Eyes on the Prize

We love our King Salmon in Bristol Bay and it shows. The Kings are the prized by-catch, of the commercial fishermen who pursue red salmon, that show up at most unexpected times when we pull our gear over the gunwales of our skiffs or through the rollers of our powerboats. I love the exultant expression on photographer Corey Arnold’s friend Ben Thomas as he hugs the prize that showed up in his set-net. I have shared the photo in an earlier post, but it is certainly not one that grows tiresome. Thank you Corey for capturing such a great moment.

Another favorite is by an artist unknown. It is of a man lying down with a beauty and his look of adoration conveys what we all feel at knowing we will have a treasured king in our freezer to enjoy during the winter. The only detail I have about the photo is that it was taken somewhere in the Nushagak River drainage. The only version of the image I was able to find to share was a digital copy that appeared on the cover of Pacific Fishing magazine in November of 2011.  

Early this afternoon we had a present waiting for us on the shore side of our gear. A fresh and lively king that was roughly fifteen pounds. Not too big, but big enough to share with a group of friends. My great-grandpa always said that his site, that I fish to this day, was good for catching kings. He said he would always get them on the high side of his net where the fish would go to scratch the sea lice off of their bellies on the rocks.

Thank you dear Grandpa for the prized kings that have found their way to the fishing site you established so long ago.

Mel