Fish On! - BOW 2015, Day 3

The third day dawns. I pop my head outside of my tent at 6:20. The giant tent that was next to mine has vanished without a trace. I guess that's good, as we have been reminded to be good outdoors citizens and "leave no trace." But I am really surprised I slept through this. (Others did not, I found out a short time later. The 5:30 am joggers, chatting and jingling their bear bells, did not go unnoticed either.) I was surprised that it was necessary for my neighbors to leave so early, but I imagined they needed to hit the road early, and thus the early departure.

Breakfast was at 7, and I arrived to find a bleary-eyed group of almost outdoors-women.  And - surprise - there were my disappearing tent neighbors, in no hurry whatsoever to leave.

Breakfast:
same as yesterday

I had just enough time to go back to Coldfoot and take down my tent and pack my duffel bag before Session IV started. So there, neighbors. 

My class was On-Lake Spin Fishing. Other classes offered included Processing Game Meat, Rifle, Trapping, Fly-Tying, Outdoor Photography, Birding, Survival, Chainsaws, Geocaching, Canoeing, No 911 First Aid, and Rapelling.

The members of my class had been told to bring a cooler. The scuttlebutt was that we WOULD be bringing fish home. 

Tom and Tom, both biologists from ADFG, led the session. There were only six of us because the two boats could only hold three plus a Tom.

We started off with the usual spiel about regulations and knots, but we learned a few more things; how to add weights, a different way to cast, and various facts about stocked lakes. We got some handy-dandy folding plastic cards with knot illustrations and we got to use some nice poles with pink accents that were acquired specially for BOW.

For the French speakers in the audience, here's a stupid thing my father taught me when I was young:  "Pas deux lieu Rhône que nous." Why do we remember things like that from 50 years ago and not where we put the car keys?

We went out on the chilly but gorgeous lake and tried to guess where the fish might be. We tried various lures with no success and Tom speculated that the Boy Scouts had caught all the fish in the lake earlier in the summer. Well, I guess not. The other boat was having some success. We tried a couple of other locations. Nothing. Not even a nibble.

The other boat

Honestly, I was finding spin fishing to be quite boring. You don't cast all the time the way you do in fly fishing. Three hours is long time to be out on a chilly lake trying to make conversation with people you don't know.  I took advantage of Tom's expertise and asked him some questions about fish. Someone in our boat had commented that the noise of some other people was "scaring the fish." I couldn't remember ever having seen a fish with ears, so why would they be scared? I asked Tom, our onboard expert. Indeed, they do have ears inside their heads. They are bony structures called otoliths. They have rings in them, just like trees, and biologists use the rings to determine the age of the fish. In fact, biologists sometimes mark fish in hatcheries using chemical markers or thermal marking, and they can use this later to tell where a fish came from. 

And . . . people . . . make . . . earrings . . . 
and other jewelry . . . out of them. Who knew?

So, we've been doing this spin-fishing almost three hours, and in half an hour it will be lunch time, so we need to think about going back to shore. Tom wants us to try one more area on the far side of the lake. And he wants to try BAIT. We have salmon eggs, and we have live worms. I can handle the salmon eggs. Who doesn't like caviar? I guess fish don't like caviar. Can't say that I blame them. Still no action.

Time to try the worms. We've tried everything else. But the worms are REALLY GROSS. If I had gloves I might be able to touch them, but I just don't think I can bring myself to touch them with my bare hands. GAG. I hope I can remember to bring some of those surgical gloves the next time I do this. Fortunately, Tom was very helpful.

Wow! Those worms were like magic. We started getting bites. I had several, but I couldn't set the hook fast enough. I could even see the fish coming up from the bottom to go for the hook. Others in the boat were getting bites, too. They wanted that piece of a worm. Finally I hooked one and reeled it in. It was a rainbow trout. It was very small, but it was mine and I caught it. I was not about to throw it back, so I bonked it on the head. I intended to take it home and eat it.

My fish. The angle makes it look smaller than it really is.

I had brought a soft-sided insulated lunchbox for just this eventuality. We cut off the head of the fish and took out the guts, and I learned what a fish's kidney looks like. Not at all what you'd expect. I put it in a sandwich bag and walked over to the dock to see the other boat's catch - several really large fish. They must have cheated.

I learned why they say "Fish on." I thought it was just some dumb sports thing like saying "Goooooaaaal" in soccer. It turns out that there is actually a purpose. It is to let those near you know so that they can get out of the way while you are fighting to reel it in, and maybe help you with a net.

I got to the mess hall just in time for lunch and I got some ice for the fish from the cooks, who were not very impressed.

Lunch:
Make-your-own submarine sandwiches
Assorted chips
Cookies

The closing ceremony consisted of thanking everyone, especially the awesome cooks. The final silent auction was closed out. The elk rack drawing happened. The dressers and processors got their now frozen packages of meat.

Who came to BOW 2015?

Overall there were at least 100 participants. There were probably 40 instructors and staff members. There were at least 5 mother-daughter pairs, and at least one pair of sisters. Most of the participants came from Fairbanks, with Anchorage sending a good number, too.There were 4 or 5 women who came from out-of-state. (There are at least 40 states that have some form of BOW. One can go to any of these. I think that even if I lived somewhere else, I would want to come to Alaska for BOW.)

The women ranged in age from early 20's to early 70's, mostly on the younger end. They were almost all white. I saw a handful who may have been Alaska Natives. My best guess is the vast majority of these women were upper middle class, college-educated. 

And, actually, you don't have to be a woman to come to BOW. They always have a few men. This year they had only one - a 20-something guy who came with his mom. He was appropriately recognized for his bravery at the closing ceremony.

The ride back to Fairbanks included a number of notorious landmarks. First stop: The Knotty Shop.

Out front we find a collection of really ugly, larger-than-life, brown animals made from logs with lots of burls (the knots) in them.

One person in the car thought these were supposed to be giant replicas of souvenir animals sold inside made from moose turds.

Inside we find the largest, tackiest collection of Alaskana I have ever seen, plus an impressive collection of taxidermied Alaskan animals mounted in a diorama that takes up one entire wall. They also had really good ice cream. A lot of BOWites were already there, scarfing it up. You think they we hadn't eaten in days.

Paint + Gold Pans = Alaskana!

Next on the itinerary is Santa Claus House. It is nothing more than a very dated, throwback-to-the-60's toy store and the only reason for its survival is its location at 84 St. Nicholas Drive, North Pole, Alaska. Here's what is really pathetic: there were several tour buses parked alongside.

The final stop in the 2015 Tackiness Tour was a sad little gift shop in a building that looked like a pagoda drawn by Dr. Suess. Ugly jewelry and bad art. Oh, Fairbanks.

Hooray! The airport.  Not tacky. Small but stylish.

I ran into an old friend and an acquaintance at the gate. It's true that Alaska is just a big small town. It turned out to be quite serendipitous, as it led to an interesting opportunity, which I will be writing about in another blog, 
The Wilted Quilter.

 Home in time for a few more hours of my birthday!

At home, we had salmon and trout for dinner!

Now I know why a lot of people throw their fish back. It had a lot of tiny bones and it was practically tasteless. Next time I might try pan-frying it, rather than baking it. The salmon was really good, even though I didn't catch it.

The End

of a fantastic experience