After a month of cold dry sunny weather, it warmed up enough to snow and give us a gorgeous white Christmas. We have about 4 inches. Just the perfect amount to make everything pretty and cover up the yellow dog pee spots everywhere. Have a wonderful week and we'll see you in the New Year. I'm finally going to change this over to a proper blog, so it'll be searchable and you can leave comments. We'll see how that goes.

My mom just flew in on the jet, so we're going home early. Our "official" winter hours will be "open on-demand", so if you need anything, just call or e-mail me and I'll be happy to help. I'll be here most days working on the hangar renovation through the next few months, but I'll have the door locked so I don't have to babysit downstairs. Have a wonderful New Year, from the Millers!

I want to thank all of you for supporting us through another year. I know it has been a struggle for a lot of us, but there have been good signs for an improvement with the economy, with the honor of our country - so much to be thankful for. We have a long road ahead yet, but I have great hope for the coming year and our future.

The shop looks to end the season a little behind last year, but with the condition of the economy and low travel through Yakutat, I am very happy. For those of you who are self-employed, you know that the first years of being in business is more a battle to survive rather than to get ahead, but we are limping closer to the point of paying back the debt involved with a start-up like this. Thank you for your faith in what we are trying to do here.

I read the stat this Christmas that only 12% of American households have a real tree this year. We went out last week intending to slaughter a poor defenseless Sitka Spruce. Instead, we stumbled upon an absolutely perfect little tree that had recently been chopped down by the city, under the powerlines that lead out here to the airport. We loaded her onto the 'Burb and took her home, to put her on life-support for a couple weeks.

We are trying to get our priorities straight this year. Our lives tend to be a little odd anyway, having more in common with Americans 100+ years ago than to modern America. Heck, we spend much of the year without electricity, phones or a flush toilet... Since we HomeSchool the kids, they don't come home every year with a new set of handmade ornaments like we all did decades ago. I miss the sometimes hideous - always loved decorations my mom always put up on the otherwise lovely looking tree. This year, I decided we would only use homemade decorations on the tree.

After a lot of pushback from Eden (which is surprising because she so loves crafts), we cut out snowflakes, baked cookies to hang and strung popcorn to drape across the limbs. The tree looks great and we had a wonderful time as a family, gluing popsicle sticks together and learning more about the true meaning of Christmas.

We don't have a TV and haven't since we still wintered in Seattle. That white Bronco chase on every channel taught me that it really offered us no benefit in our lives as a fledgling family. Every evening, instead of sitting in front of the tube, we read. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through To the Last Man by Jeff Shaara for my part, while Teen tackles the Bible reading each night. We have been baking lots of cookies this year as well and dropping them off to some of the people who have touched our lives in our little town. I wish we could do more, but we're making small steps of progress, just like our whole country is trying to do. Together, we can overcome the problems we all face and especially the self-imposed obstacles that have been erected of late.

Merry Christmas to all of you and let's make 2011 a year to really remember. Hang in there, stay awake and remember that we can be a great strong nation again if we remember who we are, where we came from and that we all can make a difference in little ways as well as the occasional big way. Merry CHRISTmas.

PS. Teen just called me to say that Christmas Eve dinner will be... bacon and eggs... We were too lazy to pull the turkey out of the freezer, after making all these damned cookies, crafts and reading till all hours of the night!

A lot of fly fishermen can be "catch and release" fanatics. That is great and I always encourage my guided clients and fly shop customers to practice catch and release techniques. Especially when dealing with our steelhead and other trout. Salmon however are a different animal. They come back to these streams by the tens of thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands. Since we do not have issues with habitat encroachment and pollution, these runs are thriving. Sure there are occasional hiccups in the natural cycle, like in 2008 when the sockeye run was terrible - not because of overfishing, but because El Nino warmed the ocean temperature in 2005 and killed off the baby sockeye as they hit the hot ocean water.

So with that said... we eat fish. There is no healthier meat in the world you can consume than wild Alaska salmon. Period! When you consider just how expensive it is to buy chicken or beef in Yakutat, harvesting our own salmon is a no-brainer. As a rural Alaska resident, we are eligible for subsistence fishing rights. You don't have to be native here to gain from these benefits, just a rural year-round resident. The odd thing though is that I can't use a fly rod to catch subsistence fish. I have to use a net. If you want to catch a couple dozen fish to fill the freezer for the winter, I can't catch them one at a time, I have to stretch a gill-net across the river as though I'm commercial fishing. There is the risk of accidentally catching more than you want, as well as having to retain fish species that you don't want to keep. Oh well. We do what we have to...

We with all that build-up... the first chance this year to fill our freezer didn't come till our last night out on the river this fall. Guiding all September and half of October, I didn't have the chance to catch for myself. The last week of our guide season, Teen closed the shop and came out to the cabin. I was still "working" (if you can call what I do "work"), so we didn't have a whole lot of time to play as a family. My mom came up to visit as well, so it was great to have her there in the cabin she and my dad built almost 40 years ago.

Without a boat, I dragged the net across by hand. On the Italio and Akwe, we use a 15 fathom (90 feet) gill-net. We can never block more than 2/3rds of the channel, always allowing fish to get around the end. The fish can see the web, so we tend to catch the dumb ones (or the first ones in the school). The rest see the net, or see their buddies caught and go around.

I put the net out just before high tide, so in minutes, it was too deep for me to wade out and retrieve any fish in my waders. We let the net soak for a couple hours, till the tide started back out again.

Once the water dropped enough, Tanis and I waded out to harvest our catch. We were hoping to catch about two dozen fish, which would allow us to eat a fish once a week through the winter and spring.

Once we had the net cleaned up, Tanis dragged the tub back across to the runway. We ended up with exactly 24 silvers and even though it was mid October, every fish was chrome-bright. Since we had what we were looking for, we immediately pulled the net to shore and put it away till next year.

Fun over... now the real work begins. The subsistence rules require that the dorsal fin must immediately be cut off, so it is marked as subsistence and can not be sold as commercial fish. Sort of a pointless exercise since we filleted them on the spot as well. In order for Tanis to help, he had to be listed on my subsistence permit when I applied for it at the ADF&G office.

There is always a delicate balance when you manage the various user groups on the river. The #1 priority use for the salmon resource here in rural Alaska is local subsistence. Commercial and sport fishing users come well behind in the line of resource allocation - as it should be. The biggest political battle is usually between the commercial guys and the sport guys. Of course I participate in all three... People have been commercially fishing the rivers and streams around the Yakutat area since the turn of the century - 1900, not 2000. 110 years of utilizing the resources here and there are still resources. The runs are very carefully managed, so we will have strong salmon runs for years-decades-centuries more. Considering how resources were looked at 50-100 years ago, it is amazing how resilient nature is, but this natural system was made to feed the world. We can harvest salmon wisely, so we can continue to eat long into the future.

The newcomer to the mix is the sport fisherman. Few people sport fished here before the mid-60's. A look at the locations of most of the Forest Service rental cabins shows that the primary intent back when they were built was to allow access to hunting, only a little fishing. That was a secondary thought. Amazingly, we seem to be able to balance all these modern interests and still protect our runs for the future. This is a fly fishing web site (primarily), so most people reading this may not be too thrilled with the nets that go in at the mouth of the Situk. We have to maintain a balance of all these users though. Without the commercial fishery, Yakutat dissolves. Without the sport fishery, Yakutat would probably dissolve as well. Gone are the days when we can rely on only one industry to keep our village alive.

Next time you speak harshly about that other group - whether you are the commercial fisherman, or the fly guy - without the other side, that jet no longer flies in here and you both go away. Alaska Airlines has to turn a profit to keep that Boeing 737 coming here, so there has to be butts in those seats AND cargo in the belly. We all need each other.

Thanks for following me along on our freezer-filling adventure. And for those who care... here is one of our salmon recipe's out at the IRA camp. Thank you to Rob and Todd from The Slip restaurant in Kirkland, WA for sharing your recipe with us a decade ago when Pat and I were first starting our camp. Hopefully they won't be pissed that I gave this away...

Prep Salmon:
Remove skin and bones (I usually just cut the pinbone strip out rather than plucking)
Cut into small pieces
Blot pieces dry with paper towel
Coat fish with butter by rubbing softened butter in hands, then wiping fish with buttered hands
Sprinkle spices on both sides of fish depending on how spicy you like your fish
Super-heat pan on burner (preferably outside - it'll smoke a lot)
Quickly sear both sides of salmon pieces on super-heated pan – just sear outside of piece! Do not cook through!
Spread seared salmon pieces on a baking sheet and set aside

Prep Salsa:
Cut dried mango pieces into small chunks about ½-3/4 inches in length
Rehydrate mangos by soaking in water for a couple hours
In sauce pan, boil white wine till reduced by 1/3^rd volume
In skillet, sauté ½ cube butter, chopped garlic, shallot and chicken base until translucent
Add wine to garlic/shallot and bring to a boil
Drain mangos and add to garlic/shallot/wine
Squeeze the juice from one lime to salsa
Add finely chopped, or dried dill weed

Time for Dinner:
Preheat oven to 425° F
Bake salmon for 15 minutes to “finish”
Bring salsa to a simmering boil. Most moisture should be absorbed by the mangos making it a thick stew texture
Serve salmon onto a bed of rice
Turn heat off salsa, add two shots of tequila to salsa and immediately ladle over salmon (don't cook the tequila off)

Ingredients:
Salmon chunks without skin and bones cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1 cube butter softened – ½ for salsa and ½ for coating salmon pieces
Fish blackening spice
¾ bag of “Philippine Brand” dried mangos from Costco – the "other brand" is terrible!
Warm water - enough to more than cover the mangos
1 large shallot chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 cups white wine – doesn’t really matter too much what kind, but we usually use chardonnay
1 lime – a lemon will due in a pinch
2 table spoons chopped dill
2 shots tequila

Did any of you stay up late last night to watch the lunar eclipse? Well, we did! And we had a great show up in the cold north. With overcast all day leading up to the big event, we didn't expect to see anything spectacular. Then, the cloud cover thinned and we had a great nightime show.

With our time zone, we had the eclipse starting at around 930pm. By 10 o'clock, half the moon was cast in the earth's shadow. It was cold sitting on the front porch, but hot tea and home-roasted filbert nuts helped to make it all a bit more comfortable (a handful of hot nuts feel great... um... nevermind). During the long boring part when it just looked the same for an hour, we went inside and sang Christmas hymns as a family. Yes, we really are this boring! It was an incredible night.

Gorgeous sunny day today and not a single human being to come through the shop. So what is there to do but close the door for an hour and go launch rockets in the displaced threshold of the runway. We had a snow event a couple weeks back that turned to rain, then froze, then rained again... followed by very cold clear weather for the remaining week+. Makes for a lot of big sheets of polished ice (including our parking lot). We burned a hole in the ice from the engines, but also broke a fin off when the chute didn't deploy and the rocket came screaming down in freefall to hit the ice sheet. Bummer. But we still had fun, or at least we think we had fun after the searing pain left my frozen fingers and toes.

Some launches, then our quick escape in the warm car. This should really be a summer activity, but when in the summer is the wind not blowing? It was so still that we were nearly hit by the free-falling parachuteless rocket! Sunset was at 3pm, so we weren't out very long. Our sunny high was about 20 degrees, but boy did the temp plummet quickly when the sun dipped behind the trees.

Well, the weather outside is frightful. Really! Winter is definitely upon us, not just here in icy Alaska, but all across the country. Record snowfall across much of the country and we are only mid-way through December. Just to give you some warmer thoughts, here is a batch of photos from summer. Nothing like warm thoughts in the dead of winter:

Boy, I feel warmer already! Don't you? We have had a wonderful couple out to the Italio for a few years. The last time they came, as they left, they told me that after being with us for years, the thing Sue really wanted to do was go kayaking through the ice. We never did that. They are getting older and hadn't come back for a couple years. I really thought I had messed up and missed this opportunity, but John and Sue did come back this September. My big chance to take them up onto Harlequin Lake...

Teen (unfortunately) typed in a letter I wrote her detailing my arduous boat trip back to the Italio down the DANGEROUS River, but the reason I came to town was to do this kayaking day-trip. I suggested Teen close the shop and come with, so we were able to go together in the midst of the busy season - something we rarely get to do. It was a perfect day! Overcast and calm! Somehow, the rain showers all managed to skirt around us during the 3 hours we were out paddling.

No, photos do not do it justice. The deep blues must be seen in person and the sounds of crackling and fizzing glacial ice need to be heard. Oh well. Your loss... :-) When we first started doing kayak trips back in 2001, Harlequin Lake was packed full of icebergs. Over the past decade, the Yakutat Glacier has continued to thin and shrink, leaving fewer and fewer icebergs to paddle through. For some reason, this year the glacier surged, calving a tremendous amount and we had as much if not more ice than ever. It was an amazing day. Some of the individual icebergs were larger than several city blocks. Lots of arches and tunnels, shapes and carvings that looked like animals...

