Update from Bristol Bay- Wild Alaska Salmon Season: 7-31-25
August 01, 2025
THAT'S A WRAP!
After Linden and Markham left last week, Randy, Mike and Owen fished in Naknek for a couple more days. The fishing was super slow, so they decided to try fishing late season in Togiak.
Togiak is super remote, and it's the only district Mike's never fished. I don't include it when I talk about choosing a district in Bristol Bay, because it's primarily fished by local Alaska natives during the regular Bristol Bay season. There aren't a lot of fish there until August, when the rest of the fishery winds down. Once they meet their escapement goals, the biologists open it up to everyone else.
They drove 100 miles to get there, which takes about 12 hours in the Courageous. They had a couple decent days fishing there, but it was pretty slow overall and after four days, the decided to call the season a wrap.
Bristol Bay 2025 was a really good one. The boat ran well, the weather was good, the crew dynamic excellent, and the fish plentiful.We feel so much gratitude for the opportunity to harvest these abundant, wild salmon...and for Owen getting in on the action. Fishing as a family is the goal, and this season was a big step in that direction. We couldn't do it without customers that value our catch and the story behind the seafood. You all make fishing a sustainable operation for our family, and it is a dream come true to know our seafood makes it onto your table.
We are honored to be your fishermen!
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE HOMESTEAD...
Eva and I are filling the freezers with fish and berries here in Homer.
Last week, we went across the bay twice to dipnet sparkling sockeye salmon. There were SO MANY!
Did you know... Mike doesn't bring home any fish from Bristol Bay. Crazy, right? They are all shipped south and we fill our freezers with fish we sport fish for here in Homer and the surrounding area.
The limit for dipnetting in Chinapoot Bay is 6 fish per person per day. When the fishing is hot, you limit out in minutes. Our friend caught four salmon in one dip!
To fish, we hike up to a waterfall where the fish get caught in a deep hole. The dipnet we use has an 8 ft. handle. You plunge it down into the rushing water and scoop the salmon out. We wear wetsuits to get the job done. I'll post of video of me dipnetting on our IG and Facebook pages, so be sure to follow along there!
I smoked and pressure canned four of the fish we caught, and they turned out beautifully. This process is a labor of love, but I just enjoyed the first can for lunch. It's 100% worth it. The fish is brined for 12 hours in 2 cups of brown sugar and 1 cup of salt dissolved into 2 quarts of water. After brining, I give it a quick rinse (not soak) with cold water. The four fish (approximately 8 lbs. total) fit perfectly into our Big Chief smoker. I used two trays of smoking chips for this batch, then let it cook for another hour or so without chips. I stuffed the jars with the smoked salmon and added some homegrown jalapenos to some. Fish is canned for 100 minutes at 11 lbs. pressure for pints and half pints. It's so, so good! If you want to try it with the fish we send you, feel free to reach out and I can share more tips with you. It's very similar in taste to our hot smoked salmon, but it's nice to have a shelf stable option.
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
