Fruits of our Labor

“The gentle gurgling of the brook, what is it to a thoroughly practical man but a remembrancer of the savory simmering of the frying-pan? It couples the practical and domestic end of fishing with the physical and poetic excitement of the operation’ Alas! that a world should be so barbarous as to condemn piscatory sports so long as they contribute to exercise taste, sentiment, and moral enjoyment; and that all objection ceases when a man can prove that he labored for his mouth alone. It is all right, if it was eating that he had in mind. The frying-pan is in universal favor. This is the modern image that fell down from heaven, which all men hold in reverence!”  – Henry Ward Beecher, 1855

Normally, on this site, we post about catch and release fishing (a controversial subject in any circle).  An enjoyable excursion quickly turns to employment when one decides to keep even a single fish.  We don’t condemn keeping legal limits, nor do we consider bringing home fish caught on a fly a disgusting practice, but we personally enjoy them much more in a picture than on a plate.  However, this post is not about any of that.

It is red salmon season on the Kenai Peninsula.  Blow’n’go time.  I have disregarded flossin’ reds for several years, but I will not repeat that error again if I am again anywhere close to the KP mid-July.  I regret not having taken more pictures and video of the red fishing, but this lone picture says quite a bit.  Usually meat hunts aren’t as fun as this was, and this year seemed like much less work than previous ones (Ronnie had quite a bit to do with that).  Regardless, a freezer full of fish is a good way to end any fishing season.  We second Beecher’s assessment that “the frying pan is in universal favor.”  Nowhere is that more evident than in Alaska in July.