Fishing in Alaska

We had two big fishing experiences in Alaska. One was during the Cousins' Camp. While Allison and I were hosting Cousins' Camp 2013, the rest of the crew were fishing:

Here's Bradley with some fish in the background:

More culturally significant, however, was when we got to go to Kenai and watch the Alaskans dip net fish for salmon.

Each year tons of salmon swim past this beach and Alaskans (and only Alaskans-- we were not allowed to help-- but enjoyed watching!) pluck them out, bonk them on the head and fill their freezers.

This shows the men with their dip nets:

They stand in the water and net the salmon when they swim by. Then the drag the salmon to the beach where the women (and children) "bonk" the fish.

You see two of those kiddos with their "bonking sticks":

It all sounds very innocent enough... but good grief, it's violent! Did you know fish bleed?! I didn't!

Lucy tried her hand at the bonking stick, too:

I'll refrain from posting the more bloody photos... but here's Allison with a hard-earned catch:

And I do mean hard-earned! This was not an easy, relaxing day of fishing for the Alaskans!

Bradley was glad that he couldn't walk yet, so he was able to snuggle up while at the beach:

Later, however, I took him to the car to stretch his legs... and boy was he happy about that!

We had spent the greater part of the Spring eating up everything out of our freezers so we could ship back the Alaskan catches (not the Kenai salmon, but the catches from the deep sea trip). And we've been enjoying the fruits of their (I'll say "our"... even though I did get to actually fish-- the camp counselor helped make it possible, right??) labor ever since!