We have kids not pets...

Well we have a fish, that's kind of like a pet. Its not that we don't like cats or dogs but we have to clean pooh and pee off the ground from our kids. Why would we add a pet to the mix to add to the madness? Beth and Ian got some kittens a few weeks back and have brought them by a few times. You may have a hard time believing this, but the kids love the kittens. Owen especially loves to chase them and giggle, while the kittens are scared silly. Something that I learned is that it is harder to take pictures of kittens than it is to take pictures of kids. Who would have thought that? Kids are not trivial... The kittens' names are Sheba and Boots. Enjoy the pictures. ~Erik

Jakolof Bay Part 2....

I will apologize in advance, I used my wide angle lens for most of the following shots. I just love how it gives an idea of the surroundings. Like I said before, Jakolof Bay is one of the prettiest places on earth. You may have surmised from the pictures that it wasn't overcast or raining, a rarity this summer. For 3 days straight, the sun was shining. I am sure that it is because my wife is living right. Anyways... you may ask yourself, what does one do in this so called Jakolof Bay. No Internet, TV, or running water (the tides don't count). Well, you have to spend time together as a family. Kaitlyn's favorite thing was fishing. There were small fish that hung out right at the dock and were just waiting to get caught. Kaitlyn had the knack and in no time had caught half a dozen (don't worry we let them go). She mastered the bait casting reel and didn't have a single backlash. I won't lie, I was pretty darn proud of her. Her only setback was when she hooked her hand, which caused her to tweak a bit. The world was brought back into order when we finally got a band aid on her hook wound. Kali's favorite activity was searching the boat for treats. The girl can eat a 7 course meal and still be hungry for snacks, I think she has a tapeworm. Owen just liked being outside with his uncle Matt. The whole trip he kept saying "DUDE....MATT", almost like someone with downs syndrome. Sorry, please don't be offended that's just what it sounded like. I tried to figure out what Matt's favorite part was. Through his grunts I surmised he liked helping Kaitlyn fish and sleeping. I had to post a picture of the outhouse because it was so nasty. The pooh was literally inches from the seat. Enjoy. I will be posting Part 3 tomorrow night so check back. I will give you a bit of a teaser-"Berries, aka crack"
Next posts are as follows Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Halibut Chowder

Here at the Massey house we are fans of anything that is fattening and tastes good. There has been a lot of halibut posts lately so we wanted to share one of our favorite recipes, halibut chowder. This is what you will need.

3 cups of milk
1 pack of Cream cheese
3 cans of Cream of potato soup
2 cans of Cream of mushroom
1 cream sicle (just kidding, seeing if you are paying attention)
1/2 can of sliced carrots
1 bunch of green onion
Garlic
Halibut chunks 3/4 lb (more of less depending on you love of chunky's)
Johny Seafood seasoning or lemon pepper

Start by bringing milk to a boil then quickly adding cream cheese and lowering temperature. Melt cream cheese and then add soups. While soup is simmering start sauteing halibut chunks. Saute with butter, garlic and green onions until the fish turns from translucent to white. Don't overcook halibut chunks. Add the halibut chunks along with can of sliced carrots and Johnny seafood seasoning (or lemon pepper, season to taste) to soup and allow to simmer for ~30 min.

Sauteing onion and garlic, Angela yelling at me for taking pictures and starting to burn the garlic.

Angela has taken over so I wouldn't screw anything else up, you can see the halibut has turned almost all white, just about ready to go in the soup.

Adding halibut and seasoning to soup.

Garnish and serve, wallah great tasting halibut chowder.

What a difference a day makes...

I went fishing yesterday and as you can tell by the title it was a much better trip than the trip on the previous post. We went with our friend the Smeds. This was Angela's first halibut fishing trip without the kids. As you can see by the first picture she needed some coaching, the picture kind of looks like a stock photo. Can't really place my finger on it. Anyways the second picture is Angela's first halibut that she set and reeled in herself. You can tell by the expression on her face how proud she is. You know, every time I take Angela fishing we always catch fish. Maybe I should take her all the time. It's August which means that the sand sharks are starting to roll in. They are a pain when you catch them but they are kind of pretty in a shark kind of way. Just glad I wasn't yucking this trip. ~Erik

A little thing we call Dip Netting

Every July something fantastic happens at the mouth of the Kenai River. Thousands of Alaskan residents converge on the Kenai River to take part in the subsistence dip net fishery. I personally haven't participated in quite a few years. I get my salmon on rod and reel, but thought that some of you may want to participate via the Internet. Like catching any fish, it can be addicting. Some would argue the dip netting isn't too sporty, this usually comes from the mouth of someone who hasn't dip netted before. You can do it from the river bank or from a boat. A boat is the way to go if you have one available. If not, you are stuck in the ranks with some of Alaska's finest white trash. There is a large majority that treks down from Anchorage and will camp on the beach for a week at a time. They smell and use language that would make a sailor blush, I find this adds to the ambiance. I will narrate through the following pictures.

This is somewhat of a typical dip net setup, there are size and net regulations.

As you can see above, most of the time you are shoulder to shoulder with your white trash neighbors. You can see all the Seagulls flying overhead waiting to drop a load on some poor unassuming victim's head. It's a small price to pay for fish.

