2025 Salmon Season Wrap-Up

Another season put to bed, just in time for today’s tiny dusting of snow on nearby mountaintops!! Before we get to talking about fall and snow though, we’ll pause to remember the season we just finished which was full of great personalities; our ever-changing scenery of ocean, mountain and sky; and of course salmon!

After a quiet June of wrapping up kelp and putting finishing touches on salmon preparations, July started off with a bang - some of the best fishing we’ve ever seen for that time of year. There’s nothing like dialing in your muscles with thousands of pounds of shimmery, lively fish filling your net and boat. It was one of those seasons where we had very few days off and were able to get into a really good rhythm of fishing, cooking, eating, resting, and fishing some more, for weeks on end. Luckily, aside from a couple strong storms in the earlier part of the season, the weather was generally quite easy, with an unprecedentedly long stretch of sun and calm winds, all contributing to high morale. The dry weather was not so good for water levels in our rivers though, and so our season ended in early September, about two weeks earlier than we would have expected, to ensure that enough salmon would be able to make it upstream to spawn. Though it was disappointing to end on that note, we deeply respect the management decisions that were made to ensure the future health of the salmon runs.

There’s more to our summers than salmon. Really, the people are what make it happen! We give a big high five and enormous thank yous to our intrepid and steadfast crew members without whom we couldn’t do this! Both of us had great help this summer, a mix of new and returning crew members who meshed well really enjoyed the deep physical and mental challenges that the season brought. Tollef, at Broken Point, had Tommy for his first season and Chase, returning for at least his 5th (at some point it’s hard to keep count). The guys sailed through the season and developed a motto taking pride in their competence and ease of working together that went like this no matter what was asked of them, “Of course we can, we’re Broken Point guys!” Adelia’s crew at Trap 6 were split. At the beginning of the season it was family time, with her oldest niece Cecilia and sister in the skiff, and mom and younger 2 nieces on shore. For the main run, Maddie returned for her second season, and her friend Joyce came for the first time. Adelia grinned every time there was strong weather because Maddie and Joyce would be up in the bow giggling and throwing themselves even more wholeheartedly into the elements - relishing the spray on their faces and the pounding of the waves making the skiff into a roller-coaster, and putting all their strength into wrangling the tight anchor lines and net, epitomizing perfect teamwork. We also were lucky enough to have family visit from away - Tollef’s mom and Adelia’s aunt and cousin. There’s no better way to share our world than in person. Thanks to all our family and crew for making the journey to share a little slice of Uganik life with us.