Just In Alaska

IT'S GETTING COLD.....BUT WHO CARES!

2009-10-27T08:46:00.011-08:00

Getting in a few last days of fishing before winter sets in.

This is my friend Luke, and this Rainbow was the fish of the trip. The fish measured about 29 inches.

This time of year the Rainbow fishing is phenominal, but you have to be pretty dedicated to be out in the cold weather all day long.

LATE SEASON FISHING BEGINS

2009-10-01T15:14:00.004-08:00

Late fall fishing on the Kenai Peninsula is awesome. It's cold but exhilarating. The Rainbows are gorging on salmon flesh and salmon eggs, fattening up for winter. And the fisherman are fishing as much as possible before everything freezes over.

Doug caught a nice 26" Rainbow which was gently released back in to the water.

And here is a 20" fish, kind of a minnow in this river but nice none the less.

PARKS HIGHWAY RAINBOW

2009-08-23T10:57:00.005-08:00

Here's a beautiful 19" Rainbow Trout that my buddy caught from an unnamed creek.

THE FAMOUS PRIMANTI BROTHER'S SANDWICH

2009-07-25T07:30:00.004-08:00

This is a Pittsburgh tradition, complete with french fries, coleslaw, and a fried egg (on the sandwich). It sucked!

LET'S GET SOCKEYED!

2009-07-21T04:09:00.011-08:00

Each July (from the 10th to the 31st) thousands of Alaskans arrive at the mouth of the Kenai River to harvest their share of millions (yes millions) of Pacific sockeye salmon. Most people are of the opinion the sockeyes, also known as red salmon are the best eating of all five species of Pacific Salmon. The Kenai River is an amazing fishery, which is very tightly managed. Alaska Fish and Game does an incredible job of protecting the runs. The river is subject to emergency closures (and openings) depending on the strength of the salmon run. They are able to count the fish that come through and on any one day it's possible that as many as 50,000 fish will pass through the fish counting weir.

We love to dipnet, and although we don't need this fish run to survive (we do have grocery stores), there's no question that it's a big part of our lives. Each year we harvest several hundred pounds of fillets that we smoke, can, and freeze. It is a tremendous amount of work, not so much the actual catching, but more in fish cleaning, preparing, vac sealing, and freezing. It's always a family effort, it makes us feel good to "live off the land" in a sense.

Dipnetting itself is done with a huge net about 5' in diameter, attached to a pole which in some cases is 20' long. The fisherman stands in about waist high water, holding the net in the river and waiting for the fish to swim in. Once your net starts bouncing around then the fisherman drags the net to the shore where an another family member is waiting to help untangle the fish. This year we harvested 81 fish which range in weight from 4 pounds to 10 pounds. The fish were then split, between my Dad, my sister's family, Uncle Mark, and our family.

For the last several years I have given up my role as the main fisherman, giving my duties to Maggie (who I love so much). I act as her support in removing the fish, killing the fish, and putting the fish in the cooler. Maggie and I are an excellent team.

Here Maggie is proudly holding a beautiful bright sockeye. I think we've already eaten this one.

There is more than just fishing on this annual pilgrimage. We set up several tents on the beach, build nice camp fires, eat lots of good food, play in the sand, ride the ATV, and for the adults of course lots of good canned Budweiser. Michele and I are actually beer snobs, but we allow for the intake of garbage beer this once as it's easier to deal cans rather than bottles. Oh the sacrifices we make. :)

Indio broke in to chocolate chip cookies, I busted him big time. :)

Casey got his hands on the camera, but it captures us sitting around the camp.

My Mom cooking and Casey keeping an eye on the situation. Notice all the camps in the background (like I said, an Alaskan tradition).

Our camp, complete with baby gates for my nephew Granite.

Jade and Granite, chillaxing while waiting for the fish to start running.

We'll all eat good this winter, and we're already excited for 2010 dipnet season.

LEARNING TO RIDE

2009-07-21T03:37:00.004-08:00

Here's Casey learning how to ride an ATV, or at least learning the importance of wearing a helmet while Dad drives.

A GUYS WEEK

2009-06-24T23:24:00.003-08:00

6/24--It's 10:30PM and Michele and Maggie just left for Newark, NJ. Once arriving in Newark, they catch a train to Philadelphia where Michele's brother Kirk will pick them up. There's more to their trip, but the reason for this entry is to capture the boys first time away from Mom. And my first time alone with them for an extended period of time.

