And here it is!!! Our freshest fish yet. And seriously, this fish was the finest meal of all time. Karina had the idea of making a corn flake crust... so she found a wonderful recipe online. Herbed crushed cornflakes, patted on a oil rubbed fillet, then placed on top of sauteed onions and apple slices in an iron skillet. Baked for a bit, then broiled to make a good crust. Super Yum. 

There they go. We did keep on fish to fillet on our own to eat fresh. It made 6 big chuncks of meat. 

Mark's loading up our fish into a cannery container to be brought up for processing. They fillet and cut the fish into chunks, then freeze them at super low temperatures. The faster they freeze, the smaller the little ice crystals and the better the texture of the flesh when the fish thaws. 

Well there's our bootie for the day. Pretty, huh? 

This is called a "double." That's when there are fish on both lines at the same time. I was just reeling in the other pole to make sure karina's line didn't get tangled with the other pole, and all of a sudden the line started running out. That's a King run. 

Caught another one, not the "hog" that the first one was. 

Here's our catch so far. You can barely see the halibut below, especially because their bellies are so white. (PS my King Salmon, chris', is the bigger of the two ;)) 

Here's Karina's first King Salmon. We think it might have been the Ivory King. Only 1-5% of King Salmon are white fleshed. Its become quite a specialty food in high end restaurants these days. More about eating the White King later. 

Only one whack to the head for salmon. Then be sure to cut the gills so that they bleed out.

That's Karina's first King Salmon she's bringing to the back of the boat to be netted. 

Keep that rod bent! Keep that rod bent! Those were the shouts we heard from our coach Mark. Apparently, 50% of king salmon are lost after initially hooking them. Their mouths are hard, they're strong, and the hooks don't stay in so well. We only lost one, and that was because a piece of seaweed got in the way.

Chris brought this one in. "A monster" according to Mark. It is probably 30-35 pounds. He's straining a bit to hold it.

Here's Chris working to bring in his first salmon. He had one on the hook earlier but it got away by rubbing up against some kelp just as Mark was about to net it. Mark directed us in how to bring in a fish. You have to keep a bend in the rod, either by pulling back, or winding in the line, but if the fish runs out with the line, you have to let him. King salmon tend to run out 2 or 3 times Mark said, bolting when they see the boat, but we got all of ours the first time it came close to the boat. Notice I said "all"....

Of course, before the trophy picture, you have to whack them between the eyes with the back of the gaffing hook. Halibut are tought. They take several blows, but salmon usually just one. Chris and I are fishing newbies, so all the whacking was done by Mark.

On Saturday we went fishing with Chris' boss Mark, who goes out every Wednesday and is the source of our fresh fish. I caught this halibut. It's about 36 inches. It's much bigger that the other halibut I caught at 12 years old when I was in AK visiting my uncle and his family. That one was only 6 inches. We threw it back.

Chris liked these wool halibut and Coho salmon wall hangings. (Coho are known as silvers here). 

I entered the finger puppets I made for Chris in a Fiber Arts show at the local yarn shop. I wouldn't have even thought to do it in Seattle... 

This is sweet and sour halibut. Have you noticed the awesome table cloth Chris actually let me put on the table? It's my plan for offsetting a dreary Kodiak winter.

Not a bullseye, but it did make it on the board. 

Her very first dart throwing experience. 

Karina's figuring out how to play this darts game. 

Our first night out on the town. Jill took us out for good times bowling and playing darts. Yea, Kodiak has a real live bowling ally! Jill is a student at the Fish Tech, which is a fishery research center. She's from Thailand, and her specialty is seafood quality control. She's teaching us how to best store salmon. 

Here's a close up. 

We're absolutely amazed by the amount of fresh fish we've gotten to cook and eat. So much so we've started a fresh fish meal log. Here's one of the dishes Karina made: Halibut (though we thought it was Ling Cod at the time) poached Chinese style in water boiled with ginger and green onions, then drizzled with sizzling oil, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, and sesame oil. 

Yea, we got a place, a time, and hopefully some kodiak interest to start teaching swing and salsa.

Big and little suckers for all grippy grabbing needs.