Red Fish, Pink Fish, Dead Fish, Stinky Fish!



First hole - all the white spots in the water are dead fish



The red and pink salmon are just beginning to die and, if one did not know salmon die after spawning, a trip up the valley would be a bit disconcerting.  I imagine the mental discours the large numbers of little salmon bodies in the water and along the banks would cause to occur in my head if I weren't expecting it.  "What is wrong with all these fish?!  Why are they dying in such huge numbers?!  Is there something wrong with the water? . . . Maybe it's best if I avoid any contact with it just in case there's some sort of terrible bacteria causing them all to die. . . I need some hand sanitizer . . . Why do I to read all those articles that say all these anti-bacterial products are creating super bacteria?  I don't have any hand sanitizer because I listen to them!  I wonder if I should bathe in a bleach solution when I get back?"



Luckily, I knew the salmon would die off after spawning (honestly it helps me feel less guilty about catching them and eating them), so I'm not freaking out searching the internet for possible causes of mass fish death and finding out if those causes could affect humans.  I am wishing they didn't have to smell quite so terribly in the process.  The odor is already strong and there are still many salmon swimming around that will quickly add to it's strength.  Carol took advantage of some of those still swimming salmon and hooked me up with some loose fish eggs.  I made my caviar out of fish eggs we cut out of a dead fish which had to be separated before soaking and salting.  She got loose fish eggs  from a live fish, but I'll not go into the details of the process.  I'm sure the fish is looking for a support group as we speak.  They are supposed to be fantastic with cream cheese so I'm anxiously waiting on a grocery order to check it out.