Once a fish hits your net you will feel the fish struggling for life, that is when you turn your net sideways and boogie up the bank.

You then release the fish from the net and whack it. There is a brief explanation on fish bonking in a previous post.

If Lady Luck smiles upon you there will be plenty of fish to go around. The head of house can get 25 fish and each other member of the family can get 10 additional fish. The Erik Massey family can get 65 fish, yeah that's right 65. We don't eat that much salmon, in fact we only eat about 7 a winter. Like I mentioned before, I just get mine with my fishing pole.

This is somewhat of a typical setup for cleaning the fish. Some people will use coolers, plywood or like this guy 2 quads and a board. After the fillets are packaged away the carcasses are thrown onto the beach.

The carcasses are great fuel for the seagulls, that's right pooh makin' machines those seagulls. Don't worry, the fish will be swept out to sea where nothing will go to waste. In fact, most likely, halibut will feast on the carcasses and get good and fat. That's when I catch them on my boat, the circle of life or death. Sounds a bit morbid but if you are from Alaska it seems pretty normal.

Just one last note. Rotting carcasses on the beach stink. Sorry if I have offended anyone with this post. No... I am not sorry. I like to eat fish. ~Erik

Soldotna Progress Day Parade...

Our town of Soldotna loves to have parades and to celebrate our progress. Apparently every year we make enough progress to celebrate with a parade. This is relative though, we are still about 15 years behind the rest of the world. In fact we just got dial up internet, I am excited to use something called e-mail. Anyways, we went to the parade. It is no surprise that it was raining as this has been the story of our summer. Angela is ready to get out of the state because of the gloomy summer, can't blame her much. Back on task, the kids had a great time at the parade and got lots of soaking wet candy. We don't go to the Apostolic church but I went to school with the girl in the 4rd picture. I also wanted to put a float pictures in the mix. The first picture is of a fish mural that is pretty close to the house. I thought the colors looked nice. ~Erik

Sockeye Salmon Fishing Trip

Something magical happens every July in Soldotna, the salmon start running up the Kenai river. It is a wonderful event that helps reaffirm the reason for living in this frozen wasteland they call Alaska. Angela grew up in southern California where they don't condone the killing of fish but love sushi, go figure. We decided that it would be a fun date to go salmon fishing. I don't want to brag but I have killed my fair share and thought it would be fun to teach Angela. I will narrate the event as spoken by Angela and I. We started out at the Hofseth's, whom I work with.

Angela "Dude, Erik I don't know what I'm doing..."

Erik "Just make sure you are hitting the bottom..."

The sky was nice and dramatic as seen in the picture. After 5 minutes pass, Angela hooks a fish.

A-"Erik!!!! I have a fish, what do I doooooo?"
E-"Dude, just calm down and reel." Yes we do call each other dude a lot. "Turn and smile for the camera."
A- "What camera?" Bling, the award winning smile.

I had to put the camera down to net the fish, sorry no pictures of that.
A- "Now what?" Fish flopping on the ground.
E- "You have to bonk the fish."
A-"Me, but I am such a girl."
E- "If you can catch it you can whack it. Hit it on the head." Angela first few attempts were a bit wimpy.
E- "Dude, put down your purse and hit it." She gets a bit more aggressive "Stop hitting the body, we eat the meat. Hit the head, we don't eat that."
A- "Dude, I can't help it if I am such a girl."
E- "Stop playing the girl card. Now pick up the fish for a picture."
A- "Eeww, where do I pick it up?"
E- "By its gill plate."


A- "Eeww, hurry and take the picture." Click. End of story.

The above picture was taken when I wasn't aware. You may notice the pooh eating grin I have on my face, I get that during 3 weeks in July when I am catching sockeye salmon. The pictures below are of the fish we caught. The last picture is Jason and I being a bit silly. Jason was showing Angela how to hold the fish and Angela was able to catch this tender moment with the camera. Sorry for the long narrative. ~Erik

Seldovia Final Thoughts and Halibut

I was very pleased with our trip to Seldovia this weekend. The kids had a great time and Angela and I enjoyed it also. The first four pictures were taken during our stay. The last two pictures were taken on the boat on Saturday. I don't know what it is, but I love fishing for halibut. I think that it has something to do with being out on the ocean, maybe the anticipation of catching a huge fish or just the company I bring. I think my dad enjoys it as much as I do which makes nice bonding time. Nothing can bring a family together like killing fish, sounds a bit perverse, but its true with the Massey's. The two fish pictured were 54 and 55 inches which equates to about 80 lbs a piece. It was my best fishing trip of the year. ~Erik

Summer fun...

My mom and grandma have been visiting with us and we've be able to get out and do some fun things. Erik went out fishing Friday morning almost caught a 7 foot salmon shark. As he was reeling up a halibut the shark came to the surface and bit his fish. You can see the marks on the halibut. After the fishing trip he picked up the family for a trip over to Seldovia, a cute little town you can only fly or boat to. It was rainy and gray, but we still had a fun time walking around. On Saturday we went to Erik's company picnic, which is always a favorite for me. The kids had a blast playing games and digging for money and getting new toys. Erik played in a volleyball tournament and took first place. We made my mom and grandma tag along, but they seemed to have a fun time too. It was just very cold! We've enjoyed having visitors and we'll try to take more pictures of them to post. ~Angela