the lives of others.  I salute you! 

1st Copper River Opener of 2011!

This is a PSA.  Due to technical difficulties (my blog host was down yesterday) this blog is a day late and a dollar short.  Must be a Friday the 13th thang.  My apologies for any inconvenience.  With that said, let's get started.

It's here!! It's here! It's almost here!  The 1st commercial fishing opener is Monday, May 16th at 7:00 AM!  The whole town is a buzz.  Everyone is scurrying around (or running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, depends how you look at it) gearing up for the season.  Last minute things like fixing broken valves on hydro's, repairing nets,  attaching out-drives, launching boats, or, simply even just arriving town. It's all gotta get done.  It seems every year this date sneaks up on us and there is never enough time to pull it all together. But, we usually all manage anyway and usually make it out there on Monday.  Though I already heard of two guys that just aren't going to make it.  One guy, his boat sat for a few years before he bought it.  A unused boat is not a good thing.  Things seize up, rust, break, etc.  In his case, I think it's a prudent move to wait.  The Copper River Flats is no place for a shake down cruise to find faulty equipment.  It's too dangerous for that type of thing.  But, I digress.  The other guy, and this has got to be frustrating, a store clerk dropped the ball on ordering his part and that delayed its arrival by 5 days..........so he'll miss the opener.  Sometime, its just not up to us.  Me?  I'll be heading out on this one.  It will be nice to get out on the water again.  I ran my raingear and survival suit down to the boat yesterday.  A strange familiarity came back the instant I stepped aboard.  I'll go fish and report back next week.

A good place to keep up with the excitement is Copper River Salmon on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CopperRiverSalmon. They even have a count down 'til the opener.  If you want to keep up with the official news you can check out the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareacopperriver.salmon.  More info here: http://aprn.org/2011/05/12/first-salmon-opening-of-the-year-starts-monday/.  And, if you are looking for ways to cook your fresh Copper River Salmon, check out this site.  I think the King Salmon with Lemon Caper Butter looks divine.   http://start.tastespotting.com/tag/wild+salmon.


The sun is shining here in Cordova for three whole days now The sunrise is 5:17 and sunset is 10:37 giving us tons of daylight (sorry to make you do your own math there, it's about 17+ hours of day). And...........SHOREBIRDS!  Shorebirds are here.  These little critters land here every year on their migration from some place like Chili to the Arctic Circle.  I think its the longest migration on earth.  Anywho, they land out at Hartney Bay and gobble up some bugs before taking off again.  I was lucky to catch them on a nice evening and got a few pics.

Shorebirds at Hartney Bay

Shorebirds

Until next week, eat fish!!