Aug 30, 2005

Very slow fishing today. Just 20 coho by 4 pm. Tragedy heard over the radio today, as a Juneau gillnetter was lost from his boat, presumed overboard. The Coast Guard announced the incident so any boats in the area could look out for him.

My processor called today and said all our orders shipping east of the Mississippi were on hold due to a chemical spill somewhere, so I had to call all my customers with the bad news. I’m sure the hurricane has something to do with it too.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Aug 29, 2005

Fishing was good today. I was on my way to 100 when the gurdy pin broke, just as the wind picked up. By the time I fixed the gurdy, it was 5 ft seas and pouring rain, so I ran to Flynn Cove about 4:30, and caught about 70.

A sealion shadowed me in the morning, too. I must get some seal bombs. It’s amazing – they never seem to get full – ever. They just keep on eating one salmon after another until fishing slows down enough that they look elsewhere, or I can find a group of boats to pass and hope Mr. Sealion changes boats.

It’s August, sales are very strong, and we’re still in the hole. Fuel is killing us this year, with about a 450 to 650 dollar cost every trip.
This is my first time anchoring in Flynn Cove. I’m amazed how many Sitka boats are here. Must be poor fishing everywhere outside for so many all the way here.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Aug 28, 2005

Got boarded by the Coast Guard yesterday. Luckily, they were ready to check to see that my flares were not expired, nor my fire extinguisher. Several 20 somethings came on board, armed with pistols. In the event my flares were expired and the kids’ pistols weren’t enough firepower to take me in, 3 of the others stayed back in the zodiac boarding craft with a – and I’m not kidding- mounted machine gun. Luckily I passed the check, and the boys sped off to their next boat.

Today, few fish. Tried Funter Bay, then Homeshore, and finished at Adolphus for only 20 cohos. May have to continue to the outer coast if things don’t improve. However, there are about 75 boats inside here, and that’s telling me there are no fish out there either or these boats would be out there. Beautiful day. sunny and 65 degrees at least.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Fri Aug 26b

Tied up to the dock in Funter Bay. learned a new method for removing blood from my fish using a catheter attached to the end of the waterhose and inserting it along the forward part of the kidney, after the gills are removed. It took some monkeying around finding the right tubing to make the catheter work – half the fun of any project – and then trying to find the right insertion point. I finally got it, and know this is another big step in producing the best fish we can. Caught 31 cohos in a half day of fishing, and was so intent figuring out the catheter I didn’t realize I caught that many.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Aug 26, 2005

Finally getting back out fishing today. As usual, a real bear offloading fish. Needed to move fish up the dock at low tide, which burned out the drive wheel on our power cart, which is a contraption we built out of an old track snowblower. So, I’ll need to replace that part when I get back. Also had a large order of smoked salmon to ship to a customer in Anchorage, as well as shipment of fresh salmon to the Shrimp Dock, our largest store outlet customer in Knoxville, TN.

Then, Sara needed to have a minor medical procedure, which I wanted to be there for in case she needed help with anything.

Also began calling natural food cooperatives in preparation for a marketing trip to Minnesota and Florida in Oct.
Finally, we ran out of fuel oil, which we planned to do, as we needed to replace the tank. So, I did that, swapping out connecting reparts, etc, and setting the new tank up. Had to wait for delivery of oil this morning to check all connections for leaks.

The season is winding down now, and I’ve been hard at it since March. Still, as I walked the few blocks from the parking area to the harbor, I looked out on the water, and the sun was peeking through after days and days of monsoon rains. Got that feeling of excitment to get back on on the water and fishing again, and once again was thankful to be a fisherman.
Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Aug 20, 2005

Fished west from Cape Cross to Yakobi. Got into cell range at 10:15 am. My friend Ron in Juneau had left a message saying the fishery was closing at noon – in less than 2 hours! Lucky I checked the messages and lucky to have such good friends. So, I fished right up to noon and left for town. The excitement of the day was a 6 foot shark that was right on the surface, and had one of my cohos in its mouth as I pulled it in. It let go right at the boat. A couple of spreads later, I had another coho on and here comes the shark again, with his tail out of the water, after it, right up to the boat again. Glad I was paying attention or that it wasn’t raining hard – some that would limit my vision, as I’m sure he could take off a few fingers.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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