Arctic Adventures

This past week really flew by. On Tuesday evening three biologist from the Dept. of Fish and Game that did a presentation on their trout research. They are doing tagging studies on the Noatak and Wulik Rivers. Some of the Dollies that they have tagged in the Noatak and Wulik have shown up as far away as Russia. I took them out on Wednesday evening to seine for trout. We didn't catch anything in the couple of spots that we seined in. We also tried rod and reel at the gravel bar hotspot, but we only got salmon there. Saturday neighbor Kyle and Caleb and I went on a moosehunt. I thought my tag expired on the 22nd (which was Saturday). I checked the regs quickly before we were heading out and I realized that my tag had already expired on Thursday. So much for me shooting a moose. Caleb had a tag and one of the other teachers had a tag that he said we could use if we got one. We started out drifting a side channel to the main river. We stopped and called a couple of times, and walked

   Out Fishing We have been taking advantage of some beautiful weather to get out on the river. Last Monday we headed downriver to a spot to set a net for salmon. There were so many fish that we ended up being very selective when it came to cutting the fish. Phil was giggling the whole time.  He kept saying, "I can't wait to see John Koski!" Setting the Net (floats are bobbing already!) Oren Giving Directions to Doris    Picking the Net Ready to Cut     Eating Fish Eggs Like Blueberries This past Friday we headed downriver to see if we could find any cranberries up on the tundra by Katourok Creek. There were hardly any berries but we walked a little ways out on the tundra anyways. After the tundra excursion we went back out to the main channel, and built a fire to cook steak and potatoes. Stan and Doris stopped by and had coffee a little while later.  Getting Firewood On Saturday Kayla, Oren, and I headed up t

 AN EVENINGS CATCH-  CAUGHT SALOMON TOO BUT NO GOOD ONES  AN EVENINGS CATCH-  SALMON CAUGHT WERE NO GOOD  A DAYS CATCH PLUS 4 "GOOD" SALMON Kayla was on family leave last year when we were here and was not so busy so she had us set up well to post all the time on here.  She puts a ton of effort into her teaching which does not allow much time for non- computer people to do this kind of stuff.  I forgot my cables for my camera to get my pictures on here so hopefully the kids can help me with it when I get home.  There are some great ones that will at least show some of what this place is about. The flight here was no problem.  I did have to keep an eye on grandpa however!!  We stayed at Adena and Chad's on the way to the airport in Chicago.  They were out west on their trip but it was obvious Cruz is taking over their place and is the center of attention.  He has stuff!!  We flew out early Sunday and stayed the night in Anchorage.  We arrived here Monday morn

The water level is finally dropping, and we have been able to get into some fish. Phil caught a beautiful 27"  dolly. The trout (or dolly varden) haven't been nearly as thick as they were last year when Russ and Phil were out here, but they are bigger.    Little Sleepy I have been getting a little better knowing the river, but we still go slow through the tricky spots. My nice, new looking prop didn't make it a day before I dinged it up.    Going Boating Today we went out to the hotspot gravel bar. We put in a long day fishing for trout, whitefish, and salmon. We brought back about 30 whitefish, 7 trout, and a few of the fresher salmon.  Tundra  Trout and Whitefish  Salmon Bug Trout and Whitefish We saw a couple of bears across the river from where we were fishing. Phil and Russ were both a little jumpy after that. Phil said he was hoping to see a bear in a non dangerous situation. He got his wish. There were two of them, and they