The day salmon stopped traffic

An estimated 10,000-16,000 pounds of chum salmon spread across Egan Highway, the only road between downtown (where many people work) and the valley (where many people live) caused quite the traffic jam.  #Juneau problems quickly became last night's local hashtag.

More pictures: http://www.ktoo.org/2016/07/25/overturned-truck-blocks-egan-load-fish/

The Great July 3rd Fish Story - guest post by Graham

So there I was....in about 300 feet of water, not another boat in sight. I am sworn to secrecy about precisely where we caught these fish, because, no kidding, Trevor and I both hooked within five minutes of each other and only about fifteen minutes after we put our lines in the water.

Here is my halibut, the one you see laying in the bow of Trevor's boat at the end of the video above. It weighed about 35 pounds....more than all of the rest of the fish I had caught in my lifetime put together.

Now, I am told by fishermen who know, a 35 pounder is something to be proud of, and I was quite pleased with my catch. But fifteen minutes of hand-cramping reeling, a broken halibut rod, and a team effort of pulling into the boat later, and all of a sudden my 35 lb. leviathan looked like a minnow.

This beast weighed in at around 120 pounds. 

It was quite an ordeal lowering it out of the boat, but not nearly as tough as getting it into the boat.

For reference, that is the largest wheelbarrow Home Depot sells.

The whole family got in on sizing the fish up....

Checking it out up close.......

And cleaning it in the driveway.

Trevor had a lot more work to do than me.

The kids even got an ichthyological anatomy lesson out of it. That's me, pretending I can tell the difference between fish intestines and sausage links. The girls had previously met some college students doing a summer study on halibut stomach contents at the boat ramp, so they wanted me to cut in and find out what was in there. I quickly changed the subject.

My mom kindly gave up her freezer to store all of the vacuum-packed halibut. I took some in to work and some will be going to the Glory Hole (our local homeless shelter, where Trevor works) but the rest is just waiting for you readers to come up and enjoy with us! Jenn has an amazing recipe with pesto and bread crumbs. You'll love it.