Many people now believe that the limit for halibut has changed to 1 per person per day from the previous limit of 2 pp/pd. This is not true for where we fish, Cook Inlet. Unfortunately the limit has dropped to 1 in SouthEast AK. meaning Sitka, Juneau, etc. The resource is still strong in Cook Inlet and the limit for 2010 will be 2 fish pp/pd.

It’s that time of year again. Time to start thinking about cleaning out your freezer and using all of last years salmon to make room for your upcoming trip to Hi-Lo.  A great way to do this is by smoking last years catch. Smoked salmon is one of my favorite foods and I recently discovered a great way to have fresh smoked salmon even if you do not have a smoker, use your gas grill.

Defrost your salmon overnight in the refrigerator. After thawed, cut into 2 x 4 inch pieces to reduce smoking time. Mix up your favorite brine  and place salmon, skin side up, in liquid. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, 12 hours is preferable.**See my favorite brine recipe below

To prepare the fish for the grill, remove strips from brine and place on a baking  rack to air dry. At this time you can also place wood chips in a bowl and cover with water. I usually use alder, pecan, or maple.  Allow 1 hour for fish to dry a little and the wood chips to soak. I have found  that not as much drying time is needed using this method.

The tricky part of using your gas grill as a smoker is to get it to hold a constant temperature of no more than 225 degrees, the lower the temp the better.  To achieve this, it is best if you have a grill with a thermometer and at least two burners. If your grill doesn’t have one, an internal/external thermometer can usually be bought  anywhere grills are sold.

Turn on one burner of the grill and set to low/medium, close lid, make sure air vent on top of the grill is open, and let grill come up to a constant temperature, and then adjust setting as needed until you achieve the correct temperature.

Make a shallow pan out of aluminum foil, and place wood chips in pan. Place pan over the lit burner on your grill. I give the wood chips a ten minute head start before placing my fish in the grill. On the cold side of the grill place the salmon, skin side on the grate. Close lid and smoke salmon until a thermometer placed in the center of fish reaches at least 145 degrees. The pieces closest to the flame will cook faster and may be  removed first.

After salmon is smoked, let salmon  “rest” on kitchen counter for at least half an hour. This allows the liquid in the fish to gel, and improves the taste and texture. Invite friends, eat, and enjoy. You will have an empty freezer just in time to restock at Hi-Lo this summer.

**Brine Recipe

I prefer a sweeter smoked salmon as opposed to a salty one, more like squaw candy. Do not be afraid of the jalapeno, you can not taste it in the finished product, but can taste the difference if you omit it. I have tried a lot of recipes, but always go back to this one. No set amounts, just adjust to your liking.

• Yoshida’s Gourmet Sauce (provides the sugar and salt necessary for brining)
• Juice from a jar of nacho sliced jalapenos ( sometime I dump a few jalapenos into the mix)
• garlic powder (little goes a long way when marinating)

We are always looking for great brine recipes so if you have a favorite please share.

Submitted by Jim and Joyce Weather, Nampa, Idaho

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.  Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

A lucky Homer man caught the ultimate prize on Sunday, a 7 foot 4 inch salmon shark. Read the full story. 

http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/020910/new_560494329.shtml

THE “HOG” THAT SAID THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALL THE WAY HOME

Submitted by Vickie and Floyd Martin, Gold Hill, Oregon

I MADE THE TRIP TO KENAI RIVER EACH YEAR, THIS IS OUR THIRD TRAVELING FROM SOUTHERN OREGON, MY DREAM WAS TO CATCH A REALLY BIG KING SALMON, OUR GUIDE; ALBERT CALLED IT A “HOG”. I BOOKED EXTRA TRIPS WITH OUR GUIDES FOR MORE CHANCES TO HOOK MY “HOG”.

THIS YEAR STARTED OUT TO BE REPEATS OF YEARS PAST, MY FIRST TRIP I CAUGHT RELEASED THIRTY AND FORTY POUNDERS, MY FISHING COMPANIONS, STRANGERS TO ME, COULD NOT BELIEVE I WAS RELEASING SUCH NICE FISH, THEY WERE “BABY HOGS”.

