I'd take geese eggs over chicken eggs any day.

Me too. Much better than those sweat shop eggs.

Some Dog Salmon showing up, they are even letting us keep the kings we catch.

Those fish in the tub are dog salmon? I thought the big fat pinks were dog salmon? Your water is clean enough for fishing already? When your next video coming I want to rock out?

Yes Muskrat those are Dog Salmon=Chum. Except the big one is King is a Chinook, Pink is a Humpy, Coho is a Silver. I don't know why they all have two names, confusing. lol

The Yukon is always muddy, it clears up in the winter some but still brown. Nets don't need clear water to catch though.

I do need to work on some video someday.

Got them cut

I'd like to see a video on the fish above process. Cutting, brine, smoke etc.

Those chums are the first fish up?

Rare to see one here before end of July.

Good call Huperest what you want to rock out to on his video Banaram?

Those Yukon chums sure don't look like southeast chums!

Same thoughts here on the Bristol Bay ones

Your wish is my command.



And we only have chums/kings/silvers and pinks here, I catch a lost red every year though, I usually feed it to the dogs.

Our chums bring a buck a lb in the fall they are not your average pale meat cat food kind of chum.

and there ya have it... nice...

so you don't fish the early chum run commercially?

also, why not trim the gill plate and fins off before you dry them, instead of after??

We do fish the early "summer chums" but regulated to dip nets these passed years until the kings pass. We get 60 cents a lb for them, the fall fish are fatter and run all the way into Canada ,hence the high oil content and commercial value, they have more oil in them than a Bristol bay King

The gill plate needs to be left on, or the fish will curl up and not hang right, needs the weight.

The fins are no problem to cut off after they dry,normaly they are not left on, but you don't want to make any cuts in the skin or any unnecessary cuts, because the fly's will get in and lay in any crevice.

thanks for the answers.

do the higher oil content fish dry as well? do they tend to go rancid with the higher oil content??

I can easily tell the difference in the fat content between a copper river red and a kenai red. IMO, the copper fish don't make as good of a smoked fish product because there is so much oil. the bellies are awesome smoked.... id rather eat the copper river ones and smoke the kenai fish.

No they don't dry as well, like king strips will drip forever, so you need to cut thin and smoke them a long time and hope for good drying weather wet weather can ruin them. Can take a few weeks or more.

King bellies here are like eating butter,and mostly used for salt fish.

I don't care for the oily fall chums they dry kind of greasy, the summer chums are what most folks make dryfish out of here.

I like the king strips jarred after two days of drying,smoked for two more and then pressure cooked.


Almost forgot....tonight's dinner maple syrup pepperd king head, hot smoked 24 hrs with apple wood and alder, then boiled in salt water.

"Here's Lookin' at ya " !!


I love really oily belly strips with a cup of sweet tea. Love that grease dripping off my chin.

No comments Hoopy !!

Belly strips and the collars are my absolute favorite part of kings and sockeye.

Another nice video Jeff!

The heart is the best part of a salmon.

It's like a tender chunk of prime meat encased in a shell of cat food, err, salmon

If you haven't tried the hearts, you should. Especially the ines out of a bigger king.

Unlike jeff, I leave the eyes for the seagulls

Jeff,

Great video. Was curious how much salt you put in the brine for dipping them before hanging. When I was down in St. Mary's, it seemed they put in enough salt to float a hard boiled egg when doing strips and then it was a quick sit in the brine before hanging. Just curious if you measure it the same way.

-TJ

TJ
I really don't measure it I add salt till it looks like it will dissolve no more. But..... I only dip them in the water swish them around for about three seconds (no soaking at all) and then hang and drip dry. That way they are too salty, but has enough to not need to add salt when you eat it, and helps keep the flys off while drying too.

Fish is done ,and turned out good.

Jeff !!! I am very disappointed to see you cutting on plywood rather than spruce bark !!