OK, we are about to lose our internet connection for a few days. It is supposed to snow 22 inches tonight, before turning to very heavy rain. That'll make EVERYTHING difficult over the next week, as the heavy snow turns to a sloppy mess, then melts to flood everywhere. Ice and show will have dammed up all the culverts and ditches, so we'll probably just hide at the house for a few days. See you next week. Hopefully...

AKZ017-040100- /X.UPG.PAJK.WS.A.0006.101204T0300Z-101204T1600Z/ /X.NEW.PAJK.WS.W.0016.101204T0000Z-101204T1800Z/ CAPE FAIRWEATHER TO CAPE SUCKLING COASTAL AREA- INCLUDING THE CITY OF...YAKUTAT 457 AM AKST FRI DEC 3 2010 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 AM AKST SATURDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JUNEAU HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 AM AKST SATURDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * SNOW AMOUNT: 14 TO 22 INCHES * WIND: EAST WIND BECOMING SOUTHEAST 15 TO 25 MPH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT. HIGHER GUSTS ALONG THE OUTER COAST. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WARNING MEANS THAT A WINTER STORM IS ALREADY OCCURRING OR IMMINENT. THIS STORM COULD POSE A THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY. HEAVY WET SNOW WILL BE DIFFICULT TO MANAGE DUE TO HIGH WATER CONTENT. THIS STATEMENT WILL BE UPDATED BY 400 PM AKST FRIDAY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.

Sorry for the delay. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I unfortunately had to fly home from Seattle on "Opt-out Day". I had my upper body thoroughly frisked, but I missed out on getting the full-body fondle. Oh well. Maybe next time. My mom who saw me off at Sea-tac lamented that she doesn't want to be felt up by a female TSA agent. She figures this late in life that she should be able to pick a guy out of their line-up to get at least a little enjoyment out of the deal. Great... thanks mom for that image.

Thank you to those who sent well wishes through the passing of my grandmother last month (the reason I was on the road for a month). It was time and she was ready. That doesn't necessarily make it easier for those of us left behind, but her pain and problems are now in the past. We'll miss her. I have my memories (and home movies) of when she came up sport fishing back in the late 1970's on the Italio. They are pretty funny to watch. She wasn't exactly a fisherman, so seeing her waddling around in heavy raingear trying to reel in a big salmon is very entertaining.

We are kind of "coming and going" from the shop right now, so if you need anything, call and leave a message, or send me an e-mail. I'm down to only 700 messages remaining unread, so I'm making progress. Teen and I will be jail guarding through the weekend, which should give me the chance to be entirely caught up by Monday.

And... I have lots of photos and stories to update you on from the summer, so check back in.

November 11, 2010 ... Veteran's Day ...

Since Bob is still out of town, he asked Tanis to write the blog for Veteran's Day. Thank you Tanis for digging into this writing assignment without any complaints :) - Teen :)

Veterans Day originally celebrated the end of WWI, and the men who fought in that war. Today, it is about all veterans of all wars participated in by U.S.A or in active service. Our nation respects the 11^th month, of the 11^th day, of the 11^th hour, by having a minute of silence.

Today, that is what our family did on our front porch at home. We did forget our flag at the hangar, so we’ll be sure to fly it on the 12^th.

Thank you Veterans’ for your service, also active Military for your daily sacrifice. We appreciate all you do to make our country safe and free.

Tanis and I rose early and we were still the 27th voter! Looks like a great turnout this year, for a mid-term election. Regardless of your leaning, get out there and participate today (if you haven't already). "Vote early, vote often".

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm 1000+ messages behind and had hoped to get caught up on the backlog of stuff I need to do. Unfortunately, we had a death in the family on Sunday, so I'll be heading to Colorado for the next week or two. Teen will still be here at the shop to help out and cover things, but of course I won't be catching back up on anything any time soon. Teen had a call yesterday from someone who said he had e-mailed a couple times and hadn't heard back. My apologies. I'll get there... She has his waders set aside and ready for him. If you need anything, call the shop. Thank you for your patience and support. We are still learning our way through this stuff...

We have been back here in town for three weeks now, trying to catch back up on everything. I NEED my river time in the fall for my own sanity, but being away from the computer for 7 weeks has it's disadvantages too. I'm still 1,125 unread e-mail messages behind as of this moment... We have all our pre-season orders to place for the fly shop, hangar storage to deal with, winterizing the plane - winterizing everything with the first snow already having happened... With all that going on, we were blessed with a moose and finally finished processing him late last night (the perfect way to spend Halloween - up to your armpits in blood and flesh).

Now that things are settling down a bit, I'll try to post some photos and stories from the season over the next few weeks. Lots of steelhead in the river right now - which is very early to see this many. Here is Tanis from early September:

It sucks to be 11 and have to live here... And I think he went for a full two weeks without changing his clothes...

Monday, September 27, 2010 @ 5:42 p.m. AKDT
Any Simms G-4 Wader want-a-be's out there? Simms has a September Special voucher they are offering that will give you $50.00 off if you turn in your old waders and upgrade to the G-4. You must have the voucher FROM SIMMS.

Friday, September 17, 2010 @ 5:13 p.m. AKDT
received a welcomed letter from Bob. Thanks Randy L. for being our personal mail carrier this week :)

The rivers are lower than I have ever seen them in my nearly 40 years out here on the Italio. The Old Italio doesn't exist, except for the lagoon that would be the river mouth. The fish have come into this first curve of the river, but cannot go beyond. Most likely, if we don't get some rain soon, all these fish will die. VERY tight lipped, except in the early morning before the sun gets too bright. You have to change out flies every often to get a reaction.
Today, (9/16/2010), they were more reactive than they have been.

The Middle Italio is essentially the same story. Tremendous numbers of fish in the first bend of the river, because they are trapped there. This week, we have very little tidal change between low and high, so the fish can come in the mouth throughout the day, but get no farther. Shallow riffles between holes only 2 inches deep. The fish at the mouth are all bright so far, but the ones upstream are all old.

There are very few fish in the New Italio. But the Akwe continues to be good fishing. The Akwe is still flowing - better than the three Italio's - but it is still very low. The Akwe is about half glacier fed, so that is probably why it has better water conditions.

Fishing out here is like trying to fish in a swimming pool. No current, fish packed in tight to a very confined space. Very easy to snag (a NO-NO!), so we are spending most of our time using Bass Poppers and Polly Wogs.

Record breaking temperature every day.

The bugs are the worst I have ever seen! The Whitesocks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_fly are awful until the blessed west wind picks up in the afternoon.

The wolves howl and Northern Lights glow every night out here ... "

- Bob Miller
Middle Italio River

Sunday, September 12, 2010 @ 5:13 p.m. AKDT
(also see message from visitors below this posting):
Just received a letter from Bob with an adventure to share... probably NOT his preference to be shared with the world, but you are "family" after all.. right?

The route taken is a drive to the Harlequin Bridge, then boating to the lower flats, pulling the boat out, and towing it with Honda ATV 45 minutes down the beach to the Middle Italio. What usually should take 2.5 hours, sometimes can take 10... pending the situation.... I'll leave it at that.

9-10-2010 @ 9:54 p.m. AKDT
Boy, am I exhausted. Not exactly the smoothest trip ... My late departure meant that I'd be arriving at the mouth right at high tide instead of two hours before.
So, I took a short cut that was a bit too short. I spent the better half of an hour trying to get out of the mess. Very low water and rocks. Could have made it through if gravel, but the rocks would smakc the lower unit and throw the engine cowl at me. And a big rock would catch the keel ....

Pushing and dragging with the boat hung up on shallow rocks, over my boots (wet XtraTuffs) ... I did manage to get out eventually, but I'm sore, and out of shape and it took all night for my lungs to stop hurting. But... I didn't swear even once!

Changing the spark plugs didn't help. The outboard is shot. Yet another big expense, but this does make 13 seasons on it. Same goes for the green Hondas. That's pretty good. Amazing that it has been that long already!!!

So... full 12 foot tide means that there is water continuously across the Old Italio flats. I wasted about an hour pulling the boat out (ok, one swear word there), beach combing, etc. Decided to try and cross to the grass and trees with the tote trailer. Got stuck in the souop and had to abandon the trailer.

Made it to where the creek hits the grass. Way too deep to cross. Wasted over two hours for the water to drop. Tried to take a nap on the Honda, but the wind kept flipping the arm of my coast around and it felt like someone/something was grabbing me... Not much sleep in other words ....

Made it to the cabin at just after 6 p.m. (after launching at 1:30 p.m. from the bridge) Changed clothes and headed to camp. Sat at the fire after dinner with clients. Gorgeous sunset. Realized at 8:30 p.m. that I had a trailer in the tidal flats ... this tide has made the entire flats a soupy mess.

Got stuck twice and had to put plywood under the bike. Fun, Fun! Still only took an hour though. Saw the bear at the crossing in front o fthe cabin at 8:30 p.m.-ish. Still semi-light. Saw a wolf at the Old Italio running in sillouette across the glitter, wet flats in the lst glow of the orange light. A pretty amazing sight.

Time for bed. Thanks for getting my forgotten anchor and rope left at the bridge..oops! See you tomorrow! (when he writes next.)

9-11-2010 @ 10:21 p.m. AKDT
... sorry boys, too juicy.. I'll leave this one for myself :)

So there you have it... one day in the life of a river guide! Of course once Bob finds out I've posted a letter from him.. I'll be on restriction :) And might not get a letter for a day or two. We have a ritual to write to each other each night with the updates of the day. Makes the seperation that little bit easier. I can't wait for October 15 when he comes home at the end of the season.

---------------------------- Enjoy some notes from visitors --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, September 12, 2010 @ 2:54 p.m.
I know, I know... it's been many a week since you've heard anything from Bob. Well, it's going to be a wee bit longer, ok.. he's still out guiding on the Middle Italio. - Teen

I wanted to share a precious picture and note from some dear folks fishing this season... Enjoy - Teen

9/12/2010:
Thanks again for the loan of the bear spray last week. Our party of 6 from Colorado felt very safe,,,as you can see in the attached photo. My friend Paul ______ had just hooked a salmon on the Situk when we noticed a bear on its way down the river. He kept the fish quiet until the bear decided to head back upstream. Our buddy Paul ________ stood by with your bear spray just in case.

Thanks again,,, you have a great fly shop and a very friendly atmosphere. Our friend Jimmy (aka the Humpy King) enjoyed the pin we got him and the fly you gave him helped him switch from Humpies to Silvers.

See you next year. - Bob ________
-----------------------

8/28/2010 From Gary H:

THE FUNNY THING ABOUT THE PICTURE IS THAT TRISHA FOUND THE PINK FINGERNAIL POLISH IN MY FLY TYING KIT SHE ASKED ME WHY I HAD PINK FINGERNAIL POLISH AND I TOLD HER THAT PINKS LIKE PINK THAT IS WHY SHE POLISHED HER FINGERNAILS PINK FOR GOOD LUCK !!!

I'm giving Teen a quick demonstration on how to make changes to the web site. Not a whole lot of content tonight, just some bla, bla, bla... and some photos:

Since the president's Chief of Staff said no crisis should go to waste... there was a recent crisis at the back of the hangar that we benefited from. The FAA was putting in some new navigational aids by the runway, but unfortunately the concrete truck had a problem and had to dump his load of concrete in the field. They said to me, "Help yourself", so I did... At every doorway in the building, the old boiler pipes run under rusty steel plates. We need to fill these in, so I grabbed a couple 5 gallon buckets and started scooping up the concrete.

Thanks to Tanis and his skateboard, I was able to lighten the load a bit. We filled in the trenches in three doorways before the concrete started to set.

This should take care of all the trenches on this side of the hangar building. Many more on the mountain facing side, but we are another year away from really digging into that part of the project.

A few free buckets of concrete are nice to have, but it was exhausting! Glad that's over.

After some extra maintenance to get her engines back into shape, N91314 has reached her new home - well, sort of her new/old home, since she has spent nearly 20 seasons here flying fish in Yakutat...

OK, well... our baby didn't arrive as scheduled on Friday, but we still had our welcome home party and we did have a DC-3 on the ground to take pictures of. Just not "our" DC-3... We had Trans Northern's Super DC-3 here for a couple days, but Fish and Game decided to keep the Tsiu closed this week for commercial fishing, therefore Trans Northern was sent back to Anchorage.

And here she is... Her engines are purring like a kitten, with no major issues or problems. To keep her flying, we'll need to get her props rebuilt (a requirement every 5 years whether there is anything they need or not) and a fresh annual. As we move forward with the museum, we plan to repaint her in her war colors. This C-47 was built in 1942 and has an amazing WWII history. She served in North Africa and supported the Sicily and Normandy invasions. She had a wing replaced after getting a two foot hole blown into it by flack, but some of the bullet holes in her were patched at the time and the patched holes are still visible along the other wing. I don't have the full history paperwork yet, but as soon as I do, I'll post all those details here.

