Back to Alaska! Updated as the week progresses with pics!

[Dominick]

Steve, nice job on the fishing and reporting. The toxins in fish bites are not to be ignored.  Soak your hand in an Epsom salts bath each day.  Try to draw out the infection.  Dominick

[Shark Hunter]

Good Job Steve-O! I'm headed to Florida tonight. I hope to have pics to share too.

[EccentricRuss]

Nice Haul Steve.  Alaska is on the bucket list to fish.  I had a couple of chances years ago and work prevented it both times.  One day...

[Alto Mare]

Looks like you're doing great again this year Steve... very  nice. Keep an eye on that finger, fish bites can do a job on you, my brother let it go, and within a week or so, the tip of his thumb became spongy. They had to operate and take a piece off, luckily it was just the tip, but it could have gotten worse.
I'm not trying to scare you buddy, just want you to be safe.
Great report Steve.... as always

[redsetta]

Great report Steve - thanks for bringing us along!
Stoked for ya.
Keep 'em coming (and take care of that finger).
All the best mate, Justin

[ChileRelleno]

OK...  Two words... I'm Jealous.

But not of that infection, take care of that 

[Steve-O]

Thanks, guys.   thursday evening the two fish boxes came out at 99.4 # so the decision needed to be made to either fish Friday and start another box weighing out around 35#, catch and release, or not fish and play tourist.

With my annual main regret being not enough pictures of the trip taken, I decided to suit up in full fishing gear, leave the rods home and take three cameras. Had a blast. My Olympus Tough goes anywhere and into the river on a telescoping pole to film humpies doing their thing as well as oodles of other stuff. Found an eagle dead in the woods and photoed the skull.

Ran into my Idaho buds and took pics of their catches plus they put a rod in my hands to have some fun. It was a Laminglass rod with a ABu G Revo ctx on it. What a nice combo that cast with a flick. Smooth reel, too.

Caught a few and invited the buds to the dock to jig cod in the afternoon. They were not disappointed. We jigged up enough to feed us all well and I added two Great Sculpins big enough to fillet and eat.

I ate a small cod fillet sauteed in soy and lime followed with the scuplin fillets the same way.  The sculpin was firm with a bounce in the chew not unlike a tender clam. All the previous sculpins had been too small to bother filleting. My buds were grinning like kids in a toy shop and they jiggged up cod after cod. Less smiles after a while when the cod thinned and the sculpins were thick as thieves. I had the practice so every big bend to my rod indicating a large cod saw it passed to the next angler to crank it up. They loved it and were thrilled to get that much free white meat.

I'm beat and am packing up for the haul back home. I will finalize my adventure with a few more pics. My finger seems to go from throbbing to better then back to throb...right now is boom, boom, boom and hot so more meds. Swelling is still about the same. Worst fish bite infection I 've ever had. Line cuts are a normal hazard releasing humpies and foul hooked fish but this is a whole nother level of fun.

Later. Steve

[gstours]

Good job on reporting dude; seems like you stayed busy too, catching and boxing, all that makes you snore too, people say!  great colorful pictures too!  you,ll go back to work to rest up huh??and go back again if you can,,,,,,for sure.   gst.

[Steve-O]

Gary, yep, had to sit at a computer for a week just to wake up.  Finger is almost healed. WARNING: Ugly fingertip from fish tooth. This was a week or so back. Much better now.

There will be a pair of Lindy fish handling gloves with me next year!

15 consecutive years and 16 trips to AK...so yeah, I am planning to be back up there in 2015. I almost have 6 months residency....one week at a time.

[Dominick]

Wow! That's one ugly finger.    Dominick

[EccentricRuss]

Wow, that is really one heck of an infection.  And another scar story to brag to folks about!  

[Steve-O]

I shared the pic with the lodge owner/friend of 15 years after he got back from his Sheep and Caribou hunts. Even he thought it was scary looking. Then he related a 4" hole saw fillet job he did on his finger. yeow!

Ya..it was  a mess......but you should SEE the other guy.

First he got his lips pierced, then drug and yanked out of his ecosystem, bashed on the noggin, gills slit, bled out and ended up like 5 more of his compadres that day. In the deep freeze.

In 15 years of line cuts, fish bites, stiff knuckles, etc... I get to pay my dues once in a while.

I'll take it!

[alantani]

this looks like great halibut bait!!!!!

[Ron Jones]

That looks like real dungie crab bait to me!
Ron