On Monday of this week, Judy and I and the Benson’s drove over to Kasilof for a FREE tour of salmon fishing. Double-click on the map - Kasilof is south of Soldotna.
We drove about 15 miles, then turned onto a smaller side road until we found the parking area. It seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere, and, as a result, weren’t too sure why anyone would come out here, especially on a Monday. But, we found it and parked in this open area. All that was there was one small old building, a Jeep and two women standing nearby. We walked over to them and shortly more people came. Turns out one of the women was Elizabeth Chase (the mother) and she gave us all a history of her family and how they got in the fish business.
We drove about 15 miles, then turned onto a smaller side road until we found the parking area. It seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere, and, as a result, weren’t too sure why anyone would come out here, especially on a Monday. But, we found it and parked in this open area. All that was there was one small old building, a Jeep and two women standing nearby. We walked over to them and shortly more people came. Turns out one of the women was Elizabeth Chase (the mother) and she gave us all a history of her family and how they got in the fish business.
This family, the Chase’s, have their own fishery called the BeachM (per the first letters of each family member - Brian, Elizabeth, Aaron, Caleb, Hannah, and Michael.
She then took us on a path to the bluff overlooking Cook Inlet.
From there she told us that they own/lease the water from the beach out 1 1/2miles and about ½ to 1 mile wide. They currently have 12 nets strung out at various places in the water. As the salmon swim up the inlet heading for the Kasilof and Kenai Rivers to spawn, they get caught in the nets. And then the family harvests them.
The amazing facts are that the season only runs from about June 12 to mid-August. And they can only put their nets out on Mondays and Thursdays from 7 AM to 7 PM. If their nets are found in the water at any other time, they are heavily fined by the Fish & Game. So they put them out in the AM, go out a 1PM and remove the fish, bring them to shore, weigh them, and put them in big coolers. Then they go out again around 5 and get the fish again and bring in the nets. If the salmon decide to come in to spawn and are more than 1 1/12 miles out, they don’t get any fish.
She then took us on a path to the bluff overlooking Cook Inlet.
From there she told us that they own/lease the water from the beach out 1 1/2miles and about ½ to 1 mile wide. They currently have 12 nets strung out at various places in the water. As the salmon swim up the inlet heading for the Kasilof and Kenai Rivers to spawn, they get caught in the nets. And then the family harvests them.
The amazing facts are that the season only runs from about June 12 to mid-August. And they can only put their nets out on Mondays and Thursdays from 7 AM to 7 PM. If their nets are found in the water at any other time, they are heavily fined by the Fish & Game. So they put them out in the AM, go out a 1PM and remove the fish, bring them to shore, weigh them, and put them in big coolers. Then they go out again around 5 and get the fish again and bring in the nets. If the salmon decide to come in to spawn and are more than 1 1/12 miles out, they don’t get any fish.
The family has been doing it for 18 years now so they know all the rules. They have to call the F&G about 3 times a day to check for any updates. If the F&G knows that many more fish are coming up the Inlet, they may let them leave their nets out longer. But the reverse might be true also. If the fish are too far out, the drifters (boats) get them.
Anyway, we stood on the bluff for about an hour watching their 3 boats (with 3 guys in each boat) go out and check the nets for fish, and she told us what they were doing.
Here they are trying to get one boat in the water.
And here they are checking a net for fish. If you double-click, you can see it more clearly.
Here they are trying to get one boat in the water.
And here they are checking a net for fish. If you double-click, you can see it more clearly.
They drag the net accross the boat, take out the fish, and put them in the boat. When they came in, they had about 9 fish - 3 Kings, a couple of sockeye and 4 pinks.
We went back to the parking area and she talked more about salmon fishing. We also had to have our pictures taken.
Near the end of the tour, she asked if anyone was interested in purchasing any fish. The 4 of us said that we were so we followed her back to her house. She showed us the fish that they had in the tank and we selected this one.
A 39 lb King Salmon – the filet mignon of fish.
We went back to the parking area and she talked more about salmon fishing. We also had to have our pictures taken.
A 39 lb King Salmon – the filet mignon of fish.
She then proceeded to filet the fish by herself.
We ended up with 26 lbs of fish – 13 packages. We had them shrink wrapped and flash frozen.
Here are our 6.
After she had cut out the filets, she told us than the backbone still had a lot of meat on it and that we should bake it just like it is and then pick the meat off and eat it. So that night we did that. We thought we would eat that and also the 13th package together and then we would each have 6 packages. Well, before we actually got the potatoes baking and the filet on the grill, we realized that the meat off the backbone would be more than enough!! So we saved the potatoes and the filet until Tuesday night! Both were delicious.
So now we have another 12 lbs of King Salmon in our freezer for future feasts. We were all just overwhelmed at how great this day turned out to be!!
Goodness...I thought I was going to read that more fish was coming to my house!!!! hee! Sounds like fun! Too bad you weren't out in the boat helping them bring them in.
ReplyDeleteNo Julie, this is coming my way! :) I wish! That looks so good. That will be the best salmon you will ever have. Nothing will compare now. What an incredible family story. How cold do you think that water is?
ReplyDeleteThis story gave me memories of fishing with my dad off the Jersey shore. We often took party boats run by local families and we just loved spending the day out on the water. I think Belinda and I might just need our Alaska trip sooner than later.
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