Fish!

Sorry we haven't posted lately, the internet people came to upgrade us the day after my last post and we've been out of internet ever since.  We've also been in and out of water this week.  Some plumbing lines broke somewhere in the village and drained the water tank so we've been waiting for it to refill.

While we've had a shortage of water and internet, we have not had a shortage of fish.  Scott (our principal) took us out on the ocean to go halibut fishing.  We caught an ugly duckling, and two keeper halibut.  They are quite tasty and a whole lot of fun to catch, so we get good food and have fun at the same time!  The next day one of the men in the village caught a halibut just over 360 pounds which was the talk of the village.  That size of halibut isn't common so everyone in the village went to see it and take pictures.  They asked our principal to fillet it out which is a pretty big sign of respect and trust from what we understand so Mike and Scott spent the morning cutting up the monster.  The first chief's wife showed us where the ear bones were on the halibut which are ivory and used to make jewelry, usually earrings.  After much digging we were able to locate one which was made into a necklace for Patty (our principal's wife).



Our ugly duckling who wanted to be a halibut



One of Mike's halibut

We passed sunbathing sea lions on our way back

87 inch 360+ lb halibut producing 265 lbs of edible meat



We've also figured out the best time to catch salmon at the inlet to the lagoon and have been heading down just before the peak of high tide.  Most of the people in the village catch salmon by snagging.  They'll throw the hook across the water on the other side of the groups of fish and then jerk it through the group of fish to snag one.  I work as a spotter, looking for groups of fish so Mike can be ready for them when they come through.  Mike caught 3 yesterday so we are definitely well on our way to getting some meat in the freezer.  Fishing here is nice after going to competitive places like Montauk where people will cast over your line or walk in front of you fishing.  Here everyone wants everyone else to do well fishing and it shows.  They'll talk back and forth so people upstream or downstream know when a group of fish is coming their way.