We soon found ourselves travelling in ever tightening circles as our pilot tracked a flock of circling gulls through her camera’s viewfinder.  Every line on the boat, AS WELL AS THE NET, were soon entangled in one humongous Gordian knot that even Alexander the Great, “untangler” of the original Gordian knot, would have difficulty unraveling…

Knowing what these things eat, it’s tough to imagine anyone actually eating them.

This time quickly became known as the period of lunacy aboard the Loon-A-C as Cantankerous Cindy began barking orders, insisted that we salute her and had a plank installed over the side for those who did not step lively enough or were slow in addressing her as Captain.  She was quickly replaced by someone thought to be a wee bit more agreeable...

The octopus represents the major competition for shrimp after they have already been caught.  They weasel their way into the pots and shrimpers are often left with naught for their effort but a net full of empty shrimp shells.  This one made the mistake of hanging around too long and will end up either as bait or sushi.

After a hard day on the water, it was back to port to unload our catch…

If you look very closely you will notice a smile on Cap’n Eddy’s mug.  This was the first time we’ve seen it and I haven’t figured out if it’s being elbow deep in fish guts that get his juices flowing or if he is just really glad to be rid of us.  It’s very similar to the smile my brother-in-law gets whenever we leave his place, Happy Bottom Estate.

This pretty much wraps up this year’s stay in Alaska and we will be striking out for Canada and what Alaskans call “outside” in a couple of days.  We are back in Anchorage to have a few minor engine and transmission oil leaks repaired before we leave.

Thanks again to Ed and Cindy and all the other fine Alaskans we now call “friends” who have made this trip so wonderful for us.  On each trip to the Great Land we tell ourselves that it was our best and will be our last visit.  And yet, we always return...

Hugs, CC & me

En-route to the old fishin’ grounds, we made a brief stop to set a few shrimp pots…

In spite of the abundance of natural beauty to be found here, “real folks,” exclusive of that cruise ship crowd, come here for the fishing…

With our fish hold full, we headed back to retrieve our shrimp pots…

After which we hauled them up to the cleaning station and dove into the process of cleaning and bagging a few hundred pounds of silver salmon filets…

While our catch was limited to shrimp, our friends, Frank and Anella, came up with that little something extra…

After loading the boat with an assortment of rods, reels, bait, people food and several boxes of Cap’n Eddy’s favorite cheap red wine, the next order of business was fixing the flat on the wheelbarrow we hoped to be loading with several hundred pounds of salmon over the next few days…

And silver salmon represent the underlying reason that we trekked to this tiny hamlet located some 300 road miles from Anchorage on the Gulf of Alaska.

We hooked up, so to speak, with Cap’n Eddy and his first mate, Cantankerous Cindy for another assault on those finny denizens of the briny depths aboard their vessel, the Loon-A-C …

With Cap’n Eddy as busy as a cat-herder in a yarn shop trying to prevent all of his fledgling fishermen from ending up in the drink, it wasn’t long before his first mate took over the helm…

 Another Day, Another Fish                                           August 26, 2013

With the array of GPS equipment, depth gauges and fish finders at our finger tips, the fish really didn’t have much of a chance and in less time than it takes to say, “Cat in the hat,” we were reelin’ ‘em in…

In my never humble opinion, Valdez is the prettiest town in Alaska.  There!  I said it and I’m glad!!!  I’ve made this statement on several occasions to a variety of Alaskans and am invariably informed of other places like Seward, Whittier or Hope that other folks think are far nicer.  HAH!!!  We’ve been to those places, folks, and it just ain’t so.

Valdez has the most impressive collection of glaciers and waterfalls that can be found anywhere in the state.  But, of course, you have to get out on the water to see the best of the bunch…

She actually did manage to get the picture but was nevertheless replaced with the irascible Cap’n Eddy.

These things are baited with the nastiest smelling stuff you can imagine and there is some even nastier stuff in a bottle which we poured over the top...

This task completed, Cap’n Eddy took to the helm and we were off in search of those ever elusive salmon…