This aircraft is being donated to the Alaska Warbird Museum by Daniele McCollough. It had been operated in Yakutat flying fish most recently by Cascade Air Inc. Val, Daniele's husband owned Cascade Air, but unfortunately passed away a couple years ago. Without sharing too many more personal details... Daniele felt that keeping the plane in Yakutat where Val spent many summers flying this ol' bird would be a fitting way to honor both Val and 314. I couldn't be more thankful to have Daniele a part of our lives here and for helping us get the warbird museum off to a "flying" start.

Oh, so much to say about this photo... Don't you love the train trestle ruins circa 1970? They were still using it just a couple years before this. I'm guessing I know why they stopped. All fiberglass Eagle Claw rods, with Mitchell 300 reels. Stopping for lunch in the wilds of Alaska. From the left - Ed Galli, Mable Miller (grandma), Helen and Bill Aker (aunt and uncle, or great second cousins... something like that), Len Miller (standing) and someone named Harold.

Recognize the Italio? These would be taken at the Alder and Spruce Holes. The only tall tree in the entire batch is in the last shot looking downstream toward where my cabin would be built the next year (that tall tree in the very far distance is the tall tree next to my outhouse...). That's my grandma in the last photo with a nice 14-15lb silver. Where she stands is now filled with tall spruce trees.

1) Looking down the Akwe River toward town. The river is about 3 miles longer than it was here and the spit is much much wider too.
2) Not sure which glacier this is, since they have changed and receded so much over the past 40 years.
3) This is definitely Alsek Lake, with the Alsek coming down from Canada on the lower left.
4) That is the Yakutat Glacier in Harlequin Lake. The glacier has receded about 3 miles on the left side and 6 miles on the right.

WOW! Look at that incredibly new looking hangar behind grandpa's 182. It was only 30 years old at the time. What a big difference another 40 years has made. I'm hoping we'll be done renovating for the hangar's 75th anniversary - complete with a gaggle of warbirds as of May, 2016. That will be the anniversary of the first plane landing at the Yakutat Airbase (A Douglas B-18 Bolo Bomber).

My great uncle Chuck sent me a disc of photos he took on the two hunting trips he took to Yakutat, back in 1966 and 1970. Let's see if you can recognize any of these places...

Can you believe this is Sea-Tac International Airport in 1966, before they built the modern multi-level terminal and parking garages? It was essentially a really big cul-de-sac back then. I wasn't born yet, but I remember that truck. Great Grandpa Armon has the cane. Grandpa Len in a plaid shirt.

1) Look at that beautiful Constellation at the Juneau airport (I think...), with a PBY in the distance.
2) An Alaska Airlines 727 in mid-'60's livery, on the Yakutat ramp. Uncle Chuck is on the right.
3) Those "hot" stewardess outfits during that odd Russian themed period.
4) On final into Yakutat. Notice the road doesn't curve around to the right. Instead, you drive right up to the end of the runway... Bet TSA would have some problems with that.
5) Standing on the ramp side of the old Alaska terminal, which is now the home of Yakutat Coastal. Let's see if we can get Tanya to wear that uniform... Doesn't my grandpa on the far left look like a total dork tourist?

1) The old Libby grocery store on the dock, where the AML building is now. My house would be just off the frame to the left.
2) Loading up supplies before they fly out to Tanis Mesa to hunt.

1) Loading up the 180 in front of the Chevron station - now the Delta Western station.
2) Gulf Air Taxi heading out.

1) Flying over the Akwe River, with the commercial fishing camps.
2) Grandpa's 182 at Tanis Mesa (this is 1970, since he didn't have this in '66. The photos are all mixed up).
3) Unloading at Tanis Mesa.
4) The Forest Service "A" frame at Tanis Mesa, with the Fassett Glacier in the distance.

1) The view from the top of the mesa, with the landing strip in foreground.
2) Zoomed in on the Fassett Glacier and Tanis Lake. There hasn't been significant ice in the lake in decades.
3) Early morning, heading out to hunt. Love the matching hats.

1) Uncle Chuck with his first moose.
2) The whole gang with Bullwinkle. Grandpa Len is on the left, with Grandma Mable in the cute matching his-and-hers burgundy sweaters. What a couple...
3 & 4) Packing it out.
5) A visit from the Troopers. WOW! Enforcement. What a different world that was.

1) Loading meat into grandpa's plane for the trip back to town.
2) Landing for another load, with Mt. Fairweather in the background. No trees anywhere!
3) The gang in 1970 with Uncle Chuck's second moose.

1, 2 & 3) The inside of the Forest Service cabin. Wish they still had those stoves in the cabins! I think I still have the red lantern in my cabin on the Italio. Blueberry cobbler? I'm surprised they made anything without meat, since they killed so much stuff out there - 3 moose, 3 goats, a wolverine, ptarmigan and salmon...
4 & 5) Uncle Chuck's first moose racks.
6) Where around Tanis Mesa did they find those silvers?!?!
7) The ptarmigan take.
8) Loading up even more meat to fly back to town.

Yes, we have a house we technically live in, but we are here at the hangar at least 12 hours every day - soon to be here 15 hours every day when we go to the expanded fall hours. So... we do get to play with some really cool toys. I'm glad we love airplanes...

Last month, we had a visit by the Coast Guard and Air Force on a particularly drearly day. The Coasties were very kind and let the kids crawl through their plane. The Air Force managed to slip in and out without us even seeing the guys... Sneaky little guys! Even though they were parked just a few feet from the hangar doors!

We have such tremendous respect for the military men and women who are dedicating their lives to protecting ours. Thank you so much for spending the time to show us how things work. You are all very much appreciated!

My commercial fishing season has come to a close for the year, so here is what the first week looked like... We didn't have a very good run this year out on the Akwe, but we were able to cover our expenses and pay my permit fees. Sometimes that is as much as I can hope for... The price was pretty good at about $1.50 per pound for sockeye when delivered to the dock. We are fishing 30 miles away from the dock, so the air charter companies take 25 cents for every pound to cover the flight cost and hassles of getting ice delivered to us.

Taking off from Yakutat International... 1) There's our little slice of heaven waiting to get its complete make-over. 2) Tawah Creek from over the end of the runway, looking toward the Cannon Beach Bridge. It really is a gorgeous little stream when it wants to be. 3) On short final into Italio International Airport.

1) Opening up the cabin is always an adventure... Extensive squirrel damage this year. Oh, aren't they so cute? BANG! 2) My fishing victim this year was Garrett Davis - local surf bum and bible thumper (he'd be proud of both labels). 3) The first of many games. I think Garrett ended up winning about 2:1, since Tanis was out of practice. Also, Garrett has the Book open for some guidance...

1) Tanis helping with one of the first sockeye of the season. 2) Stinky/slimy/sloppy moss. If only we could find a market for rotten river moss. It does wonders for my youthful complexion... 3) Tanis with our first nice king. The king run was terrible this year. I think we caught 4 total for the year. Unlike on the Situk, the commercial fishermen on the Akwe do get to sell the kings we catch. The Akwe is also one of the last rivers to open, therefore most of the kings have already passed upstream. 4) About 130 pounds of salmon on the initial tide. Do the math... that doesn't pay for the flight to get out there...

1) The day tide was small and no fish came in. The night tide was larger and therefore should push more fish through. It did. 2) Long exposure makes the midnight sun look brighter than it was. 3) I have an 11 year old son - one bonfire is never enough!

1) I told Garrett not to let the pull cord snap back when you start the outboard. Ignoring me... he broke the pull cord right as the fish started hitting. 2) Usually, we don't get enough for chum salmon to cover the 25 cent flight fee. Surprisingly, we were being paid 70 cents this year, but didn't know that till the 3rd week of fishing. Oh well. Tanis is enjoying a dinner of fire roasted chum hen, with the guts hanging out. This photo was mostly for mom's benefit... 3) We made it back to the cabin for a nap at 530am after a very long night. 4) Tanis was too tired/lazy to climb into his bunk. The couch was comfortable enough.

1) We couldn't come up with a full planeload, but Hans still brought the Otter to pick us and the fish up. He stopped off and picked up another fisherman's small load as well, so we could share the cost of the flight. 2) We load about 200 pounds of fish into plastic garbage cans, loaded tails first. Hans brings the empty cans to us filled with ice, then we send them back out filled with fish. 3) Garrett with our two nice kings. In the middle of the night, I managed to gaff Garrett in the back of the hand, while trying to gaff the king in the head. Important safety tip: Keep your hand out of the way when the gaff hook is swinging... 4) Hans and his son by the Otter. What an amazing plane this is!!!

1) Tanis getting some right seat time in the Otter. 2) One last glimpse of home as we take off for town. 3) Garrett's "wound". 4) Exhausted and heading for home to sleep. The Akwe gets a 36 hour opening for commercial fishing each week, from Sunday 6am to Monday 6pm. You fish for 36 hours straight and hopefully you don't kill each other. Or gaff each other...

I LOVE getting messages like this! How could I not? I can't guarantee that her flies will hold together very long, but you have to admit her color choices can be very successful on salmon... Thank you Mr. Bechtold for the e-mail this morning. Definitely brightened my day, on this dreary foggy overcast August in the fly shop.

We have been gradually populating the online store with products and are about half-way through the Simms section. Since we weren't done with even one product line, I hadn't really announced anything publically yet. So as we were flying out the door last weekend to go to the Italio, I received en e-mail notification that we had a sale!!! Woo, hoo!

"Situk River Fly Shop,
This is an order alert e-mail from Quick Shopping Cart. You have a new order waiting to be processed.
You can review and process this order in the Quick Shopping Cart Administration Manager..."

Thank you very much Doug, for testing out the system and showing me how to process an online order. You were a great Guinea Pig (even if you didn't know that's what you were... So... if anyone wants to also test the system out and start ordering all sorts of fishing stuff online, have at 'er! It works. We'll be finishing up the Simms section soon, then moving on to some of the 6,000 other items we have in the shop.

I have a lot to fill you in on, but have fallen far behind with commercial fishing and everything else going on. Sorry. So... here are some photos from Family Fishing Day. It came and went and we managed to avoid rain for most of the day. A light sprinkle came down initially, but then subsided and dried out. Prizes and donations looked pretty scarce leading up to it, but there ended up being plenty for the kids to come away with from the various contests - from casting distance to biggest and/or most fish caught. It was held down at the dock, with a weird variety of sea life dragged up from the salty depths.

Most of us were very disappointed when Fish and Game poisoned Post Office Lake, but last year's Family Fishing Day at the new location of the harbor was a pretty big success. This year worked out well too, even though we miss the pike and the canoe races. Instead, we had flounder, sculpin, cod and starfish. This is one of Yakutat's biggest annual family events, so if you have the way, consider pitching in and donating for next year's event. With the struggling economy, none of my suppliers were able to send any items for the gift bags, or prizes (two of the smaller companies were willing, but I asked too late for them to make it). This event is sponsored and organized by the Forest Service and they did a great job putting it together. Thanks guys!

PS. Eden was afraid to have her picture taken with Smokey Bear... Um... call me crazy, but maybe 6 foot tall bears wandering around the parking lot in Yakutat has a slightly different connotation than down in the real world... :-)

It is summer in Yakutat. Besides the unending rain, this our feast or famine time of year. Everything happens all at once. I have been running out to the Akwe to commercial fish on the weekends, while Teen covered the shop. Nice that my first wife is willing to care for my second wife while I'm away... Anyway...

Renovating the hangar takes an obvious back seat, since we only have so many hours in the day. This week is probably the slowest week of the entire season in the shop, with the transition between sockeye to pinks. A little scary to have zero sales for the day, but it will pick up again in the coming weeks as the silver season approaches, even though most people are reporting really good sockeye fishing in the river still. Certainly a lot better than the "peak week" when the river blew out and was unfishable.

So, with things slowing down, we will be taking a couple days off to go out camping. We'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) and coming back Saturday night. So... Matt will come in after the night jet tomorrow to reopen because there are a couple groups coming in, so we'll be open Thursday till noon, then closed till 6pm and reopen from 6pm till 8pm. Then... we'll see you on Sunday for regular hours. This is the only break we can squeeze in before the silver slam, so my apologies if this ends up inconveniencing anyone.

The Situk is one of the truly great rivers in the world for a lot of reasons. But... this is the wilds of Alaska and there are a lot of great rivers here. Sometimes I'm asked about some other opportunities and sometimes I'm even willing to suggest some of my favorite spots. Sometimes...

So far this season, I have recommended a group hike into Situk Lake once. The river was very flooded and all the fish pushed up and out of the river. The sockeye and trout fishing up there should have been great, while the river was so flooded that it was unlikely one would be able to fair hook a sockeye. Said group managed to wander around the forelands all day and never reached the lake, dispite my best efforts to get them there.

I have also recommended to four groups that they give Pike Lakes a try. Yakutat is home to a unique ancient species of pike, in a remote series of lakes that were not glaciated during the last ice age. This sort of protected area is referred to as a "refugia". So... out of four groups, only one has managed to put my directions into an actual fishing trip. The other three groups managed to wander around the forelands all day and never reach the lake.

