The Arctic Post

Life Adventures in the Canadian Arctic

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I got one all on my own…..well, sort of!

Yesterday a bunch of us headed out on the land to do a little fishing. Even though it was cloudy and a little windy, it was actually quite warm.  There were 11 of us total.  We stopped at a place where the holes were already done. Bonus that we didn’t have to sit and drill holes to fish.  Everyone with a fishing license took their turns trying to catch a fish. In the end, the women were the only ones to catch anything!! We caught 5 in total.

One of the holes people took their turns in trying to catch a fish...

Taking a turn....Unfortunately nothing bit for him!

We got one!! We got one!!!

I was pleasantly surprised when I actually caught one. For a while I could feel them nibbling but nothing would actually bite. At one point I felt a tug and started to pull on the line. It started to feel too light and I didn’t think I had anything so I stopped pulling. Another one of the ladies with us yelled at me that I had one and to keep pulling up the line. I had mitts on and couldn’t actually get a hold of the line! She started to pull it up until we finally had the fish. I can only imagine what we sounded like screaming and laughing….I thought you were supposed to be quiet when catching fish??  I still need to work on being able to take the hook out and actually kill it! I just can’t bring myself to do it yet. One of the ladies was the official “fish killer” she was the only one that went around and knocked the fish on the head!! So yes I caught the fish, but that’s about all I did! The one that I caught was small, but none the less, I caught one. It was a landlocked Arctic Char. I was very pleased with myself.

My fish!

While we were all sitting around enjoying the peace and quiet, a visitor decided to come and wreak some havoc! When I saw it I couldn’t believe my eyes!!

What?!?! Can it be?? Is that a bear??

The bravest of the bunch....she went over and told the bear to leave!!

It worked.....looks like it's leaving....

Wait a minute......hurry, someone stop it.....it's trying to steal the machine!!!

Trying to tackle the bear.....

It took a few people to take down it down

In the end, I think the bear won!

We all had a good laugh with this. One of the guys we were with made pants and a parka from a polar bear hide. A couple people tried it on and we were playing around with it. We had a great time out there! We spent a few hours in total before we packed up and headed home.

By the time we got home, unpacked and cleaned up, I was very happy that we had caught our supper for the day. Etienne cleaned and filleted the fish and we ate it for dinner. I think that the gutting, cleaning and filleting will be Etienne’s job permanently.  I’m not a big fan of cutting heads and pulling guts out of animals!! I have to say that we both really enjoyed it. We tried to de-bone it and pan seared it with a few spices.

Cleaning it off

Gutting it

The fillets....we still need to work on that.....

Cooking it up

Looks good.....

Tasted good.....clean plate!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 14:22 and is filed under The Experience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

11 Responses to “I got one all on my own…..well, sort of!”

  1. May 24th, 2010 at 17:10

    Ann-Marie says:

    So jealous!! I wanna go fishing!!! Maybe not with out all the ice! :)

  2. May 24th, 2010 at 19:10

    Kimberly Swan says:

    Carly! The blog story is great, I loved your photos. It was such a fun day – and your fish looked yummy!

  3. May 24th, 2010 at 19:51

    Pat says:

    I can’t believe Etienne did that (gutting). Who knew the GRC had to tackle polar bears…

  4. May 24th, 2010 at 19:55

    Etienne says:

    It is a little icky but it’s the price to pay to have the freshest fish possible!

  5. May 24th, 2010 at 22:26

    Ana says:

    AWESOME!!! I was laughing so hard at your Polar Bear attack story… I do recall it happened exactly as you described!!!
    Great job on the fish and next time we’ll definitely remember to scream less when one’s caught!

  6. May 25th, 2010 at 07:44

    indigo says:

    The pink parka and the pink face warmer were a dead giveaway – KIM!

  7. May 25th, 2010 at 12:24

    morena says:

    That bear ‘outfit’ is crazy! Nick keeps saying he wants to get a coat made where the head is still attached and it would sit right on top of his head. This is a close second to that…. I can’t wait to show him the pictures.

  8. May 25th, 2010 at 16:32

    Pat says:

    @Etienne
    You are going to be spoiled. You won’t want to eat store bought.

  9. May 25th, 2010 at 18:12

    Helen says:

    I would like to say Ms. May (aka our model bear) did not beat me. I was playing dead to take a bite out of her hide! However, I did fracture some bones, while her large mass was crushing the air out of my lungs. I will take our bear on any day (maybe without her hairy coat . . . please shave).

  10. May 26th, 2010 at 14:56

    Mom says:

    Okay I saw the fish and then the fish was gone, I did not see it in anyone’s mouth. Although I have hears that arctic char is really good. Think you guys will continue to eat fish once you leave. The story was great I am sure you all had sore tummies from laughing so hard.

  11. May 30th, 2010 at 09:27

    Tara says:

    That piece looked way to big to be eaten by you. Are you really over your fish phobia? I like to cast when fishing, but that is it. I will never bait a hook or remove a hook. I just pull it out and leave it squirming in the wind for someone else to catch. The last time I went fishing, my 9yr old cousins were the ones doing my dirty work. With bare hands. Eeew. Gross. I hate fish. The look of them gives me a lump in my throat. If they were all pretty like tropical fish then maybe I would like them. Good for you. I am proud of you.

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