Hiking with Guns- First Foray

Jonathan took all of these photos on the first foray up to the ranch on the first weekend of deer season. Nary a deer, but great scenery. As usual!!! 

Jon was intrigued by the odd shapes the trees had. Probably from the winter snows bending them over. 

Steve out in the grasses. 

             
                 

 A sudden storm came up while they were out on Sunday evening. Jon said, 'It looked like it was heading toward the ranch, but it veered off and followed the Umatilla upriver." They were a bit concerned as they watched rain and lightening come towards them, but they didn't get wet and the photos are rather awesome! You can see the layers of clouds and sky and earth.

 Jon got a new scope. He was attempting to photograph a bird thru it. Jon told me, "It {this scope} is a bit more complicated than the last one." The other photos are random pictures  he sent.

 Sunset on Monday night. They didn't get the chance to get out and hunt during the week this year, but there is one last weekend left. Steve is taking the Mercury to the annual Harvest Fair car show and will join Jon later.

Jon's Alaska- Friday and Saturday

Photos were sparse these last two days. It was really very wet outside! Jon did catch a prettier fish on Friday. The females are called hens and the boys are called jacks. This one was a hen. So, after 2 and a half full days, he caught 2 fish. He had several bites and completely enjoyed himself. The second photo is one of my favorites-

Nana came out to watch and advise Jon on the fileting of a larger fish. She told stories of when she worked the line in Homer, before they moved her to the egg room. 

Saturday was supposed to be a lighter day of rest. However, the night before we'd discovered a water leak landing on the wood stove. Jon called Steve for some advice and smeared black silicone around the pipe. Hopefully, this fixes the problem. It was still leaking later in the day,  it eventually stopped. Well, so did the rain, but we'll see!

Jon played cribbage with Nana for more than an hour, Janet's family came out to visit (Janet made brownies!), and Jon went out one last time on the lake.I have thoroughly enjoyed having Jonathan visit for a week. He's taking back a couple of filets and some other assorted things. Plus, a ton of good memories! He'll have just long enough to rest a bit before jumping into deer season. 

(He is also taking back hugs. I am not entirely sure he'll remember to actually give those to anyone, but I did impress upon him he should!)

Jon's Alaska-Thursday (Fellowship of the Bridge)

Jonathan spent most of Thursday and all of Friday fishing. In the rain. I went with him on Thursday afternoon. To read and take some photographs. I sat in the car most of the time, it was really very wet! 

Before he left,  Jon was discussing different sorts of lures and bait with me. Things he'd learned  the previous day. The Fellowship of the Bridge is a very real thing out on the Swanson!

You can see how wet it was. I opted not to add the photo where all you can see is rain! 

3 fish were caught this afternoon. None of them by Jonathan. 

You can see the difference in the river . Tides are a huge factor in fishing off the bridge. When they come in, they bring the fish. When they go out, the fish seem to be waiting under it. 

Of the three fish caught, this one was the most aggravating. It tried a couple of different hooks, before succumbing to one of them. Meanwhile it managed to tangle lines completely. Jon was out for the count as his line was one which was threaded hither and yon around the net.  

Nets on the bridge consists of the bag part of the net with a rock tied in the bottom, and ropes around it.When a fish is caught, the fisher folk sort of move out of the way a bit, the closer net is lowered , and the fish is hauled up to the bridge. 

This is another prettier silver-

 Who happens to have a mouthful of teeth!

Bank fishing is pretty popular. Some of the guys take plywood down to stand on. The bank is rather soggy and the silt on the river is not cool to get stuck in. 

The Fellowship of the Bridge doesn't extend to everyone. However, this particular group is the friendlier one. The lady in the jacket facing us is married to the guy in the yellow coat. They were given all the fish at the end of this day and the remnants of the eggs one of the other guys was getting rid of. They were from Germany, I believe. The couple brought a bottle of wine with them to give to another couple they'd befriended over the days or weeks fishing. The lady in the pink hat with the bottle was pretty excited this day. The fish responsible for the tangled lines was deemed hers. She'd never caught a fish off the bridge before! There is one woman, Gina, who appears to be one of the main fishing gurus. Not many women fish off the bridge, Gina is one of the best and adopted Jon as he entered into the Fellowship. 

Later in the day, Jon was in the shop and found a new musician. Buzz Martin, an Oregonian logger and singer. I must admit, the stories he sings  definitely have a northwest flavor! 

Jon's Alaska-Tuesday and Wed

Once again, a long post of photos-I do hope you enjoy them! These are mostly mine, with a couple here and there by Jon. 

 He worked more on Tuesday with Randall and went on the lake again. He spent much of the day dinking around. Which he really enjoys doing! He also enjoys fishing, though-and the next days were full. Jonathan got a fishing license for 3 days.

This is the bridge over the Swanson River out by Capt Cook State Park. It is the place to catch silvers. Mum has done this many times. Now, her grandson would try his luck.

While we were out there on Tuesday evening, we met the man who created this. I need to find one for Jon, because it was cool speaking to the old guy who made this one possible. It appears it was crafted on the Swanson! 

 Almost ready to go-

 It is morning and he is not thrilled with having his photo taken this early~It was about 830 am.

Jon took a lovely view of the morning river as well as a couple of other things. 

 This is his first Alaskan salmon. It looks uninviting, the second run of silvers seem a little older in their cycle. Not all of them caught were this aged. Never-the-less, it was fileted for him and the people on the bridge helped him get it up to the road and all in all, he was VERY excited! (we ate part of it on Thursday night, it wasn't bad at all! Not a peak red, but still nice.)

 He was out there for almost 12 hours on this lovely sunny day- The Fellowship of the Bridge is a thing!

 I bugged mum into going out to see what Jon was up to as the afternoon waned. I think she enjoyed herself. We were there for about 30 min.

 The river at the end of the day was pretty full. Most of the regulars were gone-They fish on the tide. Jon decided to do that the next two days.

 This is also something that surprised mum. She's never seen seals in the Swanson before. They are not nice to anyone who fishes!