Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Hooking for Tomcods

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People have been hooking for tomcods for several days now, but this is the first time I have has a chance to get out there.



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As soon as the ice is barely think enough to support a person's weight there are people out there hooking.



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I prefer to wait until the ice is a bit thicker than that...like at least 4 inches.



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Uyaana did more playing than hooking which is usually the case.



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Vic chopped us a couple holes wit the ice pick. This time of year the ice is thin enough that you don't need to use and auger.



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Vic caught more fish than me. I'd like to say that he was humble about it and didn't rub it is but....not.



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Uyaana stuck his fish in the water for about two minutes and then lost interest. Here he is holding up one of the tomcods I caught so I could take a pohoto of it.



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Kinda ugly huh? But they are lots of fun to catch and they are usually easy to catch so you don't have to wait long before another comes. They are tasty too.



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You can eat them any way you want but mostly we boil them whole, guts and all, or we freeze them and eat them raw and frozen dipped in seal oil.



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I also caught one smelt. Just one.



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I was hoping that I would get at least ten of them so I would have enough to put in a pan and fry but that wasn't the case. Anyway it was a fun evening out on the ice.

6 comments:

gpc said...

Cathy, since you were raised down here, I am curious and hope I'm not be nosey -- were you always an adventurist eater? Or did you like seal oil and raw fish the first time you tasted them? Reading your blog has made me much more open to trying things I've never considered before.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if I could do the raw fish thing....I was feeling sorta sick just reading about it, no offense :)

Cathy said...

I don't think you would classify me as an adventurous eater in my pre-Alaskan life. I think it was more a matter of going with the flow once I got here. Seal oil and seal can be considered an acquired taste. I didn't eat it the first time and say "WOW this is delicious". I think my gut reaction was almost the opposite.

I think that as you give things a chance here and there over time you can develop a taste for something. Now I love dried or boiled seal meat and seal oil and other things that might me considered weird, exotic or downright gross. I think it tastes great. I think much of what is considered good or not has a lot to do with mind over matter and keeping your mind open to new flavors......except when it comes to raisins... cuz raisins are just nasty.

gpc said...

LOL, I agree with you except for the raisins. People are people, and we all have the same groups of taste buds after all, so if something is tasty to one group, there is no reason why I shouldn't like it too if I give it a chance. Thanks for your explanation, Cathy.

Laurie Constantino said...

Looks like lots of fun! I like the element of surprise in ice-fishing, well, ice-fishing in Bethel anyway - you never know what you'll pull up.

Dog Hair in my Coffee said...

I'm so sending you raisins, in bulk, for Christmas this year.