Wow! It’s been an amazing couple of weeks! After we recovered from the super early Halibut fishing trip, Dennis, Carol and I headed south to Homer. We managed to score two parking spots overlooking the Fishing Hole out on the Homer spit.
The fishing hole is a terminal fishery: every year, Fish and Game releases tiny salmon in the hole, which is in essence a tide pool. It is a big man made lake that connects to the ocean. OK, so all these little salmon fingerlings get imprinted on that location before they swim away. In a few years, they return, looking for a place to spawn. Surprise! It’s just a lake…. confused, the salmon swim around in circles forever. Well, actually not forever, just till they give up trying to spawn and croak. It’s tough being a salmon!
Now, you’d think, given all the above, that the fishing hole would be an outstanding place to catch fish. Well, that’s what I thought back in 2014, but I spent several days fishing, and got skunk-o-mundo. Bupkis. Nada. I vowed to return and learn how to catch fish here, and here I am! I spent several days watching people fish. I talked to fishermen. I wet a large assortment of lures and baits. I banged my head on the RV. Nothing helped. Skunk-o-mundo. The only thing that helped ease the pain was the fact that over several days I watched hundreds of people fishing. 99% of them went home empty-handed. Occasionally, someone would catch a fish, but it was damn rare. See, the problem is, when salmon get into spawning mode, they stop eating. Completely. They won’t touch bait, even tasty herring and salmon eggs. About the only way to catch one is to snag it with your hook somehow. And snagging is illegal. Hmmmm. OK, I give up!
Thankfully there's lots of other things to do on the spit. Jan and Dave and Ed and Sandy joined us for dinner at Captain Patty’s. Afterwards, we wandered on down to the Salty Dog.
The Salty Dog has been there basically forever, and has weathered quakes, floods and storms. It’s unique in that every square inch of the interior is papered in $1 bills!
We grab a table outside on the patio (a new addition since my last visit) and have some brewskis. Sandy leaves our mark for posterity. I think Dave’s has a few too many!
The fishing hole, while providing no fish, did serve up some outstanding sunsets! Just FYI, sunset is in the 11pm- 1am time frame. They last a long time in Alaska!
Right next to the fishing hole is a little community theater. In the past, we’d never been around when a play was running, but this time we get lucky. Dennis, Carol and I attended “The Head That Wouldn’t Die”, a truly funny and weird play. A good time was had by all!
It’s almost time for the SalmonStock music festival up in Ninilchik, so I head back up the road, and everyone else rolls for various places. So long Homer, it’s been fun!
I want one Thiiiis Biiiig! Maybe soon!
In 2014, I was heading out of Homer, and when I rolled through Ninilchik, I saw these signs along the road.
Music Festival? Salmon? Oh Hell yes! I pulled over and bought a 1 day ticket and had a blast!. Needless to say, I signed up well in advance for all three days this time, and even shelled out $$ to camp right across from the main gate. I get to Ninilchik a few days early, and I’m parked in a nearby state park campground when who do I run into but Larry and Peggy Leonard! I met them in 2014 at one of their famous halibut frys, and it was great to see them again. They invited me to come on out to their place and hang out till the festival. We had a great time sitting around the campfire with their neighbors/family Allen and Gina. The subject of fishing came up, and tide tables were consulted. Let’s see, the music thingy starts Friday, maybe we can get out Thursday. Unfortunately, Thursday was too rough, so as I headed out Friday morning to SalmonStock, I told Larry “look, if you guys decide to go fishing this weekend, holler!” I’ll bail on the music in a second if Halibut are involved! More on that later!
Turns out SalmonStock is now called SalmonFest. That’s OK, it’s every bit as great as I remember it! One of the neatest things about the festival is that have 4 separate stages, and they all run at the same time, so you always have 4 choices of whet to listen to! The Ocean stage is where the headliners play in the evenings, and a wide variety of musicians and groups perform all day. Check out the art!
Then there’s the River Stage. A smaller venue, where you might hear just about any kind of music: hard rock, bluegrass, dance tunes, new wave, whatever!
The Headwaters stage is an indoor venue with a dance floor, and lots of music of all genres. (it’s a small room, think “bar” or “lounge”).
The forth stage, and my personal favorite, is the Inlet stage. Here we get mostly singer/songwriters, or acoustic sets featuring a couple players from some of the big bands. This is also where you get the really cool and unusual jams. Just a few pix, the guy with 2 didgeridoos was freaking amazing! What a sound!
Top it all off with some amazing food trucks, lots of vendors, and absolutely stellar weather! All 3 days are mostly sunny and warm, almost as rare as gold on the Kenai Peninsula!
Just a few random pix, trying to get the flavor across… LOL I had such a good time!
Oh yeah! The fishing trip…. yes, the phone did ring Saturday morning, and we did indeed go out and had an outstanding day! It was beautiful out on the boat, Larry, Peggy, Allen and I all limited out, and we got some nice fish. All hail Allen, the halibut slayer, who got the biggest fish, a 40+ pounder. I carried many fillets back to the rig, and cut and bagged them. My freezer is now packed! Nothing in there but salmon and halibut. Feels good / Tastes better!
After the music died vey early on Monday morning, I returned to Larry and Peggy’s for a night before heading North. They are just the friendliest folks! They’ve been summering in Alaska for many many years, and have a wonderful homestead where Peggy grows her garden and Larry smokes salmon and cooks halibut. They are long-time Escapees, and have a winter place in Pahrump. Just a few pix….
We spend the day “helping” Larry smoke a batch of salmon, and several growlers of beer are consumed. Salmon is sampled, Peggy whips up a tasty Thai dinner, and stories are swapped. Larry, Peggy, Allen, Gina, thank you so much for your kind hospitality and friendship! I look forward to seeing you all down the road, and if you ever get out East Texas way, Mi casa su casa! Full hookups, homebrew, and Texas BBQ! Y’all come and sit a spell
Whew! Big travel log this time! Hope I can get it to upload! LOL Heading to Valdez next, see you then!
I still remember how good that fish tasted in Andersonville.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you are still having fun. Is skunk o mundo a word in your computer dictionary? They always told us when we asked where is the best place to shoot a moose? 100 feet off the highway. Because it is easy to get it back to your truck. So where is the best place to score salmon? At the local restaurant. The fun is in the journey and it sounds like you're making the most of your trip. Can't wait to hear more of these stories in person.
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