Casey was still awake when they left, Indio was passed out cold. Within about 20 minutes Casey drifted off and it left me all alone at home for the first time since before we got married. It's weird, I feel like a batchlelor with 2 sleeping boys.

So the first thing I did was take all the laundry downstairs, moved the drying racks up stairs, picked up some toys, and opened a bottle of wine (only because I didn't have any beer). I called in to work already and left a message that I'd be a couple hours late. I'm going to let the boys sleep in and myself too (it may be needed depending on how much of this bottle I drink!)

Michele (and the kids of course) hooked me up with the new iPhone for Father's Day. I got it tonight so now it's time to figure it out. I'm pretty pumped about that. I'm laying down my Blackberry to rest. Wine, iPhone, house fiddling, etc. that is night #1 with no Mom or big Sister! Tomorrow nght I'll give the boys an education! It's Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagual, Arnie, Sly, and Eastwood movies, maybe a little UFC thrown in the mix. It's time to grow these boys up! More later.

KISKA THE WHWT

2009-06-19T17:46:00.004-08:00

We have two of these things.

LONG LAKE FLOAT TUBING

2009-06-18T20:48:00.013-08:00

This was my first fishing outing of the summer (not including the early hike in to the Kenai River). I paddled around in my float tube for about 3 hours. Long Lake is strictly a catch and release fishery, because of that there are some nice fish in there. It takes about an hour to get there from our house.

I didn't really catch to many fish but 2 of them were over 18". Not to bad for a lake.

This guy was the smallest fish of the day, but his colors were beautiful. He was gently released back in to the depths.

AS GOOD AS THE PRESENT ITSELF

2009-06-18T05:03:00.003-08:00

The vacuum gun hasn't made it outside yet, but the bubble wrap provided at least 20 minutes worth of entertainment. Good job Jen!

ONE LAST PRESENT!

2009-06-17T20:07:00.003-08:00

Casey just turned 4. If he could read and write, he'd say a special thanks to Auntie Jen and Uncle Paul. Since he can't, Dad will say it for him, thanks Jen thanks Paul! That's going to be a fun toy! How can we torture Mom with it? :)

AN EARLY SUMMER FLOAT.

2009-06-14T21:58:00.006-08:00

This day marked the maiden voyage for the new blue boat.

Mark came along with us. The red boat is about 3 years old. Its new home is going to be in Dillingham, Alaska. I will store it there for years to come that way I won't have to ship it back and forth from Anchorage. Having a boat and other gear in Western Alaska will make the great wilderness and fishing much more attainable. Stay posted.

A SUNDAY AFTERNOON PICNIC

2009-06-14T21:49:00.003-08:00

We took a nice Sunday drive up to near the headwaters of Willow Creek. This is the only picture I managed to take. You can't turn your back on Indie for a second.

CLOWNING WITH GRANDPA'S GLASSES

2009-06-14T21:31:00.004-08:00

Indio and Grandpa playing per usual.

THE END OF THE STORY!

2009-06-14T21:18:00.004-08:00

and

Last couch picture I promise.

AN EARLY SPRING FISH

2009-04-19T17:34:00.006-08:00

Doug and I hiked down to the mouth of the Kenai River where it empties in to Skilak Lake. The Hidden Creek trail is accessed via the Skilak Loop road. The trail to the river is about 2 miles. This time of year it's mostly frozen mud, snow patches, and bog holes.

Here is Doug crouching down under an ice shelf along the banks of the river. As you might imagine it's not to difficult to keep a beer cold!

We didn't actually catch any fish today. We think the fish are still in the lake, they haven't started moving up in the river yet. This will undoubtedly be the first of many trips to the river until Mother Nature shuts us down sometime in November.

WOW, SHARING!

2009-04-17T16:56:00.002-08:00

I consider it amazing when a 3-year old shares anything, but especially strawberry ice cream!

DESSERT!

2009-04-12T22:25:00.004-08:00

This is Michele's handy work. Very creative I might add. It's always something with that woman.

Ostrich Eggs (peaches)................

and toast (angel food cake).

THE LAST GOODBYE

2009-04-12T22:11:00.003-08:00

And so the story ends. It's been with Michele for almost 15 years. Our boys finally wore it out. This is the last time it will appear in one of our photos......in the back of a truck on it's way to the dump. Kinda sad but it's been a good life, history was made......children were probably conceived on it! Goodbye old couch.

TIS THE SEASON!

2009-04-05T20:56:00.002-08:00

I'm leaving Anchorage right now, and it's 9PM from the Anchorage airport. Lots of daylight for the next 6 months! We're so happy!

