Slugs out on first

What I eat when theres no fish.

Boys of summer.

Bear Signs on Dayville Road

King Pond

Supposedly King salmon are returning to this pond where they were released as smolts 5 summers ago.


Silvers are in the port. Big, bright and handsome.

Pinks are done.

Weather is raining and windy. Tourists are loving it.

Fish Don't Care If Its Raining

They still like to be caught.

Pictures are of two tenders in Port Valdez. Tenders are boats that suck up the salmon that the seiners deliver to. Then the tender buys them and takes them to the processor. They also sell gas and grub. Free root beer floats.

The fish in the bay now are pink salmon. Silvers soon.

Raining or not, fishing is good.

Ray of Sunshine

One Livingstone Daisy bloomed today.

Denali storm moving in.

A Beautiful Fish 2

A work in progress by tatoo artist "Allstar" Pete Meiners at B.P.U. 1637 College Road Fairbanks, Alaska 99701. 907-458-7464

He's still got red to add to A Beautiful Fish.

Cool Fish Bowls

Seeing these cool fish bowls makes me want a pet fish. Check out the rest of the collection via Dezeen.

Umbrella Sale

Party when it rains.

Smell Purple

These two lilac bushes smell great and stand out against the green scenery.

No sign of Livingstone Daisies blooming yet.

Window Mountain

Just missed a bear heading out to Robe Lake. The dead end road was clear on my way to the lake. The road block on my way back was steaming.

Valdez Grafitti

Who wants to pressure wash off paint in the pouring rain?

Lucky Me

Started a new job today and ran into an old friend. He just happened to spend his 4th of July weekend in Chitina working on his cabin and dipnetting the Copper River for sockeyes. He gave me this smaller than average size salmon thats perfect for baking whole.



I like stuffing the salmon with onions, garlic and lemon. Then wrapping it up with tin foil and baking them whole in the oven or on the bbq.

When you can smell the garlic the fish is done.


Let the salmon rest a bit as fish will still cook away from heat while its still hot. Open foil carefully and the skin will peel away and the fillets slide right off the bone cooked just right.

No picture of the final step because I was too busy eating my first fresh Copper River Red of the year. Lucky me. Thank-you Brad!!

Funny Graphs

A bunch of laughs.

Make a funny graph at GraphJam.

Funny Graphs

Rockett Dog

A Fourth of July cannot pass without me fondly remembering my old dog Rockett. He loved bottle rockets and would attack them, pick them up, and let them shoot out of his mouth. He didn't seem to be bothered by the noise and it was funny to watch the smoke blow out of his mouth. 4th of July was his favorite day of the year. RIP Rockett.


If you are into cats check out this blog. Its called No Cats Allowed!

Loud Colorful Skies

Early.

Later.

Whats the 4th of July without roasting 4 hotdogs on a spudfork?

Valdez Skunkweed

Its a jungle out there.

Another good fishing story.

Fairbanks anglers enjoy one halibut of a day

Big Fish Story

Photo courtesy Homer Chamber of Commerce

John Calvert managed to haul in a 279.6-pound halibut Monday to take the derby lead. Landing the barn door ended an overnight charter early as the captain raced back to Homer.

I normally don't post about the Homer Halibut Derby but I thought this fish story was great. Here is an excerpt:


The boat's 11th halibut had just been landed, and one of its eyeballs had been knocked out and just sat there on the deck. So Bondioli's deckhand dared Calvert to eat it. The deckhand told Calvert it was good luck to eat halibut eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" Calvert asked the deckhand.

Calvert swallowed the eyeball whole. Chewing it, he said, apparently doesn't work.
About an hour later, Calvert had himself a monster fish and, later that night, $1,000.
Coincidence?

"That stuff just maintains superstitions," Calvert said.

So is he a believer?

"True or not, I'm going to be eating another eyeball before I go fishing (today)," he said.

Full story below.

Who eats halibut eyeballs? This guy does

So the next time you go halibut fishing eat an eyeball and land a big fish.

Talk Pinks

The pink salmon have arrived in the Port of Valdez.

RIP Shirley

My good friend Shirley, passed away in her sleep Saturday night, at home with her cats by her side.

I will miss her smile, sense of humor and positive outlook on life despite living with lifelong disabilities.

Shirley was one of those friends that change your life in subtle ways and my life is better by being a small part of hers.

I hope her heaven is full of soft ice cream cones and great silver fishing.

Thunderbirds Stop Traffic

All traffic was brought to a halt on the Richardson Hwy Tuesday due to loud noise and high gusts. Also known as Eielson Air Force Base - Photos of the Thunderbirds.

