Читать книгу Never Cry Halibut. and Other Alaska Hunting and Fishing Tales онлайн

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“Ah, I can’t catch anything with a fishing pole either,” he said, which I appreciated even though I highly doubted it.

“Look, MC, commercial fishing and sport fishing are two different arts,” I tried to explain.

“Maybe someone else could help me catch my first salmon?” she teased.

A wild Southeast Alaskan king salmon.

The next year for her birthday, she wanted a salmon pole and to go fishing and kayaking. I paddled a double kayak out to an island as she trolled a Flying-C with a focus so intense I was at first amused and then frightened. After three hours of paddling and no fish, she continued casting while I set up the tent and gathered beach wood for a fire. Finally she caught a small Dolly Varden, and was satiated enough to enjoy some birthday cake. We went fishing a few more times, catching sea slugs, sculpins, and small Dolly Varden before I knew had to go to my dad and ask a favor.

“I think MC might leave me if she doesn’t catch a salmon soon. Do you think you could take her the next time you go out?” I asked. He happily agreed, and of course they went out and caught a pile. When she came home that night, we cooked a salmon dinner and put the rest of her catch in a brine.