- Joined
- Dec 3, 2000
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I went out of Seward this last weekend with my brother and thought I'd share a few of the lessons learned, or that I was simply reminded of. Incidentally it was a great trip. Saw seals, sea lions, orcas, humpback whales, porpoises, and of course puffin, eagles, otters and the usual critters.
We didn't go for any halibut, due to the fact that my brother already filled his freezer this summer, and has plenty to share, so we stuck with silver salmon. They're barely trickling in, so every one we got was hard earned. (a dozen total)
First thing I learned is that a fella can make it a long ways off of beef jerky, mixed nuts, and dried fruit. That's about 80% of what I consumed, and it kept my engine running just fine, although I sure did enjoy getting together with friends on the 4th to eat the fresh caught fish, some moose, home baked bread, cobbler, etc.
Second thing I learned/ was reminded of is that when it comes to spending alot of time near water, especially salt water is that expendable knives are absolutely the way to go. Anything more expensive than Moras, Normarks, Dexter Russells, or Victorinox/Forschner is probably gonna be lost or destroyed and won't really perform any better anyways.
The standard method of fishing was to bring the fish in, welcome them aboard with a small club, and cut thier gills with a Dexter Russell bait knife or a Mora 760. Then clean them back at the harbor with a decent fillet knife. (Normark Saltwater model for me) Even stainless knives get rusted remarkably quickly, they're covered with blood, and fish scales, there's really no good method to clean them, other than dipping them in the water and wiping them with a T- shirt. By the time you clean get done tidying up the boat for the night, clean your fish, eat some chow, and go to sleep the knives are typically long forgotten or neglected. This doesn't include the ones that go overboard or wind up with snapped and bent tips. My brothers boat generally had about half a dozen bait knives and half a dozen fillet knives all within reach at any time. (we were darn well prepared to repel boarders too)
I carried two American Kami knives out there to use and review, but didn't even waste my time after the first day. I did stick a couple fish with one of them, but it didn't kill them any deader than the $2.00 bait knives.
So that was my lesson learned when playing around water. next time I'm just carrying my Mora's, and either my titanium .357 or my rusty, trusty (but relatively inexpensive) .45 Colt revolver. The custom knives and the $1500 1911 will stay in the safe.
We spend so much time enjoying our custom knives, carbon steel, etc. I couldn't help sharing a story of the rare circumstances when they aren't quite the ticket.
We didn't go for any halibut, due to the fact that my brother already filled his freezer this summer, and has plenty to share, so we stuck with silver salmon. They're barely trickling in, so every one we got was hard earned. (a dozen total)
First thing I learned is that a fella can make it a long ways off of beef jerky, mixed nuts, and dried fruit. That's about 80% of what I consumed, and it kept my engine running just fine, although I sure did enjoy getting together with friends on the 4th to eat the fresh caught fish, some moose, home baked bread, cobbler, etc.
Second thing I learned/ was reminded of is that when it comes to spending alot of time near water, especially salt water is that expendable knives are absolutely the way to go. Anything more expensive than Moras, Normarks, Dexter Russells, or Victorinox/Forschner is probably gonna be lost or destroyed and won't really perform any better anyways.
The standard method of fishing was to bring the fish in, welcome them aboard with a small club, and cut thier gills with a Dexter Russell bait knife or a Mora 760. Then clean them back at the harbor with a decent fillet knife. (Normark Saltwater model for me) Even stainless knives get rusted remarkably quickly, they're covered with blood, and fish scales, there's really no good method to clean them, other than dipping them in the water and wiping them with a T- shirt. By the time you clean get done tidying up the boat for the night, clean your fish, eat some chow, and go to sleep the knives are typically long forgotten or neglected. This doesn't include the ones that go overboard or wind up with snapped and bent tips. My brothers boat generally had about half a dozen bait knives and half a dozen fillet knives all within reach at any time. (we were darn well prepared to repel boarders too)
I carried two American Kami knives out there to use and review, but didn't even waste my time after the first day. I did stick a couple fish with one of them, but it didn't kill them any deader than the $2.00 bait knives.
So that was my lesson learned when playing around water. next time I'm just carrying my Mora's, and either my titanium .357 or my rusty, trusty (but relatively inexpensive) .45 Colt revolver. The custom knives and the $1500 1911 will stay in the safe.
We spend so much time enjoying our custom knives, carbon steel, etc. I couldn't help sharing a story of the rare circumstances when they aren't quite the ticket.