COPY CAT

2009-04-02T22:02:00.002-08:00

Casey has been doing a lot of swimming lately. Indio is chomping at the bit!

WRESTLING MATCH

2009-03-30T12:12:00.003-08:00

It's pretty evenly matched.

CLOWN BOY!

2009-03-29T18:18:00.003-08:00

Casey is quite creative when it comes to dressing himself.

MY NEW LOOK!

2009-03-29T15:10:00.003-08:00

Rollin' with the 70's stache!

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY

2009-01-19T17:07:00.001-09:00

There's not really anything exciting to blog about right at this moment, but here's what I taught Casey this afternoon.

I can't take credit for this one, he learned that from his Mom!

BROTHERLY LOVE

2009-01-08T18:06:00.005-09:00

Casey came up on the wrong of a bite wound.

But eventually he got over it.

After a search we finally tracked down the perpetrator. It's been 4 or 5 days since the bite and the mark is still pretty evident on Casey's chest.

FISH OF THE FAMILY

2008-11-22T06:17:00.003-09:00

You can get a picture like this if you have a kid who loves water and a waterproof camera.

This is Casey in the bathtub.

TANGLED UP IN FINGER NAIL!

2008-11-16T16:59:00.004-09:00

Maggie inadvertantly caught Casey with a finger nail. Are those some blue eyes or what?

CHRIS CORNELL CONCERT

2008-11-16T14:30:00.000-09:00

November 2, 2008
Seattle, Washington
Showbox SoDo

Chris rocking the house. Click to enlarge.

I flew down to Seattle on a quick 24 hour trip for a Chris Cornell show. This latest tour is in support of his new album "Scream". This is the old grunge rocker's third solo album, in addition to his Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave work. Flying down to Seattle every year or two to see a Chris Cornell concert has become a tradition of mine.

Chris Cornell playing the Showbox SoDo in Seattle, Washington.

One of the stops I always like to make whenever I'm in Seattle is at the Central Tavern in Pioneer Square. This legendary little bar is where the likes of Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, and others got their start. The walls are full of things just like this below.

Kurt and the Boys on the cover of Rolling Stones magazine.

THE LAKE CREEK FLOAT

2008-11-15T16:36:00.052-09:00

DATE OF FLOAT: AUGUST 21-26, 2008
Click to enlarge.

This turned out to be a trip of a life time. My friend Luke, whom I've known for quite a few years, and I started talking about planning some sort of float/fishing trip about 5 years ago. Last year, about this time, the talk started getting serious. Our original plans had us floating the Talachulitna River, but at the last minute we had to change our plans. We received word, through the pleasant folks at Willow Air, that water conditions were so low on the Talachulitna that rafters had reportedly been dragging boats through lots of shallow water. So we decided to float Lake Creek instead.

So it began; Luke, Luke's childhood friend Adam, and myself put my deflated raft in a float plane and flew to Lake Creek.

This airplane is a Beaver, and in the foreground is all our stuff. Click to enlarge.

And this is the Beaver's radial engine.

We flew for about an hour until we reached Chelanta Lake. Ole' Steve-o (the pilot) put us on the beach and bid us farewell.

The deflated boat and all our gear.

Loaded and ready to go.

So we set off downstream on our 60 mile float to where Lake Creek meets the Yentna River. Lake Creek turned out to be an absolutely beautiful float. The water coming out of Chelatna Lake was slow, wide and blue. There were tons of bright red sockeyes darting all around.

A shot of a sockeye with the digital underwater camera.

It's tough to guess, looking back on it, but I'd say we floated somewhere around 4 miles that first day. However, before we made it to our first campsite we all hooked and released several nice Rainbows, and to top it off Adam landed a nice bright Silver which made for several excellent riverside meals.

Adam caught the trip's only Silver.

And that nice Silver ended up in the frying pan.

Typical view on the upper section of Lake Creek.

The second morning was nothing short of exceptional. We brought several nice fish to the bank before we even left our first campsite, and the fishing to seemed to get better and better as we made our way downstream. We caught Rainbow after Rainbow, and tons of nice Grayling too.

Luke with a really sweet Grayling.

The further we made it down the river the more challenging the water became. It was boulder after boulder, at times it felt like our boat was a ball inside a pin ball machine. We got stuck on rocks, bounced off other ones, and in two places we went through short stretches of class IV water. The boat handled extremely well, and all three of us are pretty experienced rowers.

This is the second Class IV rapid.

This is another nice rapid in the canyon.

