2nd trip - Dipnetting on the Kenai

We headed out of Anchorage at 4:30 am on a Wednesday morning (7/18) with Holly taking the day off from work! It was a great drive with little traffic and only one construction delay. We arrived at 7:30 and Holly and Rudy were on the beach and in the water by 8 am. The water already had more people in than I had ever seen before but the real rush hadn't even started.















We had the high tide pegged about 8 am. As the tide started going out Rudy caught a fish about 9 am. All of a sudden it seemed like people were shoulder to shoulder and fish were starting to pop out of the water with a lot of speed.





























The fishing got pretty wild for awhile. My job was to 'bonk' the fish and gut them after Rudy and Holly brought them out of the water . Within an hour we had ten in the ice chest and I decided that I had better start filleting. So I set up my work station and got to work. Our pile continued to grow! It was difficult to keep up ...









































The dippers!










































Dipnetting brings out many people. Some come to watch what is going on and some come to help.





















The gulls are everywhere. As you clean your fish if you throw the egg sacs there is a mad dash of gulls fighting over them. I had piles of carcasses which the gulls finally felt brave enough to invade!

The fishing slowed down with the low tide. As the tide came back in the current was very strong making it hard to hold the net out in the water. As it was starting to drizzle and our ice chests were almost full we decided it was time to head for home. After packing up the bus we hit the road. We were home at 10 pm. We had 42 fish! A great day!

Dipnetting on the Kenai

Rudy picked a Thursday to try the dipnetting for the second time. Unfortunately Holly had to work and did not get to go. So on the 12th of June we headed down. The Kenai is only open to dipping from 6 am to 11 pm. Although the parking lot is about a half mile away the plus side is you can drive to the edge of the dunes and drop off your gear so you do not have to lug it so far. Vehicles are not allowed on the beach as they are in Kasilof which really makes it nicer. There is access for vehicles on the south side of the river but we decided not to venture there even thought the VW is 4 wheel drive.







What is interesting all the techniques that folks use and kinds of nets. Regulations do not allow a net larger than 5 ft in diameter. But after that the sky is the limit ... some are square, some octogonal, many round. Many are homemade creations!














Some use long handles to get way out in the river and others prefer to hold it close to them. The beach at the Kenai is a nice soft sand. hauling your ice chests can be a chore so again folks are very creative with their transports! We use plastic sleds that we drag along.














As the tide goes out many keep moving their gear down towards the water so putting fish on ice is easier.




Some folks only gut their fish and others do all their filleting right there and let the tide take away their waste.

We spent one night and fished two tides. We ended up with 14 fish which is okay. I dipped as well although I only wore hip boots and I landed four fish! We ended up with 50# of fillets!

Dryers that cannot work might be ...

I guess I grew up in a time that all dryers were put on outside walls and that cleaning out the ducts was not an issue because I had never really thought of it :)
Recently we had an annual maintenance check done by Sears and the man said the dryer worked fine but the duct was probably clogged or blocked ... when asked when it was last cleaned I looked around and muttered something about being here for 15 years and probably never.... I thought of the 30 feet or so of duct down in the crawl space and (wisely) asked if a service might do this job. The man said of course and told me to call a chimney sweep!
Now although the painting is becoming more difficult I do enjoy it. The thought of cleaning dryer ducts was not pleasant so off to the yellow pages I went. An appointment was quickly made.
Now although I watched everything the man did I still do not think I will do it next time since each section of cleaning rod costs $80 and he only charged $75 to do the job. Of course, when asked again for the last cleaning date and again I mumbled something about "at least 15 years" he simply smiled and agreed with me that "it sure could be dirty".
So on the first or second insertion of the brush and one length of rod, a little bit of lint came out...

When a second and then third length of rod was attached and again the duct was brushed - again a little bit more came out .... alright already, tons and tons came out ...

The whole job only took him about 45 minutes and was easily the best money spent that day! Especially because as soon as he was done I headed to the Kenai to try some more dipping.

When he was done he assured me that we won 'The Dirtiest Duct of the Month' award!

Dipping for Sockeye

Dipnetting for red salmon was an activity that Holly missed out on last summer. IT was decided that would not occur again :).
Our friend Rudy thought the last weekend of June might be right to try a couple of nights at the Kasilof river down in Soldotna. But before we could go Holly needed to get outfitted with a pair of neoprene chest waders! Once that was accomplished we were set.
Friday was a bit breezy but sunny as well.


















We camp out of our trusty VW ! The Kasliof is a 24 hour fishery so people come and go at all hours of the day trying to find the right tide.











When we arrived the camping area was fairly empty but that soon changed as folks arrived who had to work all day on Friday. Many folks bring the whole family. We woke up to find a large RV liked the spot right in front of us!


Even though there are commercial boats that pass by and trucks drive out onto the beach the scenery when down at the river can be spectacular.

























The fishing was actually poor this trip. What we did not realize was there was a commercial opening.
We only brought in two reds (way to go Holly) but it was a great outing.
Some folks teach their kids at a young age!

Did I learn the first time .... no

One night there was a loud crash ... it seems that when a shelf in a closet has lots of things piled on it and then the closet rod is loaded up with 15 pairs or so of hanging jeans the weight is tremendous .... down it all came. I guess the folks back when thought you only hung dress shirts... I found out the one support bracket for the 12 foot shelf was not even hung on a stud :(
Denise chose a nice yellow for her closet after I re-done her closet with a new shelf (well mounted) for her hanging needs. So down came the shelves and then we painted the closet :) and then looked at the walls.
Denise wanted a change in her room as well ...
when she was a bit younger we painted one of her walls a beautiful pink! Amazing how folks grow away from certain colors.


Now she chose a wonderful light green!









This project is still in progress due to the amount of items I need to move and other activities we have done. Two walls down - two to go!

Home Improvements

We have now had our townhouse for fifteen years ( we think)! Of course we could actually look it up but it seems more fun to just guess. It was time for some changes which of course I have been pondering over for the past 5 years or so.
I decided to peel the wallpaper in the downstairs bathroom and put on some paint. Now I wish I had done it 5 years ago when it was easier to get up on a ladder and down on my knees. But once you start to peel there is not much to do but keep moving forward ...
Much to my chagrin I could not scrape behind the toilet without being a contortionist or have incredibly small but tireless arms and hands (neither of which I possess). So off came the toilet.
Of course as with all jobs there seem to be the discoveries of additional work being warranted ...








So after some spackling, lots of sanding, more spackling, more sanding, and then texturing I was off to choose the paint :) Yahoo!

I think the hardware stores have special lights in the paint department which give you false ideas of what a color will look like at home ... I KNOW this was lighter green when I saw it at Home Depot ... but the color grows on you and I now am very happy!

Summer happenings

The last post was early June and all of sudden it is the third week of July - yikes!! So what have we been doing? Many little things seem to keep us busy ...
Denise decided that the 98 Durango she purchased two years ago was drinking a little bit too much gas in today's world so she went car shopping!!

After visiting a few car lots (with her Dad along for advice) she decided that a Jetta was to her liking, so ...


She is now the proud owner of a 2006 VW!! A very fine choice! Denise and Becca went to Fairbanks one Sunday for a quick roadtrip just to make sure!