THE NEXT TO DAYS I FISHED WITH MY HUSBAND AND FRIENDS, JIM AND JOYCE WEATHERS FROM IDAHO. MY HUSBAND SAID I HAD TO KEEP OUR FISH FOR THE FISH BOXES, ALBERT JUST LAUGHED BECAUSE HE KNEW MY HEART WAS ONLY INTO CATCHING MY “HOG”. AS A GOOD WIFE I DID WHAT MY HUSBAND SAID. ON THE FOURTH FISHING TRIP ON THE KENAI, I BOOKED WITH ALBERT FOR THE LAST TIME THIS YEAR WHILE MY HUSBAND AND FRIENDS WENT TO HOMER TO FISH FOR HALIBUT. I DID NOT KNOW THEIR HALIBUT TRIP HAD STORMED OUT, WITH THE COLD WIND AND MISERABLE CONDITIONS ON THE KENAI I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. I WANTED ALBERT TO PUT ME TO SHORE SO I COULD “P”, TRIPS ARE FIVE HOURS LONG, ALBERT SAID BUCKET, I SAID “NO WAY” NOT IN THIS WEATHER, DON’T WANT TO GET ANYONE WET, “HA HA” I DID IT ANY WAY.

MY FISHING COMPANIONS WORKED SO HARD TO GET A STRIKE OR A BUMP, THEY DID LOSE TWO.

ALBERT HAS A SPECIAL “HONEY HOLE” WE LINED UP WITH IT, “BAM” I ALMOST LOST MY POLE WHEN THE FISH TOOK MY LINE, THE FISH WAS PULLING SO HARD, TAKING LINE AND GOING UPSTREAM, ALBERT SAID VICKIE THIS IS A BIG FISH, A REALLY, REALLY BIG FISH, ALL THE BOATS PARTED AND THE FIGHT WAS ON. AFTER TWENTY MINUTES MY ARMS WER SHAKING AND I WAS NOT GAINING ON THE FISH AT ALL, ONE OF THE FISHERMEN HELD MY BELT SO THE FISH WOULDN’T PULL ME OVERBOARD, FINALLY THE FISH SLOWED UP ENOUGH. REELED SOME LINE IN, THOUGHT I WAS WINNING. THE ‘HOG’ TOOK OFF AGAIN, I SAID “OH NO NOT AGAIN”, AND EVERYONE WOULD LAUGH. FINALLY AFTER LINE IN LINE OUT ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN TIMES, WE FINALLY SAW THE BIG FAT RED BUCK, I SCREAMED SO LOUD THE WHOLE RIVER HEARD ME, ALBERT SAID YOU CAN DO THIS WHEN YOU GET YOUR FIRST GLIMPSE, IT’S UNBELIEVABLE HOW YOUR ADREELINE KICKS IN. ALBERT SAID “REEL DOWN, PULL UP SLOW, REEL DOWN PULL UP SLOW” THAT’S ALL I KEPT HEARING, THE NEXT THING I REMEMBER THE NET WAS IN THE WATER, AND I FINALLY HAD MY “HOG”, I YELLED, NO I SCREAMED AND JUMPED UP AND DOWN,HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND, BOATS AROUND WERE YELLING AND CLAPPING TOO. GOT THE FISH TO CALM DOWN ENOUGH TO MEASURE WITH THE KENAI RIVER SPORTSMAN WOODEN RULER, FIFTY THREE INCHES LONG, ESTIMATED WEIGHT EIGHTY TO EIGHTY-FIVE POUNDS. I WAS SO EXCITED I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THE WEATHER AND HOW COLD AND MISERABLE I WAS, BUT THAT’S FISHING.

THE FISHING TRIP I WILL NEVER FORGET AS LONG AS I LIVE. A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO HI-LO CHARTERS FOR ALL THEIR HOSPITALITY, ALBERT AND STANLEY FOR WORKING SO HARD FOR ME THE LAST FOUR YEARS, AND OF COURSE MY HUSBAND FOR BRINGING ME TO THE KENAI RIVER EVERY YEAR TO GET MY “HOG”, AND YES I WILL BE BACK, THE WORLD RECORD IS JUST A “FISH ON” AWAY, AND IF YOU CATCH A HOG, PLEASE “CATCH AND RELEASE”.

Three blondes are sitting by the side of a river holding fishing poles with the lines in the water. A Game Warden comes up behind them, taps them on the shoulder and says, “Excuse me, ladies, I’d like to see your fishing licenses.”

“We don’t have any.” replied the first blonde.

“Well, if your going to fish, you need fishing licenses.” said the Game Warden.

“But officer,” replied the second blonde, “we aren’t fishing. We all have magnets at the end of our lines and we’re collecting debris off the bottom of the river.”

The Game Warden lifted up all the lines and, sure enough, there were horseshoe magnets tied on the end of each line. “Well, I know of no law against it,” said the Game Warden, “take all the debris you want.” And with that, the Game Warden left.

As soon as the Game Warden was out of sight, the three blondes started laughing hysterically. “What a dumb Fish Cop,” the second blonde said to the other two, “doesn’t he know that there are steelhead in this river?!”