Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

Holy Toledo, it's the last day of July! That's hard to fathom. I don't know where the month went. It kind of flew by on the one  hand, and yet on the other hand it seems as if it's been July for ages. Don't know how to explain that. In any event, I wanted to do a blog on our newest eating establishment here in Hoonah- The Chipper Fish. For those who haven't been to Hoonah for awhile, it will be a bit of a surprise to see. The building used to be located down at the harbor, across from Tideland Tackle Co. It was called Libby's then and offered the usual hamburgers and fries and if I remember correctly, Jo Jo's and soft ice cream. It was a nice place to go and very conveniently located, close to the boats,so visitors and fishermen frequented it, as well as many of the locals. It was a real bummer when it shut down. For a number of years the building sat vacant and was moved to an empty lot behind the building that houses the laundromat and thrift store. T...

I went trolling last Friday and Saturday. I intended to just go to Outer Point and drag around for the day, but the seine boats were working the area, so I ended up closer to Flynn Cove by the end of the day and decided to drop in and spend the night. It's  a great anchorage when the wind is coming from the east, which it was. When I arrived, the Silver Fox was already on anchor. It was just  the two of us in the anchorage that night. I guess everyone else was fishing outside or tied up in town. The Silver Fox- what  a great name for a boat. It lives up to its name too, she's a sharp looking fiberglass job. I imagine it catches fish like crazy also. You'd have to catch a lot of fish with a name like that. It's too classic of a name to be a dud. It runs in my mind that a good looking, popular country singer named Charlie Rich had the nickname, the Silver Fox. Just like the boat, you couldn't look all flabby and wrinkled and be called the Silver Fox. It got me to...

It's been quite a busy few days. I went out several days ago and made a halibut set with a friend and pulled it yesterday. We caught all I needed to fill my quota and ended up having to shake off about seven hundred pounds of halibut in excess of the quota. It was a real bummer- the shaking, not the catching. Today I sold the catch and got started on cleaning up the mess. I'll continue with the clean up tomorrow. I fell asleep in the chair earlier, and when I finally woke up I figured  I would do a blog post. I know that I'm overdue for one. I made the mistake of looking at my email first. I saw that the credit card company had a charge for Norton Internet Security. I knew that it couldn't be right- I just had about a two hour chat with a fellow named Rohit back in February and he assured me I had 546 days left on the subscription. I was able to get on line and chat with another fellow this time Sonji or some such thing. By the time we got it all figured out, I felt li...

I have a most unusual dilemma today. Because of all the fish being caught, the cold storage is plugged full and are unable to buy the salmon that I caught yesterday and would like to catch today. As a result I have an unexpected, and I might add, unwanted, day off. I'll be getting plenty of time off this winter, so I would rather not have a day off foistered on me, but as one person I knew used to say- " people in hell want ice water too." Oh well. I'm trying to make good use of my time and do another blog post, even though I did one yesterday. Today, I decided to write a little blurb about my clothing, more specifically my pants. Don't worry, I'll try not to get too graphic. Last month I had a birthday, and my daughter Autumn blessed me with a generous gift certificate to my favorite store- Tideland Tackle Co. I decided to buy a pair of pants which I desperately needed. I have several pairs in the closet that have holes in the pocket, so that while I'm w...

I took some pictures of my daughter, Jen's yard last week. I told her I was going to do a little blog on it, but of course when I tried to upload or download or sideload or whatever, the pictures, they wouldn't do what I wanted them to- go figure. In an effort to keep from having a total meltdown at the end of a long day I just put it off until now. The pictures don't do the yard justice. She has a beautiful front yard and the abilty to grow just about anything. Folks who have plants dying will bring them to Jen to revive. The top picture is of a Rhododendron bush. It's one of the biggest I've ever seen. I was looking it up in the dictionary to see how to spell it and found out it's part of the Heath family, which I guess is part of  the Heather family- for whatever that's worth. Jen has a huge Fir tree growing in the corner of the yard that everyone who goes up and down the street in front of her house has to pass by it. During the spring a family of crows ...

It's been a while since I've been able to sit down at the computer. As I've mentioned in the past, it's the busy season. Fishermen, much like farmers have to make their money during a reletively short time span.  It can get hectic to put it mildly, so when it's time to fish, there's no question about the proverbial  fish or cut bait debate, you fish, and hope like heck that you are successful. The bottom picture shows a small fraction of the trollers fishing Homeshore for Chum and Pink salmon- also known as Dogs and Humpies. Last year several folks from Sitka approached a fish buyer about providing a packer to buy the fish and transport them to the plant. There are several wild runs that go to various areas around Juneau, and there is also a large number of fish returning to DIPAC- Douglas Island Pink and Chum hatchery. Historically these fish have been targeted by the gillnet fleet, even though all commercial fishermen are assessed a three percent tax to enhan...

This is my son Brian. He was a bit of a surprise when he was born. Even though Jan had been to the doctor's  we had no idea that there were two babies in the womb. Everything about his birth was unique. First, of course was the fact that he was even there with no one's knowledge.  After Jan delivered Ben and  the doctor was waiting for the placenta, he stuck his fist out , I guess just to let everyone know he was here. Everyone in the delivery room was in a bit of a state of shock, but it was a nice surprise in any event.  God in all his wisdom gave us two boys. One would never have done it for us. Jan mentioned that if there were only one she feared that he would either be a wimp or a bully. To this day they are each other's best friend. They've always been each other's best friend and fiercest competitor. Both boys excelled in wrestling and it wasn't unusual to hear an argument start upstairs between the two and before you know it the scuffling and thumping wo...