And we saw some other interesting things along the way. This is definitely Mother Nature at work.

Maggots chowing down on a King Salmon carcass.

The rest of the float was phenomenal. Every evening that we pulled off the river we found excellent places to set up camp.

The fishing seemed to get better and better as we made our way further down stream, with only one stretch of canyon being an exception. The second to last day was the best single day of trout fishing I've ever had in my life. I would guess that all three of us probably landed somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 Rainbows. I have been trout fishing my entire life and never have I experienced anything quite like that.

This is a beauty that Adam caught. Best viewed LARGE... click on picture to view full size.

And another beauty of a Bow.

Luke and Adam working to release a couple Bows.

Adam with a beaut.

Look at the colors on this fish.

One last fish picture. You get the idea!

The rest of way to the confluence of the Yentna River was fun but not with out obstacles.

Getting the boat underneath a log jam.

Once we arrived at the Yentna River we pulled over at a predetermined pick up spot and began to fold up the boat and prepare our gear to put back in the airplane. I was an adventure that none of us will ever forget. My instincts tell me I haven't seen the last of Lake Creek!

The float plane landed in the still water on the river to pick us up.

INDIO LEARNS TO EAT FRENCH BREAD!

2008-11-15T16:24:00.007-09:00

The photo pretty much says it all.

So does this one!

EXTREME FISHING

2008-11-14T18:15:00.021-09:00

YOU REALLY HAVE TO BE DEDICATED!!!

This morning at 6AM Doug, (my brother-in-law) and I left Anchorage on the 115 mile voyage to the Hidden Creek trail head. From there we walked about 2 miles down to where the Kenai River drops into Skilak Lake.

The truck on the Skilak Lake Road.

The drive down was pretty dicey. We ran into blizzard conditions in Turnagin Pass which made for white knuckle driving. Did I mention it was total darkness? We finally started to get some day light about 15 minutes before our drive ended. Not that helpful really. Once we arrived at the trail head we dressed into snow pants and boots, loaded up our big packs with fishing gear, food, and the likes and started the walk in. About 45 minutes later we arrived at Hidden Creek where we stopped to put our waders on.

Arrival at Hidden Creek

Once fully dressed we crossed the creek and walked the last 1/4 mile to the mouth of the Kenai. The fishing was a bit slow, we worked the river for about 2 hours. I caught one Rainbow about 20" long and 2 pretty nice Silvers that were a bit on the rosy side.

Landing a Silver!

I let everything go, as filleting fish this time of year sucks. Fishing was pretty tough, the eyelets of the fly rods were constantly freezing up making it nearly impossible to cast (this is a sign that ice fishing season is around the corner). Doug was snake bitten and didn't land any fish. We did have a nice lunch though. Doug built a small fire on the river bank and heated up a couple cans of chunky beef stew. It hit the spot considering it was all of 26 degrees.

The Cook Making Lunch!

It was a great trip, I hope there is one more in the cards before Mother Winter takes over. Stay Tuned!

THIS IS MY FAMILY!

2008-11-13T11:48:00.022-09:00

A favorite of mine from...........just yesterday!

My beautiful wife Michele and my second born Indio.

A picture of Maggie and Casey from over 3 years ago!

My 2 little home slices!

EAST COAST TRIP

2008-11-13T11:27:00.010-09:00

Michele and I are getting ourselves and the kids ready for our voyage to the East Coast. We will fly in to Washington, D.C. where we will rent a car before driving 5 hours to North Carolina. We will spend a little over a week there with Michele's family. It will be fun and crazy. Michele's Mom and Dad will be there (Myles and Regina), Michele's sister and husband and kids (Kim, Randy, Gabby, and Quinn), Michele's brother and wife and kids (Kirk, Alex, Sammy, and Teddy), of course the five of us.

We rented a house right near the beach, we will spend Thanksgiving and my 35th birthday there. Once that wraps up we'll be driving back to D.C. where we'll spend 4 full days taking in as much as we can. Fun Fun!!

I'll keep you posted!

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

2008-11-13T10:56:00.008-09:00

Hello Everyone! Well I'm officially a nerd. This is my first entry of my first blog. This will hopefully give our friends and family a little different view of the Ireys family in Anchorage. This is not meant as competition to my beautiful wife's blog, clearly I can not compete! What's next...................a facebook profile. Say it's not so! This picture of me appears on Michele's blog too, but since it's my first blog entry I didn't know what else to put. I caught this fish a couple of weeks ago on the Kenai River.