Search and Rescue

I got invited to go up Koyuk River with Heather and Elvina. We're going to go fishing for Humpees. They are are a type of salmon that travels to East Fork River in the summer and the males have a huge hump on their back. I was super excited. So the night before we got the poles ready and went to the store to get some pixies (lures) and fishing line. Then we ate chips and salsa and ice cream. Yummy!

We left about 11:30 yesterday. Elvina likes to travel with a male out in the country to help with bear patrol. The guy that was suppose to come had to babysit so she was a little concerned. I had the idea that Shawn the new teacher could come with us. I remembered that his wife said that he wanted to get out in the country so I thought this was perfect. So we quickly went to ask him and he agreed, but I'm not sure if I told him he was coming to help with bear patrol. It turned out he had other jobs that we didn't expect.

It's been like fall weather here so it was a little chilly driving up. I wore my down coat, long underwear, wool socks, rubber boots, thin gloves, winter hat, and raingear. My hands were still cold. It was beautiful out! We needed to change the prop and then we passed many camps and finally stopped at Elvina's camp to get some more supplies. We finally made it to East Fork and began fishing. There were many fish jumping all around. Elvina caught the first one. I had a hard time getting more than halfway across the river to the other bank where they were biting. I'm so thankful I got a fishing pole from Jason and Myra before they left and learned from my dad how to fish, tie knots, cast, etc.

We changed locations and wow was that a great idea. I caught about 5 in all. I had some trouble with getting snagged on brush under the water and then I lost a real nice fish because I didn't keep it over the boat. Duh!! How many times did my dad tell me that and Elvina! I was so frustrated and mad at myself. I'm trying to learn that mistakes are ok. We mostly fished from the gravel and muddy shore. We saw huge bear tracks and the trail they use to come to the river. I sometimes got scared when Elvina's dog was rustling around in the willows because I thought it was a bear. After losing some lures I finally caught two nice ones. They are fun to catch. I also caught a few pike. They are really slimy and hard to fillet. I decided to throw them back.

Elvina tried to start her boat but it didn't start. She informed us that the battery was dead and we would have to call search and rescue or spend the night. I had no worries what so ever but was getting pretty tired and wanted to be with fishing. She called them with her satelite phone and they said to to try to pull start it. Well, Shawn and Elvina tried as hard as they could and were not able to get it started. We left it for a while to see if it would start up later. In the mean time, we started a fire, had salmon baked over the grill and sat around a nice campfire. It was so relaxing.

They tried it again and it was a no go. Shawn and Heather has hip waders on so they rowed, pulled the boat down the river so the search and rescue would not have to come through the really shallow parts. They worked hard and got wet but they made it to the fork and mouth of the river. We waited about 20 minutes or so and filleted our fish. Elvina skillfully used her ulu to teach us how to fillet. It was my first time seeing salmon eggs and salmon sperm. Quite interesting. I came home with four fillets that I will vaccuum pack.

It was getting chilly and I started getting really cold. Thank goodness search and rescue came with a charge battery. We were all set to go.

Search and rescue is a team in Koyuk that is on call if emergencies happen out in the country. Well, Search and Rescue stopped us again and asked why we were traveling so slow. We did have a lot of weight and pitch on the prop was not correct. So they took some of our items that were heavy and I also got to go with Mona, Juney, and their 4 year old daughter who is just adorable. I was thankful because they had a cabin on their boat. I warmed up and Lovey (Geraldine; little girl) played and had fun. I couldn't believe how much energy she had at midnight. We finally made it to Koyuk and it was getting dusk. I was sleeping by 2 am and didn't get up until 10 or 11 am.

It was a fun experience. I was tempted to exagerate the story for the sake of my mom but others thought that would be too mean since she worries all the time.

The reason why I love Alaska is because I have many "firsts" here. I shot my first caribou, went duck hunting my first time, got my own first dog. On this fishing adventure I also had many firsts: catching humpee, clubbing a fish on the head, holding a fish (with gloves) by the gill, rescued by search and rescue. I look forward to sharing more with you all.

Sorry, I don't have pictures to share with you. I took a disposable and got to some good ones.