I give advice to people that in order to grow you sometimes have to get out of your comfort zone and do new things. Yesterday I did that in a round about way... I went Dip Net fishing on the Kenai River with Rob, Fred & Carol Kaatz. I haven't been on a boat in a very VERY long time for a good reason,...I get sick easily! The whole idea of being in an environment that mimics the way I felt while being pregnant is the LAST thing I would go do for fun. But Rob was going fishing with Fred, and Fred suggested that the 'wivess come along' to spend time with them, and according to Fred...Carol wanted to go . So I didnt' want to seem like a wimp, & I'm not one to back down from a challenge. Fred just talked the idea into a invitation before I could explain my self out of it.
SO I DID IT! Got up early (grumpy since I didn't have my morning quiet time to wake up, or workout and shower)...was a bit snippy when I couldn't find my hat that I knew I'd need to cover my head/ears with. Rob said I kind of through a tantrum & wasn't very sociable. OH WELL~! (I appolagized to Fred later for being grumpy but said he had come 30 minutes too early and hence saw/heard the real unprepared for company CJ!)
We drove to Kenai..(1 & 1/2 hours away)to the river.Stopping by a store briefly prior to pick up a new net.At the dock, I took possition in the middle of the boat and concentrated on NOT feeling queasy with the movement of the boat on the water. Then after we got out a ways I was moved to the front where I took charge of one of the dip nets. With a 6 foot handle and a 5 foot circular net it was fairy heavy and difficult to manuver with the river drag. Rob was driving the boat and Fred was handling the other dip net, while Carol was in the back. I struggled with the net and didn't catch anything..and Fred managed to get 4! He was really excited untill ...by complete accident the "D" ring detatched and he lost the new net down the river.
We'd been out for 4 hours and decided we needed to eat. So we pulled the boat out, took it to Rob's Dad's place not too far from the river and parked it there. We droce into town and found alittle Chinese restaurant and ate,...but after discussing our plite,..we decided we spent enough effort to drive all the way to Kenai and rearange schedules that we shouldn't waste the opportunity & decided to go buy another two new nets and TRY our luck at more fish.
The weather had been cloudy but not rainy, so the afternoon seemed to spread the clouds out so that the sun shown and warmed things up a bit...but the WIND was still out and I was NOT warm at all. With the new nets ..we began to catch more fish quickly and by the end of the day we had 36 salmon totall between the two couples to share. When the water was calm I had no problem but every time a boat wold zipped by us.. the WAKE would create huge waves that surged my queasiness back to the surface... I felt sick more often than not,but struggled to just look up at the horizon and breathe the crisp air and focus on stuff that WASN'T moving! With the two nets on each side we balanced out the drag, but as soon as one net caught a fish and was brought up the other would drag the boat into a circle..so the other net would need to be brought up as well. Fred did most of the catching, switching off with Rob. I did however catch about 8 and once had two in the net at the same time. But standing there manuvering the heavy net & pole was exhuasting to say the least and at the last pass through the channel to catch ONE more fish..we found our selves acccidently caught up on a sand bar. Rob & Fred jumped out into the shallow water, pushing us back into the main part of the river again. But in the process Rob accidently tripped over the net handles and fell, getting wet up to his hips in the muddy silt. We were all tired and glad to call it a night as we headed to the dock/ramp by 9pm. Then of course we drove the 1 & 1/2 hours home. My headach from day 4 of my monthly cycle and sleep deprivation after taking care of Wendy from being sick with the flu for a week had taken its tole on me,..so I simply crawl into the shower to clean up and then into bed..with the floor seeming to still sway to & fro! Oddly I woke up with the same sensation..but not as strong. I hope it doesn't last long! Rob, Fred & Carol fillet the fish and put them on ice in coolers to tend to by this evening, after Rob, Fred & Jessica took another trip up to catch more fish. (they returned home with 8 more..not alot, but every FISH COUNTS when your hungry in the winter time!)
SO I went DIP NET FISHING on the Kenai River, didn't throw up and came home with another adventure under my belt. I'm sore, tired and exhausted even a day later. Who know FISHING could be such a workout!
