After a 4-day journey, the crew arrived in Naknek last week
After spending a day on anchor in Iliamna Bay, the crew set out to cross Lake Iliamna. The trip went smoothly, and navigating the braids of the Kvichak River went well. A few members of Mike's group got stuck, but they were able to pull them off the sandbars.
After arriving in Naknek, they had some minor leaking, which was fixed that day. They also met with an RSW tech that we paid more per hour than an attorney. He quickly fixed the RSW issue.
We have a shipping container in Naknek with a lot of our gear, so the guys went through that for a few hours and then took off for Egegik.
They started fishing immediately. It's been a little slow, but should pick up soon. Historically, the fishery peaks around the Fourth of July. According to the Alaska fish and game biologists, the run is late, and huge.
Meanwhile, another river system in Bristol Bay, the Nushagak River, caught more fish in one day than have ever been caught in a single day in Bristol Bay before- 1,773,000 fish! At the time, that accounted for a quarter of the entire Bristol Bay harvest. The next day, July 1st, they broke that record with a haul of 1,824,000 million fish!
We're hoping a wall of sockeye salmon similar to that one hits Egegik soon. The Nushagak is typically the first river to peak. The wind has been relentless the past few days. The guys actually skipped last night's opener (rare for Mike) because of strong winds. Mike reports some boats have blown out windows and three people he knows of lost their anchor. The Courageous is in great shape, and the crew is well rested and ready for the big days ahead!
Wishing you a wonderful Fourth of July. We hope your grills are complete with wild sockeye salmon!
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