Fishing Journal

Bristol Bay is located in southwest Alaska and is home to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery. The region has a long history of fishing going back thousands of years. This summer, I worked as a deckhand on the fishing vessel Eva alongside my captain, Tom, and crewmates Addison and Syd. I was encouraged by my family to keep a journal while fishing. I tried to make it a habit to record the events of each day but for the most part failed miserably. I’ve included a few entries in this post that, in retrospect, are not too embarrassing to share publicly.

(06/27/25)

Addison and I were putting the brailer bags back after delivery late in the night after a long day of fishing. We both had a giggly hysteria about us and were making jokes about constantly hallucinating and seeing fish in everything. In our dreams and in random objects around the boat. I went to one of the holds to finish our work and found a fish we missed during delivery. I called him over to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. We both stood there for a solid minute laughing, not completely sure we were seeing a real fish. I eventually hopped down and threw it off the boat. I felt completely insane.

(07/12/25)

We’ve been able to visit land and sauna at Tom’s Daughters’ set net camp a few times this season. I go in the sauna with Addison, who’s used to using them regularly at home and at high temperatures. I put on a brave face while I’m in there and encourage him to add more steam, but it’s really fucking hot. Today it was extra hot. Addison left before me and missed seeing me nearly pass out and walk into the wall. 

I called Oscar, and he seemed jokingly frustrated that I was getting to wash while I’m out here. He wanted me to feel the full discomfort he felt from his two years fishing. I was probably taking the occasional wash for granted, but it was fun gloating it in his face.

(07/17/25)

Today the water was pretty choppy compared to our other days of fishing. I made the most difficult meal of my life, which was Annie's Mac and Cheese. I wedged my legs between two walls and physically balanced the pot of boiling water to not spill it on myself. Addison also had a rough time today. We were on the deck motoring to another spot to set our net, and he had to use the bucket to shit. He sat down on one side of the reel, and I went to the other to give him some privacy. It was really rough. We weren’t going slow and kept hitting waves head on with some spray getting us from the bow. After one especially rough bump, I saw some toilet paper fly off the back of the boat from where Addison was, and I just burst out laughing.

(07/20/25)

I’ve gotten a good amount of time to explore around the set net site these past few days. It’s covered in tall grass with remnants of abandoned equipment from old fishing operations. I explored a cannery with some of the set net crew. We climbed to the top, where we walked along planks that were probably 50 feet from the ground. We were all a bit concerned about the planks' integrity, so we grabbed the roof supports above us, looking like a bunch of monkeys swinging from branches.

(07/11/25)

Last night I had a dream of Grandma Lorraine. I was riding passenger with her in a car. I think I was a kid in the dream because I was low in the seat looking up at her. The sun was shining bright through the driver side window, making a silhouette of her head. Sunlit strands of loose glowing hair waved around her. Tonight I was sitting on the deck after finishing work and watched a single seagull follow the boat.

(07/13/25)

I woke up today and walked onto the deck to our boat being completely surrounded by a thick fog. I was still delirious from waking up and had no sense of where we were. I could have been anywhere. The only things anchoring me in place were the rising sun piercing the fog and the occasional bird entering our sphere of vision. The boat felt like my entire world.