Small Scales Life
Goodbye Cook Inlet, Hello Bristol Bay!
The Northland fishing Upper Cook Inlet 2013.
Kyle has flown north to Homer, AK to start boat work for the 2014 season. With summer right around the corner we wanted to give everyone some updates:
- This winter we sold our Upper Cook Inlet Drift permit and bought a Bristol Bay Drift permit! (We've long considered switching to the Bay and decided to make the plunge with permit values approaching each other and the political scene in Cook Inlet getting more and more volatile . . .)
- We will still be offering some great Small Scales Scrumptious Sockeye Shares, but our distribution and exact product will be a little different this year. (More details to follow shortly.)
- On the personal, non-fishy note, our little girl Maggie is almost 1.5 years old and we're expecting another munchkin due end of September. Rita is happily living with a new non-kid family, Dakota passed away last summer and Sassy is going strong.
Our New Small Fry!
The Season is Underway
We've been out for two days of fishing. The fish are starting to show up, the boat is running great with some new improvements and our new crew is great. This year JP (John Paul) returns and Jake Beaudoin joins us. (Yep, it took two strong young men to replace Emily's deckhand skills ;). Two of our favorite salmon spawning ground research tools: packrafts. On the shore of Skilak Lake, headwaters to the Kenai River.
Check out our Facebook page or click on this link to see some fun pictures from the trip we took before the season began. It was a bit of a 'research' trip because we explored two of the main glaciers that drain into the rivers where our fish spawn, the Tustumena and Skilak glaciers. Now you REALLY know where your fish come from!
We have just a handful of orders left.
Thanks to everyone for already placing your order!
Ready for Orders and a May Update
The 2012 salmon season is approaching and Small Scales Seafoods is ready to take orders!
We're giving past customers a two week lead to get on our order list and then we'll open it up to people on our waitlist and the world at large. Feel free to email or call to get on our lists! We are the most limited in our Methow deliveries, have room to add some customers in Anchorage and the most room for added customers in Homer and shipped orders. Read our Salmon Shares page and Orders page for more info.
-------------------------------------------------
Here's a quick update on the past months:
Kyle spent a month in Alaska working on his Uncle Frank's Chesapeake Bay Oyster Tonger, The Pixie. The Pixie plans on fishing Upper Cook Inlet this season under Captain Tony Umlauf. Homer had an epic snow year! Kyle was pretty sure someone stole our two cars, but he later discovered that they were parked in the driveway. Ernie, Emily's dad, left us two lovely, large "Spring Rots" (aka Springer Spaniel/Rotweiler) last summer. They made the drive up the Alaskan-Canadian Highway with Kyle and are enjoying their first ever visit to the great north. We had a fun road trip to California, complete with a 46km Nordic race at Mammoth Lakes and high altitude sunshine. (Did we mention that Emily is pregnant!! Being in her first trimester and skiing at 9,000 feet meant that this may have been her slowest, most challenging ski race ever.) Enid, Kyle's sister fed us many eggs from her heritage chicken farm in California. She collects almost 90 eggs a day! We've enjoyed spring in the Methow, including a bit of backcountry, family and great friends. Now it's a 30th birthday party on Cinco de Mayo for Emily and then we'll fly north on May 7th.That's it for now!
Ski Season or Fishing Season?
Happy Spring and Happy Salmon Eating!
Merry Christmas and a Mexico Recipe Inspiration
Merry Christmas!
Out at Sea, Mexico Style We are settled down in the Methow Valley of Washington state enjoying evenings by the woodstove, sunshine, great cross country skiing and our salmon delicacies. Every salmon fillet we thaw and eat is a reminder back to the exciting and busy summer we had on the waters of Cook Inlet. We're also enjoying the salted silver salmon we put up and are making jars of pickled salmon as little holiday gifts. Every one who tells us just how much they love their top-notch salmon makes our outreach efforts worthwhile. Thanks for being our customers and for appreciating our efforts and the quality of your fish! Before the start of the ski season we had a little beach get away to Mexico. One evening we ate at a little beachfront restaurant (complete with sand fleas nibbling on our ankles and a deep magenta sunset). Our dish was Fillete Relleno, or a stuffed fillet. In this instance it was a white fish, that we can't translate, stuffed with shrimp and octopus, topped with a red sauce and cheese. Here's our version of a Salmon Fillete Relleno for you to try this winter with your fillets.Salmones Fillete Relleno Americano
-two of your thickest salmon fillets, thawed
-fresh homemade pesto or a jar of pesto
-olive oil or butter
-small wild shrimp (Alaskan ideally ;)
-tomatoes
-shredded parmesan
Saute shrimp till partially done in olive oil or butter. With a sharp knife make a butterfly cut into your fillet so that it opens up along one edge. Layer pesto, shrimp and parmesan in the fillet and close. Place in a glass baking pan and top with tomato slices and parmesan. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, or until the white fat just begins to show. (NEVER overcook your Scrumptious Sockeye!) If desired broil for a few minutes to crisp the top. Enjoy and Merry Christmas.
Kathy visits
Just as we were ready to eat the radio blared with a fish call and we packed up and headed north, eating while underway.
We ended up catching a few hundred fish which is not bad at all considering the season is nearly over. Kathy had the opportunity to find out just how thrilling picking fish can be.
As the tide turned the seas picked up to a three foot chop and by the time we returned back to the river Kathy had experienced all the components of a fun day of fishing. She's not quite ready to sign on as a deckhand for next season but she had fun and now knows what it's all about!
We are super psyched that our customers have had the "opportunity for great seafood at an amazing value." Our shipments have arrived in tip top shape and salmon lovers around the country are learning what super high quality wild Alaskan salmon really tastes like.