After Carl asked if I could taste the difference, I started wondering if there really was a difference, or was it marketing hype. That is an interesting test, with interesting results. It is nice to hear you really found a difference. Thanks for sharing!

Ron

I hope you get a lot of fish!

Ron

You can pillage my post anytime!

I had a buddy who also thought it was crazy and started selling salmon he caught - that is until he sold to an uncover officer.

Thanks Poetryman!

You are right Beth - I didn’t know how good I had it!

Thanks Mom. I give the edge to Reds, but now we are splitting hairs. Either one for me!

Ron

Mom

Thanks for the info - so all the boats I see on the river are non-commercial fishing people. Cool, thanks.

Yeah, you know, you’re right (of course) the fish-wheels are non-commercial. I used to eat at this place in Chitina (right beside the Copper River, for those reading this other than Ron), just a little home-style dinette thing .. and she couldn’t sell Copper River Red Salmon there, because it would require a commercial license, the same as these boat-folks who ship out literally tons and tons of fish, which was way more than she could afford - so if I wanted to buy Copper River Reds at an eatery on the Copper River, they had to have been caught by a commercial operator, shipped out, sold in the marketplace, shipped back to Chitina, where she could buy them and sell them - how crazy is that?

The other weird thing is that the fish on the east coast, would be fresher than buying it in an Anchorage restaurant .. because they’re 4 hours ahead, on EST .. the fish get caught, sold and shipped, and are on the table on the east coast for dinner at 7pm .. which is 3pm here in AK .. so by the time someone in Anchorage sits down to eat their ‘fresh fish’ at 7pm Alaska-time, the folks in Atlanta have already finished and eating ice cream - so I’m told, anyway.

Crazy ole world, eh?

Sorry to kinda pillage your post like this Ron.

Cheers

Carl

You know I don’t think they are allowed in the actual river, in fact I think I have heard guys talking about markers or buoys marking the fishing boundary. I do think they get as close to those as possible because the fish are more concentrated in those locations.

I didn’t think commercial fishing is allowed with fish wheels either, in that I don’t believe you are able to actually sell the fish. Maybe that has changed. We used to have access to a fish wheel. Back then is just seemed like a lot of work, fishing was much funner. Now that I have to pay for food, I would love to have access to one!

Cheers,

Ron

Thanks - I’ll have to check it out closely and see if I can taste the difference - I do like some fresh salmon.

Do the commercial fishing boats go up the river though, or just around the mouth? Is the only commercial fishing in the river the fish wheels?

Cheers

Carl

As I understand it, the bow-pickers like you see in the lower left, fish in the ocean at the mouth of the Copper River, in shallow, tricky waters full of hidden sand bars, unpredictable waves and currents. They are small boats, usually with only one person on board, and they are jet powered (no prop) so they are able to run in very little water.

I believe I can taste the difference, but really any Red Salmon is good. I think a lot of times the difference in taste is how the salmon is cooked - most people tend to over cook it a bit. That Red Salmon is really good canned as well if you like fish.

That is a cool story on the restaurant.

Hi Richard - Yeah it seems like you can’t go too wrong with wild salmon!

Thanks,

Ron

Cool, nice post. A couple of questions:

* Do these boats fish the river, or just the harbor at the entrance to the river?
* Do you actually taste any difference between Copper River Reds and other Red Salmon?

When I was in Atlanta, there was a highend restaurant right across the river from my place that had Copper River Reds every May - I’d go right by the place on my run, and see the sign the day they posted it, “Copper River Red Salmon Available NOW!” .. it always brought a smile to my face, as it reminded me of where I’d be a month from then.

Cheers

Carl