Naknek Sea Gal, Flying Forks & Salty Dog Mascot Dockside Loading
Bristol Bay, AK Commercial Fishing -What’s the fishing chatter for AK right now….? Well, if you do Herring up in Togiak, AK that means you are a gillnetter or tender and you have been up in Togiak for most of late spring. In my F/V Sea Lion days every once in awhile a gillnetter like F/V Pound-By-Pound – had a deckhand who put a knife through their upper thigh while sewing the net on deck, yep lots a blood on deck! Togiak is located at 59°3′33″N 160°22′59″W – the village is about 67 miles west of Dillingham, AK. This year marks for new changes for Herring as a lot of fisheries are not doing hearing this season. Supply & demand for Herring – this year marks fishery changes, a lot of fisheries are not/did not do Herring this year!
When gillnetters are fishing for Herring in Togiak or Salmon in Egegik their life line to – food, fuel, water & a shower is their favorite tender. And yes – tenders take their sinky boat trash – of course on the F/V Sea Lion – Wayno/Captain BBQ let me paint the heck out of our boat bow trash box, it had a giant painting of a ‘Sealion with Sunglasses drinking a martini with 2 olives’ – she was a bow to recon-with! If you have been in our Sea Lion ‘Head’ – then you were always surprised every season by my new underwater mural paintings – of a new giant sea animal in the shower, an octopus, frog, squid, etc…. I had to spice up the Bay – and I had to move on from painting the entire village of S. Naknek to the F/V Sea Lion. Yes, even F/V Wide Bay and F/V Cap Calm had some of my great bright murals per Captains request – & the Trident river barges were also subject to my crazy murals and painting of fish… ha… ha…..
Salmon Fishing, Naknek River AK – Bristol Bay, Photography by: Native Bruce Anderson
Throughout Bristol Bay, AK – Being one of the only girls – for many seasons my poor ears had to hear way too much of – ‘I need a show so bad, I have bat wings’ yep its totally grouse and totally fishermen talk while they are ramming the stern and are grabbing for the poly-line that I spliced and spray painted every so bright. Why are poly lines best on tenders? Put this way when your rocking around in the swells with rubber-ducky fish boats on your hip – when poly snaps/breaks it pulls away a brade at a time – if you use sampson line ‘a big no-no’ when Sampson breaks it snaps like a whip liable to cut you in half. Especially – when you’re in Egegik, AK – it’s a rock and roll ramming war in those crazy waters. Egegik is full of fishermen from Croatia, Russia, Norway, and Italy…. – these guys will mow you over – hold on tight and watch your finders! Egegik is located at 58°13′9″N 157°21′29″W – on the eastern shore of Bristol Bay. Most Egegik fishery land head quarters are a guy in a shack on the beach! The old school bartering system is alive and well in most – if on all – AK gillnet fishing grounds!
A favorite village is South Naknek, AK – wow we had fun in the village back in the day….. from playing with the school kids, teaching art to the village kids thanks to Mrs. C., bombfires on beach with the occasional Shaqy 3rd degree burn flash fire to his face, there was my – breaking my face on our way to Egegik then being chopped to N. Naknek where I got over 100 stitches in my head, then after puking for 3 days plus… non-stop on the boat and hiding it from the Doctor, the Doc. said, ‘if you puke one more time you’re going the hospital in Anchorage” – so that lead me to hiding my puke in the bushes in front of the clinic – since Shaqy told on my I was on a bush plane with IV’s in each arm and sticks to strap me down as we buzzed over to Anchorage in a bush plane – FYI: the Anchorage hospital in late August is ‘no’ place you want to be – lots of bodies everywhere – it was a hell of a place late in the season to get hurt. Finally is was in Anchorage when I found out I broke both cheek bones in 2 places – I had a pumpkin head. 2 months later against every Doctors orders I was surfing on the Pacific side of Costa Rica! Pura Vida!
Bristol Bay, AK Wild Salmon Fishing – Gillnet Fishermen coming in hot!
Well, now that you have had a nugget of Bristol Bay sea stories – Gillnetters take care of your crew – there were way too many seasons where you freaking only fed your crew ‘Donuts & Cold Sandwiches’. Come on these guys/gals on your boat need proper nutrition – you have boat loads of salmon to feed them – yes you can dig up some potatoes and veggies in the village store or from a tender. Feed them well and they will be fishing superstars. That’s your summer challenge – you can do it! You have a BBQ/Grill on the boat – fire it up – you have a sea of Wild Salmon – its an all you can east salmon buffet!
Bristol Bay Captains & Crew send me what you ate while fishing this summer – give it me – the good, the bad, the fun & or nasty fishing sea story meals rocking around in the river or Bristol Bay. Unless your F/V Kira Brucy-woozy on South side – he now only fishes in the river and gets to go home nearly every night –Oooooo Brucey you lucky Dog!
Trident S. Naknek, the good old days! My how times have changed!
