Then, just like that, all was quiet again. My heart was pounding, and I sat back down in a bit of a stupor, not really knowing what to do with myself or what would come next. Fishing is really nothing like cycling, which has a fluidity to it ... a continuous movement that ebbs and flows and eventually finds its even pace. Cycling is strenuous until it's not. Fishing is relaxing until it's not.
Fishing also makes me voraciously hungry - much moreso then cycling. Longer rides usually rob me of my full appetite for more than a day. But fishing ... I spend an afternoon sitting and gazing out at the water only to come home with an urge to take little bites out of every single piece of food in the fridge. I'll admit I have only a passing interest in fishing ... but there is something undeniably primal about the sport that makes it really rewarding. When I spend an afternoon gazing out at the water and looking for whales, what I am really doing is spending an afternoon fixated on the violent notion of winning food. And when I come home with a carcass in a bag, I want to devour my reward. Geoff and I pan fried some fillets with chili peppers, creating two big hunks of blackened salmon. Then we used the head and carcass to make a big pot of salmon chowder. Oh, and we had a little salad too.
Worth it? Yes.
Fishing definitely requires some degree of passivity. Unlike biking you need those extra seconds of relaxation to snap open that can of beer; it just tastes so great as you bob up and down on the water. (So much for the killing of primal instinct.) Cycling doesn’t exactly offer that reward in that same way. Beer in cycling is more carrot and stick. You suffer more for that taste at the end of the ride. (Never mind recovery drinks.)
ReplyDeleteNice post, as usual.
Fresh silvers, nice, still had sea lice on them. Looked like the one in your left hand was a female with eggs?
ReplyDeleteTo mix cycling & fishing, maybe rig the reel to the hub of a trainer mounted in the boat, then, when there's a fish on, pedal real hard. Definitely YouTubeable.
We'll be in Anchorage (w/bikes) for ten days begining next week. Riding to Seward on the weekend. Can't wait.
Jill's artic cycling/moby dick adventures =)
ReplyDeleteYou look super lovely in that first photo. :)
ReplyDeleteYay, congratulations on your catch! Loved the description (but I always do).
ReplyDelete"Jihad Jill Slays Silvers"?
Congrats on the fish! That's one thing I really miss about Alaska: Free, fresh, salmon!
ReplyDeleteOh, almost forgot: I'm very glad your knee is better.
ReplyDeleteHow far are you planning on doing the Iditarod ride?
Hey...I just read your response to my response on mtbr. I lived in Koyuk, Alaska for three years and I have been to Alaska many times, mostly on climbing trips.. my wife and I were school teachers in Koyuk in the mid 90s. But alas we never caught fish like the ones you guyz hooked in to "down south." This is a great site...visit mine sometime if you got time...:)
ReplyDeleteCharlie
www.cpfarrow.blogspot.com
I had only once fresh caught salmon up in Sweden and it was to die for:)
ReplyDeleteVery delicious!!
Good job with the catch. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteSoooooo true !!....well said
ReplyDelete"Cycling is strenuous until it's not. Fishing is relaxing until it's not."
FRESH FISH SPECIAL!
ReplyDeletegreat catch
other than a sandshark or a stingray I do not think I have ever reeled in anything so large
then again...
your hikes are more impressive
your rides are more impressive
your sky is more impressive
it only stands to figure
your fish would be more impressive
I could go out and catch some bluegills or sunfish!