Omega 3, It's whats for dinner, and lunch, and snacks

July 02, 2013

I was awakened to rain around 3:00am.  It lasted a half hour?  I fell back to sleep and slept peacefully for several more hours.  I enjoyed a few cups of coffee and leftover sourdough hotcakes smeared with Sandy’s raspberry jam.  The clouds were present all day long, an unusual site for the past six weeks.  The wind kept up so I could goof around outside without the bothersome mosquitoes.  I gave up fishing the Klutina for the weekend due to the crowded holes but I returned Tuesday afternoon.  It was overcast and 60 degrees so I wore insulated underwear (don’t even think of it Keith).  Standing in 40 degree water for three plus hours sucks the heat from one’s body.  The crowd was light at the north bridge so I started for the hole that Larry and I had done so well at.  Water was higher (morning’s rainfall) so it must have rained upstream and perhaps at the source of this river, the Klutina Glacier.  Only wearing my 14” Xtratuf rubber boots I braved the first stream to the fishing hole.  Each step got deeper and deeper and I could have made it but the rushing water would pile up and over with every step.  Water made it into the right boot and it sloshed a bit as I looked for the hole.  Half the island had been washed downstream and the secondary holes were all occupied.  So I had to develop another plan. 

Plan II, fish under the bridge, was implemented but I had to re-cross the stream.  Soaker number two was of course the left boot.  I sat on the rocks and dumped water from each boot.  It was now 3:30pm and I hadn’t fished yet so I told myself that I wasn’t leaving without my three fish limit.  I slowly fished from under the bridge, downstream to the boat launch.  When I made it to the boat launch, I found myself alone with an old-timer casting with a fly rod, the equipment of choice for flossing reds.  After I watched him catch and release two nice reds, I asked him why.  “I limited out earlier, so I’m just killing time,” he replied with only a partial glance over his shoulder toward the questioning source.  I watched closer and the only differences were his extra weight, what’s up with that.  After thirty minutes I asked where I might catch one.  He moved aside and we traded spots.  Another thirty minutes lapsed and I had no fish, the old-timer however, caught and released three more from my previous spot.  One catch and releas seemed staged.  Two “tourist” guys showed up with cameras in hand.  This old-timer caught and released his fifth fish while they happily snapped pictures.  After the photo op, he had enough and was on his way back to his camp.

I had the hole for a while before a young couple arrived and began fishing the downstream half if the launch.  Finally, I caught and landed my first red, a blushed (light green head and light red body) 25” buck.  More toiling at the rod in 12” of water and my feet were hurting from the cold.  Three hours in and they were painful but I again told myself, I’m not going anywhere.  A couple of boats launched and returned while at the hole, so I would get brief rest from the cold waters.  I jumped back in as the last boat was securing the boat with the trailer still in the water.  Fish On!  Fish Off…  I hooked and lost three fish while the trailer was still in the water.  One red took off into the current, danced straight out of the water and shook its head and the hook.  The guys pulled out and continued their work on dry land.  Before leaving, one asked if I wanted him to back the trailer back into the water so I could hook another.  “Ha ha ha ha,” was what came out of mouth but it wasn’t what I was thinking.  I completed the limit 20 minutes later without any fanfare.  Four hours and really cold feet for three reds (two bucks and a hen) all about 25” but it was worth it.  I hope I don’t hear any complaints about random bones when I share my catch this winter…

I approached the couple and gave my spot to the young lady using a fly rod.  WOW!  She was using the smallest split shot sinker available and 12” of leader.  That rigging would never reach the bottom in this current and she would have to be so precise if she even got it near the fish.  At my request, her husband gave her more weight and I gave what pointers I could.   After my lesson it was now onto the filleting and spooning of my fish.  It doesn’t matter how great of filleting you do, there is always lost meat around the spine, enter the spoon.  Use the spoon to scrape meat away from the bones and behind the gills.  It will look like ground salmon but it will be bone free and tender.  These three fish yielded about eight ounces of spoon meat and with a bit of sautéing it will make great salmon spread or topping for pasta.

Before departing for home, the young lady landed her first ever Sockeye Salmon, a 22” hen.  I assisted with bleeding the fish after they snapped photos.  I was content being an observer and was loitering about, talking with another couple from the Kenai Peninsula.  I’ll have more about them in another post.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

I’ve borrowed some Nutritional Information about the five Alaskan Salmon species from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.  Portions are based on a 3.5 ounce raw fillet.  The King is King for taste due to it’s high fat content but I cannot argue with the Omega-3 power of the Sockeye.

FISH	Calories	Calories From Fat	Total Fat	Saturated Fat	Omega-3 Fat	Choles- terol	Protein
Chinook (King)	180	90	10 g	2.5 g	1.6 g	66 mg	20 g
Sockeye (Red)	168	75	9 g	2.0 g	2.0 g	62 mg	21 g
Coho (Silver)	146	54	6 g	1.0 g	1.0 g	39 mg	22 g
Keta (Chum or Dog)	120	34	4 g	1.0 g	0.6 g	74 mg	20 g
Pink (Humpy)	116	31	4 g	1.0 g	1.2 g	52 mg	20 g