Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

Jan and I are going to be going south for a few weeks, so I doubt that I will be posting anything on the blog until I get back- I don't know. I don't have a laptop computer, and I don't know what kind of hassle I would run into or if I will even have the time to work on it while we're gone. We have to go see the Moms. Mine is in Ohio and Jan's is in Wisconsin. I'm not looking forward to the plane ride down. It's quite the ordeal to leave here. We are taking a catamaran to Juneau tonight and spending a couple days there. I'd rather just fly over and be done with it, but the weather is unpredictable this time of year and we can't afford to miss our flight south. We leave Juneau and fly to Seattle, then to Minneapolis and finally to Columbus. It's an all night affair. Hopefully the plane won't be crowded and I'll be able to stretch out a little. Last time I flew, we were packed in like sardines and the rather plump fellow beside me was oozi...

ON my last post I mentioned where I caught the fish and shrimp, and I did have a picture of it, but for whatever reason it didn't upload. Being the technical genius that I am, I couldn't figure out how to correct it, so here's another picture. It's not the same picture, but it's the same area. See that point that sticks out way down the bay on the right hand side? That's where all the action took place. I took this picture last Sunday, and as you can see, it was glassy calm that day- just the way I like it. Although there aren't any boats in this picture, there are still a few guys trying to get their halibut quota. For whatever reason some fellows prefer to wait until the fall to chase the halibut and black cod. I've done it before, but would rather not wait, even though the price usually goes up a little. Almost always you have to battle the seasonal storms and I hate that. I was down at the cannery the other day enjoying the serenity of the area. ...

Last week my son Brian came over to pick up his truck and skiff and take them back over to Juneau. Since he was here for a few days I suggested that he go with me up the bay to set a subsistence long line for halibut, which he thought sounded great. Because we live in a rural area along the coast and I guess because there are limited opportunities for employment, we qualify for a subsistence permit from the federal government to go catch halibut to eat. You aren't allowed to sell any of your catch with this permit- it's for personal use. For reasons unknown to me and in typical government fashion, you are allowed to use thirty hooks on a set and can keep up to twenty halibut a day. Twenty a day! Who needs twenty halibut a day? I raised seven children and I don't think we ate twenty in a year... and we really enjoy it. Anyway, we went up into Port Frederick and made a set last Sunday and while we were there we set out a shrimp pot that I had snagged several years ago when I...