Fishing in Valdez

Over the long weekend, we dragged our pop-up camper and put our 14 foot boat on top of our truck and headed for Valdez. The silver salmon were in and people on shore and in boats close to the dock were really pulling them in. We were allowed 6 each and took home 12. We used a pink/yellow lure and trolled, letting out the line which dropped deep with the pink lady sinker. When the fish were pulled close, we netted them, cut them near the gills to bleed them and put them in the empty cooler with cold sea water.

When we commercial fished, we were also trollers. In Valdez, most of the boats are purse seiners. The big skiffs behind the boats haul the nets off the back in huge semi circle connecting them to the front making a big circle of net. After the nets have soaked, the cork (floating tops) of the net are pulled in while the "purse strings" are tightened around the bottom, scooping up the trapped fish. The purse line is hauled over the hold and the fish are released in to the hold of the boat. One of the crewmembers said that they only caught 500,000 pounds of fish so far this year. The amounts to only about $50,000 we figured. Not much for fishing expenses and crew shares.

At the end of the day, we parked the skiff in a slip ($15/day) so that we didn't have to keep taking the boat in and out. We camped in the Sea Otter Campground on the spit with the harbor on one side and Prince William Sound on the other. The campgrounds right in Valdez are basically parking lots with bathrooms, but we were able to walk to town every night and the views of the mountains are fantastic.

The drive from Fairbanks to Valdez reminded us that winter is fast approaching. There is fresh snow on the mountains and the colors are brilliant yellows, reds and purples.