In other words, my directions suck. Or... trying to find remote lakes in a pristine and unspoiled wilderness defies directions. I'll let you decide. A friend sent Teen a link to an article this week while I was out fishing on the Akwe, which brought an embarrassing chuckle. I hope you enjoy it:

The Register-Guardhttp://www.registerguard.com/

A search for lake of lore ends up a wild fish chase

By Gary Lewis

For The Register-Guard

Posted to Web: Tuesday, Jul 20, 2010 10:11AM
Appeared in print: Tuesday, Jul 13, 2010, page D2

Josiah Darr, a 25-year-old steelheader from Seattle, by way of Scappoose, shaded his eyes toward the mountains and the treetops and a hill two miles away that kind of resembled the hump on the back of a grizzly. Then he swatted a mosquito. And another.

If you want to find a lake in the Alaskan tundra in brown bear country, where there are no trails except the ones made by moose and the critters that eat them, the best thing to do is: A. Fly the area in a helicopter; B. Fly the area in a Piper Cub; C. Fly the area on Google Earth; D. Bring the guy from the Situk River Fly Shop who told you about the lake.

We did none of those things.

I made a mental inventory. Two fly rods and a bottle of DEET-free Natrapel Plus. No gun. No bear spray. No DEET. Insect repellent was our self-defense. A cloud of girl mosquitoes found us.

The original plan was we were going to have a guide. But plans changed.

Over my fishing vest, I zipped my rain jacket and referred to the tiny instrument on the zipper pull. In the backcountry, without a guide, without a GPS, without my expensive compass, I employed a thimble-sized compass that served more as decoration than a tool on which to rely to get back to the only road within 20 square miles.

Note to self: Next time, bring all survival gear, even if it means a bigger suitcase and shipping a gun in checked baggage.

With our big Ford van parked 24 miles from Yakutat and our base at Glacier Bear Lodge, we paused to orient ourselves. The streams tilted south. There were trees to the east, meadows to the west and a notch in the mountains to the north.

We plunged in, into the willows and muskeg. In the tannin-stained creeks, we glimpsed little fish that streaked this way and that. Where there were little fish, big fish must be nearby.

We kept the trees on our right and watched for openings that might show the two-acre lake purported to contain an isolated prehistoric pike known to exist in this refugia spared by glaciers of the last Ice Age.

These pike, the man at the fly shop said, grew up to 40 inches, and ate anything you cast at them, every time you cast at them.

From Bob at the fly shop, I’d borrowed a fly reel, a nice Ross Gunnison loaded with a six-weight sink-tip, because I’d forgotten mine. “You’d think a guy, if he was playing a joke on traveling fishermen, wouldn’t loan out a reel like this one,” I said to Josiah.

At any moment, we could startle bears. I hoped the Natrapel would be a deterrent rather than an enhancer. Kind of like limburger when you were hoping for a mild cheddar.

Beneath our feet, the muskeg shuddered like a trampoline. We forded a hip-deep bog and clambered up the opposite bank. “Here’s a trail,” I told Josiah, to bolster his spirits. I didn’t tell him the trail had been made by a brown bear. He figured that out when he saw the scat.

We examined it for traces of foods you don’t want to find in piles of bear excrement: fleece, Spandex, Fruit of the Loom labels, Natrapel, little bells. Encouraged, we forged ahead.

An hour and 10 minutes after we had started, we turned around to slog, defeated, back to the Ford, straight through a 25-acre patch of willows riddled with bear tunnels. Josiah had a bad knee. I could probably outrun him.

Back in the Yak, we stopped at Fat Grandma’s, where they don’t have doughnuts, but you can buy a candy bar and a T-shirt and she won’t sell you a book, but you can take one. The advice was free too. Fat Grandma told us about the great fishing at Pike Lakes, but since we couldn’t find them, she gave us the skinny on her favorite spot.

Sawmill Bay was easy to find. First cast, halfway back, the rod began to wa-wa with the weight of a good fish. In the clear, slack water, it flashed. Slender, about 20 inches long, it sported lots of fins, large liver-colored spots and big eyes.

It took me a few minutes to sort through the dark recesses of my brain, where I keep my knowledge of saltwater fish, to identify this one as a cod.

Josiah made his first cast with a hammered spoon and nailed our second. By the middle of the afternoon, we landed and released about 30, except for one that we handed off to a grandma who came down to watch the water, and two we kept for dinner.

That night at the lodge, I figured out why the glaciers spared those prehistoric fish in Pike Lakes all those centuries ago. They couldn’t find them either.

Gary Lewis can be reached at www.GaryLewisOutdoors.com.

Just in case no one believes me now, Pike Lakes do exist and so does Situk Lake. I swear!!! Perhaps I just send people on wild goose chases so I can protect one of my favorite fishing spots... Hmmm... Or maybe guys need to stop and ask for directions. "Excuse me Mr. Bear, could you direct me to... aaahhhhh!"

Yes, I ran out to the Akwe for an attempt at commercial fishing again this week, in a nasty flood and storm. Besides trying to repair the cabin roof to stop the leaks, while staying up for nearly 60 hours straight on the water... Apparently Teen was hit by a storm of questions and problems to try and solve here in the fly shop. To all who helped her through it and put up with our typically sloppy service, but service with her Aussie smile, thank you. This has been a wet and sloppy week, but most of you guys have been making the best of it. The fish are here, but so are the torrential floods. Great for the health of the run, but tough on the fishermen. Thanks for pulling Teen (and Eden) through it all. More tomorrow. I need to go pass out.

OK, we have our initial logo for the WWII museum. Still have a long way to go before we have a museum to go with the logo, but we are making progress. I'd love to know what you think of it. Obviously, we were going for classic 1940's nose art. EVERYONE so far has thought it was great except ONE. I have been asked if that was Teen modeling for it... Um... maybe that explains why she was the one... No, it isn't her! Really...

Lockheed Hudsons were stationed here in Yakutat thoughout much of the war. They essentially spent the war looking for subs and escorting ships up and down the coast. Thus... the Hudson on the logo. They were operated by the 406th Bombardment Squadron.

So... we just finished reading Gods and Generals right before Tanis and I headed out to the Italio to fish. This week back in town, we started reading the next book in series The Killer Angels. So last night, I glanced down and realized it was actually June 30th... Great! Now, we are pressed to read the darned battle of Gettysburg in real-time over the next three days... It didn't dawn on me that this was the exact anniversary of the battle TODAY...

And since Tanis is never content to just watch... he has a new set of Civil War soldiers that he is setting up for battle. He stole my camera at some point and was taking pictures from the soldier's view... He does switch back and forth between Civil War and WWII as you can see:

I believe this is Fredricksberg with the stone wall and men in blue advancing up the hill. I don't think the 20th Maine had been deployed yet, or he'd probably have Chamberlain lying down with bodies stacked up as a shield. He can be pretty detailed... Fred tells a story of Tanis playing out in the big snow pile when we were still building the fly shop. He asked Tanis what he was doing and he replied that he was recreating Mt Suribachi. He was 7 and knew this stuff from his own reading...

Well, I have a lot to post, but I ran out of time today. I'll post Tanis' and my adventure out on the Italio and Akwe this past week tomorrow with photos, but tonight it will have to wait. Last night, we went home to a bay view filled with porpoise right out the window. Then suddenly an eagle picked up a salmon head off the dock and tried to escape with it. Another eagle attacked and the two plunged - locked together as they fought over the prize. They both slammed into the water and the head sank out of reach for either of them.

Fighting and bickering over their shared object of desire, both ending up going home with nothing. I think Ben Franklin may have been wrong. Bald Eagles do accurately represent the symbol of what America has become. Trying to take each other's things, rather than simply going out and getting their own... They both go hungry tonight. Welcome to socialism... No one creating their own bounty, just bickering to take someone else's away. It's a brave new world.

Here is how I'm looking at the coming season: Last year with the crappy economy, traffic during the salmon season was down by at least 50%. Good fishing, but no one came. The exception last year was the steelhead season. Steelheaders are after all compulsive psychos (and I'm sure most will take that as the complement it is intended as). Flyfishing for steelhead is THE thing they do, so a struggling economy isn't going to hold them back any more than eating and sleeping. This year... even the steelheaders didn't come! Other than the one week window in early May, the river was devoid of people. If the steelheaders stayed close to home, Yakutat needs to brace for a REAL collapse in the economy with no one to stay in our rooms, buy our food and fishing gear.

So... with that said, we are preparing for the worst and being careful in what we order here at the fly shop. We are pretty close to being fully stocked anyway, but we won't be adding a lot of the new lines of products we had hoped to. That will get pushed to next year. Lots of Simms and Sage on hand, lots of flies and tying stuff. We are running a little low on the logowear and souvenirs, but we should be doing well enough to have that in stock. Just not a lot of the new designs and goodies we wanted to bring in.

Also, since so many of you won't be able to get your Yakutat fix this year, I will do my best to keep you up to date on what is happening around here. If you can't come fishing, I'll at the very least babble about all the extra time I'm going to have to fish, since I won't be as tied to the shop with the slow business. And... in hope of generating a little extra cash flow, we are finally getting the web site put together properly. We still have a long way to go, but we have made a good dent in the Simms section. All the waders and boots are in and all the credit card stuff functions. Pardon an occasional typo of course, as we get more and more of our products online.

I head out to the Italio each weekend starting Sunday for my commercial fishing. I do still gill-net for sockeye in the Akwe River through the last week of June and first couple weeks of July. The run in the Situk is very strong, so hopefully we'll see a good batch of fish in the Akwe as well. I'll take pictures and show you what Tanis and I are up to out there...

Thanks for your continued support. It really is appreciated, especially in a tough season like this!

I had a great question today that I have heard a lot of comments on throughout the steelhead season. Why so many fuzzy infected fish in the river this year...

The total count this year is looking to fall somewhere between 5000 and 5500 steelhead kelts through the weir. Not a great run, but not terrible either. I had some concerned questions about such "low numbers" from many people and what a 5000-7000 fish run means for the future... Well, the ADF&G web site only goes back 12 years and a couple years that just dropped off the list were in the upper 4,000 range. Yes, the run has been better (a lot better), but it has also been a lot worse... Runs can drop off dramatically, but then they also rebound just as dramatically without any particular obvious reason.

This year, I received a lot of comments about the large percentage of moldy infected fish. According to the catch reports submitted to Fish and Game, the number of fish caught is usually double the number of total fish in the river. Obviously some fish don't get hooked, but some fish are repeatedly caught (and handled). The bacteria on our hands can infect the fish and really makes the fish susceptible to disease. A high number of these handled fish never recover from this, even if they make it back into the ocean. Saltwater enables fish to heal and recover from some amazing damage, but steelhead kelts can be so weakened by their months in fresh water (whether they have been caught and handled or not) that they will die even after making it back into the ocean. Also, diseased and weakened fish are easy targets for seals and sea lion at the river mouths.

So... we had a pretty weak run of just over 5,000 this year. The river water was unusually warm due to the gorgeous sunny weather. Warm water breeds bacteria and mold better, making the fish skin legions grow faster and do more damage to the fish. No matter how careful we may be, if we handle steelhead with our dry hands, we dramatically increase the likelihood that the fish won't survive the outward migration. There are some simple techniques to reduce the damage we do by handling the fish - use a catch glove, leave the fish in the water, even simply wetting our hands before we tough the fish can help a little bit.

Salmon are going to die anyway within weeks of coming into the river. Handling a sockeye to get a good picture doesn't impact the fish as much as it does when dealing with a steelhead, since steelhead are in the fresh water for months and they are planning to live beyond their one night stand. The less you handle ANY fish - all the better, but with steelhead, any harm caused by your handling technique is magnified.

Have you spoken with Chet Moore, the fisheries tech who has been doing research at the weir for the past 8 or 9 years? Incredible stuff they are finding out....will blow a lot of the long-held beliefs about the fish out the door. For example, the biggest fish are typically males on their first run up the river. Not the "3 salt " or "C" run fish we've all been told. Chet trapped one tagged hen that was bright and healthy and 30" this year that was 13 years old! Anyway, he told us that the fuzzy fish actually have a fungal infection that they believe is picked up in the lake. Doesn't seem to be related to handling. To wit, you don't seem to see the infection around the tail where fish are typically grabbed, nor in other high-handling locations. Fighting does seem to have some relationship to it, though, so really rough handling is definitely contraindicated. Now the killer...he said the fish that come through the weir with even a single spot of fungus have zero chance of re-adapting to salt water, and they invariably die in the estuary. Just can't cope with the salt-osmosis process with the disease.

Thank you Doug for the info there. I had heard that a lot of the really big fish are first spawners. That seems to contradict common sense, but then again... small dog breeds live longer than large dog breeds... bigger doesn't necessarily mean more successful. A steelhead genetically predisposed to growing really big probably has other issues that work against survival. Alaska Department of Fish and Game's web site says this:

"...steelhead commonly spawn more than once, and fish over 28 inches are almost always repeat spawners."

