|
At Hook-M-Up Fishing Adventures we have many people who come to fish and visit in the summertime. Many of them get to see some of the wildlife in the area. It is hard to come out for 4 to 7 days and see it all.
We are very lucky in this new millennium to be able to live on a homestead in the "last frontier." We live on a 130 acre island that is 2 miles outside of the village of Aniak, Alaska. We still generate our own electricity and grow our own garden.
This island is at the mouth of the world class Aniak River, the further most northern river you can catch Rainbow Trout in. There are literally thousands of salmon, all five species, swimming upstream 100 feet from our front door.
IIt is not unusual to wake up in the morning and have moose, bears or even a fox in our yard.
We have lived in this region for some 20 years. Five years ago we partnered up with Alan Chlarson and Chris O'Leary of Moses Lake, Washington, to purchase this island.
Our way of life is determined by the river. In April and May, the ice and snow melt, causing breakup. We usually get stuck on the island for about 1-2 weeks. After it melts, the boats go in the river. This is our only way to town to shop.
May through June we get our two gardens planted, yards cleaned up and complete all the preparation for the upcoming fishing season.
The 20th of June we start fishing for King salmon. We put plenty in our smokehouse to cure. This usually takes about 3-4 weeks.
In July we're off to fish for all the trouts. This time of year we usually do a lot of camp outs as the days are long and the weather is warm.
Around the 5th of August the coho (silver salmon) come in and fishing gets real exciting. This lasts until about September 15th.
Now its time to go out and harvest our meat for winter, moose and caribou. The moose in Alaska are the largest, with up to 70" antlers and weighing to 2000 pounds. A real boat load!
In September the Mulchatna caribou herd comes over the mountains by the thousands. Woody has witnessed this first hand. It is like something you would see on National Geographic. One time he woke up and found himself surrounded by a herd.
Once all of our meat is harvested, it's time to gather our firewood. We do this by going upstream in boats. We pull logs from the banks of the river and tie them together, building a raft. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn never had this much fun. It takes about 18-20 cords of firewood to keep us warm for the upcoming winter.
Winter usually starts around the 15th of October with ice forming along the banks and large flat pans moving downstream in the Kuskokwim River. Eventually they stop and the river freezes over.
All the boats are pulled out of the river. We are stuck again for about 1 week or until the ice gets about 4" thick, thick enough to travel by the ATV (4 wheeler).
Once it snows it stays white for about 6 months. The days are getting shorter by 3-5 minutes a day. On December 21st, winter solstice, we have about 4.5 daylight hours. Slowly daylight increases until the end of February, the longer days become very noticeable. It is great fun to go out on a snow machine during this time of winter.
In March and April we get outside and do projects on the island. One year we went into the woods and cut down some dead trees in 16-foot lengths. We made a trail and hauled them out by sled and snow machine. When the snow melted we cut them up into three-sided house logs and built us a 16X24 log cabin for our guests to stay in.
Once again we get ready to start all over again and go fishing.
[back]
|
