It’s been a long time since we’ve done any fishing but now the first fish of the year have started running and from here until September, one species after the next makes the run up rivers and creeks to spawn.
We got our fishing and hunting licenses for the year last weekend and went to the mouth of the Kenai River to try to dipnet some Hooligan.
Hooligan are a type of small herring. Very small fish, but very tasty when brined and smoked. Some Russian friends of ours fed us some and ever since we’ve been wanting to catch our own and smoke them.
We got to the river three hours before low tide and no one was catching anything. We tried anyway, but the winter had made us forget how cold and grumpy children get standing on the muddy bank while daddy fishes.
Eventually the children and I retreated to the vehicle to read books and tell stories while Andy kept at it. As low tide approached he began to catch fish – only one or two at a time – but after another hour he had caught a gallon bucket full.
We called it good for the day and hope to go back close to high tide and see if the fish are running any better. If you fish at the right time of day it’s pretty common to get 10-15 fish each time you dip the net.
I put the Hooligan in brine Monday night and the smoker is working overtime today. I can’t wait to have smoked Hooligan again!
For some more Alaskan news, our neighbor saw a cow moose give birth to twins yesterday. We’ll have to keep an eye out for those protective mama moose around here in the next couple weeks.
Most of the day yesterday we had a young moose hanging out in our meadow. It looked like it had been clawed up by some wolves and was probably hanging around people for safety to recover. I haven’t seen it again today but the dogs keep barking like it’s still out there in the woods.