So many of our commonly held beliefs and understandings can be overturned as we study and learn more about these fish. I see Chet's point on the growth of fungus too, since so many fish come out of the lake and show infection, having never been caught or handled. I have seen fish with actual finger stripes of mold around the tail though... Maybe we can say that handling isn't the "cause" of infection, but I would still lean toward handling can make the fish more susceptible to infection. Maybe... We all have a lot yet to learn though...

It is more than a bit disturbing that all fish with even a tiny spot of fungus would absolutely die. In any given year, that could be THOUSANDS of kelts that are counted by the weir. I see a lot of returning salmon every year with terrible injuries they received out in the ocean (probably from a seal) healing back up entirely. I had one a couple years ago that had been sliced wide open with guts hanging out that had healed over and a fringe of organs still dangled on the outside of the fish. The wound had sealed and had regrown scales, while the poor hen seemed to be healthy and full of energy. Seal bites received in fresh water at the river mouth never heal and those fish are doomed. OK, all salmon are doomed... but injury received in the ocean can heal, where injury in fresh water won't. Steelhead are amazing in what they are able to do repeatedly. Moving between fresh and salt and back again is an astounding miracle of nature.

Some good advice from the Fish and Game web site to help increase survival rates on released fish:

Rubber nets are supposed to do a lot less harm to the fish than knotted nets. Using a fly fishing net (as opposed to the big old-style scoop nets) can go a long way to help land the fish quickly and reduce hand contact. My guess is they were referring to the big ugly green nets fishermen used to use, not the flat rubber fly landing nets we use today. Great info on steelhead and most other game species in Alaska:

I hold our veterans and active service military in VERY high regard. I usually have some long babbling posting for Memorial Day, but this year I spent the day with the kids instead of at the computer. I was just sent a link to someone else's blog posting titled "On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs" that is VERY worth the read. It doesn't criticize the president, or any political party. It does talk about those among us who stand guard to protect the flock - and how we as the flock feel about them in times of peace and times when the wolf is at the door. Yes, this is long, but I urge you to read it, if you haven't seen it already. If you have seen it, read it again...

On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs – Dave Grossman

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? – William J. Bennett – in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

“Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful.? For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed

Let me expand on this old soldier’s excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.”

Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I’m proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, “Let’s roll,” which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers – athletes, business people and parents. — from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. – Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn’t have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior’s path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church.? They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs.? Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, “I will never be caught without my gun in church.” I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy’s body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?”

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for “heads to roll” if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids’ school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, “Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?”

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn’t bring your gun, you didn’t train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: “…denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn’t so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling.”

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be “on” 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself…

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

Teen sent me this quote and it is well worth sharing. We have so much going on around here and so much excitement for the future. We have our share of obstacles and occasional resistance, but ultimately none of the invented conflicts from those small minds that hate change have mattered in the long run.

Have a wonderful D-Day today. We had a little rain last night, but are back to bright sunny weather. Yakutat is amazingly gorgeous with the bright clean white snow on the mountains, deep blue sky, scattered fluffy clouds and green of the lush spring growth. The purple lupine are in full bloom, dotting the landscape with vivid spots of color. Sockeye are starting in and soon we will have tens of thousands of salmon in the river again. Look around you and appreciate the beauty you have outside your window too. Thousands of young Americans died 66 years ago today storming the beaches of France to bring freedom back to that continent. Modern France may have zero appreciation for what those men sacrificed, but I hope you take a moment to see and appreciate for our soldiers - the ones who we have lost and the ones currently serving - what they are missing in this amazingly beautiful country. Dare I say it - EXCEPTIONAL country.

And don't let the little men of this world cast long shadows across your path. They day is coming to an end and setting on the near horizon.

Well, the fly shop may be deathly slow right now between runs, but we are keeping ourselves busy none the less. Had a great phone call from someone suggesting a book for us to read on the Civil War, which just happened to be the next book we were scheduled to read already. We LOVE history, so as we work through Jeff and Michael Shaara's series in the next couple weeks, we'll be learning a lot about our country and its struggles over the first 2 centuries. We are just finishing up Gods and Generals (which happens to be my favorite novel), with The Killer Angels up next and The Last Full Measure to close out the Civil War.

In case you aren't aware... Michael Shaara won the Pulitzer for The Killer Angels in 1974 about the 4 days of Gettysburg, essentially inventing his writing style of historical fiction. All the facts, dates and events are historically accurate, but he invented the dialog of the characters based on their journals and letters. When the movie version of the book was made into "Gettysburg", Michael's son Jeff was inspired to carry on his dad's spectacular work and so wrote about the war leading up to the Gettysburg battle in Gods and Generals - following Lee, Jackson, Hancock and Chamberlain through the early rumblings of the coming conflict and the early battles. The problem of course is that they made an awful movie of my favorite book! I read them in chronological order originally, so G&G is my favorite and I think Jeff has grown into being an even better author than his dad was. The Last Full Measure is OK, but not as compelling as the earlier two works. Probably why they didn't make it into a movie...

Jeff Shaara went on to write Gone for Soldiers about the Mexican war and is a wonderful study of that often ignored conflict in our history. Yes, reading Gone for Soldiers before starting Gods and Generals is a must! Seeing these famous generals as a bunch of young punks in Mexico really fills in a lot of their character and gives you a much richer understanding of their difficult choice to take up arms against each other a couple decades later. Then he did a two book set on the Revolution - the first of which Rise to Rebellion is stunning - again showing a side of the Revolution we rarely get to see. What lead to the War of Independence and people involved is a must read for EVERYONE. The Glorious Cause is again a bit less compelling, since it mostly covers battles - one loss after another until we accidentally win our independence. Still a great read, especially as a set.

Well... that was a boring blog entry... Just in case you needed some summer reading without pictures...

Read them in that order and don't watch the movies. Although Jeff Daniels makes a great Chamberlain... I need to figure out how to get a commission out of this...

Sometimes, you just wish someone would watch these %$#@ kids for 8 hours a day, sometimes HomeSchooling is a wonderful pleasure. Teen is on the couch looking over Tanis' math and she said how fun it is adding mixed and improper fractions. She said she NEVER understood this through school or her adult life and now is just thrilled to discover how to do some of these basic concepts. When we started down this road, Teen and I figured we could handle the early years, but once we hit the tough stuff (probably around 2nd grade...), we may have to throw in the towel. In practice, it has been a lot of fun to be able to revisit what our own crappy public education didn't cover well. Learning should be a lifetime process and HomeSchooling sure exposes us to a lot of things we didn't know. And amazing to watch the light bulb go on when working with one of the kids on something.

The best part is really delving deeply into subjects that we now feel are more important than that the textbook publishers think. With the current political situation in our country, we spent a LOT of time reading about the founding of our nation. We spent a month covering the war with Mexico - something that may not even receive mention in regular school curriculum, but is actually a hot topic with illegal immigration arguments ripped from today's headlines about how we "stole" California and Arizona from the Mexicans. Um... not quite. We bought the southwest from Mexico and gave the rest of Mexico back to Mexico even though the Mexican Legislature begged General Scott to become Mexico's new Dictator and replace Santa Anna...

Now we are on to "state's rights" and the Civil War... One common public school textbook has one single paragraph on President Lincoln, then skips right on to the "Robber Barons"... Ya, we are getting a little more indepth on OUR 5th grade studies... I think Teen and I are the ones being HomeSchooled sometimes. Tanis and Eden are just getting dragged along for the ride.

I have been getting questions about the Situk's king run this week, so I was going back through the weir count numbers. Here are some interesting thoughts...

Kings generally are on a 7 year life cycle. They can come back after only 4 years, so there is a lot of variant in their life expectancy and therefore their size... Fish and Game manages the run as best they can based on the large and mediun sized kings, so we should expect to see returns based on what the 7 year parent year shows. Here are some stats:

Just wanted to give you a little statistical food for thought... It will be interesting to see how this season shapes up for the king run. I remember 2003 was a fantastic king season. 2,000+ kings in the little ol' Situk is a LOT of fish. Most years, we have been missing our escapement goals and the retention gets shut down pretty early in the season. I haven't talked to Brian about what they expect or are planning, but certainly this would look like a good indicator if the 7 year cycle holds true.

Also had a report today of a big sockeye buck getting caught already up above the bridge. He hit an egg sucking leech - not your typical sockeye fare, especially a chrome-bright sea liced fresh one. Sockeye are a 4 year fish and the parent year in 2006 had over 90,000 fish counted - one of the biggest runs in the past decade! Last year, we had a big count as well, but last year was an odd situation. The total return was just average, but warm water along the shore of the Ahrnklin Inlet where the commercial nets are drove the sockeye to swim up through the colder deeper center bypassing the nets. We had days with 6000+ fish through the weir WITH the nets in the water and none of the commerciual guys catching anything... 2006 had a big weir count AND a good commercial catch!

Let's see how this season shakes out... If both strong parent years for sockeye AND kings spells for a great summer, we may just have one heck of a season on our hands. Only time will tell though. My expectation is that we'll have very few fishermen on the river this summer due to the economy. Certainly traffic through town during the steelhead season has been way down this year. Last year, steelhead traffic was OK, while the salmon season left Yakutat a Ghost Town. With this year's steelheaders staying home, the salmon guys will really be scarce. Hmmm... great run potential and no people... I may have to spend a lot of time on the river this year... Let me just thank Teen now for covering the shop...

Teen does have a tough time understanding my want for a rainy day. She sure loves a warm sunny day on the ordinarily rare occasion that we see one... After yesterday's very brief rain shower, the sun returned. After we closed, we decided to go for a walk along the road in town. It is a short stroll from our house along the waterfront to the city's unused small dock. The kids threw rocks in the water and bickered as only siblings can, while Teen and I enjoyed the setting sun and peaceful surroundings.

Then... a big pod of porpoise came in rather close to the dock. They circled and corralled a ball of feed as we watched from shore. It is amazing to listen to their breathing as they come up to the surface. They didn't hang around long. When we brought them to Eden's attention, she started screeching and screaming, which sent the pod off to more tranquil locales. Ah... nothing like kids to send wildlife packing.

Boy, April has been a slow month in the shop and around town. Traffic through Yakutat is way down due undoubtedly to the economy, but also possibly because a lot of people had planned to come later into May after the past two really late steelhead runs. Of course I had planned to be productive during this slow time, but something always seems to get in the way... A lot of clean-up to get done around the hangar, after a winter of build-up.

And of course we are close to going live with the e-commerce site. Boy, that's a lot of data entry and I'm only half way through the Simms section. Flies and fly tying is going to be a nightmare to photograph and post everything. Must be 20,000 products. And in the midst of it all, I decided this week would be the perfect time to learn what passing a kidney stone feels like. Teen can no longer hold childbirth over me... I've done it! Oh, except she was quick to point out that she did that twice... Let's just hope she will always have that to hold over me and I never have to go through a week like this again.

So... if you were wondering why I failed to post river updates through this past week, now you know why. It was tough enough to try and hold myself together as well as I did. If you came through the shop and thought I was a little anxious and/or rude, my sincere apologies. Holy cow! That was a tough week to get through. And if I do have another week like this, maybe Rhonda can make me a set of earrings from my precious stones. Or... maybe not...

After two years of not making any progress toward getting our online act together, I finally broke down and hired our local web designer Fred to give me a hand. We had initially bought a pretty detailed e-commerce package that would supposedly communicate with our in-store Point of Sale computer and reconcile inventories between the two. Apparently… that was a big waste of my time… So now we are using a more user friendly package that comes with our domain hosting. Fred was ready last night to go live with all the Simms data entered. But… none of his changes and formatting would appear. Just the old first attempt…

After a long and winding road, he figured out that the site is still linked to the old original site. Without the passwords, it will be a little longer to get that turned off and the new site turned on. Apparently, these people don’t work 24/7 like I do. Fred also decided to look up a few other things while he had idle time. Seeing how many web sites link back to my river reports and to the as yet non-existent e-commerce site. WOW! There are a lot of web sites linking to my incoherent babblings.

And we aren’t alone with the situk domains. I had bought situk.com for the e-commerce site, situk.net for the fishing reports and various local businesses and then situk.org for an eventual fishing and conservation club. Fred found that we have a “sister” site at www.situk.org.uk that isn’t quite about fishing. Well, maybe it is about fishing, but of a different sort.

“Situk is the newest, most exciting granny dating website in the UK sex dating industry today.”

What the... Um… thanks Fred! That’s what I needed… I imagine if I entered the site, I’d learn a lot more about ol' Chief Situk than I would ever want to know… I’ll leave that to you. You think you have all your bases covered for domains, only to find out you haven’t even made it to first base yet. So to speak.

By popular demand... we'll be staying open till 8pm every night now. OK, maybe not by popular demand so much as no one wants to come in off the river with great fishing going on just to make it to a store before it closes... Most people are back in town by 8pm, so we'll be holding the doors open till then.

And a quick hello to my grade school friend Robbie... Angela told me to tell you hi, since apparently you read this occasionally. I find it hard to believe anyone reads this most of the time...

