Dippin' this weekend

Growing up, my mom would clip her favorite "love is..." comic strips out of the paper and affix them to the fridge. It's a bit of nostalgia for me when I see them now...

On that note, we're going wild on the weekend once again! It's back to the Kenai River for more king fishing and some dipnetting. Dipnetting is only open to Alaska residents -- non-residents can't participate in any stage of the harvesting, including cleaning, driving the boat or benefitting from the catch. Our household (D and I) is eligible for 35 reds and 1 king, but we don't need that many and will not harvest our full amount. I always wonder how many people take their limit and end up wasting the fish.

Last year I drove the boat while the guys dipnetted -- and it was a bit stressful for me at times, navigating between all of the other boats and making sure I was motoring along at the right speeds. Wakes and waves from passing boats push us towards shore and I can't gun the motor because it makes holding onto the huge nets difficult.

I will post photos next week, but until then here is a slideshow from the Anchorage Daily News on dipnetting from shore at the mouth of the Kenai River. Dipnetting boats aren't allowed in that area, so we'll be a little further upriver. (It's easier and more convenient to dip from a boat as opposed to doing from shore.)

Kenai River weekend 3

Nicely cut king steaks are safely tucked away in the cooler, ready for vacuum sealing.

The parking lot at Centennial Campground in Soldotna gets a little busy during fishing season.

The boat launch at Centennial -- very conveniently located near the campsite D's parents were able to secure. This place is ridiculously crowded on the mornings that guides are heading out.

Quite a few mallard ducks were splashing about in the little pond at the boat launch.

D and I went down to watch the "lead lobbers" (I love that name) fish for kings. The anglers have loooong rods with heavy lead weights on the line, which they then fling out into the middle of river. The woman below has a king on the line.

You can see that her rod is totally bent over from the pull of the king. Unfortunately it came off her line, but she put up a good fight! The fish was pulling her hard, so the guy behind her had to make sure she didn't fall in the river.

Kenai River weekend 2

Looking at this photo, you would never believe that Drift is a psycho, fish-obsessed dog.

All of the popular "holes" along the river are always crowded.

The man in the black jacket has a king on his line. Can you can see the net standing straight up? That gives everyone else on the river a heads up that there is a FISH ON! This is a guide boat, designated by the green and yellow oval sticker back near the motor.

Here is Don fighting his own king!

It finally got tired after 40 minutes. Mim stood by with the net and...

...here it is.

Kenai River weekend

Wow, you all must have really sent some good fishing vibes my way because on Saturday I caught my biggest king ever! She was about 30 lbs., with just a teeny tiny bit of pink. It was a perfect way to start the morning.

D's dad caught this beautiful king a short time after we finished with mine.

While my fish only fought for about 15 minutes, Don's king wrestled him for close to 40!

When there is a king on the line, everyone in the boat has a job: the angler fights the fish, D drives the boat, someone has to be on net duty and the last person acts as photographer. It all works out pretty well.

What is Drift's role? He just whines and barks and generally goes ape shit with a fish on the line. The damn dog got SO excited about Don's king that he perched on the front of the bow and somehow lost his balance. Next thing we know, the king is netted and Drift is in the river! Unfortunately that didn't make it in the photos, but everyone around us got a big kick out of it. That dog lives to embarrass us, for reals.

More photos to come!