Alaskan Salmon
year 2008
Really not a good year
I'd rather go straight to the gallery?
Arrived on May 31st and with a long time ahead of me in my adopted country, everything started quite well.
As always, my faithful EROS was there, as well as daughter Monika and her friend Robin.
Our cabin weathered the winter well - no damage from snow and frost, water, wind or fire. Boot fit, pickup fit, in short: everything is in perfect order. The plan for this year was to add a larger kitchen, which we tackled immediately after overcoming the jet lag. The first week was completely "normal" with shopping, shopping, shopping. Only the weather was more than moderate, which incidentally lasted for the entire summer.
The most difficult stroke of fate for me came after a week, on June 8th. This Sunday I lost my beloved dog and probably best and most loyal friend EROS in a tragic accident. We were like one, inseparable and somehow connected. I certainly won't forget him. . .
Alaska was probably also his "favourite country" - here he could be a dog to his heart's content, play with "colleagues" or even fight, bite sticks, dig holes or tear up balls. We buried him in our grove along with some of his beloved sticks. . .
I don't want to write about any feelings that certainly don't belong here. Time and above all friends help you to process such incidents and I thank my family and friends who have helped me a lot with phone calls, emails or visits.
The construction of the kitchen waited and then progressed slowly. However, the fishing was more than poor. The first run into the Russian River wasn't really a run at all. Almost nothing was caught - the Reds gathered just before the Russian River in the "closed zone" between Kenai and Russian, only to pull through within a few days. The only benefit of this thing was that we now had more time to finish the kitchen. So we did. and everything turned out great !!
After4 weeks everything was (almost) finished and Monika and Robin - poor thing - had to go back to Germany.
It certainly wasn't a real holiday for Robin: Sch. . weather, no salmon, hardly any sight-seeing - just building. Well, I think 2009 will be better. Daughter Sabine came - but it was still a thing with salmon: The run in the Kasilof River was only moderate, in the Kenai River not at all. Especially on the last days of her "Alaska existence" it happened that we were "full" a few times. Things went better when my better half Renate was there. By the way, the weather was - apart from a few sunny days - still bad.
To top it all off, Fish and Game limited us to 1 salmon per day - This was bitter, but in the end it was just enough to meet our salmon needs. However, apart from fishing, there was hardly any time left for anything else, which wouldn't have brought much anyway, since the weather - as already mentioned - was very, very bad. . .
Despite everything, we still had some nice excursions and great fishing trips with our boat on the Kenai River. Our friends took their boats out to the Gulf of Alaska quite successfully this year from Homer where they caught some halibut and plaice. I was less brave here but will try to join them in 2009. .
Pictures 2008