My mom flew up this weekend with the kids' cousin Doug, so this morning, mom too them to the beach to grab some herring. The spawn is happening right now, so in addition to the bay being a swirl of white and green, the entire shoreline and anything in the water is thickly coated with cream colored herring eggs. They managed to collect about 3 gallons of herring in the buckets before getting so wet and cold that they threw in the towel.

And for yet another experience in eating bait... The kids want me to cook these things for them... The smelt fries turned out to be really good, so with any luck, we can fry up some herring too and see how it is. These are really big herring. Tanis also collected some eel grass and popweed coated with eggs and was snacking on them here at the shop for lunch. Sometimes it is hard to keep my own gag-reflex in check when the kids want to try some local traditional foods. He loves the eggs - they are basically crunchy, salty nothing... Not exactly something I go out of my way for, but if we ever have to survive without Spam® and Butterfingers®, I guess I won't starve. I love Spam® by the way! Real fisherman food! I can't believe Butterfingers have their own web site too. "Follow them on Twitter..." Or not...

This morning, the bay out in front of our house was white! I have mentioned before that living in Yakutat is like living in a National Geographic special (at least the old ones about wildlife, but the dumb end-of-the-world ones they seem to be making now...). All around the dock, there were incredible swirls of color. The herring have been thick in the bay, but it has taken them quite a while to ripen up and be ready to spawn. Today was the big day. The white swirls were from the herring milt. That's a lot of excited little boy fish to make that big a mess in the bay and ocean water! Sorry for the lack of photos... the camera was still in my fly vest at the shop.

Traffic through the shop is starting to pick up a little bit, but of course the season is still early. As is usual for me, I managed to talk two guys out of buying new waders so far this week. Boy, do I need to work on my sales skills... I did get some great product tips and ideas, so I'll be researching some new stuff to try and get it in for later this season. Your suggestions are so appreciated. Living in Yakutat, I can be pretty ignorant on a lot of the really cool new products on the market.

Don't forget... if you are coming up to camp in the next month or so, I do have my usual boxes of wood scraps from the hangar renovation available for campfire starter. While supplies last... Makes it easier to have you take it away for free instead of me having to lug it off to the dump... Just ask for a box as you head out to the river.

I hope you are enjoying this wonderful tax day. The weather changed a couple days ago to light rain, which brought the river flow rate up to just about perfect. Overcast with a 40% chance of rain is expected throughout the weekend. Just about perfect... There are nice numbers of fish in the river, although still not a whole lot of winter fish. We seem to be seeing a lot of Alaskans this week, coming up from Juneau, or down from Anchorage just for a quick couple days on the water. A LOT of people coming and going off the jet, but not all that many people on the river. The short trip makes it seem like there should be a ton of people, but they seem to be rotating out as fast as they come in. Lots of fish, not many people and ideal river conditions. Gee... this sure is shaping up to be a miserable weekend... I hope you can tell sarcasm when you read it...

Tanis sold two flies today and Eden sold one. Their tins are getting pretty low, so I need to spend some time with them to get a few more tied up. As HomeSchoolers, we get to call this "art class", or maybe "biology" since it is creating artificial food sources for animals... Then we can take PE on the river... You gotta love HomeSchooling! Today was math, as we figured out their 80:20 commission and then divided up that for tithing and savings. Everything in life around here ends up being some sort of lesson. My poor kids... And since they have to declare it on their taxes, they might as well learn at a VERY early age just how much of their earnings will be taken from them by the government. I know Tanis doesn't mind having some of his earnings go to support the military, but Eden probably would only support buying tiaras for homeless princesses. Come to think of it, I think we may be paying for that already...

With responses to my political postings running about 50:1 in support, I can live with those odds... Of course the people looking at this are probably outdoorsmen and therefore tend to be a little more conservative than the rest of America. Perhaps that is why we tend to preach to the choir. I did get my second "alternative" opinion via e-mail this week, but this time, it produced an interesting and polite discussion without any name calling. I can live with that. In spite of finishing my taxes today, I'm still in a good mood.

My uncle just sent me a link to a web site that featured a few old photos of and around Yakutat. This one caught my eye for rather obvious reasons:

I think this was taken sometime in the mid-1950's. How can you not have a good day when you come across something this cool! If only there was a photo of it in front of the hangar. Or better yet - having it still sitting in front of the hangar... We should be having our first WWII warbird donated to the foundation mid-summer sometime. More news about the WWII museum when I actually have some...

Obviously... the fly shop... the web site... even my blog are intended to be commercial enterprises. The fishing reports enable me to share information about the run - both good news and bad news - to help you make better decisions about when to come, what to bring, etc. It translates into advertising for the fly shop and (hopefully) makes you more inclined to make a purchase here. Duh! I haven't always made some local lodge owners happy by telling you the run sucks when it does, but to my thinking, giving you honest info is far more beneficial than misleading you in order to get you to come fishing... I don't get why anyone would want to keep the bad news from their customers... If the run is late, have people delay their trip (if they can), so they can have a better experience and want to rebook. Again... DUH!

Unfortunately, giving accurate info (although it isn't always perfectly accurate... it is what I'm told by fishermen and fishermen have been known to lie... on occasion...) can become a political issue if it means someone may cancel their trip due to poor fishing conditions. As a commercial enterprise, it is probably wise to avoid "politics" in general. Taking a political position (whether that relates to something "fishing" or not) can be risky because if you turn off your audience with a political view, you can potentially turn away business.

Going back through my blog, there are 4 political posts - clearly political posts - that I have made over the past 2+ years. This is a fishing shop, so I usually post things about fishing, or personal stuff about my family, home schooling the kids, the hangar renovation, etc. I have received ONE phone call in all that time where someone said he appreciated my thoughts, even though he didn't always agree with me politically. There is nothing greater that I could ever hope for. No one has to agree with me all the time - heck, I don't agree with me ALL the time. I do appreciate a good discussion though and it helps me to rethink my own positions and beliefs. "Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear" - Thomas Jefferson

Recently in a blog post, I questioned the reasoning behind adding a trillion dollar entitlement program created by our federal government. Over the couple weeks since that post, I have received dozens and dozens of encouraging and supportive responses. I did however receive one negative response:

1) My dad didn't die from insurance or lack thereof. He died of cancer.
2) My dad had full health insurance and he managed to die anyway.
3) He had cancer before and still managed to get health insurance with this pre-existing condition.
4) How presumptuous of anyone to assume they know anything about a particular situation, or to judge anyone based on these blind assumptions.

My dad was a wonderful man who gave his family everything important we could ever had wanted. He did however smoke for most of his life and therefore got cancer doing something he knew would cause cancer - kind of a self-inflicted death sentence, if you ask me. But the e-mail writer didn't care about asking me anything. Instead, they called me rude names and stated they would punish me by withholding their money for one reason and one reason only - I dared to disagree with their opinion. There is no debating the issue. I'm not allowed to have a differing opinion.

Did you notice the lack of debate in congress over the Heath Care debacle? "Here is our plan, agree with us, or we will either crush you, or ignore you." When that didn't work, they called anyone who disagreed with them nasty names - you are racist if you don't want your healthcare from the government... Really? Then, anyone who continued to disagree was attacked - the Tea Partiers, Fox News, Republicans - apparently even 40+ % of Democrats, considering that's what the polls are showing after passage. The Dems have super majorities, yet they could only pass the bill by bribing their own party members into voting for it and even then, it still barely passed. But I'm a "wingnut" who killed my own father when I was 17. Ya, no wonder most of America is fed up with Washington, congress and the president - and the far left.

If you have been following anything other than the mainstream media, you know that "Rules for Radicals" calls for you to vilify and shut down any opposition. Discussion is not allowed. The problem is that after being called a "racist" because I wanted to vote FOR a candidate a year and a half ago, I got over being called names by the media and political opposition. The e-mailer seems to be trying to argue against being responsible. That's what my blog post was about - being responsible for your own actions and your own life. Why in hell would anyone try to justify NOT being responsible???

The last thing they wrote in their message was that if I get sick, I would go bankrupt. How can I do that to my family? The reality is that as a small business owner, I am far more likely to go bankrupt BECAUSE of the increased taxes and demands of this new law than I am if I get sick. Hospitals by existing law can not deny you medical care - as demonstrated by every sad story the president and congress tried to drum up to justify the bill. EVERY example of someone who died turned out to be faked, or so grossly exaggerated that it was a blatant lie. THAT'S how you have to try and pass this bill? Say some little kid's mommy died because she was denied health insurance, when in fact she was treated for free by the hospital which has a fund for helping those who need financial assistance? Besides, if I was seriously ill, I bet the hospital would accept a payment plan that wouldn't break me in the process. Pretty darned sure they would "allow" me to be responsible for my own care if I asked. At least that used to be the way it worked. Besides, there are MANY reasons I could fail in business. As a small business owner, I face that every day. Health is a very unlikely what-if... but thanks for your "concern".

In a wingnutshell... This web site is about fishing. Once in a while, I have shared intimate details about what it has been like to start a fly shop. Most of you have appreciated the peek behind the curtain. Some of you have skipped those entries because you really just want to read about fishing. Either scenario is fine with me. ONE person out of literally thousands has been so disgusted with my opinion that they bothered to call me a wingnut and refused to use my services. Great. My guess is that if they did come out to the Italio for a week, I would deliberately drive them wingnuts just for the fun of it. A real American would give me crap back and we could still agree to disagree. There are those few who have always been able to get their way by not allowing discussion. For that few, I hope you have enjoyed the ride so far. 'Cause the free ride is over. The rest of us aren't going to be silenced anymore when it means the utter destruction of our country.

PS. Did you know that "American" was a slur the British used to insult "Continentals"? EVENTUALLY, George, John, Ben, Thomas and Co. got over the slur and took it as their own badge of honor. "Teabaggers" and "Wingnuts" should probably do the same. If I'm racist for wanting to be responsible for myself, so be it. Get over it. I did.

WOW! I seem to have hit a nerve on my last blog entry. GOOD! Thanks for the comments back. Maybe I should convert this page over to a real blog, where people can leave public comments. Another thing I have been meaning to get done and haven't. We are finally getting the e-commerce site populated, so you'll have that as a purchasing option shortly on the www.situk.com page. Should be functional in the next couple weeks. Ya, it has only taken me two years...

On another note... Since we have fish in the river and a few people are trickling though town, I figured we may as well "officially" open a few days early. We've been here every day anyway, so... WE ARE OPEN! April hours will be 9am to 7pm, unless there appears to be a need to stay up later. As always, I'm here working on the hangar until the wee hours of the night, so basically, I'm here later anyway and just honk if the 'burb is parked out front.

Here is a little bit of "Bob History" for you. Most of you probably won't care in the least, but after this weekend, I thought I should spell out a few of my thoughts.

My dad was laid off from Boeing back during the great recession of the early 70's in Seattle, when the famous billboard saying "Will the last person leaving Seattle - turn out the lights" went up. Boeing of course used to make airplanes. They took a risk, trying to manufacture big passenger jets when no one was really

doing that at the time. Some dunce at the company thought a really really big jet would be something the airline industry wanted to buy. The gamble nearly bankrupted the company and sent Seattle into a recession that makes "the Great Recession of 2009" look like a bull market.

Ironically, those crazy airlines ended up buying lots of these big big jets and Boeing became a tremendous capitalism success story. Seattle diversified its economic base over the following couple decades, developed more industry than just Boeing (Microsoft, Costco, Home Despot, Amazon.com, Starbucks, bla, bla, bla...) and also increased its tax rates, increased regulations and in general - made it more difficult for industries to actually manufacture THINGS. You know, Seattle barely noticed when Boeing decided to move its corporate headquarters out of Washington State, along with the assembly of the newest incarnation of their passenger jet. You may also notice that the quick list of big-name Washington companies that I came up with are all service companies. There is a reason that we as a nation no longer produce THINGS. Many reasons, actually.

Oh ya, I was talking about my dad... So... my dad was laid off from Boeing and decided the way to feed his family was to build a small plywood troller and start commercial fishing in a tiny Alaskan fishing village. I think I have already babbled about why Yakutat - grandpa Len fixed the cannery radios back in the 1950's and kept coming back to fix people's radios and brought his sons hunting and bla, bla, bla... Anyway... My dad took a risk by jumping into the pool head first to do what it takes to feed his young family and here we are today... still following that example of making educated decisions, taking risks, starting businesses so we can be responsible for our own lives.

Sometimes those risks prove to be greater than the rewards that come from them. Sometimes those risks prove to be far less than the rewards. The Boeing Co. took huge risks that paid off greater than William Boeing could have ever imagined they would. Boeing took a sleepy logging town and turned it into the "World's Most Livable City", with all the professional sports teams one could ever want. Oh, gee... Seattle isn't a great place to have a basketball team anymore. The football and baseball teams constantly threaten to leave as well, even after having brand-new stadiums built for them... I read this morning that Seattle is the #1 city in the US for cybercrime and the most risky place to be online. It used to be a wonderful place to live, but I chose to move away from the Seattle area a decade ago. Seattle no longer makes the top 10 livable list.

