Hi Everyone,

This is the time of year when the snow and ice are thawing out. This is the time of year the bears are coming out of hibernation and us people that live in the wilderness are doing the same. We spend a lot of time outdoors doing what we have to do to survive. We cut firewood, we fish, we hunt, we have to fill our generator with gas so we have power for our electronics, and we have to go with our containers to a spring to get drinking water, because we do not have running water. All of this keeps us active and doing things outside, but mostly we do spend more time indoors and the limited amount of daylight keeps the hours of being outside to a minimum. This is the time of year we start getting more hours of daylight and we are getting ready to “Spring Forward.” I start going through my fishing gear, tying flies, and looking forward to Spring Steelhead fishing. This time of year is historically looked upon by the Native Alaskan Natives as the start of spring and happiness, especially when the Hooligan fish are running. This is a fish also known as candle fish. This is the first fish run that locals go dip net in certain rivers. It is a small fish, about 12 inches long, about 1 1/2 inches wide. We use dip nets to get dozens of these oily fish. The reason for the name “candlefish.” You could literally burn a candle with the oil in these fish. After a long cold winter this is a sign of spring and abundance on the Coast of Alaska.

Here is a short video of holligan fishing. We prepare these fish by coating them in flour and frying them in a pan! Finally fresh fish, and Spring is here!!