What Leonard Bernstein was to the New York Philharmonic, Gary Blinn is to the group of quality individuals that he assembled to bring to Alaska this year. Let me say this, the catching of silver salmon in August was subpar but the character of everyone involved with Blinn 2012 was outstanding. These guys helped me to remember a valuable lesson; that this business is not about the fish, it's about relations. Sure, we all wish we could have caught more fish but they reminded me that it was all good and being out was more important than how many fish boxes they took home. I'm sure the other people involved with this group would say the same thing. From Jeff King of King's Budget Charters, Lisa at Custom Seafood Processing, Matt and the folks at Talon Air, the Fish Connection, Tall Tale Charters in Homer, Jackie and John at the Fish Hut, and everyone at Troutfitters: WE CAN'T THANK ALL OF YOU ENOUGH FOR MAKING US PART OF YOUR ALASKAN ADVENTURE.
On to the weekly report......This past week was another difficult one for catching silvers on the Kenai. Low numbers of fish and muddy water made the catching tough. The photo above is a 13lb silver that Steve Morris tricked into biting his hook. It's all skill.
Skylar proudly shows off his first Kenai silver.
Early morning humpy casting for Tom and Skylar.
Forrest shows off his hard earned silver. I think he was the one this week that said their name should be changed to gold because they're harder to come by and more precious.
The A Team (actually, everyone is the A Team) on the final day of Blinn 2012. From left to right: Randy, Joe Ray, Joey, and Reese.
Here's the crew from one of the many fly outs taken this past week.
Joe Ray making the best fajitas that this bland Norwegian will eat.
Relaxing at Tex-Mex night on the porch. Food by Joe Ray and guitar and banjo playing by Jeff and Chuck. My apologies for not having photos of the other great chef, Will Roberston. When he emails his photos I will be sure to post them. Oops, I almost forgot mentioning the Master Chef, Gary. Seafood night is my favorite and I'm glad he does it several times during the three weeks he's here. Hard to beat the chowder and dump cake.
Jane and Joe Ray hanging out at Command Central.
Guys,thanks again. It was great to renew our friendships and to forge new ones. I'll end this post by paraphrasing the unofficial motto of Blinn 2012: This was another August in Alaska that didn't suck.
On to September....
3 comments:
You and Jane are class acts. You're like family and that's why I keep coming back...
Mr. "Humpy"
Keith and Jane
I cannot thank you both enough for all you do for our group. You make my job easier, because I do not have to worry about fishing hard and having a clean place to come back to. Your friendship is deeply appreciated and every time I get to visit it feels like home.
Thank you so much.
Gary
Hi Keith and Jane
As always it was great visiting with you guys!!! You know that Kate and I consider AK to be our 2nd home and you are definately part of our family. The only bad thing is having to leave ):
Chuck
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