Yes, a decade ago, I worked three jobs and Teen worked two. We had quadruple health benefits between those jobs. My last year there before selling our house in Kent was by far my highest grossing year, showing about $75,000 in net earnings on my taxes. Boy, working at Crest Airpark by day, Horizon Airlines by night and the Port of Seattle at Sea-tac airport by graveyard shift enabled me to pay off my debts, finish renovating the house I lived in since I was born and buy my Italio cabin back. Boy did I feel rich for a year. I soon got over it...

As soon as I could afford it, I sold my house, bought the family cabin and commercial fishing permit back and got the hell out of Washington. Nothing personal against Seattle... Having my car stolen twice, dealing with bumper-to-bumper traffic every day, sleeping 2 hours a night while working three jobs, having virtually no control over my life... This was simply not the life I wanted to live. The money was not worth it. It wasn't worth it for my dad, it wasn't worth it for my grandfather... I had a long history of making my own way in the world as an example to emulate. Even great grandpa Armon became a farmer in Montana - self employed and taking responsibility for the risks his decision of personal responsibility presented. Grandpa Armon lost the farm during the Great Depression and he moved his family to Kent, Washington. Sometimes the risks outweigh the benefits. Grandpa Len started his own marine radio repair business that allowed him to support his family and live the lifestyle he wanted. Dad became a commercial fisherman, which allowed us to live all summer on the Italio River as a family, working together, playing together, living together as a family. Granted it wasn't enough to support the family year 'round, but dad was able to do fill-in work in the winter to make ends meet and still spend the summer on the river.

I sold the house, walked away from the security of a paycheck and health insurance as I started my own young family. I believed it was more important for me to raise my children myself and see them 24/7 than to put them in daycare and have them spend 8 hours a day with some stranger in public school while I worked my secure job every day. Health insurance was not something that would tie me to a job (or three) that I didn't enjoy. Living in a big city with access to concerts, movies and malls was not enough to tie me to traffic and smog and a daily grind I didn't enjoy. But... commercial fishing was not financially rewarding enough to feed us year 'round either. Just as with my three jobs, I needed to diversify my income to afford to live here in sunny Yakutat.

I started my guide business Italio River Adventures. My first year of duel Alaskan income netted me a whopping $3,000 for the YEAR. Woo, hoo! I was shocked to discover that my IRS tax refund that year was nearly twice my income. Big red flag there... the federal government was paying me not to work... Interesting, don't ya think? I filled out my own taxes as I always did, calculated a tiny refund check based on what I legitimately was entitled to and then a month later, the IRS sent me a check that THEY thought I deserved - thousands more than what my 1040 showed. I didn't even ask for the handout, they just gave it to me. Thank you to all you hard working Americans that actually worked for a living in 1998 for handing me a wad of cash to blow that I didn't earn. It sickened me then and it still sickens me today. Yes, I worked my ass off that year investing in my future - spending all my life savings, sinking the equity from the sale of my house and all the credit I could muster into a new business venture to supplement my existing self-employment venture.

The risk of starting a guide business paid off OK. We were in the black in our second season, just as I was in my second season of commercial fishing. Not bad, since most businesses fail in their first 5 years. Both my business ventures succeeded in their second year. That didn't stop people from calling me stupid for going into either of these businesses at the time. That's OK... I was also called stupid for buying my lovely little house when I did. It was just weeks away from literally falling down. We propped it up on new beams, put in new floors, windows, a new kitchen and

bathroom... A year later, I was told how I ripped off the seller for buying the house for the price I did... I have also been told I screwed mystery people when I started IRA... I stepped back into commercial fishing at the right time... (three years after buying the commercial fishing permit back, the price for wild Alaskan sockeye salmon dropped to only $.40/lb at the peak of the farmed fish craze. Subtract $.25/lb to fly the fish to town to sell, the cost of my cabin fees tripling, fuel costs going up over $5/gal... ya, I got in at the perfect time. Hard work had nothing to do with any of it. Dumping more money into my house than the cost to buy it didn't have anything to do with making it livable... Hard work has an odd way of paying off in America. At least it used to...

Boy, I haven't had one of these extremely long tirades in quite a while... See what idleness breeds? A discontented rabble... I just started inserting photos at this point in my typing. Have you noticed the smiles on the faces in every shot? It wouldn't be going out on a limb to assume that I'm proud of the decisions I have made. The risks put my family into some mighty difficult times and Bob-created struggles. There have been many times when we did not know where our next meal was coming from. Two businesses was still not enough to really give us some financial security. So what would the solution for a capitalist be? Yep! Start yet another risky business. Good job! You guessed right!

Once again, I was told I was stupid for starting a fly shop in Yakutat. "If it could be successful, then someone else would have already done it." EVERY SINGLE TACKLE SHOP had gone out of business in just a few years. "You really think people are going to buy $300 coats?" After two seasons, I now have people locally saying I'm rolling in dough and people scheming on how to get a piece of it. Ya... great. Yes, the fly shop is what I consider a wild success. I'm hoping that in season 3, I may see a little bit of income from it. We are on track now to possibly make my initial investment back by the end of our 5th year. WOW! 5 years to cover my initial investment. Woo, hoo! For those slow at math, that means I reach zero after 5 years of working continuously 7 days a week for 365 days a year - 12 hours a day on a short day, 18 hours a day on a typical one. My only days off have been to do construction on the hangar, commercial fish two days a week in July and guide for a month in the fall. Yes, my "days off" are to work other jobs.

Thank you all for enabling me to make this shop successful. Each and every purchase helps to get us a little closer to the zero line. I don't have an expectation for you to buy a $300 jacket. I don't expect you to bail me out for my risky decisions. I do hope that I can offer you a service that you actually want to buy and support. I want you to want to support us and come away with a feeling that you received a worthy value for your dollar. My risks were my decisions. Eventually, the reward will also be mine. That's how the free enterprise system works. My risk, my reward. But... receiving a reward for my own efforts and my own success enables me to also reward someone for doing the same. My hope has been to inspire others in our community to also aspire to create something worthy of your support.

As I have said in this blog before, Yakutat is a community dependent on government hand-outs. Yakutat's economy stays afloat by getting grants and hand-outs. The economic base is not large enough at this time to support the community. The largest employer is government. Other than this hangar renovation, there is no other private commercial construction project of consequence. We have a new dock. We have a new police station. This summer, the FAA is putting in some new communication towers. We may get the road repaved this summer. Maybe... Yakutat's economy was struggling when the country's economy was thriving. What do you think will happen when the government runs out of money? Anyone who thinks the government won't run out of money, you are truly clueless. What will happen to Yakutat when the availability of grants comes to a halt?

Last night, congress voted to pass a massive 2,700+ page bill to create a massive government hand-out for the nation. It is a new trillion dollar expense, when we are already spending $4 trillion more PER YEAR than the government takes in. Do you really think we can continue to spend money like this as a nation and not have a consequence in the near future? Get ready. When no one is willing to loan the US more money, who will be the first to lose the hand-outs? Do you think Yakutat will receive a penny when they are eating each other in New York to stay alive?

OK, did I cross a line there? Come on... people eating each other? Alaska Airlines gets over $2 million a year to fly to Yakutat under the Essential Air Service contract. Without that government subsidy, Alaska Airlines wouldn't make any money flying into most of Alaska's po-dunk towns. Do you think the worst of our economic downturn is behind us? Don't hold your breath. I sure hope it is, but I have my obvious doubts. Congress in one vote added another trillion to our debts last night. Deficit-neutral? Give me a break. Over a trillion in NEW SPENDING doesn't come out of thin air no matter now much the president tells you that. If that was true, we could have saved that trillion last year without this bill. This will be new ADDITIONAL spending. And if they do shave this spending from somewhere else to pay for it, where will it come from? Will the government have enough cash laying about to continue to pay Alaska Airlines $2 million/year just to fly to Yakutat? Without Yakutat's twice-daily jet service, how will we get our food? Will tourists come here to fish? Will we be able to ship out our commercial salmon? Will we be able to burn shipped-in diesel to generate our electric power? What happens to Yakutat when the government can no longer spend twice as much as it takes in in taxes? What happens to my fly shop? Can we make it to year 5? How will Yakutat survive our possible future?

I do believe that we can survive. I do not believe we can survive by continuing down the path we are currently on. My dad didn't go looking for his hand-out when Boeing laid him off. He went looking for his own path to prosperity. It was a bumpy path. I thought growing up that my mom must sure love Campbell's tomato soup. Oh, the 30 cent can of soup was all we could afford. With the struggles I have put my family through, I haven't looked for my hand-out either. Thank you for the free health care - yes, with my income, I will easily qualify for free health care under the current standards of yesterday's magical new right congress bestowed upon me. No thank you. I'd rather earn what I receive. I don't want to be dependent on the hand-outs of others. Starvation is one hell of a motivator, therefore I work very hard to make sure my family survives. It is a bumpy path with many peaks and valleys. As with any roller-coaster, the bumps and drops are a thrill. Keep your safety net. I'll walk the wire without it, thankyouverymuch.

A year and a half ago, I started business #4. I took over the lease on the hangar and have gone all-in to renovate a building most were content to see demolished. Yes, I have the records from both the city and the state desiring the building to be removed, so when my local "friend" prints up this blog entry and posts it around town with excerpts highlighted in an attempt to cast me in a negative light, we both know the truth... For the past two years, every penny we have taken in for hangar storage (and then some...) has gone into renovation materials. I haven't paid myself a penny for the thousand+ hours of work. Eventually, that investment will pay off and the building receipts will be larger than the building's expenses. It will take years for us to get to that point though. This is a long-term investment with a LOT of risk. So much risk that when the state offered to sell the hangar to the City of Yakutat for one dollar, the city refused.

I have again been called stupid for taking on the hangar project. More recently, now that the building is starting to take shape and we have some tenants in the building, I have heard that 1) I'm sure putting that grant money to good use and 2) I'm stupid for not getting grant money to renovate the hangar. MAKE UP YOUR FRIGGIN' MINDS! No, I haven't made anyone pay for this project beyond the people actually using the services offered here. No, tax payers in Texas have not footed the bill for anything here. Nor should they! Could you justify making people pay for other people's risks? Yet congress and the president are demanding exactly that. I don't have health insurance by choice. I pay my own way. I'm renovating a state-owned federally-built WWII hangar for private commercial purposes. I pay my lease, therefore what happens to this building is my business. My risk. My benefit. My decisions are a hardship and a thrill. Working for the Port of Seattle was neither. I made the right decision.

Honestly, I have no idea what the future holds for me. None of us do. And... if I did, I probably wouldn't bother to get out of bed tomorrow. Would you? Do you want everything done for you? Everything covered for you? Everything planned out for you by the government? Woo, hoo! I bet that's a fun ride. If steelhead required no skill or effort to catch, would any of you bother? You wouldn't. Not even if they were right outside your door like they are for me. Instead, you spend thousands and thousands of dollars every year to come up here and potentially not catch a single fish. Which scenario do you prefer? Predictable or unpredictable? Do you want to be cared for from cradle to grave? I don't. That is why my family consists of 4 of the 32,000,000 without health insurance.

I remember many years back hearing the saying, "If by 30 you aren't a Democrat, you have no heart. If by 40 you aren't a Republican, you have no brain." Over the years, I find myself getting more and more conservative. Big shock there. I registered as a Republican 10 years ago, but over the past year, I have swung into the Libertarian category, disgusted by the actions of the past 4 presidents, since being of voting age. I have not gone out of my way to test the boundaries of my liberty, yet I now feel the government is actively threatening my ability to feed my family. To educate my family. To protect my family. To operate my businesses. In other words, the government now acts aggressively to restrict my life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

2010 will be an interesting year. As liberals celebrate their great victory to create a socialist nanny-state, they have awakened the sleeping giant of conservativism within me. I have great hope that they have awakened said giant in others throughout the United States. I have sat back and watched as Seattle erupted into violent chaos during the WTO event. I have watched news reports showing the extreme violence of "peace protests". I have watched the far left beat up regular Americans who showed up to vote, to participate in town-hall meetings, to stand up for the first time in their lives. The left is used to violent protests. They have done it for decades. The rest of us have gone to work every day to provide for our families. We haven't participated in anything beyond the narrow confines of our daily lives. Ours will not be a violent revolution, but it will be a revolution none the less.

This year, I watched "honest" news reports of tea party marches with reporters zooming in on the "white racists extremists" in the audience, only to see later that the gun MSNBC zoomed in on was on the belt of a black man who also thinks the government has overstepped the bounds of the constitution. Did you see the contrast photos between the Tea Party march on Washington DC last September compared to the left-wing protests at the G20 summit the same month? Or after the inauguration? This is what the "racist extremists" of the Tea Party leave in their wake... Quite a difference from the usual results on the left...

What will be left of our country at the end of these two possible paths? My guess is similar results. We have a choice of paths before us. One leads to an awful mess. One leads to a future unencumbered by the mess of others. Your choice... The Tea Party participants cleaned up after themselves. The inauguration cost you the taxpayer millions to clean up. One is a path of personal responsibility and one is a path of dependence on others.

