After a winter hiatus, The Dogfish is back! Spring is in full swing over here on the Monterey Bay. It has been a long ugly winter full of wacko politics and plague insanity but everything seems to be trending positive and improving on all fronts lately. Just this past week I recieved my 2nd Moderna shot (which made me sick as a dog for 3 days) so at least I got that over and done with. I made up a lot of ground work wise in the last few months and I’m happy to report that my Alaska job is back on! I fly out on June 1st and willl spend some time with my friend in Anchorage until the 7th, then I’ll fly into Ketchikan and report to my lodge on the 8th.
I’ve funneled a couple grand into The Beast and got him road-worthy again as well. I still need to put another 5-600 dollars into a new ball joint but after that it’s gonna be good to go. My intention was to head off to the desert the last week before I headed off to Alaska but I’m in a financial pinch at the moment so I’m going to be working pretty much until I leave. My costs have been pretty extreme even though I had most of my gear already purchased. A lot of stuff from last year needed to be replaced and I thought of a lot of new items I needed. As of today I’ve got everything I need though. Now I just need funds for my time in Alaska before I head to the lodge and to pay next month’s bills.
I’m really stoked about getting to check out the Anchorage area before I head out to Ketchikan. My friend Bethan has all kinds of places she wants to show me. It’ll be good to have an Alaskan native to show me around and introduce me to the place. There’s all kinds of good hiking trails she wants to take me on, and I want to check out some musuems and cultural stuff. We’re going to take a little road trip down the Kenai Peninsula to the town of Seward which I hear is a must-see place to visit. The only aquarium in the state is there and the marine biologist in me has to check that out. Hopefully I have the funds to take us out on a cruise in Resurrection Bay and check out where the glaciers spill out from Kenai Fjords National Park into the sea. I’ve never seen a glacier so really looking forward to that.
All in all things are pretty hectic for me at the moment. I’m feeling a mix of excitement and a little bit of anxiety about the sudden life change. I’m heavily invested in this experience so it has to work out. I don’t see why it wouldn’t though. I’m mainly concerned about leaving my truck behind. The Beast is like my child as well as my home, and I’m nervous about leaving it. It’s going to be in good hands though, I’m leaving it with Jacob up at his property in Last Chance where I’m not going to have to worry about fire danger or too many mice getting into my ride since everything up there is burned up already!
Speaking of Last Chance, I went up there last weekend to spend some time with Jacob and to get out of town for a couple of days. I was really impressed with what he has done to the place, he’s got it feeling like a proper residence up there again. Things are starting to green up after the winter rains, but it’ll be years before it’ll be back to the way it was. Still, life is returning to the mountaintop and it is a good thing to see. Partying up there with him was like the old days pre-fire, it was good for the soul.
Enjoying some nice wine on top of Shelby Mountain.
Takaani resting his old bones by the fire.
In fishing news, we’ve been going out for salmon since the season opener back in the beginning of April. Opening day was plagued by mechanical problems, but since then the Sea King has been landing fish. A couple of weekends ago I caught my first of the season, a nice 15 pounder. All of us have caught at least one this season which is nice. I was wanting to get in some salmon filleting practice before I head up north (where I’ll be doing a LOT of it for work) so I was happy. I hope the boys tear it up while I’m gone!
Feels good to be heading up to AK with the first fish of the year under my belt! 
Jacob and ace deckhand Beartits posing with Jake’s 12 lb’er. 
Salmon on the boat makes for a happy crew!
Well, that about wraps it up. The next time I write I’ll be up in the Great North! I can hardly wait. I don’t know how much fishing I’ll have time to do up there, but I’ll definitely be doing as much as I can. I only get one day off a week, I’m going to be working my ass off for sure. I’m really wanting to land one of those big barn door halibut they’ve got in abundance up at my lodge. Hopefully I can get into some salmon action as well. I look forward to providing ya’ll with a lot of good content and many epic pictures of my adventures. Till next we meet!
Tales of the Dogfish 