I haven't done a team building trip in quite a while, but the group I just moved to had planned a team building trip coincidentally the second week I was in the group. The team decided to do a guided fishing trip out of Talkeetna and I figured it would be a great chance to hang out with my new coworkers and maybe, actually, possibly catch a fish worth keeping!
The guides took us out to Clear Creek via powerboat. There were enough of us that it took them two trips. I would complain that all the good spots were taken once I got there, but I really had no clue what would make a spot good or not, so I just squeezed in somewhere. Luckily combat fishing isn't so bad if you know the people you are fishing with.
I waded out in the water a little ways since I had my waders on and the fish were everywhere! There were several that kept swimming around my legs - but those looked distinctly like they were on their last legs. This splotchy guy was definitely not feeling too well... "/
I finally caught a fish without snagging it! Of course, it was a chum - which no one keeps, but I was still pretty darn excited!
And then I caught a silver! Eeeeeeeek! My coworkers nicely offered to take a photo for me, but apparently I couldn't quit grinning like a moron even for a photo. Ha!
95% of the fish we were catching were chums, so I was more than happy with this only slightly pink silver salmon.
After those two, I didn't catch anything for hours. I got the guides to switch me to a pink lure and that seemed to be attractive to the chums. Shocking...!
Our ride back was significantly less powerful than our ride in. The way back went with the flow of the river, so it was a nice raft trip back to the boat launch. Notice the headgear switch - it got a little chillier as the day went by and we lost what little sunlight we had. Luckily I thought ahead and grabbed Matt's awesome Duluth hat. :)
The catch of the day! Obviously these are not all mine, I was by far on the low end of the totem pole for fishing ability. But it worked out that everyone who wanted a fish to take home got one. Such a great team effort! Also, salmon are not the most pleasant looking fish. Good thing they are so tasty!
Best part of guided fishing? Someone to fillet your fish for you - we really need to work on our fish cleaning and filleting skills. These guys were super efficient at whipping through all of the salmon.
I found a great salmon taco recipe earlier this year and figured it was the best use of the salmon I just caught. Plus it has our new favorite condiment - Sirancha! I don't much care for Siracha on it's own, but mix it with ranch? Amazing!
But that only took one of the fillets and I had two. Salmon cakes to the rescue! I found a Cook's Illustrated recipe that uses fresh salmon and it was amazingly delicious! I don't generally fry things at home, but these little gems were worth breaking that rule. Can't wait to make them again - yum! :)