Day 6 - Mid-Day Update

We finally went fishing this morning! We hit the Kasilof river just about 3 miles from the house. We had success! Sarah hooked a nice silver (Coho) salmon with her first cast. A bit of dithering ensued though, as we weren't exactly certain what type of fish it was. Ken held the fish in the water while Sarah hiked back (up the hill) to the truck to get the fishing guide which had descriptions. Upon confirmation that it was indeed a silver and not a steelhead, it got conked in the head with a rock, gutted, stuffed in the backpack, and fishing resumed. It should bed noted that it was caught on Ken's 1975 fishing rod, with a lure he got in high school!

Next to be caught by Ken was a steelhead, which are catch and release only in the Kasilof. It was caught, photographed, and released. Sarah was downstream when she saw Ken trying to land this one. She grabbed the gear and booked up the trail in case he needed help. Then she couldn't find him once she lost sight of the river. A couple of yells verified his location though and she got there in time for the landing and photograph.

Last up was Ken's pink, or humpy, salmon. It put up a bit of a fight, but finally was captured.

 

Other things discovered this morning: Sarah's rain pants were made for someone smaller, even though she bought ones larger than usual. At least Patte will have rain pants that fit! Ken's hip waders have a hole in them just above the knee, which was really important when he stepped in a hole that was deeper than that! Sarah's rubber boots have a drawstring at the top to keep "stuff" out. Turns out they do a pretty good job of keeping water out too, which she discovered when she hit a hole that was as deep as her boot was tall!

The fish are in the fridge and we're off to find gold now!