Old Home Week

The guy on the far left next to me is Tyler Gene Wayrnen, Geno. I called him the genius because he was, he was part of a fishing group that all ran around together through the 80's and 90's that I called 'F Troop'. We had great times, he was mine and a lot of peoples best friend but his candle burned a bit to bright and ....well... he's not the same anymore. Geno had much to give and one of the things he gave me was this guy right here, Pat Moran. We met in the 80's through Geno, they worked diesel generation together on the slope and in the villages, wherever the A-team was needed. Pat and his wife Barb moved onto the 48 but he's returned to fish and once again this week we had two days of fun and catch up.

Pat and his gang know how to do Alaska, a little fishing (we fished through the wind storm that knocked Anchorage out for a whole week) a little site seeing in Denali and then the cool part is a return by ferry boat to Bellingham where they have relatives and a party planned. I'm philosophically in line with this guys, we're kindred spirits. Barb was the first to notice this cloud as we talked about Geno and the past. It was kind of a sign I think, Geno was with us in the form of that fish, he could do that I think.

And Geno loved a good sunrise so we all ogled over this one.

So here's a pic of the whole crew. Lou and his wife Linda and Pat and Barb along with a few of the silvers we caught. The fishing has been work but we managed a few pretty good days. I can't say it enough, I'm a lucky guy to know friends like this and to have the continuity and connections from a lifetime fishing Alaska. The first time I met Pat MP was in Montana and I had bribed the asphalt crew to do my drive way with 40 pounds of shrimp and 10 cases of beer....well the crew didn't show up but Pat and Geno did, things have been going that way ever since. Stay healthy you guys and we'll see you on down the trail...

On Friday and Saturday I fished with the Morton's.  Nate is a tele communications guy from Eagle River and like Chrisco he's kind of a counseleri of mine. His boys Nate, Andrew and Douglas who is one of the funniest guys I've ever met are something. They're brothers, fishing buddies, support staff and most of all just plane old friends. I don't know how Nate did it but I know one thing....the world could use a whole bunch of that formula.

The next morning it was like magic. We have Nate and his wife and grandpa, everyone wants to see Lucas land fish, well right on schedule in the semi-light of morning in a nice dense fog we heard a load splash and Lucas wrestled in the 1st silver of the day. It was exciting. They say the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, its true, this guy is the best 10 year old fisherman I've ever had in the boat, bar none. He handled the rod, he handled the line and hooks and he sure did handle those salmon, I was impressed. Good work Lukey.

Here's a picture of Douglas. I was in stitches as he told about working a guy in Las Vegas for a car rental upgrade to a 450 horsepower Camaro. He got the car, even the red one that his wife wanted  and at the same time convinced me that he could have a real future in politics.

Nate here planned the weekend so I have to thank him. It was a great way for me to wind down my season, comfortable, just old home week....Feeeeesh onnnnn.

My Belgian friend Jacque Lizin is here so this week we ought to make some memories, come on back and see how we do...And oh, this years salmon runs might have been a bit on the light side but I'm here to tell you that our late season seal run is a record setter. They're tough to get a pic of, you point the camera, they dive, put the camera down, they come up. At one time we counted 20 within sight, these two were in a group of 4 that came up in formation....I was lucky, I got half of them, just like the silver fishings been.

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