|
|
Our commercial
fishing operation is very different than what most people
think of when the topic of a fishing business comes up.
Although we do catch fish in the summer with gill nets
set in the river and use a boat to work the nets, our
main fishing operation takes place in the winter with
gill nets set under the ice on the frozen river.
How is this possible, you ask?
|
|
| Let me explain. |
|
|
We fish during
early winter months by stringing gill nets below the surface
ice and thus catching fish swimming in the water below
the ice. We catch mainly Arctic Cisco, Least Cisco, and
Humpback Whitefish as they feed and move about in the
delta face for several months each fall.
We start by knowing
ahead of time where the right depth of water is located
in order to set the nets in the best location for the
fish runs. The ice needs to be frozen several inches deep
in order to support our weight while walking around on
the ice. Nets and equipment are hauled out to the setting
site on a small hand sled to begin with, later a snowmachine
and sled is used.
|
|
Holes about 1
½ foot diameter are cut in the ice with a hand
held ice chopper (duke) in a straight line about 15 feet
apart. Enough holes must be opened to cover the length
of the net to be set. Next we drop a weighted line that
is connected to a long rope down the first hole. Using
a long pole with a hooked end, we reach in under the ice
from the second hole to catch the line hanging down from
the first hole and pull it in under the ice back to the
second hole. We continue doing this from hole to hole
until we have the long rope strung under the ice for 150 feet
to match the length of the net we intend to set. Once
the rope extends under the ice for the entire length necessary,
it is attached to the net at the first hole and the net
is pulled under the ice, the rope thus coming up on top
again from the last hole. Often several nets are set in a line
to make use of the previous net's last hole.
|
|
Jim at net hole checking water depth and salinity.
|
|
Short ropes attached
to the ends of the net are tied to strong sticks we freeze
into the ice on the edges of the first and last hole.
These sticks lean out at an angle over the holes to hold
the ropes in the center of the hole. After a net is set,
the holes between the first and last hole are allowed
to freeze over and are no longer needed. The net is now
stretched out in the water under the ice and small cork
floats along the top of the net keep it floating upright.
A weighted leadline keeps the lower end of the net stretched
down near the bottom of the river so the net doesn't freeze
into the underside of the surface ice. Having at least
two people to handle the nets and the pull rope is best,
as one person can guide the net in or out of the hole as
the second person pulls on the net or rope.
|
|
|
The several
different species of whitefish that we catch
are sorted as we pull them out of the net (by tossing
them to opposite sides of the net) and then they
get counted and left to freeze on the ice as further
nets are picked.
|
|
pick fish
count fish
|
Nets are pulled
up and picked of fish only one at a time, and only enough
net is pulled above water that can be cleaned of fish
before the fish begin to stiffen with the cold. Each net
is pulled back under the ice after fish have been removed.
|
|
Jim brings nets and equipment home .
|
|
After all the
nets (some years only a few, some years dozens) are cleaned
of fish, the frozen fish are put in a large box on a snowmachine
sled and hauled up to the storage building for later sacking
and marketing in 100# bags. They are sacked as whole fresh-frozen
fish, and are sold throughout Alaska.
|
sacking and weighing fish
What a BIG
job!
Fishing season sometimes
means special visitors:
|
|
| Derek at fishing hole with polar bear
eating fish from near-by fish pile. |
A visiting
polar bear sniffs sacks of frozen fish near Colville
Lodge. |
|