In January, I had a bit of a health issue to take care of. Other than birthing my two children, it was the most expensive health issue I have had in my adult life. After flying to Seattle, I had the magical experience of getting a colonoscopy. My dad died of cancer at 41 and I'm now 41. I don't smoke, I don't drink (very often). I'm very physically active. I'm actively responsible for my health and therefore my health care is very inexpensive. I work to eliminate risk when it comes to my health. Gee... personal responsibility for my health and health care... What a novel idea. I paid cash for my procedure, therefore the hospital gave me a 30% discount. Since the doctor didn't find anything

wrong, he suggested I get an unnecessary $6,000 MRI. Instead, I paid an additional $300 for physical therapy that actually detected the problem and cured it in one visit. Hmmm... If I had insurance, not only would the colonoscopy have cost $1000 more than it needed to, I would have endured an unnecessary procedure that would more than triple the total expense. Including airfare and food, the trip cost me around $3000 total instead of $10,000 if I had health insurance. Yes, that gives me a personal grand total health care cost (excluding dental) of around $4000 (including all my FAA pilot physicals) over the past 23 years, compared to at least $6000 each and every year health insurance would cost me. Gee... I think I'll pay as I go, thanks!

Taking responsibility for our own lives... I won't demand a hand-out from you. Don't expect one from me. You have the right to live your life as you see fit, providing you don't encumber the rights of others to do the same. When did we decide to leave THAT path? Time to return to it. November is coming.

The weather forecast was for a mix of rain and snow last night... we had only rain. The snow is gone from the parking lot and the state is busy scooping away the gigantic snow pile behind me as I type. That means the road to the Situk should be clear and open once again very soon! Honestly, even if the state doesn't clear the road, a good 4-wheel drive and off-road tires will make it to the river no problem. So close to steelhead season, I can taste it... not that I would ever think of tasting a steelhead... They taste a lot like spotted owl. Um... Did I say that aloud?

Spring is definitely here and I just can't imagine a deep snow that can change that at this point. Our HomeSchooled kids don't participate in much at the local elementary school, but the one thing we do is pee wee soccer every winter. The season just ended and since it is usually so $#@% cold and snowy, they play in the very confined space of the elementary gym. Little kids running all about, falling over each other and hitting the parents in the stands in the face with a ball when we aren't paying attention. Just before Eden's last game started last week, she was running around the gym to warm up. As she passed by us, she shouted out, "Dad, I'm running laptops!" Thank goodness winter is ending and we can get outside - away from these darned computers!

We have gorgeous clear skies here in Yakutat that match the gorgeous clear skies in Nome. Lance Mackey will be crossing through the burled arch in Nome in just a few minutes for his 4th consecutive Iditarod win. They are interviewing his dad as I type at the finish line, someone who helped organize the very first race back in 1973. Yes, we are watching live, as we always do through the internet. This is the ONLY professional sporting event we follow, one that commemorates something important in our history, not just some game that looks the same as any other game but with a different color helmet.

The winner will be crowned in a few minutes, but the race will continue for another week. Every team that crossed through the arch will be celebrated as a victor until the Red Lantern light is extinguished and no teams remain on the trail. When I say "every team is a victor", that is not in the modern tradition of "a trophy for every player" we see in American schools today. Each team that completes the 1000+ mile race has endured and overcome virtually insurmountable obstacles to reach Nome. And each has carried on the spirit of the race, to honor the original serum run, to save the lives of the residents of Nome during the diphtheria epidemic. Follow along at www.iditarod.com and support the race if you can. They are definitely struggling financially to put this on, with the economic downturn. Buy a DVD, or a t-shirt if you can.

In the "Iditaread", Tanis read through his 1112 pages in three days. Ya, he kind of beat his selected musher, Ray Redington Jr. Eden is still on the trail in Unalakleet, with her musher rookie Jane Faulkner.

If you happen to see the March issue of Salmon-Trout-Steelheader magazine, page 72 begins an article on fishing "Off-the-grid Alaska" - in other words... fishing on the Tsiu and Italio Rivers for silvers in the fall. The author Robert Campbell is a face we recognized here at the fly shop having spent some time here last year. He and his gang bought a few of Tanis and Eden's flies, which was a very nice thing to do. Reading the article, lo and behold, there is a great close-up photo of a coho hen with one of Eden's flies stuck into her jaw and a very cute mention of my talkative children. Thank you Robert for the mention and for making a couple of kids smile and start pestering me again about tying up some more flies.

After a virtually snowless winter, we are getting hammered and battered by winter storms these past two weeks. The roads to the Situk were wide open and bare. Now, they are under about 3 feet of very dense wet snow. We were all itching to get out on the water and start our season early, but it looks like we'll be held back till April 1st by the late arrival of winter. As much as we have enjoyed 50-60 degree days on the beach, we definitely needed this dumping of snow and hopefully it will continue for a little longer. Having little or no snow pack would have spelled disaster for our salmon runs - something we experienced a few years ago and are finally climbing back out of that hole.

Both the sockeye and silver runs had been struggling due to a lack of water and excessively warm temperatures. If you have been following this site, then you know the warm water when the juvenile sockeye hit the ocean in 2005 killed much of the run off. When those juvenile smolt returned in 2008, the run was disastrously weak. 2009 rebounded beautifully, with a far above average number of sockeye returning through the weir last summer. For silvers, we had a couple back-to-back dry winters that didn't give us enough snow melt to keep some of the smaller creeks flowing through the spring. The Old Italio stopped flowing entirely, drying up and killing off much of the smolt population before they had a chance to migrate out to the ocean. It has taken us a few years of mediocre returns for the run to rebuild and we seem to again be back to near normal silver runs out in the smaller streams. Another low snow winter is not a good thing, even if it does mean easy access for the steelheaders coming in another couple weeks. Let it snow... at least for a couple more weeks. The difference this winter is that we haven't been dry. It has been raining and raining, so the mountains should still have a hefty snowpack to keep flows up through most of the summer.

If you are planning a trip up here this spring for steelhead, my guess is still that the run will either be early, or at least on time. The past two seasons have seen a very late run and most people I have talked to were planning to come in mid to late May instead of April. You know, April may be a safe bet this year with our warmer temperatures. Last year, the April contingent missed the run entirely with an ice dam at the lake outlet keeping the winter fish trapped for an extra full month. The lake was already starting to thaw as of a month ago. This snow we have been seeing has still been a very warm snow, just verging on rain. Heavy snow at 36 degrees piles up fast with 4 inch snowflakes, but we are still warm. We'll see if the steelhead know it soon enough.

And if you are planning a trip later this summer and need something to help you tolerate the wait, Robert's article is a wonderful escapism for you. It is a photo story with full bleed photos and inserts, with just a little copy to describe what is going on. Good old fashioned fish porn, lots of skin - bright and silver! It makes me itch for a fishing trip and I live here!

A good friend of Teen's has been educating us on some of the more traditional native activities - things that were far too alien and... well... icky for my family to ever do when I was a kid. Last week, the first hint of the arriving Eulachon (Candlefish) run started to show on the shores around Yakutat. Eulachon are a small smelt that are so high in oil that folks used to burn them as candles - hence the nickname "Candlefish". The majority of them come in to spawn in the freshwater streams like Akwe and Italio in the coming months. They arrive in massive balls of writhing silver and get absolutely attacked by eagles and seagulls till each ball is entirely eliminated. At some point, all the birds are so bloated and full that they can't even move, let alone fly. Then, the successful spawners make it past the comatose eagles and do their business just barely out of tidewater. Living here is like living in the middle of an endless National Geographic special.

Last week, we were blessed to witness the arrival of a slightly oddball batch of Candlefish. Instead of arriving into the freshwater streams, these fish come into Sandy Beach - the brilliantly named patch of sand next to the big fish plant. These fish apparently surf the waves into shore and release their eggs right there on the sand. Not sure how successful this is, but that's where we found the fish thick enough in the waves to scoop up in buckets. I shouldn't really say "we", since the night they came in, I had just pitched myself off the ladder here at the hangar and was loaded up with Ibuprofen in bed, while Teen and the kids were splashing around in the winter ice-water with flashlights. They had a blast and managed to accumulate a full bucket of fish.

Our friend kept the bulk of them, while Teen and kids returned with a zip-lok full of thin 4-5 inch fish. The next day, we had ourselves some fish sticks! It has been hard enough to get Teen to eat ANY seafood over the years. Essentially, the only thing she is willing to eat is my beer-battered halibut and nothing else. Eulachon are "best" (so I have been told) rolled in flour, salt, garlic and Italian spice, then pan fried in hot oil. Munching down a fish fresh out of the water eating the skin, bones, guts and all is high on my personal ick-factor, but Teen couldn't even be inside the same house while we endeavored to devour. OK, the kids were excited, so I had to be willing to eat one and muscle it through my gag reflex.

I'm sure the tail fin is just as crunchity-crispity as a fish-flavored potato chip, but holding the fish by the eyeballs and munching my way from tail to gill was a bit much. I had to break the tail off first and at least start with a trace of meat between my teeth. One bite in... two bites in... you know, as creepy as these things look, they taste pretty darned good. Tastes like chicken!

The kids and I literally devoured about two dozen of them, leaving only a tiny pile of heads and tails for Emma to eat. They were really good! Not so good that I want to fill the freezer with them, but something we can all look forward to once a year when they come in in mid-February. Sort of like our spring fiddlehead binge when the young fern shoots pop through the ground on the shadowy hillside. One more thing we are adding to our Alaskan cultural rituals - eating fried garbage fish you can light with a match... Who'd have thunk! OK, Tanis, Eden, Emma and I can look forward to it. Teen will run from the house with the dry heaves.

On a not-so-happy note... Two weeks ago, it would appear that Emma was hit by a car (and the charming person didn't bother to tell us). One evening, we put her outside to potty just before bed and she didn't come back in. Teen found her at the bottom of the porch steps unable to stand. Initially we thought she may have had a stroke, since there didn't appear to be any noticeable trauma, but she had no coordination and couldn't make her legs move. For three days, she never peed or pooped and I thought we were going to have to put her down. Then she gradually was able to stand again, ate a little, pottied a little, we noticed the bulging contusion on her side... It was definitely trauma-related. Over the past two weeks, she has steadily improved and although she is an old dog with some major issues, she is healing back up and returning to mostly her old self.

I had anticipated this was going to be her last year with us as it was, so we consider it a blessing for every day we have our first child still with us. She is back to being comfortable and out of pain (other than her arthritic joints and mouth tumor). I obviously miss my little puppy that appeared on the cover of the Weimaraner Club of America calendar wading across Hooligan Creek out on the Italio - oh, so many years ago. Many of you may remember her more active days following day-fishermen upstream and eagerly chasing bears away for you. Her bear chasing days are over, but we'll try to make her as comfortable as we can on her bed in the corner of the fly shop. They just don't live long enough, yet give us so much while they are here. She was my only companion back in my days of commercial fishing, when Teen was still down in Seattle dealing with a newborn Tanis and I sure appreciated her companionship and having someone to talk to. Especially a female that didn't have to have the last word every time... Um... did I just say that aloud? This will most likely be her last season with us, so we'll appreciate every moment we have left with her.

Please forgive a little grey hair on the jackets hanging on the lower rungs... A little extra Weim-coating we don't even charge extra for.

Yes, it has been a month and a half since my last blog entry. Sorry, but winter can be a little slow on entertaining things to write about around here... The snow pile looks just about the same as in the photo below. Just a bit dirtier. We have been seeing VERY warm weather this winter, with a few periodic episodes of slush, followed by rain. Nasty rain storm blowing outside right now, so pretty amazing that I even have a connection to the internet! With all this warm weather, we have maintained an open road all the way out to 9 Mile virtually all winter. If we don't get a big dumping of snow through March, or a really long cold snap out of the blue, I would expect to see an early steelhead run! I will keep the reports updated as I have info (which I don't right now), but my guess is that we'll see the peak in later April, rather than the late May we have seen the past couple years. I know that doesn't really help pin things down for those of you who have been missing the peak year after year, but I will try to give you as much of a heads up as I can in the coming month and a half.

Yes, things are very slow around the shop these days. I have been mudding and taping the offices upstairs while the shop is officially closed. Managed to topple off my ladder yesterday. That was fun. Nothing broken other than my pride. I had a helper working out in the hallway, so he could come in and recommend I tie my shoes while working... Um... thanks. It has been hard to get motivated this past month, especially since mudding and taping is such a wonderfully fun winter sport.

That said, we did get a call from David, who mail-ordered some waders, plus a rod and reel. Thanks David for making this our best February ever. Of course we are "officially" closed January, February and March, but the occasional surprise order sure helps to keep the lights paid for. I'm still here every day, so if you have any questions about the coming season, or if you need a full outfit... :-) Don't hesitate to call or e-mail. Starting to get a lot of steelhead questions the past couple weeks, so maybe the economy is starting to recover and people are again thinking about trips. Or maybe they just need to call and talk fishing to keep their hopes alive... Either way, I'm still kicking around the empty shop.