Not much to report weather wise in Valdez besides cloudy skies and/or windy rain bursts.

Foul Ball

The Midnight Sun Goldpanners game in Fairbanks was a blast and a half. If you ever have a chance to go you should.

Here's a Fairbanks Newsminer story of the game published June 28th.

Spaceman’s Midnight Sun Game was one for the ages

Happy Summer Solstice!!!

Took this picture yesterday off the Richardson Hwy right before Dayville Rd.


Today I'm heading up to Fairbanks for the Midnight Sun Baseball game Saturday night!

Midnight Sun Game


The 103rd edition of the Midnight Sun Game is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Growden Memorial Park when the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks take on the California Running Birds.
Bill “Spaceman” Lee, who started the 1967 game when the Goldpanners suffered a 10-3 loss to Kumagai-Bumi of Japan in front of the largest crowd in Goldpanner history as 5,200 fans packed into Growden, will be on the mound again on Saturday night.


This year’s game is expected to draw another crowd of 4,000 or more. Tickets for all seats are $10 and are available during tonight’s 7 p.m. game against the Running Birds, or at Growden Park most of the day on Saturday.


For more information go to www.goldpanners.com.

It's a Hot Dog World

Chitina Candy Van

Look for Debbie's Candy Van down on O'Brien Creek in Chitina.


newsminer.com • Weather is hot at Chitina but not the dip netting

drunken sailor

=

Burning Dandelions

Do not try this at home!!

Free Livingstone Daisy Starts

Too much to handle!

Ready to go in dirt.


livingstone daisy starts -

Camp Redington

PrimitivWerks Presents:


The Alaskan Peoples Heritage Museum


Pictures via Update on the ACL & Camp Redington.

Road trip this weekend for the FishTaxi. Heading over Thompson Pass to the Copper River Basin down into Chitina.

Staying overnight in Kenny Lake at Camp Redington.

Hazelwood's Approach

From the Alaskan Abroad.

Alton Brown Rocks the Boat

JAMES POULSON / Daily Sitka Sentinel
Charlie Wilber, holding a king salmon, gives a tour of the Seafood Producers processing plant in Sitka for chef Alton Brown, left, and Kristine Kidd, food editor of Bon Appetit.

TV chef takes in Copper River frenzy
SHOW: Celebrity cook preaches sustainability in what we eat.
By MIKE PETERSmpeters@adn.com
Published: May 30th, 2008 02:02 AMLast Modified: May 30th, 2008 02:22 AM
Chef Alton Brown of the Food Network was in Alaska last week taking in the start of salmon season and collecting footage for upcoming shows. He also was taping for an Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute video in Juneau.

~My favorite part of the interview:

Q. What was the most interesting morsel you put in your mouth on this visit?

A. Rockfish! It's bycatch, so it's completely impossible to get where I live (Atlanta). I haven't eaten it a lot -- I'm still learning about it -- but I'm surprised there isn't serious demand for it.
But my favorite is black cod. Good smoked black cod -- there is just nothing like it. So I'm glad I've been able to develop connections to ship great fish like that to me.

~Rockfish and black cod are the best eating. Alton, can't wait to see your show on Alaska's sustainable fisheries!

Full story here:

TV chef takes in Copper River frenzy

Lush life On Prince William Sound

Lush life on Prince William Sound

Marc Lester takes the fast ferry Chenega to Cordova last week during all that rainy weather that is plaguing Prince William Sound.

Hasn't stopped the fish from biting too much as Fairbanks man lands 207-pound halibut, takes derby lead
David Gatch of Fairbanks became the first angler to bring in a derby fish of more than 200 pounds in Southcentral this year, with a 207.2-pound flatfish he caught between the lips Monday to take the lead in The Valdez Halibut Derby.

David Gatchs' barn door knocked out Ben Ponting, of Tonsina, posing with his 147.5-pound halibut in the summer-long Valdez Halibut Derby big halibut. Ponting, who recently moved to Alaska from Oregon, caught the fish June 8, 2008.

Photo Courtesy of the Valdez Halibut Derby

I was KLAWed on Whole Wheat Radio

Valdez Shoes

Swan Pond

Sure has gotton green around here.

Canned Salmon

Artist: Chris Arend Title: Canned Salmon

photo by Chris Arend

Salmon on parade

Gearing Up

For fishing.

The Stephen Daniel picking up his seine net from winter storage.

Other fishing news is there is the Dipnetters get 72-hour Copper River opening.

Fish are on the horizon.